No kidding!!!

In any case, picked up the '04 MSM short block today. It is very, very clean, and I didn't have to do much cleaning to get it looking good. However, I did notice that as I was rotating the crank and watching the pistons, that while 1, 2, and 3 are flush with the top of the block when they are at TDC, piston 4 is about 1mm short at TDC. Is this going to cause a problem? I was told by the reputable seller that it was a running 2k mile motor when it was pulled.

And I also assume that since the block was sitting for so long, that the oil pan front seal dried out, and is allowing oil to slightly seep by. So because of that, I'm going to replace the front and rear pan seals and re-gasket maker the oil pan. Should I go ahead and replace the front and rear main seals as well? Water pump gaskets? I don't want anything starting to fail after I get this thing installed. lol

Pictures will be up later.

My bad, guess I should have read the rest of the thread before posting.

OK, another thing, I was looking down inside the cylinders, and cylinder #3 has a very small, straight-up scratch in the wall. It starts when the piston is at it's bottom-most position, and stops at a little over halfway up. I couldn't get a picture that showed the full length. You can barely feel it with your finger or fingernail. Is that going to cause an issue?

(I'm beginning to think that I'm destined to have nothing but issues anymore with my car...)

That would make me think that something was inside of the cylinder...trapped between the cylinder and the wall...did you ever pop the injectors out and look at them? was there anything plugging the injector holes while you were having the injectors serviced to ensure nothing would fall int he cylinder? Not saying this cause your bent rod, but might be anopther problme going on as well.

This is on the new block. Not the old one. The old one got shoved to the side for an engine build later. And nothing came off the injectors. And even if something did, Cylinder 1 had the bent rod. Going to test the injectors tomorrow to see if #1 overflowed the cylinder.

So, cliff notes for the concerns with the MSM short block which I hope someone can answer soon so I can order parts and get the car on the road again :) :

1. Piston #4 is about 1mm short of being flush with the top of the block at TDC, while the other 3 are basically flush. (I was told this was a low-mileage running engine when it was pulled.) Is this a problem?

2. Block sat for some time. Therefore, I'm replacing the seeping front oil pan end seal and the rear oil pan end seal. Would it be a good idea to replace the front and rear main seals as well? What else on the block could need replacing so I don't have to tear the engine down again from something leaking? Water pump gaskets?

3. Cylinder #3 has a very small, straight-up scratch in the wall. It starts when the piston is at it's bottom-most position, and stops at a little over halfway up. I couldn't get a picture that showed the full length. You can barely feel it with your finger or fingernail. Is that going to cause an issue?

4. Since the block was sitting, I can see rust inside the coolant passages. Is that going to be an issue as well?

Thanks guys!

Damn, that's what i get for browsing on the cell phone...I missed important info.

how did that rod get bent anyway on the old motor?

One hell of a starter from the info that we have.

Still investigating that one. Either super starter as said, or the the injector was at fault and the cylinder hydrolocked and didn't show much evidence of it.

This is the album of the '04 MSM short block:
http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z...nt/04MSMBlock/

First are some shots showing the provisions for the turbo and catch can.
Next is a picture from the top, then cyl. #1 at TDC, then cyl. #2 & 3 at TDC, and then #4 at TDC (or not quite making it?).
The very last picture is of the scratch on the wall of cyl. #3. Open that picture to see the arrow pointing at the scratch. You can see it only goes a little over halfway up. The marks to the right which look bad, and are probably unwanted in any case, actually cannot be felt at all.

Surface rust will come off if you use antifreeze.
The smal scratsh you are talking about on #3 has me a bit worried, but if it is as small as you say it is I doubt it will cause issues.
The short piston...that is a good question. I cannot recall ever seeing that before, it has me puzzled...
Did you check the wrist pin?
Pop off the oilpan and see what the crank and bearing look like...not sure what would cause a cyl to sit lower other than that. Unless the block was warped, but have you ever heared that happening? Me either.

crank not true?

Or a bent rod on that engine too? :eek5:

I would be back wherever you bought it asking the guy who sold it to explain it. If it was a working 2k motor then why did they break it up?

The block came from mazmart. It's out of a low mile MSM that we had a few years ago. The car was running when wrecked. The head was separated to sell to someone who trashed their MSM head. After the head was pulled, the block was wrapped with plastic, but was never put into inventory, people came and left, and the block kind of got "lost" for 2+ (nearly 3) years. I found the block and unwrapped it a couple days ago.

When I unwrapped the block, it looked beautiful and spun really nice when I gave the flywheel a twirl. Myself and 2 co-workers examined the block and we all thought it looked pretty nice. Eric came by and looked at it before purchase and also thought it looked pretty nice.

Eric's opening up the oil pan anyway to replace the pan seals. So more information will be known at that time. I'm kind of puzzled. But not yet concerned.

My bad jumped to conclusions. Thought it came from joe schmoe who passed on a lemon.

Eric - drag your finger nail across the scratch (w/o looking) and if you can "feel" it, then it's too big/deep IMO. Of course the low piston looks like a bigger prob to me. I'm w/torkel - another bent rod.

After a phone call with Eric, I'm worried now. He's bringing the block back.

Sucks, it was a 2k mile block.

Worried about the low piston/bent rod or the scratch in the bore?

If the crank is ok and the scratch minor then he can use the block with some budget forged rods or even swap out a rod from his old engine. MSM rods are same as stock aint they?

Worried about the low piston. Could be a bad rod, bearing, wrist pin, or ???
Certainly rebuildable, but he's already got a rebuildable block in his possession.

That being said, this MSM block would make an excellent core for a build, since it has the MBSP, and is already ready already with tapped ports for turbo coolant and oil.

My favorite kind of rebuild. 2 fucked = 1 good :D