Engine overhaul question

[bcwayne]

I recently accquired a late model D-2 in a non-running condition. The head was removed by the previous owner and he found the liners all to be too low ( about 5 thousandths below the block surface.)
I am preparing to pull the liners and pistons to see whats necessary to bring it back to life.
My question is: How to determine the condition of the rod and main bearings ?? Should I remove the caps and plastic gauge them prior to pulling the liners, or Mic them after they are out ?? Thanks, Wayne

[Old Magnet]

Hi Wayne,
By far the better method is to mic them when they are out....this way you can take multiple readings to determine taper or out of round dimensions. The plastigage is more of a reference check to double check fit when assembled or a rough check of where you'r at when considering dismantling.

[Gordon.]

bcwayne,
personaly i would take out the whole engine, if you're going as far as to take the pistons and con rods out, send the crank to a specialist and get it cheked for cracks and have it ground if necessary. Check the whole engine over, oil pump water pump etc.
Gordon.

[SJ]

As for the liner ledges being worn all that can be done is bore the ledgs out and Cat has (had) shims to bring them back to specs but you need to get the shims and then bore to specs and it,s a process to make sure the ledges aren,t cracked. The liners have to be from about .002" to .006" above the block but should be pretty close to the same so that can be done when it,s bored.Cat has a variety of shim thickesses so it needs to be done by a good machinist. I have bored probably 100s of them over the years at the dealer and some were so bad and cracked or eat out that a sleeve had to be installed which Cat had.

[bcwayne]

Thanks guys for the advice... I'll continue taking it apart this morning and we'll see what I've got.