how to clean crank for re-assembly

[Steve's/440Trailfire]

Taking a 440 f/c motor apart and doing seals, gaskets, and rings. Just wondering if I do anything with the crank to clean it or prep it for re-assembly? Motor has been sitting for about 15 years but it spins very nicely. One piston has some very slight grooves and the other is perfect. Gonna try and get by with just rings if I can. I had 141 psi on the good cylinder and 133 on the one with the small grooves.

[Steve's/440Trailfire]

Ok... I guess I'm on my own. Thought I'd at least get 1 person with some advise. Oh well...

[Hackinator]

My dad usually uses kerosene or a few cans of brake cleaner. Then dries it with compressed air, checks to make sure any oil passages are clear, and then oils the dry bearings with 2 cycle oil. I guess visibly look to see that the crankshaft or the crankshaft lobes are not damaged. Pretty straight forward. A thing with oil seals that I learned the hard way is that you should make sure they are not dry when the crankshaft is installed. I've had an oil seal tear when the crankshaft was rotated because it stuck so well. I use a little vaseline/petroleum jelly on the inside of them to avoid it happening. Cleans up with soap and water and everything is all good in the seal department.

[Matt]

I don't think you want to do much cleaning with a solvent because you don't want to wash the oil out of the bearings. I usually just wipe it down by hand, and get some fresh oil into the bearings with 2-stroke or fogging oil before assembly.

[Steve's/440Trailfire]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Appreciate it! Gonna tear into this thing this afternoon and see what we have.

[nick80lf]

If you have OEM pistons finding the correct rings might be an issue. I don't believe the aftermarket rings will fit the OEM pistons.

[DLDeere]

Which 440 engine? Where did you find gaskets? I have a 440/21 from a JDX8 and am having trouble finding a gasket set. New Breed Snowmobile Parts is out and Dennis Kirk doesn't list them.

[Steve's/440Trailfire]

Nick - I was wondering about that. That was actually going to be my next question. Should I just replace the crank seals, upper head gaskets, intake and exhaust gaskets and put it back together? Basically not even take the pistons out of the cylinders? I can alway do a piston and cylinder with the motor in the sled right?

DL-This is the TA440 F/C motor out of an 82 trailfire lx. It seems that gaskets are pretty available for these still. I got a full winderosa set from DK.

[Matt]

Which 440 engine? Where did you find gaskets? I have a 440/21 from a JDX8 and am having trouble finding a gasket set. New Breed Snowmobile Parts is out and Dennis Kirk doesn't list them.

The 440/21 Kit is in stock my distributor - no problem.