Long lasting engines

Since its not a every day driver, and when you do drive it, you take care not running wide open to keep up with the other cars, and oil is a good as it comes now, I would say years and years, we just add the topic bought up at the last meeting one member has 32 years never drop the pan, and this is touring car, That does not mean everyone will get the usage but and good tight motor and a nice warm shop good oil and a light foot should equal to many many miles , but that does not stop you from building more motors if you want to ;)
 
glen on a off note, Just got a coupe form your area ., does your state require that you register it every year the reason I'm saying this is i found little white paper from 65 to 91, Mississippi only one time, unless you sell it
 
I heard or read some where that the mains and rods should be checked for clearence at 10K miles after a rebuild. I did that on one of my cars and found NO wear, no shims removed, etc. My thoughts are, as has been stated in this thread, unless it is absolutely necessary, leave it alone.
 
The engine in mine was done in 1961.. I removed the pan last year to replace the crank gear and decided to clean it since it was off.. It wasn't very dirty and the bearings didn't need to be adjusted.. They were all pretty much at .0015".. I tried to re-set the rods to .001" but it wasn't worth the trouble.. This car just putters around at 35-40 mph..
 
New babbitt compresses and glazes over, and this will increase oil clearance. Usually though, if you can't hear it then you're o.k.. BUT, if you hear the slightest hint of a knock then tighten the bearings RIGHT NOW. Don't continue to run the engine.

I have always advised people, who are installing a Brumfield Head on an older engine, to check all the bearings before installing the head whether they can hear anything or not. Even though no noise is heard, the clearances might be excessive enough that they're not far from it. Adding on a head like a Brumfield at this point, which produces considerable torque, may pound the bearing a little on a hard run.

Larry B.
 
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Jim Boehmke's last Coupe was purchased in 1980. It was pretty well worn! The odmoter read 25,822 miles. He took up on the bearings and never touched it again. He never drove it very fast as it was just driven locally, but was driven every day. When he sold it in June of '07 the odometer read 18,395 miles. Yep that's right, 92,573 miles added on an already worn engine. There were no knocks when he sold it. However the Fumaze oil breather/ diverter was working full time!!!

When folks think an engine lasted 65k miles "because it was driven slowly in those days", they are all wet. That is a car that was USED! The cylinders wore faster than the original babbitt bearings and if all is normal then you would get signs of piston slap when the bearings are still fine with shims remaining in most locations.
 
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