6.9 Found!

[OldIron82]

I REALLY gotta stay off Craig's list! I just found a 87 6.9 for dirt cheap that has about 10,000 less miles on it than my first generation currently on my engine stand! It runs! Farmers truck! Now either way I don't have time for a complete tear down for the monster build BUT what does the general consensus say about grabbing it anyway? It would obviously be impossible to do the monster build with it if I put it in the truck now but I'm really thinking about getting and using it so that gets me away from the ******* block. I can always get that 6.9 out of that ambulance in the salvage yard I found but decided to wait on, or a entire 87 truck from a member here if he still has it.

What do I do everyone? help! Is it worth more money gone and more real estate in the garage gone? Are the ******* blocks ever known to catastrophically fail? Is it worth all this just for the stronger block?

Thanks
OI82

 

[IDIoit]

i wouldnt have even made a thread about this until after it was home.

parts are parts, and you can never have enough of them.

woulda been on the engine dolly and running lol

 

[icanfixall]

Buy the engine. You can never have too many spare parts.

 

[Waystro]

How much is he asking?
I just picked up a engine and Trans for $75 and it also has a gearvender overdrive unit on it.

 

[whitehorse]

Dang.... you need to repent for stealing....

 

[Waystro]

I know but I still have to pull it.

 

[The Warden]

As the others said, what are you waiting for? Go get it

Are the ******* blocks ever known to catastrophically fail? Is it worth all this just for the stronger block?

Depends on your definition of "catastrophic". The block cracking does not directly affect the oil system or any of the cylinders/combustion chambers. The crack is between a cooling jacket and the atmosphere...so, when a crack does develop, the cooling system loses pressure and coolant gets dumped over the side.

If the crack is small enough that you only lose a little bit of coolant, the truck may still be drivable...just be religious about keeping the cooling system topped off. However, there's no way to know how long it will take for that crack to get bigger and start dumping more and more coolant over the side until you can't keep coolant in at all, and if it happens while you're out in the middle of nowhere (or worse, happens while you're driving and you don't realize it until the cooling system's empty and the engine's cooked), you're in big trouble. Some people have been able to get the crack repaired, but that involves someone who knows how to weld cast iron, which IIRC is very tricky. I recall that some have tried epoxy, JB Weld, etc. with mixed results.

It's really a gamble...and, if you want to build a fire-breather, I would be jumping all over that '87 engine unless the price is stratospheric.

JMHO...best of luck either way

 

[IDIoit]

unless the price is stratospheric.

im stealing that Tim

 

[OldIron82]

I'm sold. I'm getting it. Only down side is I have to wait until Sunday, the seller cannot meet until then. 3 more days of lost time. At least when this is all said and done I'll have peace of mind. This just sucks I want to tear into this project so bad especially now that I have all the parts! What should I do with the first gen 6.9 then? I'm thinking post it online with the other first gen Banks/Roto-master turbo to try and recoup some cash. I could keep everything but it's one of those things. Keep something for 20 years you'll never need it. Get rid of it, the next day you'll need it. I dunno.

 

[BrandonBerkosky]

I can always get that 6.9 out of that ambulance in the salvage yard

Go get all the power steering stuff off the ambulance! It brings the pump closer to the engine and it's a nice gm Saginaw pump instead of the big whiny plastic ford pump.
Great for when ur swapping IDI's into tighter engine bays.

 

[OldIron82]

What a absolute hideous waste of time!!! The truck was a 87, but the engine is a February of 84 with a serial # in the low 84'000's! Obviously swapped in. That's it, I'm done! Soon as I get to the garage I'm tearing the heads off the 1st gen 6.9 currently on the engine stand, putting in the studs, sealing her up and dropping her in this weekend. If the block cracks I'll make mud out of the cooling system with that hellacious stop leak garbage. I only need to get a year or so out of it until I build up the "2nd gen 6.9" out of the ambulance. I'd go get it now but I don't know the condition of it. At least I know the one I have runs like a champ with only 85'000 on it. It's bad enough I had to drive into 'Jersey but all for nothing is a hard pill to swallow. Beyond aggravated!!!

 

[BrandonBerkosky]

What a absolute hideous waste of time!!! The truck was a 87, but the engine is a February of 84 with a serial # in the low 84'000's! Obviously swapped in. That's it, I'm done! Soon as I get to the garage I'm tearing the heads off the 1st gen 6.9 currently on the engine stand, putting in the studs, sealing her up and dropping her in this weekend. If the block cracks I'll make mud out of the cooling system with that hellacious stop leak garbage. I only need to get a year or so out of it until I build up the "2nd gen 6.9" out of the ambulance. I'd go get it now but I don't know the condition of it. At least I know the one I have runs like a champ with only 85'000 on it. It's bad enough I had to drive into 'Jersey but all for nothing is a hard pill to swallow. Beyond aggravated!!!

Sorry to hear that. Would you be interested in a turbo 7.3 motor?
I have 2. Both have been robbed of the turbos and the injection pumps. They both ran fine. Around 100k on both.
Eventually they'll get parted to idi hot rodders like justin Anderson for the rods.

Either one $500obo.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Well from what I know, the blocks don't just crack all by themselves. It's from plugging in the engine heater when everything is cold. It's the hot coolant against the cold iron of the block that cracks it. If the ambulance has the engine you want to build, get that and keep running your current engine until you're ready to put your hot rod in.

 

[The Warden]

Well from what I know, the blocks don't just crack all by themselves. It's from plugging in the engine heater when everything is cold. It's the hot coolant against the cold iron of the block that cracks it. If the ambulance has the engine you want to build, get that and keep running your current engine until you're ready to put your hot rod in.

As I've always understood it, the proximity of the hole for the block heater to the engine mount plays a role as well...on the early engines, the block material is thin enough to flex a bit in relation to the engine mount. Using the block heater exacerbates the problem, but I've seen a few references online to people having blocks fail who never used the block heater.

OldIron, I'm sorry that that trip was a waste of time...but, I wouldn't be afraid of running the early 6.9l for a while while you build up the '87 engine, like it sounds like you're planning now. I've put almost 80K miles on my early 6.9l...I was just suggesting (and continue to recommend) that, when you do your fire-breathing engine build, start with a later engine. Sounds like you're on a good track to me

 

[OldIron82]

@brandon: Thank you for the generous offer, however at this point I'm going to just rock the 1st gen. The ticking 7.3 in the truck is getting louder and I feel it's only a matter of time.

That's what's on tap for this week gentlemen. Studded heads, all new seals and I'll grab the bullet glow plugs out of the 7.3. Hopefully this weekend I'll be doing the swap.

I'm not trying to whine like a baby BUT a 87 6.9!? Exactly what I want! For $300! 74,000 miles! Hell yeah sign me up! .........aaaaaaand it's a 84. Just beyond let down and ticked off that's all. The guy really wanted it gone too. Dropped down to $250 but I passed, I just wanted out of there. The guy had new return lines and glow plugs too. Moving on.

OI82