billsbird

Hi Everyone, I have an engine that hasn't been started in 9 years. I
put a combination Marvel's Mystery Oil, Transmission Fluid & Diesel Fuel in the
cylinders and let it soak for a couple of months. Last night I took the heads off
of it and one of the cylinders has a rust spot in it about the size of a silver dollar. What should I/can I do about this??? I also pulled the Oil Pan and everything looked alright. How can I get the rust off??? Thank You, Bill

415 small block Chev w/ Aluminum heads. Forged pistons. Any other info needed??? Oh, the motor isn't frozen up.....

Dryseals

Theres not much you can do, rust is rust. Try to determine if it surface rust or rust eating into the cylinder. A light steel wool may clean it up enough to run. If its deep into the cylinder then you don't have many choices, bore, hone or sleeve.

61695

If you get real lucky you can get away with only honing that 1 cylinder. Pull out the piston and see if its scuffed. If it mics ok and your not going to run this engine to hard.

billsbird

......Thank you Dryseals, Bill

billsbird

.....Thank You 61695, I'm going to try to steal wool {or someone else said
to try 320 wet/dry with transmisson oil} on it. Then honing if I have to.
I forgot to mention that this motor sat for 9 years and ran fine when I shut
it off back then. The only reason this cylinder had rust in it was because the
spark plug was out of this one clyinder . So I don't imagine that the piston is
scuffed, or could it be??? Bill

TheNovaMan

The piston shouldn't be scuffed unless you turned the engine over with the rust in it. But even then I'd be more concerned about the rings, especially if they're moly rings.

If you haven't turned it over, try some fine (000 or 0000) steel wool. You can use oil or trans fluid with that too, which would also be a good way to keep the rust from falling down onto the piston. Wet the steel wool with just enough oil to lubricate the spot and doesn't run down and carry the rust down to the piston.

billsbird

......The engine wasn't turned over to a point where the pistons hit the rust. I only turned it by hand and then only far enough to see that it wasn't frozen {for some reason the rust seems to be up & away from the top of the pistons}.

I used 400 wet/dry sandpaper & 0000 steel wool on it {with transmission fluid}. On two of the cylinders it came right off but on one cylinder it must be deeper. It still has a little bit different 'look' to it & it 'feels' different. Not as 'smooth' a feel. Not sure if I should just keep sanding or what??? Thanks a bunch Nova Man! Bill

TheNovaMan

No problem. I'm guessing there's little or no crosshatch left in the cylinders. If that's the case, I'm not surprised that the sanded spots don't feel as smooth. Use finer sandpaper (at least 500 grit) to finish it off, and try to make your own crosshatch pattern. As for the stubborn spot, I guess I'd just sand until it goes away. The worst that can happen is you put it back together and that cylinder doesn't seal up quite as well as the others.

Let us know how it goes.

billsbird

......Ok, I'll just sand until it goes away! So THATS why it feels different, no
crosshatch left in the cylinders {hummm crosshatch???, I learn something new everyday on this site ..... I'll go get some 500 grit wet/dry tomorrow...... The bummer is that I was going to send this engine to Kansas to be put in a '32 Ford that I'm having built. Now I'm leary of doing so. Think may be I should consider going with a different set-up. May be a World Products or Dart set-up??? Can't afford it all at once but could 'swing' building it a little at a time......I don't want my brand new '32 smoking right off the bat!!! Thanks again, Bill

TheNovaMan

First of all, honing requires complete disassembly, which then requires new bearings, rings, and gaskets. Then there's no guarantee that it can just be honed. It might have to go to the next oversize, which means new pistons, which means rebalancing. Suddenly it costs alot of money.

Bill, I'd just put it back together, throw it in the '32 and drive it. I don't think it'll really smoke that much, and you can save the money you would have spent rebuilding the 415 and spend it on a crazier motor later.

billsbird

.... Pete, yes honing is WAY above my skill level, without a doubt. hummm, yeah I don't want to get into the new everything and all. Plus the block is already .060 over. When I got the block it was just fine with the stock bore, but no, I couldn't settle for 400 cu. in's. Nor would 406 satisfy me. Just had to go all the way out to 415 and 'get' those extra 15 cubes! .... Yeah good advice Pete, I'll sand out the bad spots, put it back together & fire it up....... Although I do need to put new lifters in cuz the old ones fell out {woops,} when I turned the motor upside down. I have no idea which ones go where. Aren't you suppose to put them back in the same lifter hole??? I guess I can use the same cam???
Should I have the heads checked??? Someone told me that the valve guides can go bad??? Thanks, Bill

ps. Pete, you have a '70 Nova 396??? I once had a '69 396 Nova. Had A LOTof
fun it it!

TheNovaMan

Do you have roller lifters? If so, reusing the old ones shouldn't be a problem. If you have a flat-tappet cam, then using new lifters is not recommended. The most reasonable explaination I have read is that cams are nitrided when they are new, but the nitriding wears off as the cam and lifters wear in. If you put new lifters on worn (soft) cam lobes, you'll probably have at least one wiped lobe. With the low cost of cam and lifter kits, I'd say get a new kit.

IF you absolutely MUST use new lifters on your old cam, do this to give your cam a fighting chance: chuck each lifter in a high speed lathe, and polish them a little with solvent-wetted 600-grit sandpaper. The bottom of a flat-tappet lifter is slightly rounded, so you don't want to do this with the lifter in your hand and the sandpaper on a flat surface. (In the interest of honesty, this advice was pretty much straight from How to Hotrod Big Block Chevys by Bill Fisher and Bob Waar. It's one of my all-time favorite books.)


Yes, Novas are lots of fun, and so easy to work on compared to new cars. My Nova just has a 350 in it right now, but I have an LS6 454 I'm working on.

billsbird

Pete, Its a flat tappet Hydralic so I'll just get a new cam & lifters. I would like
a little bigger cam anyway so its not a problem.... Thank you Bill

LS6 454??? That'll be quick

TheNovaMan

Yeah, IF I can hook. It's gonna get a 4-speed swap at the same time.

billsbird

....hummm, when I look into my 'crystal ball' do I see Mickey Thompson
Wrinkle Wall Slicks on your Nova???? Bill