That blatz beer bearing has to go on a shelf somewhere.

If you didn't have it on video, that story would just be an urban legend. :)

What I would give to hear it run like that!!! Clatter pillar!!!

I thought that the "Blatz" beer can was just clickbait in the thumbnail. ; I was wrong.

Bottom shelf beer choice explains this guy’s bottom shelf approach to engine repair.

Wow what a gut punch. The 6 days of casting date separation was such a good thing. It usually takes extra effort to do things completely wrong than it does doing it correctly. This mangled rebuild must have been an excuse to drink beer for shim stock.

Well there's the problem Nobody told this guy that Coors has a better grade shim stock

Friend: you don’t know how to rebuild a Diesel engine. Him: hold my beer.

Wow, the Bubba is strong with this one.

Sad to see a good engine hacked to death...

Wow. Just wow. I would consider myself a novice engine rebuilder after restoring one tractor and being in the process of doing another, but I don’t think I could top that destruction if I tried.

Here's the lies I hear with too dang much regularity: she was running great and dang someone stole the starter and radiator so we can't start it.Engine was JUST rebuilt before the tranny went out so we're just selling the engine(then I find what Squatch found when I open it up) Is there water in the oil? Nope they say:without telling me the radiator and water jacket are completely drained.How long have you had it I ask. Years they say:as I'm looking at the auction number in grease pencil on the hood... I'm the exact opposite: when I do a repair or re-build on a unit I'm selling I explain exactly what I did and point out what I think will need attention in the near future. But I have a soul and put my honor and good name above money.

Holy boat anchor Batman! Tough little beastie to be even running in that condition. Must've made a racket towards the end.

You really gotta admire the confidence that some people have. I'm an amateur hobbyist mechanic, and have a pretty well rounded background when it comes to fabrication/tuning/engine building, etc. But I still know when I'm in over my head. Some people are willing to work on ANYTHING to make or save a buck, without ANY actual knowledge or common sense. This is amazingly bad workmanship, totally speechless.

I have seen similar with a small block chevy. Guys I went to auto school with bought an S10 unseen off ebay trailer it home. It ran for like 2 hours then popped its guts all over the road. When they got it apart it had coffee cans riveted and rtved to the top of a number of pistons and there was aluminum foil of some kind wrapped around a couple rod and main journals. It amazes me the ingenuity that people come up with good or bad to get something to run. Awesome Vid man!

Red Adair once said "If you think its expensive hiring a professional to do the job wait until you hire an amateur."

Amazing that it actually ran like that! It's a testament to Caterpillar's design philosophy that you can abuse an engine like that and it will still run.

I've been watching your videos. You do amazing work! That engine wow.......half of me wishes I could've heard it run just to see how bad it sounded....the other half of me is like absolutely no I don't want to hear an engine run that is so terribly worked on........I can't wait to hear your D2 run!

Thanks for showing your cleaning process. Suspected as much. You are much neater than I. I have everything everywhere. Like the idea of inspecting everything while cleaning makes excellent sense. Thanks again!

I was always taught that if something is worth doing, its wort doing right the first time. And as a mechanic still, this is my philosophy on everything I do.

Pretty wild! We're all loving the amount of content you're putting up...hope it's as fun for you to make as it is for us to watch

Thats a bummer finding that. with those old low revving diesel engines, it's amazing what will run and run ok for years. Ive pulled some real interesting Fordson motors apart that started nice and ran pretty well, but when it was taken apart you couldn't find a part that wasn't wrong. I wonder if those pistons being in wrong caused all that crank component damage. If there was no clearance in the pistons it would force the components down onto the crank at top dead center on each piston, taking out the "oil float" of the crankshaft messing with the lubrication . Hopefully you get better news with the other block, Thanks for the video. take care

Gives "hold my beer" a whole new meaning. 🤣

Lol. "That guy lived in a world where the more beer you drank the better your equipment got."

