Water in Engine

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64_Barracuda

64_Barracuda

Virginia Beach VA
FABO Gold Member
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Hi folks! I picked up a gem of a car. Its a 65 Signet with a 273 auto 8 3/4 rear Big bolt pattern all the way around. Body is in pretty good condition. It was in an accident, I have most of the sheet metal.

Bad news is the guy left the hood off and it rained pretty bad, for a while there was a good amount of fresh water in the motor, no rusting any where except a minor spot that came clean with a hone.

Motor turns over freely, I soaked the cylinders with Marvel for a couple days. Right now the intake and heads are off of it. Everything looks good. When we drained the oil there was no traces of rust or anything. In fact the water was crystal clear.

So I am wondering if its worth it to put it back together to see if its ok or pull it out and do the whole rebuild.

Its my sons car so he is learing, I am in the Navy and time is more important than money.

Any thoughts??

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put it back together, replace the oil and filter, fire it up, and then drop the oil again afterwords. And it's fine.
 
A whopping 400 dollars. Came with all kinds of parts in the trunk too. I ordered the head gasket kit today should be here tommorow and then its back to putting it back together. I won a weiand intake last night cheap I am gonna put my Carter AFB on it.
 
Her is to a good build and thank you for your support in the Navy.
I hope everything goes smooth and you hear it fire up.
They look happy there in your garage
 
Thanks Mike, been in the Navy now 18 years, looks like I'll stay in for a while.

Can't wait for the parts to come in for the engine. I have always wanted a 64-5 Signet that I could heavily modify and still make it look like a Barracuda on the front clip. Long road ahead. Next task will be figuring out the B&M shifter its a 70's 904 and for some reason the guy used a trans cable that is about 10 feet too long, it actually wrapped around the tranny, then the cable got caught on something on the flatbed and messed it up.

Does anyone know if I can use a 65 floor shifter with only the one cable? May have to move this thread I don't know......
 
Replace the oil pump. I bougth a 71 Demon 340 years ago with the same problem. It had been left out in the open with no hood and no air cleaner. Drained about 5 gallons of water and some gunky oil. Put on a new filter and added some fresh oil and fired it right up. Oil pressure pegged, had a look at the new oil filter and it was like a very big metalic sausage - long and skinny. Shut that sucker down in a hurry!! Ended up having to jack the engine, drop the pan, and wiggle and grunt a new oil pump in there. I kept it for about 2 1/2 years after that and it always ran great. Not a recommended way to wash the engine. :)P
 
Sid,

I hear you on that one!! There was only about a quart of water in there crystal clear, and the oil wasn't all that bad that was in it, there are no real traces of rust formations anywhere. The air cleaner was on tight so the only water I believe that got in was from seeping down the aircleaner stud. Think I am going to put her back together and run it with real thin oil and about 2 quarts of mystery oil. Then drain it and do it again.

What do you think? I will post pictures of the cylinders later tonight.
 
Go for it. :) Keep an eye on your oil pressure when you first fire it up, and don't run it too long before changing out the oil and filter again. If I recall correctly, I just cranked mine over with the coil to dist. wire unhooked before I even let it attempt to start. Got the pressure up and let things rotate freely, then hooked up the wire and away it went.
 
Sid,

Yeah planning on doing that just crank it over with the coil wire off to prime it up. Here are some photos of the block with no heads. I picked up a Weiand intake cheap so its time to put it back together.

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Pour 1 qt of 30w oil over the cam, assemble the heads and pushrods. Remove the intermediate shaft and prime the motor. Make sure to rotate the crank to line up the oil feeds for the rocker shafts. After a couple of minutes of priming, stop and open the drain plug and let the oil drain for an hour. This way you will have flushed out the oil galleys.
 
That engine looks good in the pics. I think somebody has been in there before. Those look like replacement pistons & there is residue from composition head gaskets. It would have originally had steel gaskets. Wish I had that car! It'd make a great daily driver.
 
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