New member/SD22 powered S10

[pbknowles]

About me: I am an engineering tech in the aerospace industry, worked my way through college as an automotive and aircraft mechanic, play with old Brit cars and sailboats.
About my truck: I bought this truck off eBay a while ago....I don't have any pics (and wouldn't know how to post them if I did). It is a plain jane truck, no power anything. I knew the body was rough when I bought it, but I'm not much into appearances, so didn't care. I have an '86 F350 with a 6.9 that I pull my boat and cars around with, but it was eating me alive in fuel--still is. Drove over to Ohio from Illinois to pick it up with a trailer, arrived tired, not exercising best judgement and anxious to get started home again...not a good combination. It started right up and was structurally OK so off I went. After I got home and tried to drive it, the trouble started. Was using a quart of oil in about 40 miles. After much pressure washing and fixing of leaks I got it down to a quart in 200 miles. Emailed back and forth with the seller.....turns out the engine in the truck was not the same one that was in it when he created his glowing reports of efficiency. That one had been overheated and seized, and it had been replaced with one of unknown condition, then promptly listed on eBay. (the seized engine came with the truck, as did two transmissions, one with a gas front case, and one with a diesel front case, but someone had torched the input shaft off to make an alignment tool. Of course the eBay listing just said two spare trannys and a spare engine, my bad for not asking about condition I guess). So the guy finally agrees to ship me a known good engine at his expense. OK, problem solved I think. I keep using the truck and it actually runs pretty good and returns decent mileage, but still uses a ton of oil. So this past Sat. I decide, enough of the oil burning, time to change them out. Problem is the "good" engine turns over a little stiff. Pull the head to have a look-see and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a mouse nest and associated pee-induced corrosion! (In all fairness it probably was a good engine once apon a time, before they stored it in a barn, little to no cylinder wear, nice and clean inside). So now my current plan is to use the bottom end of that one with a quick hone and new rings, the head from the first one with new valve seals, and try to get a useable truck yet! After I get the engine and tranny sorted out I plan to pull it and install it in a mint condition Hillmann Minx DHC (Just kidding, that was for Al) Sorry for the ramble.....
PK

[asavage]

You can swap input shaft from the gasser trans if need be. For more info, see my thread on the topic (search for FS5W71b).

If you did A&P, you already know I'm sure, but for others: When re-ringing only (ie not boring the cyls), watch out for bore taper and bore eccentricity. Bores do not wear equally around, they wear more at the top, and they wear oval. You can't hone an oval into a circle, and you are putting circular rings into an oval bore, hoping that either the bore or the rings will accomodate the other.

Excessive taper means the pistons' ring lands will be so worn that even new rings won't be able to perform correctly hydraulically.

Anyway, for info on the SD engines, you've come to the right place, Phil. And if you upload pics to me (use this page) and let me know you did, I'll host them for you and send you URLs you can use in a post. Or you can choose to host them elsewhere too. Personally, I'm always interested in pics and info on clean engine swaps, esp. the tricky bits.