I had a post going a few days ago about building a bare block, we'll its offical, just bought this off ebay.

Ebay win...

For the price I am happy, especially since it has heads and pistons, oilpan and timing cover. Granted I dont need any of the heads except for the 15's.

What is a good hierachy of work. I am getting alot of books to read. I am taking this in phases. First is to get it home, (12 hour one way drive to Virginia, wife is not happy about trying to slip that into a weekend)

And now I ask..."What would you do first after it got home?" (there than recover from the drive!)

I would tear it apart, take it to a shop and have them clean,magnaflux,and over bore (if the magnaflux showed no signs of cracks).
Good luck and happy birthday!

Good idea to have a shop check it out but you can't get it bored until you have new pistons in hand. After the shop says it's a salvageable block sit down and decide what you want out of your new motor. Take into account your whole set-up. Trans/rear gear/tire size,etc. Once you start buying parts don't change your mind or you'll be buying alot of extra parts and then trying to sell them later. Decide what you want first and stick with the program. Go easy on the first one because it's kind of an addiction and you can build the second one to suit your ego after you learn everything(yeah right) on the first one.
Just my .02. There's more but I don't have enough ink for it all.

Conversely, you can find deals on .030" over and .040" over pistons bought by people who found during machining that they needed .060" over. The shop that I use will do as little or as much work as I ask and pay for; if I really wanted to assemble it all myself (have done it before, my shop is not ideal for a slow build) I would pay for the machining and fitting of new pistons of the smallest oversize necessary. He charges me the same or better price for the same parts that I'd pay at Jegs or Summit.

First thing to do is to get it visually and dye or magnetically checked for cracks. Then prepare it for long term storage in a place safe from high humidity, animals, shins, moving vehicles...

Would it be prudent to wait until I have the money to get the complete lower rotating assembly done after machining? I Have the crank, need to buy the pistons, rods, ect. I just thought if I button up the bottom end quick then I only have to worry about the cylinder heads and the work they will need.

Just had a talk with a local builder here in town, been in business for almost 40 years. He right away knew Pontiacs, even explained that the #1 and #2 pistons attach to the crank opposite of chebby's (didnt know that). Said he will dip it and magnaflux and I think overbore (cant remember if that was mentioned when he quoted me a price)for around 125.00. Also said I can wrench on it all I want, If I make a list of what I want from the engine we can compile a parts list and he will price check everything for me. And if i find parts cheaper, no problem. And if I get it home and get confused he is only a phone call away.

Thats all if it checkes out ok...so help me if I drive 1700 miles and get home and this thing is junk....I'll be asking for help to build a Medieval trebuchet (catapolt) to launch it into his living room!

This can get interesting.
I didnt find a YE for 68.
For the $ vs parts, not a bad deal imo...except for the drive.
What i found was;

65-66 389, but it has 3 freeze plugs. 66 and earlier had 2 right?

67-400, which is good.

69-350

71-72 455. Good but doultful since 455 would be cast on the block. Hard to miss.

Heads;
11's are 70-350 and 400 small vlv.
50- cant find.
46's are 69 sml vlv.
15's are 68-400 sml vlv, and 70 455 sml vlv.

Forgot.
I cant check the crank # till i get home tonight.

And the timing cover looks to be 11 bolt, not 8.
Wonder what the # is? Just try'n to piece to puzzle.

Why didnt he take pic's of the front and top/rear for lttr code and engine #.
Either he knows what he has, or he doesnt know how to check.

Maybe i'm be'n to nervous, and hope'n i'm wrong, but something doesnt seem right.

What's the casting date?



Nothing like seeing large objects flung great distance by siege machines.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...uchet&hl=en

I couldn't find YE for '68 either. The crank code matches up to a late 67- early 68 400 Nodular. All the other numbers for the block match up to '68 400. Maybe he is wrong on the YE. Kind of odd with YE but is it possible it was a late '67 YE 400 block that slipped into '68 numbers? I don't know how they manufacture those blocks.

Pretty good deal on price IMO except for the drive. But we do what we have to do to get a correct year block if we don't have a good option locally.

I hope everything works out for you.

