ENGINE REBUILD WITHOUT REMOVING CRANK

Sometimes, pulling an engine out and sending to the machine shop can be a big waste of money.

Like anything, it depends on how good the mechanic is - and how thorough.

This talk about "in-frames" only lasting 1/2 as long is rediculous. I worked for three tractor dealerships back to the 1960s. With engine jobs done right - in-frame - or out-of-frame -they'd last 9000 - 10,000 engine hours if done right, used right and taken care of.

When you pull the pan, and pull the rod and main bearing caps - it depends on what you find. Sometimes the crank journals are unworn and as good a new. In that case, new bearings with proper clearance will hold up just as well as a new or reground crank.

You say you've got a knock - so it depends on where it's coming from. If it's a loose wrist-pin, broken piston, etc. - it can easily be changed. If you have a worn crank journal - then you DO have a sitution where you might be able to patch it up but it will NOT be as good as new. I've done many that way when required. Key is to try to get the crank-pin round and smooth and then use slightly undersized bearings. Many companies used to sell .001" and .002" undersize bearings, but that's getting rare.

Most likely, I'll split the ol'thing.

I appreciate you guys!

WORM REGARDS!!! BLINDHAWG

Either replace (prefered) or shim (washers behind the spring) the oil pump to get the pressure up. The nice thing about an in-frame is the lower cost and fast turn around time to do it. A long day and your done. Add time if you are doing the head too.

The bad thing, is that you are only going to get about 1/2 the extra service life that a full rebuild will give. But, you get what you pay for!

BTW, it was the Ford Windsor engine that cured me of any notion of doing a patch up 'rebuild'. I've never seen ONE that responded well to that. You go through them from top to bottom and do them right or send the whole damn thing to the bone yard.

Rod

I don"t know the specifics of your engine. If the problem is the #1 rod, you can remove the bearing cap and mic the rod journal and visually examine it.(You"ll have to remove the rods to get the piston"s out.) If it"s scored or mics out bad, you have two choices, pull the crank and get it fixed correctly. (You"ll more than likely have other problems on the crank that have not began to get audible.)Or, you can waste your time with the rest of the rebuild and fit a bearing on the bad journal and button her up. Than you can wait for a more damaging failure that will have you looking for rods and cranks and maybe a new block and your going to have to split the darn tractor anyway.

If you suspect the #1 main is bad, you may be able to pull the cap off of it and examine it. Someone else who has direct knowledge of your specific engine may be able to tell you how easy that is. You might be able to check all the mains one at a time.
That said, you"re making a big effort here why not do it correctly. Plan to examine all the main and rod journals at least and if they"re bad, split the tractor and do the complete job. IT"S ALWAYS CHEAPER TO DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME! If $"s are the issue, save up and do the complete job later.