Red Adair once said "If you think its expensive hiring a professional to do the job wait until you hire an amateur", but hall of fame coach John Wooden summed it up quite nicely with 'If you can't afford to do it right the first time, what makes you think you'll be able to do it right the second time?!'

I bet the actual mechanical history of that engine is fascinating ... I don't blame you for condemning that block, at the very least it's probably haunted

Hi Squatch253 thanks for taking the time to make the videos, i have been watching them on and off again for a while as time permits. I enjoy your content and your approach to making videos and like the fact that it is offered with the CC option. One suggestion that i think would make it better for me and probably others to follow along on your journey would to number your videos in order that they should be viewed in. Keep up the good work ! Jon440x

Loving your video updates but so sorry you found that mess. What a nightmare !

Dooood!!!!!!!! I had a 4840 deere that for several years we had used for pto powerplant for grinders,generators,augers. Decided one winter to do an underhaul. When the pan was pulled 3 rod bearings had the bearings missing. In their place was silk fabric properly wound around the crank. The silk fabric still had flowers on it. Made no abnormal noise.I THINK THAT CRANK CAN BE SAVED

Even we amateurs know how to position the pistons in a engine block, but that beer can job has to be a record of some kind!

New subscriber to your channel, stumbled across your channel a week or so back. Red Seal Automotive tech here. That is, by far, the worst engine I have seen that had not sent a rod through the block. Gonna be going through the rest of your vids. If I were to guess on that rebuild - it was literally all the owner had, with no money, and he *needed* it running. Necessity is one hell of a mother of invention. Looks to me that thing belongs well and proper in a museum. Worst engine I saw - and it was still running - was 96 Dodge 5.9L, complaining of smoke, heavy oil loss and no power. Put it up in the air, and I was able to see the business end of spark plugs 5 and 6 from below the oil pan. Both rods punched their way thru the oil pan and block skirting; no core for that one.

Thank you for sharing your story, merry Christmas

Well shoot,just not having a good week at all. First the X231 gear and now this. Time for a beer I think. Lol

After seeing that engine welding the other one with the cracked up water jacket back together doesn't look so bad lol

Now you're having my kind of luck. Love the videos and keep them coming. Going to start on my D47U soon and will try my hand at some video work. My D47U runs but the pony is junk and has to be pull started.

I have no words,that is some funny stuff right there,I know you don't think so but I'm a diesel mechanic and that was definitely some of the worst crap I've seen anybody do,it made my day,I needed a good laugh.i hope you have better luck with the next block😁

That is so funny I couldn't imagine opening that up and finding that!you are certainly mr. Knowledge when it comes to these motors thank you so much

My word! You weren't kidding! That's the worst i have seen as well. Someone needs to track that "engine builder " down and slap him!

I have seen the pistons installed backwards before with the same results, and many times have seen the beer can shim trick that worked well.

That's a shame. What a Butcher rebuild & case of neglect. The rods are probably bent too from the valves hitting the 180 degree wrongly installed pistons. Good thing you have a back up plan / engine ! Can't wait to see what happens next. Thanks for the update !

I've seen some cowboy lash ups before now but this has to take the prize! Initially, when I saw the pistons in the wrong way round I thought line build error ( it happens, especially when you assemble piston, rod and liner pack as Cat do, but so, so rarely) but the Alu shims told the truth of it. Good luck in your search for another engine.

Squatch this was so interesting, thank you so much .

I lost your channel for a bit but I'm glad I found it again

That crankshaft is absolutely incredible. I wonder how many hours this d2 had on it

4:30 lol imagin the beer can "stock" was just the right thickness lol omg what a mad idea and for it to be in such good nick after the engine had run with it in.. wow wish you had a video of this engine running and how long it had been running in this state or since the last "rebuild"

When you think you have seen everything! Wow! Thanks for sharing 👍

That sucks...it wasn't me, I don't drink beer but after seeing what this guy did to that overhaul I might start!

Squatch, I went through my 3010 JD short of the transmission and differential. It was like an FFA project gone bad by someone else in the past.

That the first time I have ever seen someone shim up bearing then use a beer can as shims. Looking forward to you put one back together.

