Man_A_Free Rebuilt overbore 3FE (2 Viewers)

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Hammer45

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Location
Moffat, Texas
Well it finally got delivered this week to mate to the @cruisermatt h55. They had to sleeve it before putting in the “high po pistons”. Should I scrape the front of the engine down to bare metal to mount the water pump and thermostat and oil cooler stuff? I also am not impressed with the paint job. It looks like it baked in the sun after plastic wrapping. I hope the inside the engine detail is better than the paint job. On a positive note, the prior owner had done the oil galley plug mod…

I appreciate the input. D

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Yeah that looks terrible. I would at least try to get some sort of discount or compensation for the fact that you're going to have to strip and repaint the valve cover, timing gear cover, etc. It looks like they dipped the whole thing in POR-15 and wrapped it while the paint was still wet. Crazy!

Anyway, to answer your question, I would take any gasket sealing surface down to bare metal. It also looks like you'll need to chase a bunch of threads, as they all seem to have paint in them.
 
As others have said, I’d definitely send them pictures prior to doing anything with this engine, that finish looks awful, to say nothing of the fact all the fasteners are painted over too. If you decide to keep the engine, document and take pictures of how it arrived and ask for some money back for refinishing.

Regarding the question on the water pump, I would hit the area with scotchbrite, then a flat stone to ensure there are no burrs. I would also chase any of the female threads with the appropriate tap to clear out any debris prior to adding any of your accessories.
 
I've had this happen with a drive shaft actually 3 of them for a big f250 I built front driveshaft was 2500 dollars rear 2 piece was 1800 they were painted black then packed up and shipped to me looked just like your engine luckily it wasn't an engine. I was pissed off I would be extremely pissed about this. This what happens when people just don't care I'd call and bitch.
 
I’d also question why the fastener in the oil galley plug hole is not seated all the way in the head…..
When I did mine on my prior engine, I used 2 of those hex head plugs and it protruded like this one.
 
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As others have said, I’d definitely send them pictures prior to doing anything with this engine, that finish looks awful, to say nothing of the fact all the fasteners are painted over too. If you decide to keep the engine, document and take pictures of how it arrived and ask for some money back for refinishing.

Regarding the question on the water pump, I would hit the area with scotchbrite, then a flat stone to ensure there are no burrs. I would also chase any of the female threads with the appropriate tap to clear out any debris prior to adding any of your accessories.
Already on that unfortunately.
As others have said, I’d definitely send them pictures prior to doing anything with this engine, that finish looks awful, to say nothing of the fact all the fasteners are painted over too. If you decide to keep the engine, document and take pictures of how it arrived and ask for some money back for refinishing.

Regarding the question on the water pump, I would hit the area with scotchbrite, then a flat stone to ensure there are no burrs. I would also chase any of the female threads with the appropriate tap to clear out any debris prior to adding any of your accessories.
Rick at Man_A_Fre:
From the looks of it, the plastic wrap must have gotten hot in the truck and imprinted the paint. I would scuff it with a scotchbrite pad and put another coat on it before installing.
You shouldn't need to take it all the way down to metal for the gasket surfaces. You'll just need to make sure it's flat.

So no, I’m not going to install a water pump and thermostat by placing my gasket on top of a painted surface.
I expected better. D
 
It would look better if it was painted by hand with a brush. For what they charge for those rebuilds I would not accept that. No way.
 
That would go straight back where it came from and get someone who gives a damn to build you an engine...
 
A painted gasket surface will leak. It's common to get a little overspray, but whoever painted that, just didn't give a F. Best to attack it now while the paint is soft. Needs to be bare metal for gasket adhesion.

BTB has some splanin' to do, and their response is insulting.
 
pretty much the rebuilt parts inside the block were slapped together with the same attention to detail as the paint was.
 
pretty much the rebuilt parts inside the block were slapped together with the same attention to detail as the paint was.
Haha. I knew someone was going to go there.

Hopefully not.
 
Wow that's really disappointing. Sorry man.

Don't know the back story - was this a straight purchase or did they rebuild for you?
i purchased a rebuild from them with larger bore and domed pistons. They have been around the landcruiser community forever. Though frustrating and disappointing, I'm not sure I can hold them responsible for the paint doing that in the heat of the delivery truck. At first I thought they just wrapped it with the plastic wrap too soon after painting but honestly there was no paint on the plastic film. They are in Las Vegas. It gets hot. I'm not a huge fan of making an engine pretty. if it does the job.... I am frustrated that they didn't take time to cover the areas that will need a gasket before painting. they did cover the manifold area and the oil cooler area, just not the front of the engine. so i'll be frustrated but withhold outright anger and google review and posting on the vendor area for now. any other thoughts on the gasket areas? i've never used scotchbrite. will it hurt the mating surface? thanks for the commiserating guys.
 

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