Advice on Buying This Y-block 292 on Craigslist?

[matt2491]

I’ll try to keep this short.

I’m thinking about buying this 292 I found on Craigslist near me. My plan is to swap it out with the very worn out 292 that's currently in my '64 F100 so that I can take my time rebuilding the original motor. I need to keep this truck on the road, as its my driver and gets me to school and work. Here’s the link to the ad: http://providence.craigslist.org/pts/896592639.html

I talked to the guy over the phone, and he said that he pulled the engine out of a 1962 F100 4x4 with around 60,000 miles. The reason why he pulled it was because the rest of the truck was all rotted away, and he was planning to drop this motor in the place of the straight 6 in his 1961 F100. According to him, the last time it ran was about half a year ago. He says that the motor ran great though, and it doesn’t leak or smoke at all. It has a 4bbl Holley, and the motor is complete air cleaner to oil pan. It comes with the bellhousing too (not sure what kind though since its out of a 4x4).

Basically, I wonder what you guys think about this engine? Does it sound like a fair deal? Obviously I’m going to go and look it over before I fork over the $300, but I figured I’d ask here for any advice first.

Are there any specific things I should look for on the engine to be able to better guess its real condition?

Thanks a lot for all the help! --Matt

[Greg D]

Sounds like a good deal to me. I paid the same amount for mine, also with a 4bbl manifold and a Holley 600. I just happen bring the whole truck home with it. I basically paid the $300 for the engine though and got the rest of the stuff as a bonus.

[matt2491]

Thanks for your input.

When I go to check out the motor, what should I look for that'll tell me what condition its really in?

[Greg D]

That can be kinda tough, first I'd at least look under the valve covers. Look for excessive sludge around the valve train and on the inside of the covers, be aware in a 46 year old engine there will be some. Your best bet if you aren't sure what to check is to find someone experienced to take with you. If the seller doesn't seem to want you to check it out properly he likely is hiding something. Even if it's a rebuildable core it's likely worth the $300. Problem with that is you are looking for a useable engine.

[ICEMAN6166]

sounds reasonable to me.
bell should be the same one you have on the 64.
hard to tell much by just looking but if its a business selling it hes not likely to be wanting unhappy folks trashing his place on c/l so its likely as posted.
bring a spark plug wrench and look at a few of them to get a basic idea of how things are.

[Unibodyguy1]

If you can too, don't know if he'd let you do this or not. But a compression test would be one of my prioritys for this. If you do take out all the sparks plugs, the motor turns over a lot easier and is isn't so hard on the battery and starter. They should be all with-in 10-15 lbs of each other, at the max. If you have a low cylinder/cylinders, add about a teaspoon of oil to it and then turn it over. If the compression goes way up and then right back down its the rings. If it stay about the same its the valves. Also too, if there is some way to hook up a vacume gauge to it on the intake and see what it reads and how steady it reads when its running and at operating tempurature. It should have at least 13-15 lbs( with a steady needle) depending on the timing and how high the idle is set.

Michael

[matt2491]

If you can too, don't know if he'd let you do this or not. But a compression test would be one of my prioritys for this. If you do take out all the sparks plugs, the motor turns over a lot easier and is isn't so hard on the battery and starter. They should be all with-in 10-15 lbs of each other, at the max. If you have a low cylinder/cylinders, add about a teaspoon of oil to it and then turn it over. If the compression goes way up and then right back down its the rings. If it stay about the same its the valves. Also too, if there is some way to hook up a vacume gauge to it on the intake and see what it reads and how steady it reads when its running and at operating tempurature. It should have at least 13-15 lbs( with a steady needle) depending on the timing and how high the idle is set.

Michael

Thanks for the tips, but the engine isn't in the truck. Could I still hook up the gauge and check the compression by turning it over by hand?

[Unibodyguy1]

It would be pretty hard to do by hand. If there was a way to hook up a starter to it, take all the plugs out, and then turn it over that way. You should roll over each cylinder at least 4/5 times to make sure you get the compression stroke. Theres no way to get the vacume reading with out it running though. Good luck hope this helps.

Michael

[cdherman]

It prolly still has the starter haning on the engine/bell as well, right? Just use some jumper cables and turn it over.

I'd agree that pulling all the plugs will make it spin pretty easy.

I wonder if that is completely fair to test it though, having been sitting for more than a year. A really dry cylinder bore and dry valves will make your numbers worse.

On the other hand they all should be similar and an outlier would be a bad sign.......

[Rosati]

If he has a hoist and a battery, you can hang the motor and fire it up. It should run a few minutes with a little fuel in the carb bowl. Use a vacuum guage to read the engine for a couple of minutes.

[cdherman]

Vacuum is pretty rotten until the engine has gotten warmed up and running though. Doubt it would provide clear information. Guess it cannot hurt though.....

If its your DD, having a rebuildable core is not the end of the world though -- get it for @$300. Drop it in and see how it goes. If the replacement engine is not looking to be a long term deal, then get with it and rebuild the other one. You'll hopefully be able to get a few weeks out of even a engine on its last legs......