Wow 😮 Yes you where right, this is the worst rebuilt i've ever seen😨 And I have bin a mechanic for over 20 years.... Stay strong, happy new year! greetings from Sweden!

Oil pressure? What's that?

There's a conversation in the book ShopClass as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford about this very beer-can-shim installation. That one turned out better.

Yup. That is a high class, heavy duty paperweight right there. Too bad, but that is how a LOT of old engines are found nowadays. Ran across a Case SC block that had the entire carb side of the crankcase busted out, and they patched it with one large piece of metal plate (and about 100 square head 1/4-20 bolts). It worked, but talk about a wicked engine failure prior to...

Wow, that engine had to have had some very interesting clatter to it.

Sure would have liked to have heard that one run.. This gives new meaning to the phrase, “run it til it dies”.

Work like that was common to find on old machines in outback Australia. I have seen many an engine and other components with repairs like those. All done by bush mechanics with limited tools at hand and harsh working environment, often out in the open, in the dirt. Making what they could and using what was at hand to get it done to make it work. People forget how big the problem of distance was in Australia right up to world war 2. Most places were many days travel from a major town, some days or weeks travel from the nearest rail head or port to receive goods. It would not be uncommon to have to wait 5 months possibly more for parts to arrive from the time you posted off an order. By that time a whole season of production could be lost. So they did whatever they could to make it work, to survive another season.

I chuckled the whole time, but I lost it when I saw the beer can. Wow just wow.

I honestly was not thinking I would start Christmas Day being sick, but there you go. This is by far the most disgusting rebuild I've ever seen.

Wow. That is shocking. I wonder if the person who overhauled that engine was a carpenter. He couldnt have been a mechanic. I do hope you can find a decent engine.

Don't forget, if the Cat dealer is closed, you can also use the Blatz 24-pack case to fab a nice .0012" head gasket.🤣

Wow....that is incredible. I wonder how long it actually ran for? What it sounded like? What it's performance was like compared to a properly built counterpart? I just have so many questions that I wish we had answers for. Thanks for sharing!

A friend of mine was telling me about a reputable repair shop in our area that did an overhaul on a 1070 Case with aftermarket repower kit. He kept on having knocking issues and brought it back and they put a new kit in it. Same thing happened soon after. Turned out the aftermarket kit had too high of pistons in it so they got a set from JI Case and that took care of the problem. You would think after the first failure you would check stuff like that out. I get why you purchase the OEM parts for these. Not some aftermarket junk that has been made into a "kit"

Actually that might be salvageable ; A good decking with a shim brings it back up to height. New sleeves & pistons are available or can be made. Rods I bet a modern one that's really close can be found. The crank can be saved by spray welding, seen it done before, so not rocket science. Bearing shells can be saved by line honing / boring a used set from another build. Lots of work, but not the end by any means. I think youtuber abom79 could save that crank. there are other's I can think of for other parts of saving that block. In fact I think there are some videos of guys saving engines worse than that. Whatever it has value to someone, so don't junk it. Someone is out there that has a good home for it. Could be a youtube party.

I glad I wasn't seeing things when I looked at the engine and thought to myself "Those pistons look 180 degrees off". Weird how I look at things anymore. I wonder how the old girl sounded as she died? Sad that there are hacks out there like that. I did run into a 3406 that someone had shaved the block down to clean it up, and must have driven in the liners and forgot the counterbore. So, just naturally they put the block back in the mill and cut the liners down too.

The Blatz can is a giveaway of when this was rebuilt....what a mess.

I love rewatching this video.

It's a museum piece. I'm sure you know Flame Welding, and bronze welding cast iron. I had a 262 Cummins with a block well distorted. Blown head gaskets. I used Devcon Epoxy to fill the lows!!😱😹. It worked for months

wow ! that solve the tag issue ! I still cant believe it ran ! talk about getting your last dollar out something ! thanks for sharing !

