<VV> If it ain't broke don't fix it??

[Dan & Synde]

I had a mishap with my engine in my Greenbrier a while back (3 years!!) that
I had to put off repairing until now due to moving, changing jobs etc.
Consequently, the van went into cyrogenic suspension for 3 year until a cure
was found.   I now have the time and money and torn it down to have a look.
The van had been a daily driver (20,000 miles a year) but now will only see
about 5,000 mile a year.  

The engine is a 164cu 110hp.  I had a problem with the cam gear and so the
reason for taking it off the road.  The engine has about 100,000 miles on
the lower end on a complete rebuild.  The heads were done about 30,000 ago
with new guides and seats by a competent machinist with air cooled engine
experience.  I checked the heads over for wear per the manual and they are
in great condition so I just lapped in the valves.  The end play in the
crankshaft however was close to .014 which is way out of tolerance, I think
the manual says .006 Max. I checked the block for wear both at the cam
bearings and main saddles and they are within tolerance. The lifter bores
are in great shape too.  It appears that the excessive end play in the
crank damaged the cam gear (cast).  Checked against a new crank bearing,
most of the excessive endplay appears to be due to a bad crank grind.  For
some reason, the thrust surface on the crankshaft is worn down but it is
smooth like it was ground that way( I never checked it after it came back
from the grinder.....DOLT!!!  I do check that now...).  Anyway, I have a new
reground crankshaft, new camshaft, new cam gear, lifters, bearings, oil pump
etc for it.  

I built the engine originally so I know what I put in it.  The cylinders are
a .030 bore with TRW forged pistons, moly rings, balanced rods and pistons
that have 100,000 miles on them.  I havn't broken them apart, just removed
them as units from the engine block.  I pushed the piston to the top and
bottom of the bore and measured the tolerance.  I can't really measure any
wear at all.  Less than .001.  The cylinders are smooth and when I last ran
the engine it was not burning oil and had great compression.  What is the
likelyhood of just putting the engine back together with the cylinders as
they are?  How many mile is typical for TRW pistons and moly rings on a
Corvair motor?  I changed the oil and filter religiously every 3,000 miles
and the engine was never abused other than the cam gear incident ( lost a
few teeth but continued to run!!).

It is no longer my commuter car but I want it to be dependable at 5000 miles
a year for a few more years.  Should I assume all is well and use the
cylinder sets as is or should I hone/re-ring?  Other ideas?       


Dan Kling
1961 Greenbrier Deluxe, red\white,4spd 3.89 THAWED!!
1963 Monza Spyder, chassis off resto.  no engine yet......

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