Pieces of steel in cylinder??

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Cuda416 said:
You're not wrong, but that motor might be toast. He needs to dig into it and find out before spending a bunch of money that might otherwise go to a "possibly" more cost effective solution.
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I hope it's not. I was hoping worst case was bore and more pistons. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
 
Good Thread going here, like it.
Help the OP get to the first stage of diagnostics, he has a real good idea where to go with his next steps. A little more digging and figuring then come up with a solution to get her fixed.

Like the 318s and 904s . . .
 
George Jets said:
Yes sounds like a typical craigslist sale
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Perhaps. Super nice guy, had a VERY nice GTX in the garage, and I’m maybe a bit more trusting than is good for me. He’s actually the one who told me about this forum. He probably also sniffed out my ignorance from a mile away. I might be one of the smartest guys in the room when it comes to woodworking tools, but I’ll admit I have a TON to learn about classic cars.

He included paperwork from the rebuild, I’ll need to dig it up. But yeah, the more I work on it, the more doubtful I am of WHEN the rebuild was.

And I’m very appreciative of the help so far. You guys are great.
 
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RustyRatRod said:
I was hoping worst case was bore and more pistons.
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Might be a stupid question, but if I bore the cylinders, I would need to replace with slightly larger pistons, right? I mean, we’re talking thousandths of an inch, but that’s a lot in this case. Or would the piston rings account for the larger bore?
 
Righty Tighty said:
Might be a stupid question, but if I bore the cylinders, I would need to replace with slightly larger pistons, right? I mean, we’re talking thousandths of an inch, but that’s a lot in this case. Or would the piston rings account for the larger bore?
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Boring will require new pistons and new rings.
 
I'd rebuild the 318 .060 over with sealed power smooth flat tops set in 180 degrees from standard pin offset (piston slap when cold, but you can live with it) and moly rings on a 400 grit bore finish, put some fresh 302 heads on it with a good three angle grind, get the intake milled to match if need be (mine had to have a cut after the block cut, but I doon't kow the exact details of how much) and use some .039 composite head gaskets. Add in a sealed power CS1019r set in at 100 degree ICL (Thank's Rusty!). Tack on a set of el cheapo headers and a pair of dual exhaust. Do a mild recurve on the stock distributor, about 16 degrees initial and 18 degrees advance all in at about 3000 RPM. With the stock two barrel intake and BBD, you will be very surprised at the outcome. Add a Weiand action plus and a 600 CFM Edelbrock AVS II, and you won't believe it's the same engine. If you have a 7-1/4, you'll have to upgrade it in the near future, even with the two barrel deal. This combination even tolerates the freeway flyer 2.76 gears well.
 
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Garrett Ellison said:
If you have a 7-1/4
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I do have a 7-1/4. Thanks for the great details. I already have TTi headers installed with dual x-pipe exhaust. Have an Edelbrock 600cfm 4bbl and Edelbrock 2176 intake that were ready to go before all this happened, but now they’re just sitting in the shop...
 
Righty Tighty said:
Might be a stupid question, but if I bore the cylinders, I would need to replace with slightly larger pistons, right? I mean, we’re talking thousandths of an inch, but that’s a lot in this case. Or would the piston rings account for the larger bore?
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Typical overbore is .010", .020", .030", .040"...

Before boring I would look at the availability of pistons to get an idea of price...

I like to keep my cylinder walls as thick as possible for strength and in case you need to rebuild it again, you have some meat in the cylinder walls to work with...

If you overbore it, you will need new pistons and rings to match...

Mancini Racing has good deals on rebuild kits, I would recommend getting a C kit that comes with pistons, rings, rod bearings, main bearings, cam bearings, oil pump, freeze plug kit, and complete gasket kit at reasonable prices... You can also substitute higher compression pistons than the kit comes with for the difference in cost...

I built a 318 way back and used 10.5 compression pistons and 360 heads, with the 340/360 head larger combustion chamber size the compression ended up around 9.2 - perfect for a street engine.... Then you can also put 2.02" intake valves in the 360 heads and they will make that 318 run real nice with the larger ports...

Here's the link to the mancini racing a-engine rebuild kits... I would recommend looking into kits C or D...

Engine Rebuild Kits
 
Go get a 5.,9 magnum that runs and you way ahead of the game as far as cost goes.

Boring the thing is going to cost 400 for the piston and ring kit, gaskets etc. The machining is going to run you 500+. At that point, are you done? I doubt it. Get something cheap that runs, then take the money you didn't spend and build a motor from the ground up properly. Heck, you might get lucky and find a running 318. Change nothing and keep going.
 
Garrett Ellison said:
I'd rebuild the 318 .060 over with sealed power smooth flat tops set in 180 degrees from standard pin offset (piston slap when cold, but you can live with it) and moly rings on a 400 grit bore finish, put some fresh 302 heads on it with a good three angle grind, get the intake milled, and use some .039 composite head gaskets. Add in a sealed power CS1019r set in at 100 degree ICL (Thank's Rusty!). Tack on a set of el cheapo headers and a pair of dual exhaust. Do a mild recurve on the stock distributor, about 16 degrees initial and 18 degrees advance all in at about 3000 RPM. With the stock two barrel intake and BBD, you will be very surprised at the outcome. Add a Weiand action plus and a 600 CFM Edelbrock AVS II, and you won't believe it's the same engine. If you have a 7-1/4, you'll have to upgrade it in the near future, even with the two barrel deal. This combination even tolerates the freeway flyer 2.76 gears well.
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I wouldn't recommend boring .060" over as the factory recommendation is .040" max....
 
Cuda416 said:
Go get a 5.,9 magnum that runs and you way ahead of the game as far as cost goes.

Boring the thing is going to cost 400 for the piston and ring kit, gaskets etc. The machining is going to run you 500+. At that point, are you done? I doubt it. Get something cheap that runs, then take the money you didn't spend and build a motor from the ground up properly. Heck, you might get lucky and find a running 318. Change nothing and keep going.
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A 360 LA will also be a good candidate...

but nothing wrong with a 318... If you build them right you can get some nice power and economy...
 
Righty Tighty said:
Hey everyone, this is my first post regarding technical advice. I tried using the search feature, but I think this situation might be too unique.

I'm new here, and new to Mopar vehicles. To be honest, I'm pretty new to old cars in general. That being said, I have a '71 Plymouth Scamp with a 318LA, 904 3 speed. Was running fine, I installed some headers with a dual X-pipe exhaust recently. Still ran fine, but started to overheat on shorter and shorter trips. After having it towed, I discovered a clogged overflow tube to the coolant reservoir. I repaired a few leaky areas, but upon attempting to start it up for a test run, it wouldn't start.

I checked a few different things and ended up at the spark plugs. The electrodes were smashed and the tips were pinged. I pulled the heads and found the same with the pistons. Valves seem ok. What I did find, other than the damage, were some small, pellet sized pieces of steel in each cylinder (about 3/16" square). They're somewhat uniform in size and shape. They seem to be hardened steel, as they do not file easily. What I can't seem to figure out, is where they came from and how they got into my cylinders. Only thing I can think of is foul play. What do you guys think?View attachment 1715383058View attachment 1715383059View attachment 1715383060View attachment 1715383061View attachment 1715383062
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I had a similar experience with a rebuilt 340 that didn't have hardened seats in it beat the seat down similar to that in less than 10 k miles...
 
Garrett Ellison said:
If you have a 7-1/4, you'll have to upgrade it in the near future, even with the two barrel deal. This combination even tolerates the freeway flyer 2.76 gears well.
Click to expand...

Righty Tighty said:
I do have a 7-1/4. Thanks for the great details. I already have TTi headers installed with dual x-pipe exhaust. Have an Edelbrock 600cfm 4bbl and Edelbrock 2176 intake that were ready to go before all this happened, but now they’re just sitting in the shop...
Click to expand...


I blew up three 7 1/4" axles in four years with a mild 318 with a 340 cam, 360 heads, 4 bbl, and dual exhaust....

Those 7 1/4" axles are only good for a slant 6, anything more you need to upgrade the axle to 8 1/4" or 8 3/4"....
 
Righty Tighty said:
Perhaps. Super nice guy, had a VERY nice GTX in the garage, and I’m maybe a bit more trusting than is good for me. He’s actually the one who told me about this forum. He probably also sniffed out my ignorance from a mile away. I might be one of the smartest guys in the room when it comes to woodworking tools, but I’ll admit I have a TON to learn about classic cars.

He included paperwork from the rebuild, I’ll need to dig it up. But yeah, the more I work on it, the more doubtful I am of WHEN the rebuild was.

And I’m very appreciative of the help so far. You guys are great.
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I would take the paperwork back and ask him what engine it goes with - certainly not yours. Make him sweat for what he did. Let him know even though you are not an experienced engine guy, you know what he did. It is obvious the paperwork isnt for THIS engine.
 
I agree with keeping the cylinders thick, if possible. Hopefully, none your dings are deep enough to be on the verge of a crack or a clean-up over .030, but that only gives you a maximum pit/dent depth of .015, plus half of piston clearance. If you elect to bore it, have them start with the worst looking cylinder in case it reveals a crack or split. Also, by the numbers, the CS1019r wouldn't be my first cam choice, but it actually works a lot better than I would have expected with stock valve 675 heads with a good three angle cut.
 
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This is cylinder #7, where the bent pushrod was. Everything seems intact. Am I missing something? I’ll be pulling all the valves while I’m at it, but I thought I’d start with this one. If everything is good, in leaning towards some sucker messing with my ride.
 
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