derekja
03-04-2007, 20:30
I don't have the heads off yet, but I've had a look at the bottom end. Questions...
1) my block is 12555506. This is one of the early oil spraying blocks I think, so I expected to find cracks. I didn't find any. I'm not sure if that's because I'm not looking properly or there aren't any. I pulled the oil pan and wiped the oil off the webbing with a clean rag, turning the crank by hand (with a screwdriver in the pulley) in order to see all the parts I could. How else should I look for webbing cracks? Schucks doesn't carry penetrating dye, but Napa will be open tomorrow.
2) There was some light scoring on cylinder 4. Nothing serious I don't think, it wasn't deep gouges, but I could feel a bit of surface imperfection. I presume that this means regardless of what I find on the surface of the block that I should have the cylinders honed. Does that automatically mean new pistons and rings?
3) I think I've decided that on an engine with 215,000 miles with the engine out of the chassis it's silly to just do the top end. The timing chain has a good bit of play and should be replaced, and if I'm doing that I might as well rebuild the bottom end as well and have something approximating a new engine. So. This time looking at the bottom end I was in mortal terror of any dirt or even dust getting in there. If I'm going to have the cylinders honed and the block decked then this requires a level of disassembly and cleanliness that I'm perhaps not prepared for in my driveway. Even if it is my driveway with a good tent with tarp walls and a plywood floor. Options:
a) take the entire block, after removing the heads, in to the machine shop to be tanked and magnafluxed and then mess with after it's clean
b) take it all apart and take the pieces in to the shop to be looked at and cleaned (this is easier only because I have a teeny little car and could fit it all in instead of renting a truck. The machine shop charges $90 an hour for disassembly also)
c) figure out how to get things clean here, depend on the shop only for the honing and decking of the block and checking for head warpage (cheapest solution, need some serious clean assembly and parts cleaning procedures, though...)
4) manipulating the engine on the stand. The little 1000 pound stand from Shucks just wasn't up to the task. It was the 4 wheel kind, but as I let the cherry picker down the stand bent forward more and more until the engine hit the upright in back. So much for turning it over on the stand. I found a 2000 pound stand on craigslist and it's now much happier. It's still a bugger to turn over, though. I ended up gorrila'ing it over to mess with the oil pan, but couldn't get it back upright for the heads without using the cherry picker to lift the front end up and around. I'm not missing anything obvious, am I? Someone should make a stand with bearings...
I've got the engine back upright and think that regardless of my plans for the bottom end my next task is to get all the covers and intake and exhaust manifolds off, get the injection pump off, and get the heads opened up to check for cracks there... I don't have a pressure washer and so there is still engine gunk on the outside, but I think given the above it doesn't matter if a bit gets in the injector plugs and such since it's all got to be taken off to hone the cylinders anyway... Right?
Thanks!
--Derek
1) my block is 12555506. This is one of the early oil spraying blocks I think, so I expected to find cracks. I didn't find any. I'm not sure if that's because I'm not looking properly or there aren't any. I pulled the oil pan and wiped the oil off the webbing with a clean rag, turning the crank by hand (with a screwdriver in the pulley) in order to see all the parts I could. How else should I look for webbing cracks? Schucks doesn't carry penetrating dye, but Napa will be open tomorrow.
2) There was some light scoring on cylinder 4. Nothing serious I don't think, it wasn't deep gouges, but I could feel a bit of surface imperfection. I presume that this means regardless of what I find on the surface of the block that I should have the cylinders honed. Does that automatically mean new pistons and rings?
3) I think I've decided that on an engine with 215,000 miles with the engine out of the chassis it's silly to just do the top end. The timing chain has a good bit of play and should be replaced, and if I'm doing that I might as well rebuild the bottom end as well and have something approximating a new engine. So. This time looking at the bottom end I was in mortal terror of any dirt or even dust getting in there. If I'm going to have the cylinders honed and the block decked then this requires a level of disassembly and cleanliness that I'm perhaps not prepared for in my driveway. Even if it is my driveway with a good tent with tarp walls and a plywood floor. Options:
a) take the entire block, after removing the heads, in to the machine shop to be tanked and magnafluxed and then mess with after it's clean
b) take it all apart and take the pieces in to the shop to be looked at and cleaned (this is easier only because I have a teeny little car and could fit it all in instead of renting a truck. The machine shop charges $90 an hour for disassembly also)
c) figure out how to get things clean here, depend on the shop only for the honing and decking of the block and checking for head warpage (cheapest solution, need some serious clean assembly and parts cleaning procedures, though...)
4) manipulating the engine on the stand. The little 1000 pound stand from Shucks just wasn't up to the task. It was the 4 wheel kind, but as I let the cherry picker down the stand bent forward more and more until the engine hit the upright in back. So much for turning it over on the stand. I found a 2000 pound stand on craigslist and it's now much happier. It's still a bugger to turn over, though. I ended up gorrila'ing it over to mess with the oil pan, but couldn't get it back upright for the heads without using the cherry picker to lift the front end up and around. I'm not missing anything obvious, am I? Someone should make a stand with bearings...
I've got the engine back upright and think that regardless of my plans for the bottom end my next task is to get all the covers and intake and exhaust manifolds off, get the injection pump off, and get the heads opened up to check for cracks there... I don't have a pressure washer and so there is still engine gunk on the outside, but I think given the above it doesn't matter if a bit gets in the injector plugs and such since it's all got to be taken off to hone the cylinders anyway... Right?
Thanks!
--Derek