"Loren Coe" wrote in message
news:Rpicb.563624$YN5.396192@sccrnsc01...
In article , Harold & Susan Vordos
wrote:

"D" wrote in message
...
I have never rebuilt a Toyota engine but have several air-cooled VWs
under
my belt. I highly recommend doing it... something about firing it up
after
it is all done that is most satisfying....
-- David
....
Yep, I fully agree. Over the years I've done major rebuilds on a half
dozen
engines, bored, ground cranks, bearings, balanced, new pistons, cams,
lifters, valve jobs, the works. There's no greater feeling than
starting an
engine that you have had in pieces. What a fine tribute to a workman to
assemble a couple hundred parts properly, and see them perform. The
one
thing I don't recommend, however, is to re-ring an engine, especially
one
with miles on it. By the time the new rings "seat" (which they often
don't
do because of the irregular cylinders), you're likely to have a modest
oil
burner. If the truck is worth the effort, spend the extra few hundred
to
bore the cylinders and get new pistons. Tapered, out of round cylinders
are
a pain in the arse. Sort of ruins an otherwise super rebuild job to
leave
them. I practice what I preach, even though it's not cheap.

many pro's don't consider any engine w/o sleeves to be rebuildable,
often they start burning oil at low miles (20M or so). of course,
that opinion is from guys who work mostly on diesel or tractor
engines, don't believe the cheap auto machine shops can do a real
proper job with boring.

many hotroders will disagree, tho, and of course that is a huge
industry, too. my very limited experience tells me that sleeves
are not for the weekend amateur, so the point may be moot. Mecedes
gas engines used to be sleeved. --Loren

Interesting! I'm afraid I'd have to come down on the side of the
hotroders in this instance. I've bored all but one of the engines I've
rebuilt and have had outstanding results. I might agree with not boring a
diesel, where compression ratio is very high and thinning the walls might
lead to problems, but for a gas engine, even one with 10:1 compression,
I've always had very good results. The sleeved engines offer one
advantage, that of one being able to do a complete rebuild and still use
standard parts, though pulling and pushing the sleeves sure isn't exactly a
shade tree industry.

Harold