The Greek Roadrunner is finally here!

[Russ69Runner]

Transmission oil works pretty good on stuck pistons. Would pull the heads and might have to bump that one-cylinder piston with a hard wood hammer handle. I have bought replacement hammer handles and sawed the off so I could strike it with a big hammer. Just bump the piston and see if you can start to move it. If not then you need to heat the position with a torch and get it hot. An industrial heat gun may also work and put more oil in the cylinders. This should free them up. Watched a U Tube video of on how to unstick positions in a motor. Wish you luck patens will win out.

 

[Rapid Transit]

 

[kariverson]

New update guys! Have a happy July!

So a friend came by to help see what we can do. As we discussed here too it was best to remove the heads and see what we were dealing with. It was turning to point and then it was stopping with a metal sound.
We got the carb off, then the intake. The valley pan gasket was rusted and had a hole. Crap had fallen inside the camshaft etc.
Anyway, 2 pushrods were bent on the passenger side.
Now to remove the driver side head. It was hard, it didn't seem like it had ever been opened before.
Bad news, despite the bent pushrods being the passenger side, the driver's side had a broken valve on cylinder number 5 and the piston has good dent.
We tried turning the engine again and it would still stop at a point with a metal sound so I suspect the passenger side will be even worse unfortunately. We didn't have the time remove that head today.
What could have happened and it did that kind of damage? To more than one cylinder?
Pictures follow.

 

[quikbird]

With that amount of stuff falling into the lifter valley I personally would not feel comfortable without taking it all the way down and check the bearings and cam and crank journals. Really means that engine will probably need to come out

 

[Russ69Runner]

Overhaul time it looks like. Sorry for the bad the luck. Think we all have had to rebuild these old motors. Mine ran and drove into the shop. But after pulling it found it needed to be bored 30 over. Had to get another block to get less boring on the cylinders only 20 thou. I am not fond of sleeves in a motor. Just wonder if when buying the car if the seller was straight forward on the motor condition. Wish you luck and might as well make a stroker out of it.

 

[kariverson]

With that amount of stuff falling into the lifter valley I personally would not feel comfortable without taking it all the way down and check the bearings and cam and crank journals. Really means that engine will probably need to come out

I might have exaggerated a bit with the crap that fell in. We vacuumed the vast majority of it. Wouldn't a plentiful oil bath send everything else down the the oil pan?

Overhaul time it looks like. Sorry for the bad the luck. Think we all have had to rebuild these old motors. Mine ran and drove into the shop. But after pulling it found it needed to be bored 30 over. Had to get another block to get less boring on the cylinders only 20 thou. I am not fond of sleeves in a motor. Just wonder if when buying the car if the seller was straight forward on the motor condition. Wish you luck and might as well make a stroker out of it.

Thank you Russ. It's a bit early since I need to inspect the passenger side as well that had the bent pushrods but does that dent on the piston take the engine out completely? Should work in theory but it would lose compression?

I was surprised to see that Sublime Green coolant though. But should have looked for a drain before pulling the head.

 

[Russ69Runner]

If it where me would get new pistons and what have you. Like said total rebuild would be the best thing then you know what you have.

 

[kariverson]

If it where me would get new pistons and what have you. Like said total rebuild would be the best thing then you know what you have.

Thank you Russ. You're right and that's the way it will most likely go. I might even try doing it myself since these were such simple motors.

I have a question if you guys know. Did these motors come originally with metal cylinder head gaskets? A mechanic friend of mine mentioned to me that it's unlikely that they did and that previous owners might have "shaved" the cylinder heads to increase compression. Was that a thing? And is there a way to know? Furthermore that would need special parts if that was the case right?

Lastly do you have any recommendations on a engine rebuild kit? Or quality parts separately?

Thank you very much! This thread has been a huge a help, There is no one that knows these cars here at all.

 

[V.R.D]

all factory head gaskets were metal

 

[quikbird]

Never tempt fate. Murphy’s law says anything that can go wrong will and at the time that can cause the most damage. If it’s in the oil you are counting on an oil filter to save you. At this point I personally would pull the engine, break it down and check the bearings. They are cheap to buy and expensive to repair if damaged. Usually means crank journals, cam bearings all need polished if lucky and turned if damaged or outright replaced if really scored or damaged. Best of luck to you

 

[kariverson]

all factory head gaskets were metal

Thanks! That's good to hear! Like I mentioned no one really knows these cars here unfortunately. So heads should be untouched too. I'm not sure if there is anyway to know for sure.

Never tempt fate. Murphy’s law says anything that can go wrong will and at the time that can cause the most damage. If it’s in the oil you are counting on an oil filter to save you. At this point I personally would pull the engine, break it down and check the bearings. They are cheap to buy and expensive to repair if damaged. Usually means crank journals, cam bearings all need polished if lucky and turned if damaged or outright replaced if really scored or damaged. Best of luck to you

You're right. I didn't want to deal with a full rebuild of the motor but if I have to do it I have to do it. I will break it down completely, chemically clean block, heads and intake and go from the ground up.


What are some parts I can keep if they are undamaged? I should be able to keep both the crankshaft and the camshaft right? Maybe the connecting rods?
Get new pistons, valves, springs, pushrods, etc.

If you have any suggestions for quality and economical parts I'd love to hear them. I'm not looking for an increase in HP.

