I am thinking about picking up a used engine its a basket case 1968 sbo 350. The person says its good to rebuild, crank is good and bores are said to be good. I am pretty sure it has the # 5 heads, will check for them of course. Any other things to check for? I'm new to Olds engines and have not had to much experience with complete rebuilds. Thanks for any input.

 

Does it spin? If it doesn't, could be rust in the cylinder wall or could be a blown up bottom end... Won't know anything until ya get it apart.

 

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This is about all you can do to see if an engine on a pallet is worthy of a rebuild. Once you get it disassembled you can check for cylinder out-of-round with a dial bore gauge.

 

It's a torn down for a rebuild in pieces.

 

Oh, ok. If it's disassembled and you're considering buying it take a true bar and feeler gauges with you to see if the deck and heads are warped. A dial bore gauge is a good tool but checking the cylinders for out-of-round is a little more involved.