What would you do - Small Block Ford Edition

What would TCG do with Dasfincs 5.0 Short Block

  • Let it ride, Clean it off and re-assemble.

    Votes: 10 41.7%
  • Get it rebuilt, Tear it down to bare block and re-ring/bearing it

    Votes: 2 8.3%
  • Go Big, Buy a DSS 331 stroker kit ($1100) and have it rebuilt

    Votes: 8 33.3%
  • Junk It.

    Votes: 4 16.7%

  • Total voters
    24

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
So as many of you have seen, My ranger build is still steaming along, and I have a "What would you do" Question for everyone.

http://www.thechicagogarage.com/for...ing-my-glory-days-way-only-dasfinc-could.html

The donor engine is a 2000 Ford Explorer Small Block V-8 with 200k on it. The truck ran fine when pulled, but we ended up breaking it down to the short block because its sitting on an engine stand and I'd like this thing to last a good long time once I put it into it's new home.

I've already ordered a Cam kit which includes the following:
Double Roller timing set (Gears and chain)
Cam
Double valve springs
Retainers/Locks
Roller Rockers and associated hardware

I've also ordered a set of 1.6 Roller Rockers as well to bring this motors power band up a bit, and allow it to reach 6,000RPM smoothly and make power the whole way in something lighter than a 4000lb SUV.

So this brings us to my question:

We did find some general debris in the bottom of the oil pan (Maybe a half a Thimble worth of particulate, the size of grains of sand [MENTION=22]syP[/MENTION]). It IS metal for sure, but when breaking down the motor we found no wear/damage on anything (Cam looked clean, the piston bore is in excellent shape, crosshash clear as day, the factory roller lifters were clean, etc, etc, etc).

The timing chain had quite a bit of slop to it, and the gears themselves look to have some noticeable wear, so the only hypothesis we have is that is where the material is from.

We also found that the electrode on the spark plugs on the driver side was almost completely gone, while the passenger side was not. The plugs 'read' fine outside of the fact that I'd suspect the driver side bank was dramatically older than the passenger side (Probably a lazy mechanic that didn't bother replacing the harder to reach side....)

THAT ALL BEING SAID;

I FORGOT TO DO A COMPRESSION TEST BEFORE PULLING THE MOTOR OUT (like a moron), but the engine absolutely did not smoke in the slightest, ran smoothly, and the short block visually looks good outside of being dirty externally (no play in anything that we can reach).

Is it worth going down to a bare block, tanking it, re-honing it, and doing new cam and main bearings? I am deathly afraid of either chunking this motor after putting money into the valve train, but am also afraid of horror stories on fresh motor builds coming apart as well.

I'm also a little tired of pouring money into it coming up on Xmas as well, so I'd like to have some level of restraint in budget since I'm not trying to turn this thing into a rocket ship.

Lastly, if I'm going to bother tearing it down to the bare block and getting it rebuilt, is it worth going to a stroker so that later on I can 'go big' with some more serious heads and intake at a later date (No matter what, the GT40-P heads are going back on this motor so I can get it into the truck in spring)..

What would TCG do?
 

10sec

I haz dat teddy bear smile.
TCG Premium
Jul 26, 2008
25,942
5,812
No, not worth it. Those motors are known to be very stout and it was in an SUV, it wasn't seeing 6,000rpm on a daily basis. If it wasn't smoking, leave it alone and build a motor on the side whilst you're enjoying that one. Once you're done with the other motor, swap it in.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
No, not worth it. Those motors are known to be very stout and it was in an SUV, it wasn't seeing 6,000rpm on a daily basis. If it wasn't smoking, leave it alone and build a motor on the side whilst you're enjoying that one. Once you're done with the other motor, swap it in.

My optimistic train of thought is that if I were to have a catastrophic bottom end failure with the engine current state, that it would have to be SPECTACULAR for it to damage the valve train.
 

Mr. SBF

Keeping it Real with Ford Power!!!
May 12, 2015
3,247
7
Kenosha County
Check the crank thrust/endplay while its out also. It will tell you if it's the crank bearings. And there's no way for it to be the sparkplug electrode as it couldn't make it's way back into the lower end because it is in the combustion chamber and would go out the exhaust or just get mashed into the piston eventually.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
I've only had one but it ended with part of a rod jammed in the cam region and a bent cam

Honestly, the cam is like $250, which wouldn't be world ending.

The more I called around, the more expensive getting the short block DONE sounds like it would cost....


A 'serious' SBF is going to be like $5,000 in the end, which is definitely not a today or tomorrow investment.

Majority of people say roll with it so far, which is what I was leaning toward to begin with having some semblance of being budget minded...
[MENTION=7534]wolfe[/MENTION], I just dropped $1100 on the valve train for this motor, why does it matter if I put a bandaid sticker on my cars... :-(

My last truck was slathered in stickers, it didn't make it any less fun or any more janky.
 

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