Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » [GMCnet] My Engine builder, and the case of the hard-to-find pistons
| [GMCnet] My Engine builder, and the case of the hard-to-find pistons [message #362279] |
Sun, 07 February 2021 17:38  |
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fitzmorrispr
Messages: 137
Registered: February 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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I don't recall if I posted previously on it here, or not, so, my tale of
woe, or at least of worry (to skip, Ctrl-F for "which leads me to wonder"):
As some may recall, my '73 has had a bit of an engine knock, on cylinder
#8. I'd hoped it wasn't the bearings, but had no good way to check. The
fact that pulling the plug wire cured it during testing, multiple times
made me suspect that, even though it only knocked in time with valvetrain
and ignition, it must still be the bottom end.
So back in August of 2020, I drove it to a storage yard that said I could
work on it in their yard, borrowed a gantry from Grant Schaffer (who has
been extremely generous about it) and pulled the motor. Then I sought out a
builder, since as a returning college student, I didn't have much time to
learn by doing, and didn't want my learner motor to be one that's quite so
hard to pull.
Well,
I found a guy who used to run a performance rebuild shop out in Yucca
Valley, and he sure sounded like he knew what he was talking about, and so
I ultimately ended up going to him.
To keep the price down, I agreed to have him swap my unique parts over to a
motor he had previously built for another customer (who had sold it back
because his car got burnt in the wildfires up in central CA before he could
install it) and take some of the performance parts out in favor of those
more suited to the motorhome.
Or so the story goes. I think it's probably mostly true, though most of my
friends doubt him.
He came out and picked it up on September 21st, and was ballparking a six
week turnaround, as he's semi-retired, and he hadn't fetched back the fresh
motor yet. Like a dummy, I paid him up front, in cash, and didn't get a
receipt.
About a week later, I got a picture of my old motor (which had '75
passenger car stickers on the valve cover, so probably not original) with
intake hanging in the air above it. He noted it had an aftermarket style
gasket, and no bathtub gasket, and that the crossover had been left open.
About a week after that, he called to discuss ordering a new timing cover
and intake manifold (my timing cover was bent at one of the holes where a
nut was supposed to be welded on, with a large machine screw poked through
from the back to clamp the wp gasket there, and he says my factory intake
was cracked).
He talked me into that one vintage square bore one, think it's an o4mc,
telling me I could get a deep dish air cleaner and put on TBI parts, which
is something I wanted to do, but not just yet. The intake was due to arrive
10/16. we texted back and forth about other pieces I would need for the
project, and prep work I would need to do. on 10/22 he told me the manifold
had arrived, and that he'd figure out what bolts he needed as soon as the
box was open. Then he went radio silent. I was pretty busy with college
courses, so I didn't really notice
I tried to reach him on 11/16, and on 12/6, I asked what the chances were
of me seeing a motor before christmas. He said they were "Getting pretty
good." and that "it's a long story you probably don't need to hear."
I expressed some understanding, and told him I would really like to see it
in about a week, when I would have time to really buckle down and get the
job done. I tried a couple times to get further response, finally
succeeding when on 1/2/21 he replied to my 12/31/20 message where I asked
what the deal was, when he said:
"One complete set of L2390F-40 or L2390F-60 and I can finally finish this
project. The -40 is preferred. I have searched every where and cannot find
any from vendors, and the factory just keeps moving the promised delivery
date up. There is nothing I can do without the part. It is not me delaying
the project. Lots of parts are turning out to just be unavailable during
this Covid nonsense.
I do understand your frustration. I am in the same situation with two other
projects."
Frustrated is a mild word. I've almost moved into the Sixth Stage of Grief
here. It's been 19 weeks, and I've been almost wholly out of the loop. not
that I necessarily want to know what personal tragedy has contributed to
the delay, but at least tell me what's going on once a fortnight.
Anyway, I haven't heard from him since. My own searching does agree, nobody
seems to stock those low compression forged pistons. (it also seems that
Sealed Power no longer has the part number in their systems, only L2323F
turns up anything on their catalog:
https://www.drivcat.com/overlays/part-detail.aspx?pNum=L-2323F&partType=POWERFORGED%20Piston&brandId=SD
)
so the story seems to check out.
I don't think he's scamming me, as some have suggested. He hasn't charged
me any additional amount, despite ostensibly ordering parts, and he has
continued to communicate, if sporadically. If I was a mark, I'd have
expected him to try to get more money out of me, or to have decided there
wasn't any more to get, and so cut off contact.
Which leads me to wonder, since I think the motor legitimately needs
pistons, what, aside from the dish depth, (apparently, 0.142 on the 23, and
.306 on the 90) is the difference between an L2323F and an L2390F? could
one be machined to match the other? Has anybody got a set laying around?
How important is it to go with forged pistons, would it really be so bad to
go with cast ones?
My last message to him, earlier today, was to ask if maybe that piston
machine work could be done, and to say that if he can't come up with a
solution soon, i'll need my cash & core back, so I can take my FWD parts
off and use them to stuff some used motor out of a 442 or something in
there. I want this thing back on the road.
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The Greatfruit: 1973, 26', Canyon Lands or Painted Desert, in Pineapple Yellow
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