Cheapskate Engine Building tricks

[Eldovert]

I was reading the post regarding the knurled valve guide and I thought of some of the things machine shops used to do to save money on a rebuild.
1. Knurled valve guides
2. Knurled piston skirts
3. Ring expanders
4. Ring land shims

Anyone have else have cheap old school techniques to nurse a engine along?
Cheers,Pat

[John_Kunkel]

I've used all four at one time or the other; the ring land shims are the only ones with no bad side effects.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Since you said "cheap old school ways to nurse an engine along", i will throw in a few crazy ones that i have personally witnessed...

-heavy bottom end knock ford 302- drain oil, fill 2 qt 20w50, 3 qt 80w90.... QUIET and abused for 3 years after that.
-several cases of the old atf in the crankcase trick for sludged and clattering lifters on small block chevies.
- shoe string alternator belt

[Ghoste]

What about some of that stuff like banana peels in a gearbox or sawdust?  Old wives tales or...?

[miller time]

First thing that comes to mind is a Chevy swap and then a Ford swap, other then that cardboard gaskets and high temp silicone for exhaust leaks

[RCCDrew]

The guy I bought my pos Charger from said he put pepper in the cooling system to stop a leak. I knurled valve guides in high school and it seemed to work well.

[Ghoste]

Pepper?  Never heard that one before.

[birdsandbees]

Have seen bananas stuffed into a rear axle assembly to quiet it down for sale. Not right, but I have seen it done and it does work.

Porridge powder in a radiator works just like rad sealer, never heard of pepper.

[John_Kunkel]

Pepper?  Never heard that one before.

Just about everything on a breakfast menu will work to stop coolant leaks.....for awhile.

[miller time]

Pepper?  Never heard that one before.

Just about everything on a breakfast menu will work to stop coolant leaks.....for awhile.

Seems like a waste of bacon, wait would bacon work?

[Ghoste]

Thats the first thing I pictured too was some guy jamming bacon into his rad.   

[c00nhunterjoe]

I would rather sit on the side of the road and eat the bacon while waiting for the tow truck.

[J.Bond]

I don't know about bacon working.

Pepper.... did not believe that one back in the day, bout 1988, old Lincoln Town Car, developed a split down the side of the core to the tank of the radiator. Pretty much was ready to call the scrap guy, Remembered being told about pepper, hesitated for a moment, grabbed the pepper shaker off the kitchen table. Still thinking no way, actually , got another year out of that car. Yeah.... It does work.

[68X426]

Pepper?  Never heard that one before.

I can verify pepper works.  Had an new '87 Chevy pickup, what a POS right out of the factory.  The rad blew out at only 5000 miles, on a camping trip hundreds of miles from any services.  Borrowed cans and cans of black, white and chili pepper from all the RVers in the campground.  It worked.

Got home and the dealer replaced the rad under warranty.

Here's the punchline - the truck smelled like beef jerky for 2 years.  You could open the hood and smell a jerky factory cooking away. 

[RCCDrew]

I heard eggs in the radiator worked too. I haven't verified that though.
Brake fluid in the transmission works.

As far as cheap engine building, it's milling for compression, hand porting, rings and bearings. Back cutting valves is another one.
Recently heard about angle milling heads.

[HPP]

The guy I bought my pos Charger from said he put pepper in the cooling system to stop a leak. 

Tobacco works too.  So do eggs. Mythbusters did a segment on it. They also tested the sugar in a gas tank trick, potato in a tail pipe and a few other ones in an effort to grenade a Caddy 472.

Cheap hone job ; comet and water mixture injected to each cylinder, turn over a few times, then flushed with trans fluid.

[Eldovert]

"Cheap hone job ; comet and water mixture injected to each cylinder, turn over a few times, then flushed with trans fluid"
I remember guys sprinkling comet down the carb on a running engine to try to seat chrome rings!
Cheers,Pat

[cdr]

As far as cheap engine building, it's milling for compression, hand porting, rings and bearings. Back cutting valves is another one.
Recently heard about angle milling heads.

None of These are Cheapskate    

[Bobs69]

The guy I bought my pos Charger from said he put pepper in the cooling system to stop a leak. I knurled valve guides in high school and it seemed to work well.

I put a couple of eggs into my old rad once.  Come to think of it, I put pepper in there with it.   It didn't stop the leak but it did noticeably slow it down.

[miller time]

Buy eBay parts wait were you asking for ones that worked?

[RCCDrew]

As far as cheap engine building, it's milling for compression, hand porting, rings and bearings. Back cutting valves is another one.
Recently heard about angle milling heads.

None of These are Cheapskate    

They are all cheapskate compared to going to KMart parts and buying my choice of aftermarket CNC ported aluminum heads, stroker engine package of choice, etc. I appreciate the old hot rodders that made the factory stuff fast.

[cdr]

As far as cheap engine building, it's milling for compression, hand porting, rings and bearings. Back cutting valves is another one.
Recently heard about angle milling heads.

None of These are Cheapskate    

They are all cheapskate compared to going to KMart parts and buying my choice of aftermarket CNC ported aluminum heads, stroker engine package of
choice, etc. I appreciate the old hot rodders that made the factory stuff fast.

you speak of NOTHING you know about   

[RCCDrew]

As far as cheap engine building, it's milling for compression, hand porting, rings and bearings. Back cutting valves is another one.
Recently heard about angle milling heads.

None of These are Cheapskate    

They are all cheapskate compared to going to KMart parts and buying my choice of aftermarket CNC ported aluminum heads, stroker engine package of
choice, etc. I appreciate the old hot rodders that made the factory stuff fast.

you speak of NOTHING you know about  

Hope you're out of pennies.   I'm probably one of the few here that has actually hand knurled valve guides and ground my own valves and seats.

[oldkimmer]

.............I have had cranks offset ground .060 thou to increase stroke and compression at the same time, , also put hyd lifters on a solid cam........kim......

[BSB67]

.............I have had cranks offset ground .060 thou to increase stroke and compression at the same time, , also put hyd lifters on a solid cam........kim......

What bearings do you use?  Didn't know you could get bearings that size?

[HPP]

Offset ground is not the same as undersized ground.

Two ways to do it, offset the grind down to a common bearing size, such as honda, then when replacing rods, get them with the new undersize.

Or, weld one side of each throw, then offset grind to the original  bearing size, use the stock sized rods.

[scratchinfotraction]

I bought a 65 chevy truck with a 472 caddy engine in it. run it hard a few times and got a rod knock. I pulled oil pan and #7 rod cap.

found a cardboard bearing. so I cut another cardboard bearing, then soaked it in STP oil treatment torqued to specs.

sold the truck 3 days same as I bought it. it was a tire smoker as long as the cardboard held out. that guy did it 2x again after he got it. the #7 came out the side.

used pepper more than once on junk rads in a pinch.

used JBWeld to fill a couple holes in freeze plugs before.

[Kern Dog]

What about some of that stuff like banana peels in a gearbox or sawdust?  Old wives tales or...?

I once ran the axle nearly dry in my daily driver Chevy truck.  It made a light whine on acceleration.  Like a complete asshole, I pulled the diff cover and tossed in two handfuls of oak tree sawdust, then sealed it up and added the required amount of 85w90. It didn't get any quieter but didn't get any louder. A few months later I swapped in another axle with better gearing anyway.