Long story short, over Labor day weekend I had to swap out my engine. I had lost all compression on one cylinder and when my uncle checked his GM book on procedures, R&R of the head was going to take longer than swapping the motor. It's a good thing we did so too: I broke two head bolts later in the block. We got them swapped no problem and my newer motor with 100k fewer miles is running great. But here's the problem: the salvage yard didn't charge us for a core. So I have the motor in the basement to play with. My dad and I pulled the head and found this on the no-compression cylinder:
View attachment 23892
Yep, that's a gaping hole in one of the exhaust valves. All the other valves are immaculate as seen here:
View attachment 23893
And the pistons are in great shape except one that is a little looser than the others (same cylinder as the burnt valve). The cylinder bores are in great shape too and you can even see the original cross-hatch... 186,000 miles later! It's amazing to me I guess. If I even wanted to mess with this it would need: new piston rings, new crank & connecting rod bearings while the bottom end is off, new connecting rod bolts (I believe they are TTY also), new head gasket, new head bolts including drilling out the two that broke, valve job, new timing chain, new oil pump, and any other little odds and ends. I got a quote on the valve job only for ~$500. Since I bought the other whole motor with only 90k miles for $600 and I'm currently short on time, I'm leaning toward scrapping this old engine.
I'm almost set on taking this thing to the local aluminum recycler to recoup some money. I'm not sure what they are paying for aluminum engine blocks, but cans are ~$0.70 per pound around here. So here come the important questions:
Does anyone think it would be fiscally responsible to try to rebuild this thing? I think I know the answer, I'm just looking for a consensus.
Has anyone tried to melt this aluminum alloy at home with any success? I'm interested in using some of it to make a light-weight yet durable skidplate to replace my stock plastic one. My dad was hesitant to try melting it because molten aluminum can be pretty dangerous (he mentioned dropping some on concrete and it blowing up).
Is there any interest in: either camshaft, crankshaft, intake, ignition coils, valve cover, pistons (could potentially use them in a rebuild, but I'm thinking desk paperweight at work after cleaning/polishing), various sensors, valves, valve springs, cam followers, oil pan, front cover, head, etc. This is from a 2004, so it's not the newer style head/camshafts. Basically I have to take off anything steel before the aluminum recyclers will want it. The oil pan and front cover are aluminum, but might be useful to someone here. If I choose to part it out, I will post them in the Classifieds section (but that'll be several weeks from now) and it'll be for a little more than melt value + shipping. Everything was working perfectly before the burnt valve so I think everything but that piston/valve is good. I want to keep a coil or two as spares as well as some of the more notorious sensors but most everything will need to find a different home whether in someone's car or in a dumpster.
I also thought about making one of the engine coffee tables, but I will be moving in a few months and don't want to have to worry about getting a 300-400 pound item down my apartment's stairs.
Other thoughts/ideas/suggestions?
View attachment 23892
Yep, that's a gaping hole in one of the exhaust valves. All the other valves are immaculate as seen here:
View attachment 23893
And the pistons are in great shape except one that is a little looser than the others (same cylinder as the burnt valve). The cylinder bores are in great shape too and you can even see the original cross-hatch... 186,000 miles later! It's amazing to me I guess. If I even wanted to mess with this it would need: new piston rings, new crank & connecting rod bearings while the bottom end is off, new connecting rod bolts (I believe they are TTY also), new head gasket, new head bolts including drilling out the two that broke, valve job, new timing chain, new oil pump, and any other little odds and ends. I got a quote on the valve job only for ~$500. Since I bought the other whole motor with only 90k miles for $600 and I'm currently short on time, I'm leaning toward scrapping this old engine.
I'm almost set on taking this thing to the local aluminum recycler to recoup some money. I'm not sure what they are paying for aluminum engine blocks, but cans are ~$0.70 per pound around here. So here come the important questions:
Does anyone think it would be fiscally responsible to try to rebuild this thing? I think I know the answer, I'm just looking for a consensus.
Has anyone tried to melt this aluminum alloy at home with any success? I'm interested in using some of it to make a light-weight yet durable skidplate to replace my stock plastic one. My dad was hesitant to try melting it because molten aluminum can be pretty dangerous (he mentioned dropping some on concrete and it blowing up).
Is there any interest in: either camshaft, crankshaft, intake, ignition coils, valve cover, pistons (could potentially use them in a rebuild, but I'm thinking desk paperweight at work after cleaning/polishing), various sensors, valves, valve springs, cam followers, oil pan, front cover, head, etc. This is from a 2004, so it's not the newer style head/camshafts. Basically I have to take off anything steel before the aluminum recyclers will want it. The oil pan and front cover are aluminum, but might be useful to someone here. If I choose to part it out, I will post them in the Classifieds section (but that'll be several weeks from now) and it'll be for a little more than melt value + shipping. Everything was working perfectly before the burnt valve so I think everything but that piston/valve is good. I want to keep a coil or two as spares as well as some of the more notorious sensors but most everything will need to find a different home whether in someone's car or in a dumpster.
I also thought about making one of the engine coffee tables, but I will be moving in a few months and don't want to have to worry about getting a 300-400 pound item down my apartment's stairs.
Other thoughts/ideas/suggestions?
seems like there would be easier ways to get a skid plate.
