87 Wagoneer with spun rod bearing

[jpcjguy]

Hey all,

So I am looking at an 87 Wagoneer with the following:

"#8 rod bearing spun out. The engine is locked up due to the rod bearing. He took the oil pan off to look inside. Currently the oil pan is not on so you take a look for yourself if you would like. The oil pressure and temperature was normal when it broke down on me."

The vehicle overall is in pretty good shape, price is 700.

What am I looking at? :-| Do you think I can get away with new bearings and polishing/grinding the crank? Total rebuild?

Thanks!
Joe

[tufcj]

Been there, tried that, didn't work. I tried throwing a just crank and bearings in a Pontiac 455 I had. Ran about 200 miles before it ate a different bearing due to residue in the block.

If you have a spun bearing, there's bearing material in EVERY oil passage in the engine. The rod with the bad bearing is going to have to be resized, so bare minimum, that head has to come off.

If it were me, pull the engine, disassemble, tank block, new cam bearings, turn crank, replace or resize the bad rod, deglaze cylinders and re-ring, new cam, lifters, timing set, main and rod bearings, have the heads freshened with new seals, and a gasket kit. Do most of the work yourself, and you can probably do it for under $750, and have an engine good for another 100K miles.

Bob
tufcj