Hello PagodaMen
Today I picked up my just-rebuilt short block M130.980 from my engine builder.
As many of you SF Bay Area First Sunday Drivers may know, the WORST PLACE to be is: following me, as our caravan of Pagodas careens over hill and dale along the great country roads we have in this area.
My currently installed engine could be justifiably nicknamed "ole smokie" . It will dependably oil-foul the number 5 plug after about five tankfuls of gas. If that were not bad enough, there is also a death-rattle coming from one of the rod bearings. It has been living on borrowed time for almost four years now and over 5,000 miles. In 2005 I took a gamble and put a rebuilt head on this "condition-unknown" bottom end, but the time has come to retire it. How close I actually came to catastrophic failure is unknown. I guess this feat can be attributed to the robust design qualities of this engine.
Many of you may know this already, but it is a real chore these days to locate and obtain a set of pistons for this engine. ADSIT Co. in Indiana finally came through but they cost me $1800.00 !! In all fairness, Metric Motors also had them but the price was almost the same. None of the run-of-the-mill parts houses, engine suppliers or web-stores stocked them.
Cost breakdown for the work: In round numbers the machine work, including the build-up, was $2200. I had obtained this engine (including ALL the accessories) last summer for a paltry $125.00 from a guy who removed it from his '71 280SEL so he could put a 460 Ford V-8 in the car. GO FIGURE! I guess I got lucky because the crank and block both turned out to be quite serviceable. It was re-bored to 2nd oversize.
Starting now my month of April will be designated as "operation: engine transplant"
Regards to All, Larry in CA (NOTE: respirators will no longer be necessary on our FSD's)
