ToroToro

I just picked up a 69 Toronado (455) that had been sitting for 37 years with 56K miles. After the carb was rebuilt, tank cleaned and coated, new water pump, new coil and a few other things, I took it for a drive. My bad luck, I spun a rod bearing after 100 miles and now are faced with a couple of hard decisions that I would welcome opinions on from the group. I can have a crank kit installed assuming the damage isn't too bad (still runs well, just knocks hard), but while the shop I use will do it, they will not warranty it because of the high likelihood of other engine problems related to the long period of sitting. OR I can have the engine rebuilt which will be under a full warranty. The difference in cost is several thousand significant.

Which would you do?
If rebuilding, is there anything else I should do while I have it out and open (different cams, roller rockers, etc..) or stay stock?

This will be a weekend/in great weather daily driver. I would like to keep the numbers matching and I'm not looking to race it or anything.

fourtwenty

I would just put a crank kit in and make sure fluids are circulating While it is out you can clean the tranny under hood and what ever else tickles your fancy. Change the thermostat and check the water pump if in doubt swap it out. cheerio and have fun with the ride

lshlsh2

That is a tough one. If it was me in a perfect world I would rebuild. I would lean towards a rebuild anyway. I know with my luck 100 miles after the crank kit something would go wrong in the top end.
Larry

MDchanic

I think after that, I might be inclined to disassemble and clean it, check spring pressures / heights, give galleries a good scrub, clean rings / grooves, new gaskets and seals, but I doubt you would need to replace anything else, aside from gaskets and seals.

It's wintertime - what else do you have to do?

- Eric

cutlassjoe

If you can swing it somehow I would do the rebuild, but things are very tough for everyone right now. Do what you can to keep her on the road.

ToroToro

I should have an estimate on the rebuild after the shop gets into the bottom to check things out for sure. If the mileage reported to me is right, they might be able to just hone the cylinders and not bore with new pistons. That will make a big difference in price and will push me toward a rebuild. Thanks for all the advice so far and I do want to do the right thing for her in the long run, it's just a BIG chunk of unexpected money, not to mention having to explain this to the wife :-) When I had driven 100 miles and started hearing the knock I was scared, but when I slowed to idle and the oil pressure light started flickering, I got a little sick.

Red71

X2

first thing to do is to not run the engine any more. Once apart you and your machinist
can go over what is needed. Probably wont need bored if it has a good maintenance life.

many years ago I had a 72 S that was my daily driver that I ran shizz out of every day.
It spun a rod bearing so I yanked the engine,dropped the pan, pulled the one bad rod cap
off threw new bearing on that 1 rod. Dumped the engine back in and never had a problem with it again.

My friends always say I have unusually good luck w/ that kind of stuff.
so I don't recommend this rout.

only one thing to add to the list of MDchanic is put a new chain and gear.

ToroToro

I am mister no luck, but it keeps things interesting and gives me a great excuse for a killer set of tools. I can do a lot of stuff on cars, but the inside of engines has never been a safe place for me, hence the use of the mechanic

Rickman48

Where are you located? Some of us could tell you the best shops in their area where a compete rebuild might not be so expensive!

ToroToro

Austin TX

joe_padavano

If you've spun the bearing, there are metal filings circulating in the oil, which is why the shop won't warranty the crank kit alone. This is a really good time for the MIGHTASWELLS.

ToroToro

Assuming I am going for a full rebuild and will be using the car for street driving only, should I have the shop use roller parts while leaving everything least the same?

Mitch

Texas Jim

This was my concern as I've read through the replies to this post. Once a metal on metal situation occurs, the particles that go through the oiling system are damaging to everything internal. (This guy, Joe Padavano, seems to be a very knowledgable (Olds) guy who, from what I've seen, and can give you alot of really good direction w/ what you're doing.) And something that sits f/ as many years as this car has, surely has some clogged up oil passages.(-I think I'd have checked to see if oil was getting to the top end, coming through the push rods to the rocker arms, as one of my first checks.)
I have a work van that had a spun bearing when I bought it. I had an old crank, w/ some wear, but ok, and I bought new rod and main bearings, had another old rod in ok shape, the piston I had swapped onto the ok rod and installed the ok crank, bottom end, all w/o any machine work, only cleaning (and plasti-gauging-to be safe), and in short, the engine has run well f/ the past four years and still has alot of life left in it. However, I completely disassembled the engine and cleaned everything; took the varnish off of the rings, all sludge and carbon, etc.. So I gave this engine a complete internal cleaning. Take into consideration that this is a beat-around work van that I WOULD take on a long trip. Had it been a vehicle like you have, and I had the money to do it at the time, I'd completely rebuild the engine. In my mind, there's a difference between my work van and that Toro, as you have a special car there that you want to keep all matching this and that. If your pocket is right, rebuild it correctly, but get an OLDS machinist to do the work, not just a good machinist. And if you have the knowledge, disassemble the engine completely and check the wear yourself. This way you know what needs to be done and you can over-see what is being done to your engine as it's rebuilt, but either way, you'll need a good machinist who has OLDS engine experience. From only reading this site to death and obtaining info/researching on OLDS engines, I've found that they are VERY different from a Chevy, Ford, etc. when it comes to building/machining them correctly (and among other things).
Good luck on your venture w/ that neat car. IMO, the high compression big block Olds engines (the older ones), especially the Toro engines, are unique and worth really doing right. And, like the saying in the old master's machine shop read, (I saw this on the wall, on an old dusty piece of cardboard written in marker, in a machine shop that an old master-type machinist had f/ over 50 years, and it read: "If you don't have the money and time to do it right the first time, where will you get the money and time to do it right the second time?"

joe_padavano

If you are talking about roller rockers and/or cam, not I would not suggest these for an otherwise stock rebuild (not to mention the extra machine work and parts cost). The most important part of a rebuild is to find a machinist who knows how to properly set the valve stem height so you won't have any problems with the non-adjustable valvetrain. Many machine shops are spoiled because Chevy rockers are adjustable and thus the valvetrain is less sensitive to valve stem installed height.

Texas Jim

What I meant about Joe Padavano, and about going to a shop that knows OLDSMOBILE engines, and not just a good shop.

Warhead

"Roller" seems to be the new salesman tagline.

Have your hard earned dollar do something far more usefull.

My Opinion
Jim

cutlassefi

Yeah, explain that if you could please.