should i tear out crankshaft?

[JDKaiser]

I am tearing apart my first 8n engine and planned to replace piston rings so i took out the valves, flipped the engine and took off the oil pan. while i have it opened up should i take out the crankshaft and camshaft and everything or just clean it up with gas or something. I basically just dont wanna tear it all apart if its pretty hard to get the timing for everying right again when i put it back together. Any thoughts?
thanks Jesse

 

[Ultradog MN]

I am curious what made you conclude it needed to be eviscerated.

 

[JDKaiser]

she was putting out white smoke thot it was prolly the rings plus wanted to redo the valves. and since ill prolly go to college for something with mechanics, thot i might as well learn a little about the inside of engines.

 

[showcrop]

When you remove the pistons, If the bearings show copper, get the crank checked. Put witness marks on timing gears before removal.

 

[John (TR)]

The only real answer is to measure all the parts and determine if they are within spec or not. Here"s a link to my site with some how tos on engine overhaul. This will give you an idea of what to eval. Follow the link and scroll down the page to the motor overhaul PDFs.
Johns old iron

 

[weaveman]

white smoke= head gasket. I hope that college offers courses on troubleshooting.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I'd recommend you learn a bit on how to measure the various parts that make up the internals of an engine. Buy the FO-4 manual and read the whole section on overhauling an engine like it was a novel. Then reread it.
A guy could spend an entire quarter just learning how to take all the measurements in an engine. And another quarter learning the tools you measure them with.
I'm sure there would be lots of good information on the internet. Learn a bit and with a gasket set you may be able to put that same engine back together as it was for very little cost.
If your motivation for opening it was to learn a little then I admire that curiousity and give you a B+ for your efforts so far. If your motivation was to fix the tractor then you went about it the worst kind of way and get a D- or worse. There's a lot of things we could have asked you to check that would have taught you much and might have saved you from the cost of a complete rebuild.
This is a great board. If you want the basics on all infernal combustion engines plus a whole lot more you can get it here.
We can help you get it back together - something that's little harder than taking it apart.
Jerry

 

[36 Coupe]

Always bothers me when some one says tear apart.