I am swapping a Cummins into my 76 m880. I wanted to do a little preventative maintenance while I have the engine on the stand. The motor has about 200k on it. it was a plow truck but should still have plenty of life left in it.

I plan on taking care if the Killer dowel Pin and as many gaskets/seals as prudent (i don't think the head gasket is worth it). I'll also check the bearings and valve clearances. paint it and drop it in.

So since i am not too experienced I was hoping i could get some advice.

Two questions:
what else would you check while it was on the stand?

And anyone have a good source on a gasket kit? Has anyone tried the cheap fleabay ones? are they anywhere near as good as a cummins OEM or even good enough?

Thanks for any advice

 

if its a non intercooled motor do the headgasket for sure. the non intercooled motor had a poor headgasket to start with.

 

If it was mine, I would be fairly tempted to remove the gear housing and replace its gasket, then loctite the internal bolts when it goes back together. It's a fairly big job, requiring camshaft removal, but it's a lot easier now than when the engine's in the vehicle. Leaks and loose bolts are common enough to make it worthwhile, in my mind.

 

Oil pan gasket is the only big one you can't do without lifting the motor up a bit.

 

I'd run a compression check on it fer sure. It'd be a lot easier to ring it on the stand than in the frame.

 

^^ This for starters.


Redo anything with a gasket or o-ring you think might need it. Loc-Tite the internals like torquefan said in his post, and then consider anything else you might want to do to it while it's out, like a nice paint job.

 

I would redo all the seals, rear main.. front, oil pan, etc. Paint the motor.

Compression test would be a good one as well.

 

Get a master rebuild kit and some wide bowl pistons, then have some fun with the head, swap the cam also.

 

I would just do a hg while its out. Its simple enough to do.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Sounds like I better do the head gasket since its a 89 non inter cooled motor. I'll def check the compression too.

Any one have a good source or info on a gasket kit?

 

Your nearest Cummins dealer, the kit will have the wrong valve seals but if you tell them they will trade out for the correct set, or at least mine did.

 

Would you guys ground the tappets down?

 

if i did a head gasket i would also get everything resurfaced to make sure i dont have problems down later. i hear of to many people reporting hg issues within 75000 miles of a change

 

Also since its a non ic I'd venture to say the head has a few cracks...