my guess would be leave nothing to chance with this. i have a 300ci. i have heard and seen this thing run, no knocks or smoke. i know it's good. i want alittle more from my truck and the best way i think would be to first of all build a better engine. unfortunately i am running out of time (can hear a faint whine in the engine that's currently in my truck from a recent fuel pump filling the crankcase) and money is an issue right now. here goes, upon tearing it down i found it was full of dried oil crud. i expected that since it was sitting for a long time prior to getting it. i took the it all apart. i have specked the crank and it's consistently showing 2.124/.125 on the rod bearings. the tolerance by the book is 2.128/.136. i have a suspicion this was once rebuilt already from the paint i found under the grease caked block. my question is, does anyone one think i can get around a machine shop trip and used .010 oversized rod bearings? if it helps. i have checked and it's perfectly round and there is no scaring what so ever. not really sure. does anyone think it would be wise to up the cam alittle while in there. it's going to need a new one anyway. keep in mind i'm using stock parts as of right now since i can't afford any "goodies"

 

If engine wasn't knocking or smoking it should be ok. Did you check for blow-by before you dismantled it? (taking off oil fill cap to see if it was blowing smoke and pressured air) which would indicate bad piston rings. I would clean it up and plastigauge rod and crank bearings for clearance, you want good oil pressure. If ok replace with all new bearings or "undersize bearings" if crank has been turned before. They term them undersize bearings because of the crankshaft being skimmed down for new finish. It's therefore classed undersize. Also replace with a stock camshaft and new lifters' i.e. it's not a performance engine. Also if engine ran smooth with no miss, valves should be ok. You might consider a new set of piston rings while your in there.

Good Luck!

 

more info. i have plans of later putting on a split pipe header/manifold and putting at least a 2 bbl carb. it's just going to wait and be done a piece at a time. it will be starting off as stock but i have plans to help it out in the performance department.i know it'll never be a race motor. i aint gonna put that much into it but i want it to be able to run decent (faster than stock). from what i could tell there was no blowby. ran rough 'cause the carb was junk but it was fine. the reason i was asking about cam suggestions is the one that's in it is bad. the bearings and all are fine. the lobes though are not so good. you can see the track pattern on them but there are pits on them (not on the tracks but on the rest of the area). never seen/heard of this before. i figured with later plans i might throw one in there while i had it out and can easily do it. i know that motor has a kinda narrow power band but i've seen "rv cams" with 1500-4500 rpm. the absolute max i get the truck to is 3000. i think i would prefer something that's a bit lower on that scale (1000ish-3500ish) but i'm thinking that it's either a stock or that. to work with clearance and spring issues along with the rest of the things i would have to change to make it work. truthfully, i'm not sure how much it would help in the 1st place over a stocker.