The plan right now is to tear the entire engine apart; get the block decked, honed, and bored; check the valves for undue wear and replace the springs; replace the cam, the pistons, and the rings will stock spec parts; machine the piston arms back to true and install new bearings; replace the oil pump, the water pump, the timing chain, and so on; and install all new gaskets, belts and hoses, of course.
I took in a few parts that I'd bought in advance:
· Edelbrock Short Headers for the AMC 360 V8 to replace the stock exhaust manifolds (I'm hoping to squeeze out a few more horsepower from this upgrade)
· Edelbrock Timing Chain set for AMC 360 V8 (it's a higher quality chain with roller bearings)
· Flow Kooler hi-flow aluminum water pump for AMC 360 V8 (30% higher flow over stock)
· New polyurethane motor mounts (1 pair)
They'll pull the engine and reinstall it, which they prefer to do to make sure the setup is right and to assume all control (and liability) for proper installation. Also, though I'd bought most of the necessary gaskets in advance, the owner of the shop advised me to let him purchase and install the gaskets (nearly all will be Fel-Pro) as an insurance policy for both of us. See, the engine, upon completion, will have a three year, unlimited mile warranty. But should one of the gaskets I provided prove to be faulty, there would be the potential for debate over who should pay (was it a gasket problem or an install problem, my fault or his?). If it's one of his gaskets, he's responsible for all parts and labor.
Also, another nice service Hall's provides is a free checkup after 500 miles. They'll do an oil change and check the engine over, including all connections, to make sure all is well. If something is wrong (problematic metal shavings in the oil, for example), they can address it before anything catastrophic happens.
All of the above is what sold me on using Hall's. In addition to that, however, is the fact that they specialize in off-road vehicles and enjoy working on older Jeeps (he was working on a V6 CJ5 when I pulled in this morning, and their site has some shots of a pair of desert flatties). While these Jeeps are not going to feature the AMC 360, they're mostly AMC vehicles, so he knows what peculiarities these rigs can have.
The complete rebuild, including all parts and labor (and removal and install of the engine) will be about $3600. He says they rarely go over an estimate and are quite off under. I left a 50% deposit to get the job rolling.
