It runs perfectly fine, no smoke, ran like a bat out of hell. There was a very subtle knock afterwards. What sucked was I drove to a store nearby and it wasn't hot. Then I drive a 1/2 mile down to another store and I pulled in and all of a sudden I look like a locomotive when I popped my hood. Blowing brown water out of the catch tank to the point I couldn't touch the cap. I just didn't notice the temp gauge at the time. I had replaced the stupid clutch fan with a straight clutch and somehow it gave out.
So If I take this engine out and its as bad as the piston rings being done, and the bearings and crank being done, then the malibu is gonna sit and it'll be the roadrunner's turn. I drove that malibu for a good, solid 4-5 years and beat the snot out of it. If I take the engine out and it's bad, then I'll just sell the block and trans and go find a big block chevy and put that in.
I know mopars are expensive, but because all the parts are there, and I'm NOT doing a custom build on the roadrunner, then it should not be nearly as expensive as the malibu. Most of the parts are going to get rebuilt with most of the money getting tied into the interior and paint. The engine, whether I decide on the 440 or #'s 383, it is going to be a factory rebuild with a slightly larger cam, aluminum intake, and headers. Nothing radical, that way its a fun 4 speed drive that will still kick most mustangs a**es. I've got a lot of buddies who have tons of extra parts including some old DP4B intakes and another guys with 12 426 hemis, 18 440's, and tons of other blocks and parts. I walk into his garage and try not to drool.
