So while I work on buttoning her up the next night or three.

It was posed to me by a guy who likes old cars at work, and has done a couple motors, I see him time to time on inter-office meetings and we shoot the shit.

He knew of my "water" issue, and asked what I had done about it since he hadn't talked to me recently.

I disucssed the teardown, re-lubing of things, and re-assembly.

I then mentioned my lastest folies with the oil pump.

He asked me how do I know my bearings are OK, and parted with the remark, "Good luck, but it sounds like this motor may be short lived".

Now, I thought we discussed this, and there was a reason why I didn't run new bearings.

For the sake of my education, what would/could the water done to my main bearings?

Thanks.

BLT

Rust in the oil galleys, rust on the crank itself, its an abrasive.



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- 70 Fastback Mustang, 489 cid FE, TKO-600 5 speed, 3.70 9 inch
- 71 F100 Ranger XLT shortbed 4x4, 397 cid FE, headers, Street Dominator, 280H, 5 lug Dana 60 rear, 4.56's, 4 speed

Your main bearings could sit in water for the next Ten Thousand years and nothing would happen to them.

The crank will rust though, like Ross said.. Rust is not a good lube, unless you're old like Johnny...

I had suggested a teardown. That seemed to get voted down.

I had suggested a fire-up on the floor before installation. That seemed to get voted down.

So that's how you got to where you are now.

Fire it up, hope for the best. If it runs, great.

However, at the first sign of any shaky oil pressure or funny noises (like bearings) shut it down, pull it out and do what's necessary.

Oh yeah, water plus metal equals rust and rust is an abrasive and generally abrasive isn't real good for an engine. Hope for the best. I'd run it a very short time and dump the oil and filter for sure.

I still think putting it in the car was smarter, not being in the car is what caused all this rusty mess and lost parts.

However what really matters is what you said, fire it, drop the oil and press on with whatever it brings you. Being apart has caused more troubles so far than being together

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- 70 Fastback Mustang, 489 cid FE, TKO-600 5 speed, 3.70 9 inch
- 71 F100 Ranger XLT shortbed 4x4, 397 cid FE, headers, Street Dominator, 280H, 5 lug Dana 60 rear, 4.56's, 4 speed

While I was one of the ones who recommended installation, I also seem to remember Blair stating that he had cleaned everything out real good.

That rusty oil pump looks absolutely terrible. If anything else in there looks like that oil pump, there's gonna be big problems....and it won't take long for them to appear.

Greg



____________________________________________

'71 Torino GT, 429+
'71 Torino Wagon project - 200 MPH or bust

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses.

At least now I know what/why with the bearings.

So when I fire her up in the next day or so.

If I hear no noises other than normal operation, am I looking for a drop in oil pressure?

Would that signal the bearing failure?

If I make it through the set time of break-in, and swap the oil out, am I clear of trouble for the most part?

I wish the 30 seconds of runtime the other day before the filter exploded was a benchmark for how she'll run soon.

She purred like a kitten the other day once she fired.

I think someone asked about the waterlogged length of time, it rained during the night, those pics I posted a while back are from the next morning, like 8am.

Then I pulled the pan and soaked eveything with wd40.

I should have cranked oil through it, but live and learn.

So pending what happens during the breakin run, if I gotta pull it to be right, so be it.

I'm getting quick at pulling engines all by myself.

Regardless, if she runs good and has good pressure, it obviously wouldn't hurt my feelings any to leave her together for now.

Later.
BLT

Because I don't know how to edit.......

Looking back to Mr. Cooks post.....

I think we skipped the R&R due to my budget mainly.

I hope there's no impression that it was blown off for any other reason.

Of course, I'm eager to learn, so if it's gotta be done, than no big deal.

I now have access to a garage, it's a couple miles away. Cleaned out a friends Grandads block building, and have been give nthe whenever/whatever I want to do deal.

That's where my Jeep sits.........

As far as running it out of the car, never done it, would have done it had I realized how easy I could have done it now.

FWIW, my pops, an old Ford/Merc guy, is bringing me a couple things from his storage in Florida.

One is a homemade test run stand made out of tubing/stock/angle iron..........

He said it would hold the 460, so the 352 should not be a problem.

You're still in the learning stages and you're doing fine.

Hope for the best! It might just work out fine. If not you'll learn how to freshen up a motor.