I am going to purchase a 5.9 in the spring to put into a street car, and am thinking it might be worth paying less for a higher mileage motor and throwing a set of rings and bearings in it, and a valve job. I don't want to get into having machine work done, so it boils down to using a dickey ball hone, and a rering plus bearings for the bottom end. With the stock rings being molly coated, I don't want to goof this up if a dickey ball hone is too course or other problems. It will be getting a bigger cam plus matching springs, and a new timing chain whether I rebuild the rest or not. Anything else I need to consider to make this a decent motor I can sell down the road? Comments?

I've been a big fan of dingle ball rebuilds.

What's wrong with getting a good running engine in the first place?


Is this a temporary engine? Is that why you're concerned with flipping it later?

Comments,

Hmm, spending money on fancy frosting and using sawdust for flour in the cake.

If you have the money for a cam and lifters you probably have money for the machine shop to clean, inspect and hone instead.

But I ain't a flipper.

Course, it'd be much cheaper to run gear oil in the engine than a dingle ball rebuild so there is always that.

And Merry Christmas to you, too, SC.

At 100K miles my Mom's 318 had no ridge and still had honing marks in the cylinders. Valve stems were at the outside edge of OK, using the Chrysler wiggle test. All 16 valves sealed. I used a ball hone, added new bearings and rings, checked the seats by lapping just a little, installed new guide seals and put the motor together. It started right off and never used oil or had any other symptoms one would suspect of a cheapo "overhaul". I could have reused the bearings, they were unmarked.

Now on to the Brush hone...they are available in several different grits, you use the one that works for the rings you are putting in.

It's really easy to spend someone else's money.

My friend always bought engines from crashed cars because they'd been running right up to the accident. That worked for him.

R.

Time of the year has nothing to do with it, you apparently missed the part about the OP spending money of frivolous add ons without ensuring a sound foundation first.

I'd get a rering kit & go extra for some file fit Moly rings & iirc the dingle berry grit for them is a 320. I would square up the gaps on an old ring & check the taper and out of round to at least see where you are at and use a ridge reamer WITH CARE, pull the cutter toward you & dont remove all of the ridge around the circumference cux it don't cut even and you dont want to get into the cyls. A good timing chain set with the 3 keyways so you can advance it 4 deg (you are keeping the stock cam I gathered). Flexhone has a procedure for strokes/speed etc & worth the 5 minute ph call.

The only "frivolous add-ons" i saw were this:
"It will be getting a bigger cam plus matching springs, and a new timing chain whether I rebuild the rest or not."

My Merry Christmas was irony, pointing to the sarcastic, mean reply from SC.

R.

If it's a higher mileage rebuild as you suggest, you might want to go the extra few bucks and throw in a new oil pump, perhaps the $5.95 high oil pressure relief spring and cupped plug, and I've always been a big fan of the windage tray, which you can occasionally find around here cheaper than dirt... Get you some new viton oil seals too, and your ready for ask comers.. Regards,
Jeff

SG, don't bother to answer my posts any more. Look in my sig for where I've been and done over the last forty seven years. The only work to build that entire car that was not done by me was engine machine work, paint and tin interior.
Thanks to everyone else. I am hoping to get a good running motor out of a boneyard, but sometimes you might not get what you pay for and may have to freshen it up so the next owner gets something of value. In 1976 I sold a well built 440 to a guy, and made it right when it proved to be hurt when inspected like I promised. We are good friends to this day, and he still drives around with that same motor, as it was delivered, to this day. THAT is what is important to me.
Feets, I am gathering parts for a Gen III Hemi project, and have most of it, but need this motor to fill the void for a while. It would cost too much to fix the tired/hurt 318 in my street Dart considering it will have a lot less value when done, IMHO.
From what I see on the parts locater high mileage 5.9 Magnums go for 300, really low mileage ones go for 650 to 800 or more. Here is the car this is planned for.

i dont know specifics but there is a couple things u have to watch out for when putting 5.9 in a bodys.are u gonna use serpentine if so u need brackets out of jeep grand cherokee or van

I have a garage full of salvage 5.9s at the moment. With their slim moly ring pack they tend to be very easy on the bores. The first one I took apart the cylinders looked great but need for bearings. The uppers were wore to the copper but the crank checked fine. The second problem was the cam bearings 1-4 were flaking badly. Timing chain was loose as goose. Also noticed the cam had a couple lobes wearing and some of the plating on the lifter rollers was pitting as well. The second engine I disassembled looked almost the exact same way. Bores were good but needed cam, lifters,and timing set. Both engines have somewhere between 140-160k on them. The first engine is currently in my Dakota and being raced without issue. No blowby or leaks. I never bothered to pull the crank, dingle berry honed the cylinders, pressed on some STD. KB 107s w/ fresh moly rings, replaced the first 4 cam bearings, all rod bearings, cam, lifters, and timing set. The main bearings looked perfect so I left them. As for the heads, they were cracked like all of them and the exhaust seats were wide on both motors. So expect them to need similar attention or better yet replace them with an improved aftermarket piece. Hope this helps.

Thanks again for replies. I plan on a carb and LA style V belt for the front. Thanks D150, should I ever decide to go that route, that info is appreciated.

I'm pretty happy this topic came up! 2017 will be a build year for my 47 Dodge truck. It will be on a Dakota Chassis, and the drive train will be used, out of a Craig's List truck and will retain the EFI. The trans will get freshened up with clutch & steel pack and new seals. I was also thinking about doing a ring & bearing rebuild on the motor.

The finished truck will be a daily driver, probably getting driven 8,000 - 10,000 miles a year, and will never make a trip down the quarter mile. I'll probably be bored with the truck long before it sees 100,000 miles with me. I hope to have the truck on the road by mid summer, 2017!

A full on motor rebuild is not in the cards, options are a quick ring & bearing job, or get installed as is and hope for the best. From what I hear, 250K miles on a 5.2 or 5.9 Magnum is not asking for a lot, and if I can refresh the major wear parts at 130K, the motor will probably outlive me, or out live the truck, or at least its usefulness to me.

A stock 5.2 or 5.9 Magnum should be a lot of fun in a 3,000 lbs truck! Gene

As long as the cylinders don't have a big ridge, a dingle ball hone job wouldn't scare me a bit.

Decreasing the typical 0.080 to 0.100 quench clearance ought to be thought about