TheSamba.com :: View topic - DeVerde

Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:32 am

I'm digging the Mopar powerplant in there. I don't know if this was the initial cause of the failure of that particular engine, but the 5.2 is internally balanced and the 5.9 is externally balanced.

Tue Jan 26, 2021 9:06 am

S4loridaguy wrote: I'm digging the Mopar powerplant in there. I don't know if this was the initial cause of the failure of that particular engine, but the 5.2 is internally balanced and the 5.9 is externally balanced.

It wasn’t the cause but I am aware the 5.9L is externally balanced compared to the 5.2L. It had the correct flex plate and correct balancer for the 5.9L. I honestly couldn’t tell what was up. It just looks like it was ran without ever changing the oil or crap, sludgy oil was in it. The heads weren’t cracked and he gaskets were fine. But it’ll be good now, it’s currently in a CLR bath for the rust in the water jacket!

Tue Jan 26, 2021 11:00 am

DeVerde wrote: S4loridaguy wrote: I'm digging the Mopar powerplant in there. I don't know if this was the initial cause of the failure of that particular engine, but the 5.2 is internally balanced and the 5.9 is externally balanced.

It wasn’t the cause but I am aware the 5.9L is externally balanced compared to the 5.2L. It had the correct flex plate and correct balancer for the 5.9L. I honestly couldn’t tell what was up. It just looks like it was ran without ever changing the oil or crap, sludgy oil was in it. The heads weren’t cracked and he gaskets were fine. But it’ll be good now, it’s currently in a CLR bath for the rust in the water jacket!

I figured you probably knew given the quality mechanical and technical expertise of your work. That is gonna one bad ass ride. Later on I'll post up some photos of my VW/Mopar mashup.

Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:24 pm

That trans looks great. Well worth the money.
That’s a lot of shit that came out of that block. Sucks when people do a bad job.
You are crushing this project,very cool.

Mon Feb 15, 2021 2:36 pm

finefettle wrote: That trans looks great. Well worth the money.
That’s a lot of shit that came out of that block. Sucks when people do a bad job.
You are crushing this project,very cool. .

Thanks a bunch. Ya, the powder coat was worth it for sure. I wish I could do the block the same but the cost of that is nuts...oh well, engine enamel it is.

Mon Feb 15, 2021 2:55 pm

Sorry for the delayed updates but I’ve been a bit busy the past few weeks. I am confident in most of my abilities but I wasn’t certain on my welding so I signed up for a welding class at the local community college. While most all of the welding I’m doing in class is geared towards structural and pipe welding, the principals still apply to body and frame work. Plus the practice is FAR cheaper at the community college than out of my own pocket. The class is $185 for a semester of welding....I spent that in gas and material in the first week at school so its totally worth the time. I’m not going for any structural or pipe certifications because I can’t use them at the moment being in the military and they’ll expire before I retire....but I still do the bend tests just the same as if I were being certified....passed all of them so far!

Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:03 pm

Been working on the engine a bit more in my spare time. I put it in a bath of CLR for a few days to break down all the rust and scale in the water jacket and it did an amazing job. After that I managed my own ghetto hot tank using a soldered trash can and a turkey fryer with some dish soap. That also worked amazing. More to come!

In the CLR bath

My “hot tank” setup 🤣

Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:31 am

Yaaah baby, getting it done.
Dig it.

Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:35 pm

So, it’s been a bit since I pulled the engine out of the hot tank and wouldn’t you know it, science took over and flash rusted the block. It’s not totally unexpected but I also needed to do some more work to the block so I didn’t mind too much. I should have washed it in a rust preventative but didn’t. Oh well. In my efforts to keep this thing as baller as possible, I just can’t bring myself to assemble the engine dirty or rusty in any way. (Not super sure I’d be great in an engine shop. 🤣) Either way, I set up a media blasting booth in the garage and decided to get rid of all the remaining rust. I used fine walnut media and it worked great. Cleaned the main bearing caps in hot soapy water as well when I washed the ARP studs. They’re looking mint and ready to go back to the machine shop to get the caps aligned honed.....or at least checked. My research says that for the 5.9L Magnum, it’s a 50/50 shot of having alignment issues from the factory so chances are, they’ll probably have to hone the caps which is fine by me. Next steps are to tape the block off and paint it before I send it to the machine shop. I’ll probably paint the lifter valley as well but I’m going with a low gloss black, high temp, and oil/gas resistant enamel. I took the timing chain cover and blasted that as well but haven’t decided if I should polish it up or paint it and the accessory bracket black as well. More to come.

Not bad!!

Actually came out with VERY little residue from the blasting. Pretty happy with it.

Too cold to paint....my girlfriend suggested a space heater in the garage so off to the store I go for some window shopping!

More goodness to come!

Fri Feb 19, 2021 9:20 am

Well, my girlfriend was onto something it seems. Got a heater rental from Home Depot because it’s way too expensive to buy for one or two times a year and I can do $20 for a day of heat.

We have some serious heat now. Turned all the way up, the garage went from 40* to 80* in about an hour.

Getting everything taped off while the block warms up. So excited for this thing to get built! It’s going to be a monster!

I’m probably going to get some no shit blasting media at some point and put the blasting booth back up and see what kind of damage we can do to the front axle to get it cleaned up and painted as well. I am waiting on parts for the axles to come in so I can finish rebuilding them but we’re getting close!

Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:08 pm

Got the garage up to a decent temperature to warm the block up!

Not many pictures of it taped off and painting but you get the idea.

The block was warm enough...totally worth the $20 to rent the heater.

And finished, mains installed, time to give it a bit to cure (24hrs) and then off to the machine shop to get the mains alignment checked. They were checked before with bolts and no issues but it’s suggested to get them checked/honed when you swap to studs.

Fri Feb 19, 2021 1:06 pm

That block looks great, well done on the painting.

I'm really excited to see the engine in the car eventually. I'm sure it'll look mean as hell.

Sun Feb 21, 2021 1:19 pm

Sunday’s project...

Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:02 pm

Well, finished up the lifter bores and cylinders today. Both are honed and ready to go. Pretty happy with the past weeks progress on the block. Time to get the block off to the machine shop! In the meantime I’ll do some work to the crank.

Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:02 pm

Not much going on this week, just night school and working on some ideas. Still waiting on the heads and for the machinist to get back from the getting COVID. I think next week I’ll be working on the body some, so stay tuned.

Built a super low profile engine stand the past few days. This will let me roll the whole power package in and out without having to scoop it in with an engine hoist. Being so low to the ground has its own challenges and few market solutions, so here’s mine. Ideally, this is where the engine will be with the bug completely slammed to the ground so pulling the engine/transmission should be a simple event for any future work or maintenance.

I wouldn’t call the welds amazing, show quality welds but they’re getting better. Good enough for an engine stand.