Wanted 345 or 392 engine

odSteve

New member
hi, I am looking for a complete (from flywheel to fan) running 345 or 392ic v8 engine, 2b or 4b carb. Low miles from an early Loadstar truck. Anyone know anyone selling such an engine? Not interested in a smog engine from the mid 70's.
I'm located in the Northeastern corner of California so shipping costs could be a problem if you're on the east coast.
I'll post here when I find my engine so do not hesitate to respond even if this is an old post.
Let me know what you have.
Thank you.
 
For it to be complete we'd need to know, Juice or air brakes? Tell us what you're up to.

Do you really want the goverened carb and dizzy? It complicates things under the hood.
 
Hi,
The truck has regular hydraulic brakes. And I don't really care if it has the governed carb or distributor. Any good running 304, 345 or 392 would be acceptable, providing it is for a Loadstar.
From what I understand the Scout and light pickup has a different type of radiator hose hookup and different exhaust manifolds - 2 bolt instead of 3-bolt and I don't think the Scout exhaust manifold has the power steering bracket tapped hole. And I believe Scouts/pickups have different motor mounts. And I also heard that in the mid 70's the engines were smogged with air pump, different timing gears, etc for less performance and less mpg. But I'm no IH v8 expert and don't know any of this for sure.

I have a rust-free '69 Loadstar 1700 with 15k original miles on it. But the engine is locked up tight. So I was just looking for a bolt-in replacement while I rebuild the original engine. And I did not want to strip down the original to make the replacement engine work.
Yes, my original 392 has the 4 b governed carb and dizzy, but I don't care if the replacement engine is a 2 b or 4 b carb or if it is governed. Just as long as it runs well and is a temporary (probably couple years) direct bolt-in Loadstar engine replacement.

Not sure why the engine is locked up. I saw the truck run in a video before I placed my winning auction bid. It was delivered. The oil appeared ok, so I let the engine idle to warm it up as I intended to immediately replace the oil and filter "just in case". The engine ran smooth and quiet, not a miss, not a tap, not a noise of any kind. The stock gauge showed very good oil pressure. It ran exactly like you would expect a new engine with only 15k miles to run. After about 5 minutes the idle began to slow down. I instinctively gave it more gas. It continued to slow and within a half minute it stopped. It never made a sound - not one squeak, tappet noise, or knocking sound. But with perfect oil pressure to the very end the engine so locked up a breaker bar could not move it.
Any idea what happened?
Who knows how long the truck sat before they started driving it around for the video. My guess is that the auction company did not do any type of pre-oiling before starting it. So when I got the truck the cam bearings went out or spun causing the engine to lock up.
However another IH expert told me most likely the auction company put something in the oil causing it to run quiet and smooth but ultimately causing the bearings to weld themselves to the crank and plugged up everything. He said most likely the entire engine is toast.
Anybody else have a guess as to what happened?

So actually I don't know if I'm looking for a temporary replacement or a permanent replacement engine. If permanent, I'd like either a 345 or 392ic Loadstar non-smogged low-mileage engine. But if temporary any 304, 345 or 392 Loadstar type non-governed engine would be ok. I don't know how easy it is to find running replacement engines. I remember seeing somewhere someone had an engine and trans they were selling for $700 because they were updating the drivetrain in their truck but I can't find that post now. And I don't see any surplus of IH v8 engines in the classifieds. So I think I had better start looking now. I won't know until I tear apart my engine what the problem is, but if I find any good running complete Loadstar compatible engine before then, I'm interested.

I hope that kind of clarified what I'm looking for.
Thank you, Sir, for your reply.
 
Thanks lots of useful info there. I have a '73 1700 Loadstar dump truck with a 345. It has the 2 bolt manifolds. An engine from a pickup should bolt right in. Scout does have a different oil pan dip stick location and pump.

I have a 345 from a pickup that needs cam bearings, but was running great until a valve spring broke. Where are you located?

Failing cam bearings can stick'em pretty good. I've never lost an engine due to cam bearings. The usual culprit is the steel shim head gaskets rotting out. It's possible a cylinder is hydro locked. Have the plugs been pulled?
 
No, I have not done anything with it yet. I guess it could be hydrolocked. And that would be an easy check. But wouldn't the engine have a miss as it approaches its hydrolocked state? It seemed to run ok until it stopped. And it definitely has 3 manifold bolts to exhaust pipe, so I thought all Loadstars did.
It snowed again today so I still will not get to it for awhile. The truck won't fit in my shop.
I'm in the Northeastern corner of California, near Alturas.
Thank you.
 
The failure mode "may" be that exhaust gasses pressurised the cooling system and after it shut down coolant went back into the cylinder. Or maybe not, I'm interested to hear what you find. I've seen broken teeth on the cam gear from the cam bearings going.

The 3 bolt manifold flanges are a 392 thing. Another thing is the clutch, pickup's are drilled for 11 & 12" pressure plates. I'm told Loadstar's are drilled for 12 & 13"
 
If hydrolocked, that means one cylinder is now rusting away as I type this, correct?
If hydrolocked, if that is what it is, that means I will probably need to have a lot of machine work done to the engine. Sadly, no machine shops anywhere near this corner of the world.
If hydrolocked, does that mean because we've had weeks of near 0*F temps the water in that cylinder may have frozen, expanded and cracked the block, totally destroying it?
If hydrolocked, what would most likely be the minimum amount of machine work needed?
I'm guessing block resurfaced, one head rebuilt, and cylinders rehoned with new rings, bearings and seals throughout the engine. Your thoughts, please.
 
if hydrolocked--- remember its coolant, so if your coolant mix was good enough to take 0 F temp then it wont freeze being in the radiator or cylinders
 
Minimum is 2 new head gaskets. Because if one side went the other is not far behind.

As said above, if coolant is good, no rust and no freeze. Do not crank the engine if coolant is in the oil.
 
I found the engine I'm looking for - a complete running 345 from a '76 Loadstsar 1700.
So I am no longer looking for another engine. (unless you have a free one you want to drop off).
Thank you.
 
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