I'm trying to get a parts list together for my rebuild and I'm at $1500 so far. Way over budget.
What are the minimum parts required to freshen up a motor?
Thanks
It really depends on how the motor looks inside. Maybe you need pistons, maybe not. Maybe you need bearings, maybe not. You'll definitely need seals and gaskets though. I'd count on a valve job as well.
If pistons are good then do I just change rings? How do I check bearing tolerances?
If the cylinders aren't worn (you see factory crosshatch, no ridge) you can probably just hone and re-ring. People do anyway.
You measure tolerances with plastigauge.
.:Sent by pneumatic tubes
If you can actually feel any ridge at all once the carbon is removed from the top of the cylinder, then it is worn out of spec. The wear limit for piston to bore is 0.003. The spec when bored is 0.001. That means that the cylinder is worn to the wear limit when it has 0.001" of wear on each side of the piston. 0.001" is very hard to feel. If worn out of spec, the cylinders should be bored and new pistons fitted. Be sure that the machinist doing the boring knows the very tight spec of 0.001 piston to bore.
by the way, it's apparently normal for a machinist who normally works on gas engines to be in a state of disbelief over this spec. So you may want to bring a book with you.
What bolts can be reused inside the motor?
Inside the engine, only the mains and the little bolts that hold on the oil squirters should be reused. Rod bolts and cyl head bolts are TTY and should be replaced.