Quote:
Originally Posted by Schurkey
Ideally, the sleeve sits on a "shelf" of original block material near the bottom of the bore. The shelf prevents the sleeve from migrating down the cylinder wall under compression from the head and the fire-ring of the head gasket.
No shelf...I'd be VERY suspicious of that block. Sounds like it was sleeved by someone who didn't know what they were doing.
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100% agree with the quote above. If there is no shelf, combined with a bore that may not be perfectly straight, the sleeve will migrate downward. Can the sleeves be cut out and new ones installed? Yes. Almost anything can be done with enough time and money invested. If the original sleeve was a thin wall style, possibly a thicker wall replacement sleeve could be used to re-establish the shelf for it to sit on if there is material left in the block. But this may open up a substantial portion of the water jacket, leaving only the deck to support it. It can be complicated. The block will never be as good as it was without any sleeves, period. It really depends on what the final use will be for the car/engine. If it's going from a trailer to a show field, putting around on the street for a weekend cruise, it will be fine with a bunch of unsupported sleeves. If it's going to be a weekend warrior or raced, it won't last long.
I recently installed 8 sleeves in a 1964 street hemi, numbers matching aluminum front end car. In addition to the sleeves the block had multiple cracks between freeze plugs and a chunk missing from the lower case where a connecting rod or 2 decided to leave the party. Stitched the whole damn mess back together and ran it on the dyno to 6000 RPM. It didn't leak and made just under 500 HP. Owner was happy but I wouldn't trust it back to track duty. He had over 5K just in bare block repair. To each his own.