I'm going to post part of the ad in case it gets deleted from Ebay:

Block code is YE, there are 7 heads 1 is cast # is 1 1 production A300, 2 heads have cast 50 with pro. I094 and I114, 2 Heads have cast # 46 pro date B193 and A193.the last 2 heads have cast # 15 with pro, date A118 and A158 which apear to best match the block and are the same color The Casting # 0f the block is 9790071 prodution date is A258 or Jan. 25, 1968 on the front vin# 421359 and YE code the code checks to a "b"body which is a full size pontiac 1968 4 barrel 340 hp, the crank has a large N on it with the casting numbers 9773524.

Well i hope I did my research right. I know there was no F-body YE for 68. What I did was took the date code and figured it made it a solid 68 model year. In 68 with a cast # of 9790071 and YE it would have been a B-bodied car. With #15 heads says it was a 340HP, 400ci, auto, 10.5 compression, should of had a #66 cam, and 4 barrel carb.

I have a 69 b-body 400 now with the original #16 heads off of my car. I guess this one is getting me closer, I am in my model year at least. I just got a lead on a guy about an hour away that has a barn full of pontiac blocks. I ultimately want a 68 WQ to match my PHS, even if it is not a "numbers matching" car anymore. Closest I have found is a WZ coded 68 F-body block, but its $1050, and I would have to change the title of this post to "Wife is interviewing lawyers" if I tried to get that one!

i would of liked to have seen the cylinders in the pictures, but I just kinda jumped at the price...gonna kinda be like a carnival grab bag, wont know until i see it.

From memory, the 071 blk and 524 crk are correct for 67-69 and/or 70(?).
I'll try and get to mine tonight. Thier buried like jack Bennies $$$

I appreciate it.

Thanks, after I got to looking at it I get a block, crank, flex plate, oil pan and windage tray, oil filter adapter, two timing covers, water pump, 3 1/2 sets of heads (i'll only use the #15's; if I even do that)and two fun filled days in the car with my wife....which is priceless!

It was an online chart.
I'll check my 72 Pontiac parts catalog for YE's tonight.
Something tells me it is a 68 big car block, but memory is ? these days.

Fred's Pontiac Info lists the '68 YE block as for a fullsize with an auto tranny. 400 4bbl with 340 horses

I found this web site to be very helpful with engine related codes: http://www.pontiacpower.net/castnum01.html

I have been carrying that list around with me, like 48 pages full sized, but it is very comprehensive!

Found it!
68 B-body 400. Last 2 eng #'s are 27(where ever that is?).
Checked my 68 GTO engine.
Last 3 eng #'s are 071(1st 4 #'s are to rusted). # is on top behind R/R behind cyl head.
Crk # is 9773524(on front counter wieght).
Cyl bore width should be 4-1/16 to 4-1/8th(from memory).

Reminds me of my early days.
Good hunting!

You did good on your homework. It sounds like your on the right track.

UPDATE...just got home from a cannon ball run style jaunt to the east coast to get the engine. got to see Washington DC for a few hours, and I feel for anyone that trys to travel I-95, on Easter weekend Friday, at 3:30, out of DC...HOLY COW.

The block looks good from a naked eye, nothing screaming bad news, gonna get dipped and magnafluxed soon I hope. I ended up with almost the complete engine minus the cam and the intake and accessories. A couple questions...

1. I got the timing gears and chain and harmonic balencer, oil pump, ect. How do you check to ensure they are usable, they look good but that means nothing. Same with the connecting rods. I am going to overbore it but am re-using everything I can to save money.

2. Some of the push rods are bent, so I am assuming that was the reason for the tear down (it was in pieces when I picked it up). What causes bent rods? Before putting it back together I need to find out why it happened so it dont happen again.

3. The water jacket has some decent visible rust that I can see through the water pump holes, will hot diping it clean all those passages?

Junk the timing set. New ones are cheap enough. Same with the extremely critical oil pump.

I swap balancers, but again it's just because I've seen enough of them slip.

Your machinist can resize the connecting rods and fit them with ARP bolts.

Tanking the block will take care of rust, scale, grease and oil.

Valvetrain geometry is math, not guesswork. You may wish to consult with your machinist to get the critical spring and valve measurements.

Has anyone had any luck with the ebay "master rebuild kits" like these

Ebay

or am I better off buying off the shelf with a engine builder to ensure I get the best of what I need?