57 Engine Rebuild

Topics related to the powertrain - engines, transmissions, and related parts.
ImperialAtom
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57 Engine Rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Had an engine fire last season and getting a shop to rebuild the engine. Never used them before, so I hope it goes well. Thought I'd share the pictures I have so far in case anyone was curious.
Attachments
engine pull.jpg
20191002_140858.jpg
20191002_140841.jpg
trans pull.jpg

ImperialAtom
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Some pics of the engine bay area...
Attachments
20191002_140741.jpg
20191002_140733.jpg
20191002_140705.jpg
20191002_140657.jpg

ImperialAtom
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Some pictures of the engine tear down.
Attachments
20191002_140626.jpg
20191002_140615.jpg
20191002_140606.jpg
20191002_140559.jpg
20191002_140550.jpg
20191002_140542.jpg

ImperialAtom
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Hood repainted due to fire damage.
Attachments
IMG_7007.jpg

ImperialAtom
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Painted engine bay...
Attachments
IMG_7008.jpg
Resized_20200203_151517.jpg

ImperialAtom
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Still waiting to get the engine back from the machine shop... should be back any day now.

Mark0
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by Mark0 »

what caused the fire ?
leaky carb ?
64 Imperial Crown convertible - Ivory, 64 Imperial Crown Coupe - Rosewood (Mauve), 66 Corvair 4dr htop, 69 Monaco 500 convert, 70 300 TNT convert, 71 Fury Custom Suburban wagon, 78 NYB Salon - documented last Canadian C body, 80 Rover SD1 4.6

ImperialAtom
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Not sure exactly what caused it. The car was running fine for about 30 seconds. I had the hood up thankfully as it was the first start of the season, then suddenly there was a loud explosion and the breather filter/cap shot off, hit the hood, and shot across the yard. Then a big fireball blew up and engulfed the engine.

Best I can tell, there was an explosion in the crankcase and the back pressure from that blew the fuel out of the carb's fuel bowls and down the back of the engine. Took three fire extinguishers to get it out. Two that I had in the garage and one from my neighbor's house. Thankfully insurance actually covered it. I was really surprised, didn't think insurance would cover something like that.

As the car was parked backwards in the garage at the time, my wife called 911 because there was a risk the house might catch on fire. They sent 3 large fire trucks, 2 pickup trucks (one was the fire chief), and 3 sheriff SUVs. Even after telling them we had the fire out, they would not cancel the call, they were committed! I always give my neighbors a good show with tow trucks either coming or going, and now fires.

ImperialAtom
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by ImperialAtom »

Small update - the shop let me know that the pistons did not fit as they should and were just a little off on size. The guy said he never has cut corners before and isn't doing it now, so he shipped the pistons back, the manufacturer admitted they were not perfect and he got a whole new set delivered on Friday. Hoping the new set are perfect and we can get this wrapped up.

They finally got back to me on the cost of rebuilding the trans, and depending on how bad it is, it will be anywhere from 1000 to 1500. I do not know the going rate of these trans, but that seems reasonable to me, so I told them to go ahead as the trans was slipping and not kicking into 2nd gear when it should. As insurance will not cover the trans, that cost will be on me.

One other item I'm getting done while it's in there is the sending unit in the tank seems to be full of fuel and not floating as it always reads near empty and the needle does bounce around as if it's getting some type of signal from movement. He said it should be under 150 to fix that, so that's well worth the investment rather than me trying to deal with dropping a gas tank.

As the weather is starting to warm up, I'm really looking forward to driving it again, but I'm guessing it's another month away at least before getting this thing back.

Chryslerdon
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Re: 57 Engine Rebuild

Post by Chryslerdon »

Their first mistake was removing the transmission and torque converter together. The trans is removed from the bell housing, and the bell and torque converter are removed later. This is all spelled out in the service manual. The converter nose is not long enough to properly support it. I rebuild a lot of these and have seen many pumps and front components ruined by trying to install a trans that way. The price he quoted is reasonable, depending on parts. Pumps are very hard to come by, so you may have only one shot at this.

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