Editing How to rebuild an engine (section)
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===Auto salvage yards=== An auto salvage yards (aka junkyard) can be a great resource for locating needed car parts or locating an engine for your hot rod. Many of the cars built during the past forty-plus years came equipped with a V8 engine, a relatively heavy duty transmission and rear end, and are rear wheel drive. Now that these vehicles are past their usefulness as transportation, many end up in the junkyards to be recycled into a project. Junkyards catering to the older iron may be full of cars from the 1980s and older, waiting to donate their mechanical heart. "Pick-a-part" junkyard shopping is often a good option in order to find the best prices. Some of these type 'yards will run specials on a certain day of the week or month that you can get a discount price on all you can haul out in a load, for example. Many Chevy, Dodge and Ford cars and trucks from the '50s to the early to mid '80s came equipped with a carbureted (non-EFI) V8, perfectly usable to power a hot rod. However, care should be taken when selecting an engine. Engine size, width, and length should all be taken into account. Depending on which car the engine is destined for, measurements are crucial to determining the fit. Junkyards can be rough places in which to work. Time is going to be needed to remove the engine, and all tools and equipment have to be brought from home. It might take several hours before the engine comes loose and out of its nest. Each car has different places where parts bolt onto and where the engine connects to the frame, and each bolt has to be removed. Most of these cars have been sitting there for a while, so be prepared to wrestle with rusted, stripped and broken bolts, layers of caked-on grease and dirt on the undercarriage and oil pan, and a lot of rusty sheetmetal. Some 'yards have an area that a vehicle can be placed up on supports so the engine and other large parts can be better accessed. When choosing an engine, engines with thick amount of surface [[rust]], critical missing parts or an obviously cracked block or heads should be completely avoided. If you can, pick an engine in a car that retains its hood. A car that has been sitting out in the 'yard without a hood will have rust built up inside the cylinders from the rain pouring into the engine. The more accessories and parts that are remaining on the engine, the better for future use. Testing the engine to see if it turns over by turning the crankshaft with a long breaker bar type wrench is a good way of determining whether the block is frozen up/rusted solid or not. If an engine doesn't turn over, leave it be. See: [[Freeing a stuck engine]].
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