Thanks again guys!

 

[Russ69Runner]

Check crank bearing registers to make sure they are tight. If you look here in the manuals, you will find out a lot on these motors. Mancini Motors is a place to call for parts. These cars came with cast iron head. Too tell if the heads have been altered is to know the depth of the compression area. Or where your valves are. Use a flat edge and check distance! Do you have any machine shops that can work on our motors.

 

[Rapid Transit]

My impression is that engine doesn't have too many miles on it, relatively speaking.
Not a lot of "gack" on the rockers or valley.
And whatever happened locked it up pretty quick after the valve timing went kaput.
Then it just sat.
So the damage the the bottom end may be low or non existent.
Get the other head off and see what you find on that side.
Pull the timing cover and check for jumped timing.
Pull the oil pan and see what you find.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Greek_Interpreter
This is the actor by which all Sherlock Holmes actors should be judged.
Watch the Canadian series by all means.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_(1984_TV_series)

 

[kariverson]

Check crank bearing registers to make sure they are tight. If you look here in the manuals, you will find out a lot on these motors. Mancini Motors is a place to call for parts. These cars came with cast iron head. Too tell if the heads have been altered is to know the depth of the compression area. Or where your valves are. Use a flat edge and check distance! Do you have any machine shops that can work on our motors.

Thanks! Well mine is the only Roadrunner in the country but we do have some chargers, half of them General Lees haha, so there might be some shops that can handle a Chrysler 383.

My impression is that engine doesn't have too many miles on it, relatively speaking.
Not a lot of "gack" on the rockers or valley.
And whatever happened locked it up pretty quick after the valve timing went kaput.
Then it just sat.
So the damage the the bottom end may be low or non existent.
Get the other head off and see what you find on that side.
Pull the timing cover and check for jumped timing.
Pull the oil pan and see what you find.

Dash says 71something thousand miles. There is a good chance from what I remember from the seller also that the car was sitting since '78 when it also got a new registration and a new vin tag for some reason.
I will continue the disassembly as soon as possible and keep everyone updated. Thanks

 

[Russ69Runner]

At this point I would start at the bottom and work my way up. This is the only way to get full experience with your motor. If you take it apart and check the crank and everything, then you are learning and know with needs to be done. I have my calipers and mikes to measure the motor myself. We all have to learn about our motors if we expect to keep them in tiptop shape. Maybe you can talk to one of the charger guy's and see who they use on their motors. It is getting harder for us to find a good motor shop here in the USA also. The throw away cars came in and people just don't do what they use to do. If not for people that restore cars and race, then we may not find repair shops at all. Shops I use to know of are not around anymore. I had to drive two hours away to find my motor guy.

 

[RonLiv]

"new registration and a new vin tag for some reason"

Hmmmm

 

[kariverson]

"new registration and a new vin tag for some reason"

Hmmmm

I would honestly love to hear any theories about it. I'm curious beyond measure.

 

[Russ69Runner]

That make me wonder also. Never ever heard of doing that with a car. Sounds Shadey to me. My wife works for DMV and will ask if that is even possible.

 

[kariverson]

That make me wonder also. Never ever heard of doing that with a car. Sounds Shadey to me. My wife works for DMV and will ask if that is even possible.

From a web search I had done a while back I read that DMV can issue you a new vin tag if you lost your previous one or something. But this is a different vin! Your wife would know best for sure.
Only thing I can imagine is someone had a second car totalled or something and got the vin and registration from that. But it's not like this was a satellite or gtx, both body numbers, vin on the engine and vin on the build sheet match so why do it? Was this one maybe stolen?
I'm attaching the registration it had for you guys to see. I just noticed for the first time that it had a ten day temporary registration back then too. I have no idea what it is or how these go there in the US.


The only thing that stresses me is when it's time to register it with FIVA which is a requirement here to be able to drive it. Will they use the correct Vin or the one on the tag and customs papaerwork...

 

[Rapid Transit]

Does the "new" VIN tag not look like proper Chrysler vin tag on the dash? (For a 1969 car).
I'm confused by the situation, but my guess is you will need to give your authorities the paperwork and US registration that matches the current tag.
I hope the attached VIN tag matches that.
FYI, VIN tags are a big debate in the US on these forum.
In other words what can be done, how it is done and where it is done.
And that doesn't even consider that when I go to my county DVM I'm dealing with an agent that may not follow the legal statute.
I maintain that my state is not following it's own statute on giving title to some antique cars.
But it's the government. What do you do?
Even where one goes to get tag, title or registration it is handled differently in each state.
Some contract the process out to Non Gov places.
What it boils down to is each state is sovereign and the final arbiter on how registration of a car is handled in that state.
Think about it. A car is not like real estate. It is mobile.
Once a car crosses the state line the previous state has no jurisdiction over said car anymore.
The car is now under the laws of the new state.
Just like your car in now under Greek law.
So why your car VIN exist as it does is solely dependent on the state it came from and it's laws.

https://eservices.drives.ga.gov/_/#1
https://vehiclehistory.bja.ojp.gov/
A VIN can be checked via the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS), a national consumer protection database that provides title information from states across the country. Whether you are buying from a local dealer, individual or eyeing a vehicle from an online auction website, it will help you to know what you are buying before you pay any money or sign any paperwork for the vehicle.