I inherited a 62 olds starfire. I've rebuilt sbc & sbf but never an olds 394ci. The tranny was recently rebuilt so I'm good there. My father told me one piston skirt broke so I assume a few more are cracked. On the drive back from Michigan it started knocking after it got to hot. My cousin had the timing retarded. I believe the knocking is a piston not a rod bearing but I could be wrong. I plan to just rebuild the engine. Does anyone know of a place I can buy a 394ci rebuild manual? Also does this tranny just unbolt like any other automatic from the block? Should I pull tranny and engine together like I have in the past then unbolt the tranny? Any info would be appreciated. P.S. Engine ran fine and was not smoking still runs and there is no knock at idle.

 

Look for a factory service manual on e-bay .it will show you how things come apart and prevent you from guessing and ruining something besides your day.
There are guys on this forum that know these cars well and have a lot of info on them. If you can post some pic's ,People love pic's here.
Welcome and good luck.

 

Welcome to CO and great choice for a car, the 62 starfire is a great car.
You can find a complete rebuild kit at Kanter in N.J., you can get pistons from Terrill in Texas.
I've rebuilt several of these engines and they are not cheap to rebuild.
The main bearings are only available in + sizes ( I haven't been able to find stock)
I use the Fel Pro gasket set or the Best gasket set depending on availability.
The engine will come out without the transmission being attached, when removing the dampener plate from the flywheel make sure
that you mark which side is against the flywheel. The difference when installed could create a problem and brake the pump on the front of the transmission.
You will have to support the transmission as the mounts are only on the front supporting both engine and transmission.
You should get the 61 manual and the 62 supplemental manual as they work together for 62.
Good Luck
Steve

 

I'm trying to figure out how to post a pic. Not very experienced at this. I'll have to wait for my son to show me how. I just don't get it.

 

Here's a pic. Sorry it's so big. I barely figured out how to do it.

 

Welcome to CO. I like the car and those wheels. Do it right and do it once. Good luck.

 

Nice car, love that color. Good luck with the rebuild.

 

Are they Keystone wheels on that? They actually look good on it

 

Oh yeah! Love those Keystone Classics!

 

Just a reminder that is a very high compression engine for a stock car and probably won't tolerate any low octane fuel. That might be why your pistons went south, ping is a problem with these cars with today's gas.... Tedd