Spin it, bring a battery, cables etc,, do a compression test if possible. No way to pressure test a coolant system in a guy's garage; what else can be done to keep from throwing money away?
Spin it, bring a battery, cables etc,, do a compression test if possible. No way to pressure test a coolant system in a guy's garage; what else can be done to keep from throwing money away?
Old style Stant radiator pressure pump add a bunch of hoses and clamps, some dowels,assorted core plugs, and you can air pressure test the cooling system. Look at your engine and hoses to figure what you need.
You can get a cheap borescope that transmits to your phone to look into cylinders and other passages.
Big crowbar to check end play on the crank
I always buy an engine knowing I am immediately going to tear it down to the crank and rebuild it.
leakdown test. Much better than compression and you dont need a battery to spin it,
If it's the engine in the photo, as long as there's no rods hung out the side, it's worth it.
If you need it...
If you can, pull the pan and look for bearing material, milky oil, etc.
Just finding one is a rarity and if you're lucky enough to be able to buy it, you buy it. Regardless of condition, if it's a complete engine, you load it up and consider yourself lucky. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
OK...what the hell is that motor. (Asking for a friend)
Rog
Quite honestly, I'd yank the heads. It's easy enough on a flathead. If he wants a nonrefundable deposit before you do, it's worth it to know if this block is also cracked or poorly repaired sometime in the last 80 years.
You already have a good rotating assembly and everything else, right? Or at least enough bits to come up with one good one. So all that matters is block integrity.
boulder_dweeb said:OK...what the hell is that motor. (Asking for a friend)
Rog
Amen.
The Delco Remy distributor suggest circa 1930 GM, but not aware of any GM flatheads personally.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to NOHOME :
Caddy made flatheads up into the 1940s.
Does look like a Caddy/LaSalle, doesn't it?
Are you wanting to build a sidewalk? There are easier ways but I bet not as flat.
Is that olive drab green? Military use?
In reply to NermalSnert (Forum Supporter) :
The all original '40 Cadillac V8 that I did some service work to was painted that color, although apparently some military vehicles did get these engines. It wasn't like GM was going to be putting any into cars for a while, after all.
In reply to boulder_dweeb :
1937 Cadillac 322 flattie, 3.375 bore and a VERY long stroke.
boulder_dweeb said:OK...what the hell is that motor. (Asking for a friend)
Rog
Cadillac 322 Flathead
Are you hoping to just swap this in - in place of the other one - and have a running driving car?
I always prefer to rebuild what I have, so I then know what I have rather than taking a chance on someone else's work.
If it's priced well, I'd go for it but plan on rebuilding mine anyway.
With a battery - if there's oil in the crankcase and a starter motor, with a few jump leads you can fire it up right there in the driveway.
The one above didn't work out. Another one 300 miles closer to home. This one is a 1941 346 c.i. in lieu of the 322; same block just punched out a bit by factory. Sounds like it's got all the stuff, Pertronix runs on 12V? So maybe it's already converted to 12. I have good, magged and milled 322 heads which will increase the compression from 6.5 : 1 to something more.
Thoughts?
In reply to 914Driver :
If it's in good shape, jump on it. The 346 seems to have more documentation available, so it may be a bit easier to work with.
I'll drop this right here.
https://www.modifiedcadillac.org/documents/
Make sure you check out 1944 and the Shop Manuals.
$2500 seems like a lot to me for an engine with unknown condition......is the other one you already have not rebuildable?
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