need 302 purchase advice.

[ezernut9mm]

i talked to this guy today. he has a fresh 310 with all the familiar names; keith black pistons, eagle rods, arp studs and bolts, gt-40 valves, yadda yadda. all it needs is a cam, intake and carb, and exhaust manifolds. he is asking 600 firm for this set up.
i am thinking about going to look at it one night after work as it is right on my way home. any advice on what i should look for? questions to ask? i have never bought a rebuilt engine before and have only the vaguest idea as to what i'd be looking at. thanks.

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/pts/992835377.html

[fordman]

it looks like that pic may be a generic pic. but who knows. the most i can say about what to look for is if the guy knows what hes talking about. and his truthfulness in the discussion.

[ezernut9mm]

that is a stock pic, not an actual pic of the engine. he lives on my way home from work and he said i could come by and look at it anytime. i just don't know what i'd be looking at, except if there were some obvious damage or something.

[FordHam]

I'll tell you one thing I learned today. A racing engine builder who is redoing some 351C heads for me was asking about the bottom end of the engine. I mentioned I thought I might have Keith Black pistons, turns out I have TRW. He told me that KB pistons have a bad design flaw that causes overheating of the top of the piston which can create too much heat for the hypereutetic pistons. The top of the piston seizes in the cylinder and is actually pulled off the body. He claims to have seen several engines this has happened to, so much so that he will not use them anymore. He said the company, rather than fixing the design flaw, recommends gapping the top ring @ .024 to better dissipate heat. He said that can work but the larger gap has some issues, so he just won't use them in any engine he builds. Hope this helps.

[ezernut9mm]

intersting. i'll ask him if he's ever heard of or had any problems with them.

[69rangerman]

Might be good to know if he built it or had it built.

Either way, how was the block prepped? Deck milled flat, align bored etc.

Rotating assembly balanced? Look for weld or mill holes on crank counterweights by spinning it.
Balanced with the pressure plate and front balancer or just crank, rods and pistons.

Heads milled flat?

Are the heads on?

Screw in rocker studs or press in? Screw in safer for high lift cams

pushrod guide plates? safer for high rpm, high lift cams

screw in oil gallery plugs, or press in?

1 or 2 pc rear main seal?

Crank re-surfaced or milled down? how much?

Good luck!

[papabug71]

Jimmy Stewart ?? The actor?? I didnt know he built engines...

Ask him how its prepped & ask for reciepts on the internals. If he built it or had it built, he should have reciepts for all that stuff.

[Dragon]

http://forums.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=867475 Read down and when you get to 2esoteric the story expands about the KB pistons.