I'm a newbe to resto/rebuild. I've got a 48 1 ton (3800) with about 73,000 on the 216 engine. It has a bad knock...believe it to be low in the engine but it could be a timing issue as I haven't checked that yet. Just wondering what might be the best approach. Rebuild or replace if it is one of the babitt bearings? My present plan for the truck is to restore but not 100%. I'd like to put power stearing and brakes on it at some point. Convert to 12 volt and electric wipers. With that said. I'd appreciate any thoughts.
Howdy, rix48! A knock low in the block? I'd say drop the pan and see which connecting rod is just hanging on by a prayer. My first truck had this problem. On my first truck, IIRC, there was a connecting rod that had a nut come off~ It was found all by its self in the bottom of the pan... The crank wasn't non-to-happy about that either. My dad decided to replace the engine. Prolly could have put the nut/shims back in and been good to go, but~ Anyway, WELCOME! If you have questions, this is the place to be! If you checked this site out, you already know that!
Diagnosing Rod Knocks Is easy ~ just let the engine idle and pull the spark plugs wires off , one by one and when it stops knocking , bingo ! that's the bad one , drop the pan and have a look . There's many different things that can cause knocking in these engines , timing gears come loose , wrist pins , collapsed piston skirts (rare) and once in a blue moon , a main bearing will go bad , that's a very deep knock .
Thanks Nate, Tailgater told me you'd have something to say about these engines. Good advice! Not sure I'm going to keep this one. I'd like to have a full pressure engine??? Guess I'll decide after I find out what is wrong with this one. Rick
What Engine ? Well ; Send us a pic of the nasty dirty old thing and we'll tell you . Once you've done a ' Make Run ' on it , you can decide and possibly sell it for a few $ or trade . BTW : often you can find rust free fenders that are badly dented or crushed in the headlight area , and buy them for " practice welding " for maybe $10.00 if not free......