Hope you get to see this comment as it's an old video. I reconditioned car engines in the early 70s and agree, the worst I've ever seen. Enjoying your vids, going back through old ones. Greetings from England.

I have seen beer cans used for some crazy stuff but this is a winner.

Now that’s something to put up on the shelf! 😂👍🏻

We tore down a Mack ENDT675 in our shop one time and all the rods were in backwards. Worst part was that they had the word "FRONT" forged right on the side of them. It ran at least 100,000 miles like that, that we know of. The oil sprays were all bent, but I can't remember if the pistons were in wrong

We can forgive some ignorance but if you're not sure which way around the pistons go, have a look at the head, all the clues are there! Thanks for sharing, it is amazing to see how tough diesels are. I would expect to see this in Africa where tools and spares are hard to come by, and I have seen all sorts in Africa but this was in America.

That shim was nuts btw You sir have laid down some deer👍

Them pistons hitting the top played a part in the ware on that crank

Wow. Never seen bearing wear quite that bad. The can shim was awesome. Probably drank, said that'll do it and used the can 🤣

Sorry to hear you had such a let down. Guess you have to go to that option 2. I really hope it works out.

Holy cow that's horrific. It takes more effort to botch. Just wow. Hooked on your channel.

You are getting a sub, most mechanics talk about drinking beer, glad to find one that makes fun of that. Some of us stopped drinking and grew up a little in life and don't care to hear about everyone elses booze habbit.

Great antler collection. Never update that garage, it's got definite character.

The blatz shims are hilarious! I'm sure their displayed somewhere in your shop.

I see you said it was bought by your grandfather from a logger... I was a Sawmill engineer years ago and i have seen a lot of this standard of work plenty of times,in fact a lot worse. Sawmills were often places where machinery would break during the working day so the person who knew how to weld (or something like a weld) would join a thing back together with what looked chicken droppings. .. I think the funniest thing i ever found in a engine was a conrod with a Piece of thick leather for a big end bearing. Then there was a crank journal built up with weld beads then trimmed up with a disc grinder. The crank was all distorted and wobbled like crazy when i turned it over to see why the engine would turn over but seemed to grab a bit. .To my way of thinking,the best idea is to get rid of worn gear and buy the best you can afford because after a while,continually fixing the worn out stuff just to keep working wears you out before your time. PS. I would say that the bearings were probably OK until the pistons were put in back to front,and the bearings were basically hammered out. blatz beer sounds like the type of brew to get a person bladdered.

I thought I had seen a really worn crank when I tore apart an old Pontiac 400 that had been abandoned in a field. I had, but this is on a whole 'nother level.

sounds like when my dad worked for the county hy dept the had a 1962 White lowboy tractor that was in really bad shape, but no money to replace it,every sleeve and piston in it was different, they would go and scrounge parts out of the local rock company's junk pile

Shocking how bad that is + The Beer Shim!! I can look in my Area I'm in Michigan if that's not too far for you.

Another great video! I've been a diesel mechanic for over 40 years and have never seen a rebuild be done that poorly. Obviously the beer drinker didn't invest in a repair manual! One thing for sure, the basic design, engineering, and durability of the Caterpillar engine shines through as it still ran after being butchered as it was. Good luck on your quest to find another J series block, keep us posted!

I lost it at the beer can shells hahaha

So THATS where "beer can engine" came from in your more recent videos

Wow. Incredible.

I thought I understood the basics of how engines work, but I really don't get how that one held together for any length of time with the pistons literally smacking the valves like that.

