I have a junkyard 292 that I plan on building into a good motor.  My good friend, a professional thinks the bores are too rusted to salvage.  Mummert can sell me .060, .070, .080, or .090 oversize pistons.  I can't believe I can't clean up the bore with that much oversize.  Of course the machine shop will find out the truth.  Don't want to pour too much money into a lost cause.  Photo attached.  Any opinions out there?

I think I would be more concerned about the condition of the decks than the cylinders, although in my opinion, there is no good reason to use this particular block to begin with. There are much better ones readily available.

Do a sonic check first that will let you know how much cylinder wall you have which will determine overbore. Then a mag check to make sure the block isn't cracked.



Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

Are those the only two cylinders rusted, or all of them.  You could probably afford to sleeve two cylinders, but more than two you should probably just find a better block.  If you lived close to me, I could provide one that is not rusted like that.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

you havent got the pistons out yet.

drill some 1/2 in holes in the pistons and break them,then get a container that will submerge the block,(big plastic garbage can. soak it in a solution  of molasses and water mix 1gal molasses 3 of water. leave it in for 2 to 3 weeks. wash with fresh water. you will be amased.

Jack Groat; This is how I salvaged a rare 1963, 289 HiPo block that looked like that. First I placed it on my engine stand. Then I sand blasted it, Yes I know that is a NO  NO . It will clean up. Use low pressure. and very fine sand. I tryed glass bend, but that did not work well. .Then after I got it part, I had to sleeve 6 cylinders.
When you sleeve a block you have to deck the block after. I had around $400.00 in the block.
There is another way to go . If you know where you can have it acid dipped. 
This worked for me.

Rusty cylinders are always a challenge.  When it comes to rust and/or cylinder wall pitting, the problem with boring the cylinders 0.090” larger is you are only taking 0.045” off per side.  Sounds like a lot until you get into rust pitting.  On badly rusted blocks, boring oversize may not clean them up.  And then there’s the rusting of the cylinder walls on the water jacket side.  That just compounds the problem.  Rusty cylinder walls do not sonic test well if at all so the walls need to be cleaned with some pre-honing to be able to get some valid sonic test readings.  Sonic testing then will let you know if the block has the potential for some heavy boring or not.  Once the block is deemed salvageable from that standpoint, then it needs to be checked for cracks and pressure tested.  There's no end to the checking on a block with an unknown history. 

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks guys..  always great answers.

One thing, I don't find y-blocks everywhere.  Hunted for 6 months to find this one.  Been hunting in the Detroit metro area (where the shipping is zero) for a long time and found none.  The one I have I found in W. Va and it cost $400 to ship it.  Anyway, I have confidence in the machine shop and I am sure they will say thumbs up or down.

I do plan on milling the decks 0.010.

Jack I have a couple of old blocks here in New Hampshire. I'm not perfectly sure what they are but can check. I'm sure I have a 272/292 with a crank. There used to be a 312 with no crank but not sure about that one. Smaller ones build better though. 272 pistons have become impossible to find but they will bore to 292 or larger without much problem. I believe these were sonic checked at one time but it was long ago and I no longer have the info. I was checking to see if I could bore them and leave enough cylinder wall for a blower. Any way if things go right I'll be heading to Bonneville in early August. We usually make a stop at Perryville, Ohio and I could bring a block etc. along on the way. You could meet us at the motel for our nightly stop and Rolling Bones cruise night. Let me know if your interested and I'll check and see exactly what I have and make a list with prices. 

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire