Monday, September 27, 2010
Final Assembly
You can rent an engine hoist at a local equipment rental store. I would suggest you rent or buy an engine leveler to go with it. I thought I could get away with not doing it and it was a pain in the ass to get the engine back in. Make sure you have someone to help you because you need someone to slowly lower the engine while the other person guides it in. When you get the mounts lined up put the bolts in and tighten them down. Since I did not have a leveler the engine kept going in crooked and the mounts wouldn't line up so I had to get them as close as possible and literally get up on the car and stand on the mount closest to the passenger compartment to get the holes to line up. I used a jack on the mount closest to the radiator to get those holes to line up. The mount on the front of the engine was lined up by that point so I put the bolt back in. The larger mount bolt on the front of the engine needs to to torqued to 80 ft lbs while the 2 side bolts need to be torqued to 40 ft lbs. Remember that water pipe that goes from the water pump to the water neck attached to the transmission, now is the time to put some gasket sealer around the o-ring and put it in. Next is the transmission. To make it easier for the output shaft to slide into the clutch disc use a small amount of grease on the end of the output shaft, and I do mean a small amount because the grease can make it's way up to the clutch and cause it to slip on the flywheel. You will need to remove the mount from the transmission or you will never get it in place. You can use the hoist to lower it in but it only weighs about 70 lbs, so all you need is someone to help you put a jack under it and raise it up through the bottom. Just jack the car up enough to slide the transmission under the engine compartment facing the right direction. Then lower the car almost all the way down. If you are strong enough, pick the transmission up enough to get the jack under the transmission. Note: Only choose not to use a hoist if you are not strong enough to lift the transmission several times ( I am pretty strong and I was dog tired after only lifting the transmission about 4 times because unless the base of the jack is wide enough the trans will slide off of it) After the transmission is high enough have your helper put a 1/2 drive breaker bar in the crankshaft pulley bolt and nudge the crankshaft in a clockwise direction. All you are doing is trying to line up the teeth on the clutch plate with the splines on the output shaft of the trans, so it doesn't take much turning to get it to line up. Once the crankshaft has been nudged enough the transmission will slide nicely into place and you can thread the bolts in. There are 4 bolts on top of the transmission, one on the left side of the engine that must be accessed through a hole in the motor mount closest to the radiator, and one on the right side of the engine near the location for the clutch slave cylinder. All 6 bolts must be torqued to 80 ft lbs. There are 4 other bolts that connect the transmission stays that are located at the bottom of the engine. These things did not line up for me and there was no way of fixing that issue without unbolting the motor mounts from the engine so I left them unbolted, the 6 main bolts will keep the transmission and engine together so there shouldn't be a problem if the stays are not bolted up. Next are the axles. The driver's side axle is held in place by the carrier bearing backet that bolts to the engine. I lost the bolts to the bracket, so if this happens to you go to Advance Auto and ask for a course threaded class 8 M10 bolt. Grease both ends of the axle and slide one end into the transmission then the other end through the splines in the hub and bolt the strut bracket back on the hub. Crawl under the car and put the 2 bolts in the carrier bearing bracket and tighten them to 30 ft lbs. Make sure to use lock washers you do not want those to come out when you are driving the car or the drivers axle will fly apart. The passenger side axle will have to be hammered in because of the spring clip on the end of the shaft. Slide the axle in as far as you can and take a rubber mallet and hit in until you feel it give way and hit it once more to make sure it is all the way in. A rubber mallet does not have as much driving force as a regular hammer so you will need to swing that rubber mallet pretty hard. DO NOT USE A REGULAR HAMMER BECAUSE YOU CAN DAMAGE THE THREADED END OF THE SHAFT AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT ON THE AXLE BOLT. Slide the axle through the hub and bolt back up the strut bracket. Note: The strut bracket bolts need to be torqued to 60 ft. lbs. Put your front wheels back on and that is it for the hard stuff. Next bolt the transmission mount back on and tighten the 3 bolts on the transmission to 80 ft lbs. The big bolt the goes through the mount also needs to be tightened to 80 ft lbs. Bolt the starter back on, tighten the bolts to 25 ft lbs.Next is the intake plenum. put some gasket sealer on both sides of the gasket and put it in place, then put the plenum on and tighten it to the 14 ft lbs. Reconnect all electrical wires, fuel lines (be careful not to over tighten or you will strip out the aluminum fuel rail), coolant lines, intake piping, power steering lines, throttle cable, and exhaust pipes (30 ft pounds, those bolts are M12 with a 1.25mm thread depth just in case you want to buy more from Lowe's) Turn your crankshaft so that it is 5 degrees BTDC of the compression stroke and drop the distributor in with it pointing towards the number 1 firing position (use the cap as a reference). Put spark plugs in and connect the wires. Connect the coil wire. Bleed the clutch lines ( the best way to do that is to buy a brake bleeder vacuum pump from Harbor Freight Tools for $30, it is much faster than having someone push the clutch several times). Bolt the battery tray in. Reconnect the shifter cables and use cotter pins to secure them. Reattach the cable to the speed sensor on the trans. Reattach the speed-o-meter cable. Reattach the wires to the starter, alt, oil pressure switch, oil pressure sender ( if you break the wire to the sender it is grouped with the A/C lines and it is a yellow wire with a red stripe), and A/C wires. At this point the engine should be ready to fire up. Make sure you refill the anti-freeze, engine oil (if you haven't already), power steering fluid, and trans fluid to recommended level. If you want to prime the oil pump by letting the starter crank the engine do not waste you time and battery. I did this for about 20 minutes and all it did was over heat the starter and kill the battery. Start the engine (pay attention to the oil pressure gauge if it doesn't start to climb in the first 5-10 seconds then shut the engine off if it does then leave the engine running), adjust the distributor to smooth out the idle, adjust your idle screw so that it idles at 700 rpm. Check for leaks by looking under the car and around the engine. If the engine smokes a little do not be alarmed because it takes a little time before all the gaskets will get their proper seal. Let the engine warm up, pay close attention to the thermometer to make sure it doesn't over heat. Let the engine run for about 30 minutes then take it for a test drive. DO NOT drive it like you stole it but at the same time DO NOT baby it either. Running it kind of hard helps the piston rings and valve seats set faster, and the added engine warmth will help the gaskets set faster. HAPPY CRUISING and remember to change the oil after the first 100 and 1000 miles before you go back to the regular interval. The initial break in leaves a lot of metal in your oil from the rings and bearings and that buildup can clog your oil lines and cause your motor to lock up.
Reassembly
First you will put on the oil pump. Put some gasket sealer on the pump mating surface and the block then put the gasket on and bolt it to the engine. I believe the torque specs were 18 ft lbs but don't quote me on this I am trying to do this from memory because I finished reassembling the engine back in mid August. Next is the rear main seal. Put some gasket sealer on the block and the assembly mating surface and put the gasket on and bolt it to the engine. Then put the rear main seal in the assembly and tap it in with a hammer and small socket. Next you will need to reattach the oil filter suction tube. Place a small amount of gasket sealer on the tube's mating surface and the oil pump and put the gasket on and bolt it to the engine to 12 ft lbs. Next is the girdle. Place to girdle with the arrows pointing to the front of the engine. There are 8 bolts holding the girdle on, you will need to start with the middle four bolts and put them on in a criss-cross pattern, then do the same to the outside four bolts. Those will be tightened to 58 ft lbs. Tighten in stages start with 30 ft lbs then tighten to 58 ft lbs. This is done so that the girdle doesn't go on crooked because it will cause damage when the engine is running again. Note: if the bolts do not go on easily then the girdle is crooked and you will need to smack it in place with a rubber mallet. Next is the oil pan. The rebuild kit comes with a shitty cork oil pan gasket and they tear very easily so I went to Advance Auto and got a rubber one, it even comes with plastic guide screws for easy assembly. Put a bead of gasket sealer around the mating surface of the pan and the block then put the guide screws in and put the gasket on. Lower the pan onto the block and remove the guide screws. Put the oil pan bolts back on and tighten them in a criss-cross pattern to 12 ft lbs. Next, you can turn the engine upside right and turn the crankshaft so that the number 1 piston is in top-dead-center then put the head gaskets on and put the heads on. The heads have 8 bolts holding them on and you will need to bolt them on in a criss-cross pattern to 40 ft lbs for the first stage, then to 60 ft lbs for the second, and finally 80 ft lbs. Note: If the camshaft and rocker assembly is attached to the head then make sure the timing marks are lined up so that when you bolt the heads back on you do not tighten an open valve on to a top dead center piston. If you didn't put the camshaft and rocker assembly on the head during head reassembly now would be the time to do it. Note: If you didn't have the hydraulic lifter keepers and didn't use small pieces of duct tape then here is a hint. When you put the rocker assembly back on make sure the arrows are all pointing the righ direction and make sure they are pointing to the front of the engine. Do not tighten it all the way so that you can have enough clearance between the rocker arm and the valve to put the lifter in plunger up so that the diesel fuel doesn't run out and the lifter doesn't fill back up with air. After all the lifters are put back on then tighten the rocker assembly to the specified torque ( I do not remember what it was so you will need to look it up). Next is the water pump. Place some gasket sealer on the pump's mating surface and the block in a thin bead and bolt it to the engine to 18 ft lbs. The pipe that goes down the center of the engine will need new O-rings and those come with the kit. Set the pipe to the side we will deal with it later. Next is the power steering bracket. Bolt it on to 25 ft lbs. Next is the timing belt tensioner and spring ( I bough a new spring from 3sx.com for $7 and a new tensioner from Advance Auto for about $30). Put the tensioner on the motor and just put the bolt in enough to hold it in place, then put the spring on the tensioner and use a flat head screwdriver to put the spring on the nipple that sticks out from the front of the oil pump. With the crank and cam shafts lined up with the timing marks, take the new timing belt and start with the cam shaft on the left ( sitting in front of the motor while it is on the stand), put the timing belt on the left cam shaft and down around the water pump pulley then up to the right camshaft and down to the crankshaft pulley then around the tensioner. Be patient you may have to do this process a few times because the new spring will be tight and make this process a bit of a headache, and no matter what, do not use any tool to stretch the spring out or to force the belt on or you will regret it later. After the belt is on turn the engine one full revolution and check the timing marks (make sure you turn the engine clockwise DO NOT TURN THE ENGINE COUNTER CLOCKWISE or the tensioner will lose tension and the belt will jump time) If the timing marks are good then that is good, if not you will need to take the belt back off and do it over. This process is the most crucial it is also the biggest pain in the ass. After the belt is on and the marks are good you can put the motor mount back on. There are 2 separate sizes of bolts used for the mounts the M10 bolts need to be tightened to 40 ft lbs and the M12 bolts need to be tightened to 80 ft lbs. The M12 nuts that are on the front mount also need to be tightened to 80 ft lbs. All of these bolts should be tightened in stages. The M10 bolt should be done to 20 ft lbs, then 40 ft lbs. The M12 bolts and nuts should be tightened to 40 ft lbs, then 60 ft lbs, then 80 ft lbs. Do this will all 3 motor mounts and the 2 transmission stay plates that attach to the transmission. Next it is time for the intake manifold. The gaskets to these are lead based so you should wear gloves for these. Put some gasket sealer on both sides of the gasket and slip it down over the bolts and on to the engine. Then lower the intake manifold on with the water neck towards the rear of the engine and tighten the nuts to the specified torque in a criss-cross pattern. Then put some duct tape over the holes so that nothing falls down into the intake, it would also be a good idea to put some tape over the distributor hole as well. Put the new gaskets on the valve covers and put some gasket sealer on the mating surface of the heads and tighen the two bolts for each of the covers to 18 ft lbs. Then put the fuel rail back on and tighten it to 18 ft lbs. Next is the exhaust manifolds. Put the gaskets on then the manifolds and tighten in a criss-cross pattern to 18 ft lbs. Note: the exhaust manifolds are different and most be put back on in the right place. If you are unsure about the right place then you will have to wait until the engine is back in to see if they line up with the exhaust pipes because they are not marked. Next is the dip stick. You should change the O-ring on the end of the tube with a new one from the kit. Note: The kit comes with everything you will need for the engine for every vehicle it was available in so you will not use everything so there will be plenty of the small o-rings left over. Then bolt the dip stick to the engine. Note: I did not find the torque specs for the dip stick so I just tightened it by hand. Next is the transmission gasket ( you will not find one in the kit), it is the large thin metal shield that was bolted to the engine. I forgot to put this back on before I put the flywheel and clutch assembly back on and I didn't realize it until it was time to reattach the transmission. Next is the flywheel. Put some anti-seize on the bolts and tighten them in a criss-cross pattern to the specified torque. Lastly is the clutch assembly. You will need a clutch alignment tool and the only way to get one of the plastic ones is to buy a new clutch, which would be a good idea if you had the flywheel turned or if it is an old clutch. My clutch was replaced in January of this year so I kept it. I bought a clutch pilot bearing alignment tool from Harbor Freight Tools for $8 and it worked perfectly. Congrats! The engine is fully assembled and ready to go back in.
Pistons and Rods.
You will need to either buy a small shop press or you will need to take your old pistons to a machine shop to have the piston pins pressed out. New pistons will come with the rebuild kit so these will need to be connected to the rods and new pins pressed in. If you are doing this yourself with a shop press you will have 6 pistons to practice which is the best way to position the piston so that you do not crack the pistons. If you break the old ones it is no big deal because you are replacing them anyway. After you have put on the new pistons and pressed in the pins it is time to put on the compression rings. Start with the oil ring (the funky shaped gold ring) place it in the bottom groove. Then put 2 of the really thin rings, one on either side. In the package for the rings you will notice one says "1" and the other says "2". "2" is the first ring that goes on and it goes in the 2nd groove from the top. "1" goes in the top groove. Use a set of piston ring pliers to put them one. I did mine by hand and it was a pain in the ass. After you have put them on it is time to put the new bearing into the rod and rod cap. You will notice a groove in one end of the rod and cap, there will also be a groove on the bearing. Fit the grooves together and push the bearing into the rod and cap. Both grooves will need to be on the same side once the cap has been put back on the rod. Now it is time to put the pistons back in the motor. You will notice an arrow on the top of the piston, these arrows need to be pointed towards the front of the engine, if they aren't then you will mash your valves. Turn the engine upside down. Use a piston ring compressor to put the pistons back in the engine. When I did this process I turned the engine upside down and put one if the middle pistons in and bolted it to the crankshaft. I also temporarily put the oil pump and rear main seal assembly back on just to hold the crankshaft in place because you will have to turn the engine on it's side to put the pistons back in. I also had a problem with one of the rods. When I tightened it to specs it wouldn't allow the crankshaft to turn. I found out the rod was out of round and this problem is only discovered once new bearings are put in. As the old rod became out of round it wore the bearing down so that it was still round and once the new bearings are put in it becomes out of round again. If this happens you can either buy a new one or you can have it machined. Most places have a single rod brand new for well over $100 but I bought a reconditioned one from DSMgraveyard.com for $35.00. Once all the pistons are put back in and torqued to 38-40 ft lbs you can take the oil pump and rear main seal assembly back off.Make sure your crankshaft turns easily. Now it is time to reassemble the engine.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Heads
First, you will want to remove the camshaft sprockets. Using the end yoke holder, or the make shift 2x4 and bolt thingy, hold the sprockets in place and use a breaker bar to loosen the bolts (these things are tightened to 60 ft pounds so it will take some strength).
Second, you will remove the rocker assembly, there will be 10 bolts holding these on, you may want to leave the outer 4 bolts in the holes of the assembly because this thing will fly apart when you take it off . After removing the rocker assemblies you can remove the camshaft from the front bank ( head closest to the front of the car), the rear bank head has the connection point for the distributor so you will have to remove the four bolts holding it on. Remove the camshafts, clean them, oil them, wrap them in a towel, and place them in a plastic bag ( grocery bags work perfectly).
Next, you will need to take out the valves. I rented a valve spring compressor from Advance Auto for $60 ( It is the purchase price so you can either take it back and get your money back or you can keep it) Those screw and plier type compressor do not work to well. Place one end on the spring and the other on the flat side of the valve (be careful not to scratch the gasket surfaces), then squeeze the handle. If the spring doesn't compress that just means the keepers are froze so take a socket and a hammer and tap on the valve spring retainer until it pops loose. Use a set of needle nose pliers or a magnet to remove the keepers ( Do not lose the keepers they are small and expensive to replace, if you do 3sx.com may have them). Keep the spring, retainer, valve spring seat, valve, and keepers together in a sandwich bag and label them with the appropriate cylinder number and type (example-3 intake) If you are replacing all or some of these parts then what ever parts you are keeping you will need to keep them organized. Then clean the heads thoroughly, you can use a good degreaser and a wash cloth, scrub brush, or a green scrubby pad. ( You can use a SOS pad or a wire brush but to not use them on the gasket surfaces or in the combustion chambers).
At this point you should have bare heads. If you wish to have a machine shop do all the work on the heads then you may do so at this point, if not I will guide you through this part.
The valve guides and and valve seats have to be pressed in so if you are going to change these you will need to have the head machined. The machine shop will press the old ones out re-cut the surfaces to a bigger size then have over-sized seats and guides pressed back in. This process only takes them a few hours but they can charge upwards of $1000 for a set of 6G72 heads because they are less common.
At this point if you want to continue on your own then lets get to it.
I did a port and polish on my heads, if you do not know what that is I will tell ya. When the blocks and heads are originally cast they are cast in a sand mold and the sand leaves little dimples inside the intake and exhaust ports. A porting jobs refers to removing the burrs and dimples from the ports that are left behind from these sand castings with sandpaper or sanding rolls and a drill. Sand paper offers a smoother surface because you can start with 80 grit and work your way down to 220 grit, however, you will do a lot of sanding and your hands will get tired. Sanding rolls come in two different types, the tapered roll and the straight roll. Straight rolls will help you do the floor, roof, and sides of the port (fortunately for us the port is round so there is no floor, sides, roof, or floor) and the tapered rolls will help you get into the tighter spots. One thing I like about the SOHC heads is the ports have a pretty straight design there isn't much for bended areas and there isn't any major obstructions. The rolls come with a threaded mandrel to put in a drill. Thread the roll onto the mandrel and in a circular motion start sanding the rough spots off of the ports. All we are trying to accomplish is a smooth surface so do not remove a lot of material unless you are very experienced and you know what you are doing. If you have a Dremel tool you can use that to get into the even smaller areas. The rolls come in 80 grit and 120 grit so once you are done you can use 220 grit sand paper and get an even smoother surface. Once you are satisfied with the smoothness you can polish it if you wish, a polishing compound can be used but you will need to make sure all remnants of the compound is removed, there are also polishing stones you can use, personally I do not see the point in doing all the work to make it pretty because you wont see it and within a month your ports will be dirty again, as long as it is smooth your air will flow better and the carbon wont have rough areas to stick to. However, if you are building a racer then you will benefit more from the full polish but I would let a professional do this because they will actually straighten out your port so you get optimal air flow, there is a science to perfect airflow and this is beyond the capabilities of an amateur do-it-yourself 'er. The porting job I did is a mild one and I will still get extra cfm's for it and a few more horses but it isn't the full polish.
If you decide to do port matching then you will need to do some research on this process because without practice it is a difficult procedure to not mess up and if you do it wrong then you will mess up your head, so if you do not have experience then do not attempt it. However, we will be doing a minor version of this with out intake manifold and intake plenum ( there is no sense to do a port job without doing it to the intake manifold and plenum. Besides the gasket for the intake already matches up with the ports pretty good so we wont need to do port matching we will just do a polish on the manifold and plenum.
The next step I will go over is Valve Lapping. Valve Lapping is the process of making the valve and valve seat have a nice even seal. Whether you are re-using the old valves of using new ones it is a good idea to do this process, especially if they are new. We will start by taking our valve lapping tool ( which is nothing more than a wooden dowel with suction cups on both ends) and our lapping compound ( $5 at Advance Auto) and set them near your work area. Take a valve and place some lapping compound around the edge and put some clean oil around the valve stem. Turn your head upside down (elevated by 2 rolls of duct tape or whatever you have laying around) and carefully push the valve into the appropriate valve guide. Push the suction cup firmly onto the valve and with a twisting motion twist it back and forth until it sounds like it isn't grinding anymore and lift the valve up and tap it on the valve seat 3 times then repeat the process, each valve can take up to 5 minutes each so be patient. If you mess up here you will have to disassemble the head when your compression check doesn't give you the proper results. You should see a nice even line all the way around the valve and seat that was ground out by the lapping process the line doesn't have to be very wide, only a few millimeters.
Now it is time to do the valve stem seals, you can remove them by gripping them with pliers then twist and pull. Push the new ones on by hand until you can't anymore and the use a socket and a hammer to tap it on all the way.
Now it is time to reassemble the valves (remember to put them back on in their original places, unless they are all new) If you want to check for leaks now would be a good time. If you have the old spark plugs you can put those back in and then fill all six combustion chambers with oil and let it set for a few minutes, use a flash light to look into the intake and exhaust ports and see if there is any oil seeping in to the ports, you can even wrap a clean, dry paper towel around your finger and wipe around inside to see if there is anything wet on the towel, if there is then you have to continue the process on the leaking valve. If there are no leaks then you are done. If it leaks oil than it will leak air, but if there is no leak then that means no air leaks, and the reason you use oil is because motor oil is designed to seep into every nook and cranny.
If you had any lifter tick then you will need to replace all of the lifters because it is almost impossible to tell which one it is, but no worry they are only a few dollars a piece from partsdinosaur.com. These will come unbled so you will have to bleed them. The manual talks about a "Hydraulic Lifter Leak Down Tester" but I was unable to find one online or in any auto parts, auto supply, or tool store so if you can find one I am sure they are expensive. I talked to someone online that said you do not need one if you are replacing them with new ones. The tool is only needed to test old ones to make sure they are still good. You will need a bleeder needle but a paper clip should do sufficiently. You will also need some clean diesel fuel. Pour the diesel fuel into a metal or glass bowl (Styrofoam bowls will disintegrate) and hold the lifter with the plunger upright, press the plunger all the way down and insert the paper clip into the hole to press the ball valve down so that it will bleed the air out. You will need to place them in something so that the diesel fuel doesn't run out and the lifter fills back up with air, an old ice tray will work. There are special little clips that you can use to hold the lifters inside the rocker arms during reassembly but I was unable to find them so I used little pieces of duct tape.
Put some reassembly lube on the camshaft bearing and caps, put the new camshaft oil seals on the camshafts, then put the camshafts back on the head ( you do not have to worry about putting them on backwards because there is only one way to put them back on).
If you didn't listen to my suggestion with the rocker assembly and it flew apart the manual will show you how to put it back together. Reassemble the rocker shafts and bolt them back on to the heads, but before you tighten them all the way down leave them loose enough to remove the duct tape. Then tighten them down to the specified torque.
If you are still unclear about the procedures you can watch the videos on Youtube.com for more clarification, just search for "Valve Lapping", "Port and Polish", and "Port Matching".
Second, you will remove the rocker assembly, there will be 10 bolts holding these on, you may want to leave the outer 4 bolts in the holes of the assembly because this thing will fly apart when you take it off . After removing the rocker assemblies you can remove the camshaft from the front bank ( head closest to the front of the car), the rear bank head has the connection point for the distributor so you will have to remove the four bolts holding it on. Remove the camshafts, clean them, oil them, wrap them in a towel, and place them in a plastic bag ( grocery bags work perfectly).
Next, you will need to take out the valves. I rented a valve spring compressor from Advance Auto for $60 ( It is the purchase price so you can either take it back and get your money back or you can keep it) Those screw and plier type compressor do not work to well. Place one end on the spring and the other on the flat side of the valve (be careful not to scratch the gasket surfaces), then squeeze the handle. If the spring doesn't compress that just means the keepers are froze so take a socket and a hammer and tap on the valve spring retainer until it pops loose. Use a set of needle nose pliers or a magnet to remove the keepers ( Do not lose the keepers they are small and expensive to replace, if you do 3sx.com may have them). Keep the spring, retainer, valve spring seat, valve, and keepers together in a sandwich bag and label them with the appropriate cylinder number and type (example-3 intake) If you are replacing all or some of these parts then what ever parts you are keeping you will need to keep them organized. Then clean the heads thoroughly, you can use a good degreaser and a wash cloth, scrub brush, or a green scrubby pad. ( You can use a SOS pad or a wire brush but to not use them on the gasket surfaces or in the combustion chambers).
At this point you should have bare heads. If you wish to have a machine shop do all the work on the heads then you may do so at this point, if not I will guide you through this part.
The valve guides and and valve seats have to be pressed in so if you are going to change these you will need to have the head machined. The machine shop will press the old ones out re-cut the surfaces to a bigger size then have over-sized seats and guides pressed back in. This process only takes them a few hours but they can charge upwards of $1000 for a set of 6G72 heads because they are less common.
At this point if you want to continue on your own then lets get to it.
I did a port and polish on my heads, if you do not know what that is I will tell ya. When the blocks and heads are originally cast they are cast in a sand mold and the sand leaves little dimples inside the intake and exhaust ports. A porting jobs refers to removing the burrs and dimples from the ports that are left behind from these sand castings with sandpaper or sanding rolls and a drill. Sand paper offers a smoother surface because you can start with 80 grit and work your way down to 220 grit, however, you will do a lot of sanding and your hands will get tired. Sanding rolls come in two different types, the tapered roll and the straight roll. Straight rolls will help you do the floor, roof, and sides of the port (fortunately for us the port is round so there is no floor, sides, roof, or floor) and the tapered rolls will help you get into the tighter spots. One thing I like about the SOHC heads is the ports have a pretty straight design there isn't much for bended areas and there isn't any major obstructions. The rolls come with a threaded mandrel to put in a drill. Thread the roll onto the mandrel and in a circular motion start sanding the rough spots off of the ports. All we are trying to accomplish is a smooth surface so do not remove a lot of material unless you are very experienced and you know what you are doing. If you have a Dremel tool you can use that to get into the even smaller areas. The rolls come in 80 grit and 120 grit so once you are done you can use 220 grit sand paper and get an even smoother surface. Once you are satisfied with the smoothness you can polish it if you wish, a polishing compound can be used but you will need to make sure all remnants of the compound is removed, there are also polishing stones you can use, personally I do not see the point in doing all the work to make it pretty because you wont see it and within a month your ports will be dirty again, as long as it is smooth your air will flow better and the carbon wont have rough areas to stick to. However, if you are building a racer then you will benefit more from the full polish but I would let a professional do this because they will actually straighten out your port so you get optimal air flow, there is a science to perfect airflow and this is beyond the capabilities of an amateur do-it-yourself 'er. The porting job I did is a mild one and I will still get extra cfm's for it and a few more horses but it isn't the full polish.
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| I used this grinding stone to remove all of the old carbon build-up from the intake and exhaust ports. |
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| This is what it looks like when all the carbon is removed |
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| First, I sanded the port with 80 grit sandpaper |
If you decide to do port matching then you will need to do some research on this process because without practice it is a difficult procedure to not mess up and if you do it wrong then you will mess up your head, so if you do not have experience then do not attempt it. However, we will be doing a minor version of this with out intake manifold and intake plenum ( there is no sense to do a port job without doing it to the intake manifold and plenum. Besides the gasket for the intake already matches up with the ports pretty good so we wont need to do port matching we will just do a polish on the manifold and plenum.
The next step I will go over is Valve Lapping. Valve Lapping is the process of making the valve and valve seat have a nice even seal. Whether you are re-using the old valves of using new ones it is a good idea to do this process, especially if they are new. We will start by taking our valve lapping tool ( which is nothing more than a wooden dowel with suction cups on both ends) and our lapping compound ( $5 at Advance Auto) and set them near your work area. Take a valve and place some lapping compound around the edge and put some clean oil around the valve stem. Turn your head upside down (elevated by 2 rolls of duct tape or whatever you have laying around) and carefully push the valve into the appropriate valve guide. Push the suction cup firmly onto the valve and with a twisting motion twist it back and forth until it sounds like it isn't grinding anymore and lift the valve up and tap it on the valve seat 3 times then repeat the process, each valve can take up to 5 minutes each so be patient. If you mess up here you will have to disassemble the head when your compression check doesn't give you the proper results. You should see a nice even line all the way around the valve and seat that was ground out by the lapping process the line doesn't have to be very wide, only a few millimeters.
Now it is time to do the valve stem seals, you can remove them by gripping them with pliers then twist and pull. Push the new ones on by hand until you can't anymore and the use a socket and a hammer to tap it on all the way.
Now it is time to reassemble the valves (remember to put them back on in their original places, unless they are all new) If you want to check for leaks now would be a good time. If you have the old spark plugs you can put those back in and then fill all six combustion chambers with oil and let it set for a few minutes, use a flash light to look into the intake and exhaust ports and see if there is any oil seeping in to the ports, you can even wrap a clean, dry paper towel around your finger and wipe around inside to see if there is anything wet on the towel, if there is then you have to continue the process on the leaking valve. If there are no leaks then you are done. If it leaks oil than it will leak air, but if there is no leak then that means no air leaks, and the reason you use oil is because motor oil is designed to seep into every nook and cranny.
If you had any lifter tick then you will need to replace all of the lifters because it is almost impossible to tell which one it is, but no worry they are only a few dollars a piece from partsdinosaur.com. These will come unbled so you will have to bleed them. The manual talks about a "Hydraulic Lifter Leak Down Tester" but I was unable to find one online or in any auto parts, auto supply, or tool store so if you can find one I am sure they are expensive. I talked to someone online that said you do not need one if you are replacing them with new ones. The tool is only needed to test old ones to make sure they are still good. You will need a bleeder needle but a paper clip should do sufficiently. You will also need some clean diesel fuel. Pour the diesel fuel into a metal or glass bowl (Styrofoam bowls will disintegrate) and hold the lifter with the plunger upright, press the plunger all the way down and insert the paper clip into the hole to press the ball valve down so that it will bleed the air out. You will need to place them in something so that the diesel fuel doesn't run out and the lifter fills back up with air, an old ice tray will work. There are special little clips that you can use to hold the lifters inside the rocker arms during reassembly but I was unable to find them so I used little pieces of duct tape.
Put some reassembly lube on the camshaft bearing and caps, put the new camshaft oil seals on the camshafts, then put the camshafts back on the head ( you do not have to worry about putting them on backwards because there is only one way to put them back on).
If you didn't listen to my suggestion with the rocker assembly and it flew apart the manual will show you how to put it back together. Reassemble the rocker shafts and bolt them back on to the heads, but before you tighten them all the way down leave them loose enough to remove the duct tape. Then tighten them down to the specified torque.
If you are still unclear about the procedures you can watch the videos on Youtube.com for more clarification, just search for "Valve Lapping", "Port and Polish", and "Port Matching".
Engine Block
Make sure the engine block is clean and free of all the old gasket material, old bearings, and old freeze plugs (to remove freeze plugs you can put a flat head screwdriver at the bottom and tap on it with a hammer enough to get it moving then once the top is pointing towards you grab it with pliers and pull it out...Do not punch it all the way into the block or it will block your coolant and it will over heat.)
The engine block can be machined at a local machine shop, they will also inspect the block to make sure it is rebuildable, but this process can be expensive. If you have the money to spend on a machine shop then stop reading and give them a call, if not I will tell you what to look for.
First, you will want to visually inspect the block and make sure there are no cracks, chips, nicks, or any deep scoring (if there is than the block has to be machined or replaced) (If you stopped running the engine before any serious damage occurred than you should be fine.) Second, you will need a straight edge and a feeler gauge, place the straight edge across the middle of your deck (the flat gasket surface at the top of your cylinder bores), if there is any gap between the straight edge and the deck then you will need to measure it with the feeler gauge, if it exceeds .0039 inches than it will need to be corrected. You can get all the car manuals for this car from 3sx.com ( the downloads are free but you will need Adobe Reader...go to 3sx.com, click "tech" and they will be there). Once everything is good and all the measurements are okay turn the engine upside down and look into the engine block and inspect for the same things. Look at the oil holes on the crankshaft support, make sure they are not plugged (if the old bearings are still in place, remove them). After the engine has been looked over and all is good then we will prepare for the cylinder honing.
Cylinder honing is necessary to remove all of the glazing on the inside of the cylinder bores, plus it will give you new rings a nice smooth surface for maximum compression. Put a thin layer of oil on the inside of the cylinders. Attach the hone to a good cordless or corded high speed drill. Place the hone inside the cylinders then squeeze the trigger. Make sure you keep a constant up and down motion, do not set in one place or you will be removing material unevenly. As I was doing this I counted to 25 seconds then I moved on to the next one. Be careful not to go up or down to far or the stones will fly out and cause damage to the block, gasket surface, or the stones themselves. Once you are done visually inspect and make sure there is no more carbon build-up or any other deep scoring. Remember that the honing process is to remove minute layers of carbon, if you take off too much of the cylinder surface than you will have to take it to a machine shop to be re-bored. Then clean the inside of the cylinders with some degreaser and that is it for that.
To put in new freeze plugs all you do is lightly put the freeze plugs in the hole enough so that they do not fall out and take a socket that is close in size and hammer them in. (Be careful to not put them in unevenly or they may leak and do nut punch them in too far or they may fall down inside the water jackets)
As for the block it is done for now...oh before I forget put some oil or reassembly lube on the inside of the cylinders so they do not rust or you will have to re-hone them) These blocks are cast-iron and they love to rust so you will want to store it in a bag to keep moisture away from them until you are ready to reassemble.
The engine block can be machined at a local machine shop, they will also inspect the block to make sure it is rebuildable, but this process can be expensive. If you have the money to spend on a machine shop then stop reading and give them a call, if not I will tell you what to look for.
First, you will want to visually inspect the block and make sure there are no cracks, chips, nicks, or any deep scoring (if there is than the block has to be machined or replaced) (If you stopped running the engine before any serious damage occurred than you should be fine.) Second, you will need a straight edge and a feeler gauge, place the straight edge across the middle of your deck (the flat gasket surface at the top of your cylinder bores), if there is any gap between the straight edge and the deck then you will need to measure it with the feeler gauge, if it exceeds .0039 inches than it will need to be corrected. You can get all the car manuals for this car from 3sx.com ( the downloads are free but you will need Adobe Reader...go to 3sx.com, click "tech" and they will be there). Once everything is good and all the measurements are okay turn the engine upside down and look into the engine block and inspect for the same things. Look at the oil holes on the crankshaft support, make sure they are not plugged (if the old bearings are still in place, remove them). After the engine has been looked over and all is good then we will prepare for the cylinder honing.
Cylinder honing is necessary to remove all of the glazing on the inside of the cylinder bores, plus it will give you new rings a nice smooth surface for maximum compression. Put a thin layer of oil on the inside of the cylinders. Attach the hone to a good cordless or corded high speed drill. Place the hone inside the cylinders then squeeze the trigger. Make sure you keep a constant up and down motion, do not set in one place or you will be removing material unevenly. As I was doing this I counted to 25 seconds then I moved on to the next one. Be careful not to go up or down to far or the stones will fly out and cause damage to the block, gasket surface, or the stones themselves. Once you are done visually inspect and make sure there is no more carbon build-up or any other deep scoring. Remember that the honing process is to remove minute layers of carbon, if you take off too much of the cylinder surface than you will have to take it to a machine shop to be re-bored. Then clean the inside of the cylinders with some degreaser and that is it for that.
To put in new freeze plugs all you do is lightly put the freeze plugs in the hole enough so that they do not fall out and take a socket that is close in size and hammer them in. (Be careful to not put them in unevenly or they may leak and do nut punch them in too far or they may fall down inside the water jackets)
As for the block it is done for now...oh before I forget put some oil or reassembly lube on the inside of the cylinders so they do not rust or you will have to re-hone them) These blocks are cast-iron and they love to rust so you will want to store it in a bag to keep moisture away from them until you are ready to reassemble.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Disassembling the Engine
With the engine on the stand remove the alternator, power steering pump, intake plenum, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, and all 3 plastic timing covers. Use plastic baggies and labels to keep all of your bolts separated so you do not have to dig through a bolt bucket. If you are going to re-use the timing belt make sure you mark it in the direction that it spins so that it is put back on in the right direction. Remove the timing belt, tensioner, and spring. ( I purchased a new spring from 3sx.com for $7, a new tensioner from Advance Auto for $25, I think). Remove the water pump, oil pan, valve covers, and oil pump.Using an end yoke holder, remove the crank pulley. If you have problems removing the oil pan, with the engine bottom pointing down, carefully put a flat head screw driver in between the oil pan and the block and pry up. (the reason I say pry up is because you do not want to dig the point of the screwdriver into the gasket surface of the block)
You will need an 8mm hex bit to remove the head bolts (if you are re-using the old head bolts be sure to keep them organized so that they go back in their original positions) . When I was removing the head bolts I discovered one that was stripped so I went out and bought a set of Craftsman bolt extractors from Sears.com (best $20 ever). The head bolts are hex bolts and do not have a hex head so removal can be a nightmare when they are stripped. If you run into this problem you can either weld another bolt onto the head and twist it out or you can place one of the extractors over the head tap it on with a hammer and twist it out with a breaker bar.
After removing the heads make sure you mark which head goes on the what side of the engine. Place the heads on a towel or on something soft so that you do not scar the gasket surface. Turn the engine upside down and remove the 8 bolts that hold on the girdle. Unbolt all of the connecting rods and remove the end caps ( if you have problems removing them you can place a towel over the end cap and use a set of vise grips to wiggle them loose.) You should remove these one at a time ( pull one cap off, push the piston out with a thin piece of wood, and put it back together and label it with the piston number). Remove the rear main seal assembly, then remove the crankshaft. Place all sensitive parts on towels to keep from getting scratched (i.e., crankshaft, rods, heads, etc.) If you have a parts cleaner then you can soak these parts to clean them, if not, you can use Purple Power to soak them in.If you use any cleaner to clean any engine parts be sure to rinse and properly dry the parts. I used Gunk Engine Bright gel because it is thick enough to stay on the parts and it does a good job to remove the grease(caution Engine Bright Gel has to be rinsed with water so make sure all steel parts are completely dry or they will rust, then coat the parts in a thin layer of clean engine oil or reassembly lube)
You will need an 8mm hex bit to remove the head bolts (if you are re-using the old head bolts be sure to keep them organized so that they go back in their original positions) . When I was removing the head bolts I discovered one that was stripped so I went out and bought a set of Craftsman bolt extractors from Sears.com (best $20 ever). The head bolts are hex bolts and do not have a hex head so removal can be a nightmare when they are stripped. If you run into this problem you can either weld another bolt onto the head and twist it out or you can place one of the extractors over the head tap it on with a hammer and twist it out with a breaker bar.
After removing the heads make sure you mark which head goes on the what side of the engine. Place the heads on a towel or on something soft so that you do not scar the gasket surface. Turn the engine upside down and remove the 8 bolts that hold on the girdle. Unbolt all of the connecting rods and remove the end caps ( if you have problems removing them you can place a towel over the end cap and use a set of vise grips to wiggle them loose.) You should remove these one at a time ( pull one cap off, push the piston out with a thin piece of wood, and put it back together and label it with the piston number). Remove the rear main seal assembly, then remove the crankshaft. Place all sensitive parts on towels to keep from getting scratched (i.e., crankshaft, rods, heads, etc.) If you have a parts cleaner then you can soak these parts to clean them, if not, you can use Purple Power to soak them in.If you use any cleaner to clean any engine parts be sure to rinse and properly dry the parts. I used Gunk Engine Bright gel because it is thick enough to stay on the parts and it does a good job to remove the grease(caution Engine Bright Gel has to be rinsed with water so make sure all steel parts are completely dry or they will rust, then coat the parts in a thin layer of clean engine oil or reassembly lube)
Removing the Engine
First you want to disconnect all the wires and tie them somewhere to the side of the engine compartment.
Disconnect the fuel lines. (be sure to let the pressure out of the fuel lines by loosening your fuel cap)
Disconnect the shifting cables from the transmission.
Drain the engine oil, antifreeze, and transmission.
Disconnect and remove the brake master cylinder.
Disconnect and remove the power steering reservoir.
Disconnect the throttle cable.
Disconnect the exhaust. ( use the WD-40 or liquid wrench on the bolts before removal)
You may want to disconnect the transmission from the engine because I initially did not do this and removing the whole assembly was a pain in the ass.
Disconnect all of the radiator and heater core hoses.
Remove the hood.
Strap the hoist chain to the engine and tighten slightly
Disconnect the A/C compressor from the engine and tie off to the side near the radiator.
Disconnect all 3 motor mounts (the one on the front is a pain in the ass to remove so you will need a fat bar and a hammer to try to wedge the bolt out, unless you want to remove all of the cruise control components)
Using the hoist pull the engine out.
Attach the engine to the stand using 4 M-12 bolts that are about 3 and a half inches in length. (you can get these from Lowe's or Home Depot)
Disconnect the fuel lines. (be sure to let the pressure out of the fuel lines by loosening your fuel cap)
Disconnect the shifting cables from the transmission.
Drain the engine oil, antifreeze, and transmission.
Disconnect and remove the brake master cylinder.
Disconnect and remove the power steering reservoir.
Disconnect the throttle cable.
Disconnect the exhaust. ( use the WD-40 or liquid wrench on the bolts before removal)
You may want to disconnect the transmission from the engine because I initially did not do this and removing the whole assembly was a pain in the ass.
Disconnect all of the radiator and heater core hoses.
Remove the hood.
Strap the hoist chain to the engine and tighten slightly
Disconnect the A/C compressor from the engine and tie off to the side near the radiator.
Disconnect all 3 motor mounts (the one on the front is a pain in the ass to remove so you will need a fat bar and a hammer to try to wedge the bolt out, unless you want to remove all of the cruise control components)
Using the hoist pull the engine out.
Attach the engine to the stand using 4 M-12 bolts that are about 3 and a half inches in length. (you can get these from Lowe's or Home Depot)
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