I have a question. I am doing a head rebuild on a 308 in the next few months, I do not want to lift the engine out and I know how to do this which is fine. In the process I am going to inspect the cylinders from the top as you would expect. If I find that one or more of the liners are scored or I have problems with a worn piston ring is it possible with the engine in situe, by removing the engine oil sump plate only , to get access to the crank shaft, seperate a con rod and push the piston out from the bottom up through the top of the liner? I have done this on old Merc engines, I want to undertsand if there is enough room on a 308 engine to do this Thanks for your replies in advance.
Sorry to tell you Tom, but: no way. The windage tray bolts are not accessable to get at the rest of the lower end for a start. Don't feel bad. Damn near everyone who has ever gone thru one wishes they could. Unfortunately, as the heads are retained with studs, the front head will not slide up enough to remove anyway, so think about how to get it pulled, as if your heads are coming off, you get to do this first. There is an escelent thread o Cam Gear Drive Bearings that is a heck of a good example of the process, and best of all some damn good people,helping each other out! Kermit
Matt, this is the first time I have ever disagreed with anything you have said. The heads will come off in the car (not the pistons) but with a big caveat. If the heads are, for any number of reasons stuck on the studs it can become a nightmare with the motor in or out. But in any event I would try with motor in first. On some of the motors you need to pull the valve cover studs to clear the firewall, on a few I have undone the motor mount bolts and just slightly shifted the motor to the rear but I feel it is still far easier than to pull the entire motor.
Rifledriver, I'll take your word on that. I had not seen or heard of doing it that way,but as I look at one, it is tight, but possible to remove the head I'm not being sarcastic by asking, so please dont take it wrong: how about the bottom? Any way of getting the windage tray out in the car? Kermit
Rifle Driver, Do tell about getting the windage tray / bolts out through the bottom? Even if it was not pretty!
My opinion is once you have removed the heads, and found that you need to remove / replace liners and pistons, then it is just another bit more work to loosen the engine mounts, disconnect the clutch actuation mechanism and the shift shaft, attach the crane and lift it out, put it on a stand, remove the transmission. Then, you can properly remove/replace liners, replace pistons, some machine work may be required here to flatten the decks / achieve proper height for the liners, put the heads back, and install the engine as a unit. my 2 cents.
I'll third the opinion, but from different angle. Trying to do an "overhaul" in the body is asking for long run to really make more work out of it. That far of a dissembly is sure to break loose a lot of "junk" into the motor. After going through all of the trouble ,not to mention a considerable investment in parts And doing it the hard way, can you gaurentee that it all got cleaned out? I doesnt take too much contaminationin the oiling system to ruin it in a very short time. And one must remember "A short cut is the longest distance Between Two Points" ( quote from a "Murphy" poster). Of course Murphy has a steller attendance record on "short Cut" jobs. I can't explain why, but trust me. It's true. There have been some great threads lately involving pulling the motor to do various part replacements. Great place to great ideas on the How Too's. IMO, the backbreaking way of doing it in the body would be more work, and a lot more chance of getting to pull it later anyway, if too much debrit goes thru it. Just some food for thought, based on what I have seen in the few times I couldnt resist turnng down that road. Everytime it took longer, cost more than if I had done it right the first time.hoever,if you do decide to try it that way, get some pics as you go. There may come a time someday later n life when to post them as a "I would/would not" reply to a simialr thread later in life. Good Luck! Kermit