Great video

Hi I used to belong to a car club MK 2 Ford consul Zephir and zodiac I took an engine to bits and found the crank shaft had been ground down but they had Miss a Journal so they packed it out with parts of a feeler gauge 40 thousands to make the new bearing usable

nice. when i was bout 22 i found a datsun long block in the desert, in the days where parts were everywhere out there, free. it had the flywheel and clutch on it, fan, carburetor it was loaded. so brought it home in my 74 620 datsun truck with a L18 motor, to look at it later. a couple years went by, and i was at the junk yard lookin for a motorcycle center stand and there were 2 datsun L motors sitting just outside the office door, i asked about them, not knowing what size they were i picked em up for 35 bucks. they went home and sat next to the desert find. a couple years later i decide to look, the one in the desert was a L-16, i look at the other ones and 1 was L-16, the desert model was worn evenly close to her last legs, only 1 big end rod bearing was nearly gone, they had to driven it 50 miles knockin hard. i was like shit. so i took a look at the other one and one piston had let go of the pin and the top have was wedged in the top the bottom was in the pan, the pin or something however made a fine 1/8in divot in the sleeve or liner. without mic'n wear i tried a ring from the damaged rod engine into one of the good cylinders of the junk block and it was satisfactory gap. on the cluttered dusty garage floor i used the good as is, with her bearings and rods for the good block, after pressing the pistons off i don't remember if i made the change at the pin or the big end, i kept all in order-bearings, rings, where they came off of, i used all the seals and gaskets from them including the main seals, pilot bushing etc. the only think i had to buy was a head gasket and intake/exhaust manifold gasket, oil and a filter (those were free.) the total cost of parts were under 18.00 dollars. the motor didn't have high compression but was consistently even, didn't smoke at all, the oil pressure was normal and didn't lead a drop of oil. i put that in my truck to run while i put a L-20 engine together. i still have the 1600cc. i had no experience of engine assembly at the time, but every day of the week i was sitting 2 feet away from a 651b Caterpillar scraper motor. 651s 31's 37s 57's 666s.

You make great videos!. I see you are serious about your deer hunting also...

Yes that is so bad worst I have seen thanks for sharing very interesting video

I thought the beer can was clickbait also! Holy crap, that is hilarious! That is some old-school jury-rigging for sure, but the backwards pistons is just sheer stupidity.

I'm with 1howtoplace , I too thought I've seen it all but this is just WOW!!!! Been a tech for over 20 years and this was just to much, hahahaha

A testament to the durability of the old CAT. She actually ran like that, for long enough to flame cut the pistons and for someone to do that sort of shimming means it probably wasn't his 1st go at it, and the previous engine(s) ran... I've found pistons backwards in gasoline engines, but those had 4 valve reliefs, you could almost understand how a sloppy assembler could screw that up, but this is beyond belief. My worst find was an automotive (Ford 351M if I recall) with what appeared to be PC-7 or some similar epoxy in the top shell bearing grooves, I'd have to guess to improve oil pressure? Much of it and the babbit from the bearings was in the oil screen. You've got me beat. That's one rear main shell that deserves a spot in the top of the tool box....

one more thing.. its NOT scrap.. since its not distorted.. it can be a perfect engine for a stationary display.. line boring the mains is possible on most engines. this can throw the transmission and gear drive alignment off.. milling the deck surface can also be done.. doing both of these before grinding the crank might allow a custom ground stroke.. shortening the stroke just the right amount to restore piston height.. when some engine builders do EMD diesel engines.. they actually surface the decks.. spray weld the decks to restore the proper height and then surface them again.. that is way too much $$$$$ for that block.. but cleaning the outside and using it for static displays is perfect as would be the other rusty components you have..

OK, I been thinking about this one over night. The whole tractor is used. No point in building a pristine engine for a used running-gear and undercarriage ... A nice engine, sure. So looking at the block, it seems square and no ice damage (good), but it was mistreated (bad). The big pitted pad on the deck seems like a simple gasket surface w/o any high pressure issues (?), so how about doing as if it was a low dollar overhaul. If the existing liners are square, why not just sand blast the pad, trowel on some JB Weld, deck the block 0.020 and Hylomar the head gasket. Hone it 0.010 and Use the good stuff out of the other block with rings, bearings and gaskets... I know that is not a "professional" major overhaul, but I'll bet it would run on the farm for 40 years :) However, you said you have another engine, so I get the point. Do it right is a better option. But, that got me thinking, what would a mongrel D2 engine run like with a 0.040 cut deck and higher compression :D