I went and did it! I have an '81 380slc that I just love, but the engine died with 265K miles on it. It burned oil, ran very smooth, but lost all power. A check of the compression revealed that most of the cylinders were in the 60 PSI range.
I could not bring my self to junking the car and after researching all the threads in this and other forums, I decided that I was going to rebuild the engine, and not just rebuild it, but do the job to original OEM specs complete with the Alusil lapping of the cylinders. These cars are pretty rare with only 1,500 imported to the USA. With the natural attrition from being wrecked or worn out and abandoned or most likely torn apart from the inside as a result of the single timing chain, my hope is I'll have a rare classic that is both fun to drive and maybe worth keeping.
The story is further complicated by the fact that the transmission leaks like sieve, so that is going to be dealt with too.
I hope to keep those who are interested in doing something like this informed so they can make their own decision whether or not they want to try this. --Finally I would welcome feedback from others on their experience in working on their engines as I rebuild the engine.
This is going to be an ongoing thread over the next several weeks.
So here are copies of my invoices detailing my decision to go down this path.
This is the block I got back.
In the words of my favorite comic, "And away we go!"
Tomorrow I will discuss my choice of machine shops.
I could not bring my self to junking the car and after researching all the threads in this and other forums, I decided that I was going to rebuild the engine, and not just rebuild it, but do the job to original OEM specs complete with the Alusil lapping of the cylinders. These cars are pretty rare with only 1,500 imported to the USA. With the natural attrition from being wrecked or worn out and abandoned or most likely torn apart from the inside as a result of the single timing chain, my hope is I'll have a rare classic that is both fun to drive and maybe worth keeping.
The story is further complicated by the fact that the transmission leaks like sieve, so that is going to be dealt with too.
I hope to keep those who are interested in doing something like this informed so they can make their own decision whether or not they want to try this. --Finally I would welcome feedback from others on their experience in working on their engines as I rebuild the engine.
This is going to be an ongoing thread over the next several weeks.
So here are copies of my invoices detailing my decision to go down this path.
This is the block I got back.
In the words of my favorite comic, "And away we go!"
Tomorrow I will discuss my choice of machine shops.