Gator_86_951

I just removed the motor from my car. I wanted to get it out and fix all the leaks and put in a new clutch and there were various other things, e.g A/C etc.. that I really wanted to do. I will be spending a great deal of time this weekend cleaning out the engine bay.

I did a compression test and get 145 on each of the cylinders. Not sure if the gauge was just a little low. Prior to this, about 2 years ago, i had the head machined. So from the block surface down is really everything that would need to be rebuilt.

Should I bother taking the whole thing apart to have the bores checked. I recall they were in very good condition when I redid the head 2 years ago. Should I just clean everything as best I can and reseal, do rod bearings, and put it back in the car?

What cha' all think. I need this car to be bullet proof for the next 1.5 years. I also hope to not miss any more DEs because the car is not ready to go.

The engine has ~ 280k km on it or 173,880kmiles. I am assuming it is the original engine.

Should I source a flywheel lock and do a leakdown? Everybody I talk to doesn't even know what it is, so I have to explain. Seems like that would be sort of a pain. I can borrow a flywheel lock from somebody in Brandon, but other than ordering a tester, not sure were i would get the tester. I have an air compressor.

Buckaroo Banzi

I would pull the head check for scoring if it looks good then do the bearings and redo anything that would leak.

good luck...

Gator_86_951

Yeah, that was what I was thinking. Besides the small amount of scoring I saw before, wouldn't the bores be a little out of round after so many years?? Car ran very strong before being pulled. No mixture of fluids. No smoke out the back. Just an exxon-valdez esque oil leak along the side of the oil pan.

I am going to talk to some machine shops on the phone today for some pricing. Most of them will probably want to turn my car into a spaceship for about a million dollars.

Dan87951

173,880kmiles I think you mean 173k miles otherwise if you have 173,880k miles I think shes probably pretty tired!?

Ski

Yes the bores can get tappered over time. There are several options for oversized pistons but my view when engines are pulled - it's out which is one of the biggest problems to overcome. Main bearings are less than $150, you can get LR or Swain to coat the pistons for under $250 and new rings are $100/set. Now, depending on machine shops, a cleaning/finish pass with the proper felts and paste can run $300-$600, depending on if you have them remove the head studs(factory studs are $8ea) and make a cleaning pass on the block. So the extra $1000 gives you a brand new start.
If the bores are out of round, well then there are other options. It all just depends on budget and timeline.

Jeremy Himsel

With 175,000 miles I would do a leak-down to see what kind of shape the rings are in. Also, if you’re going to DE the car I would also be inclined to have the main bearings replaced as well (or checked at a minimum) and check to see if you need a light crank polish. You’ve got plenty of miles out of them and the extra $120 is well worth it considering the motor is already out of the car and the labor involved would be minimal. Don’t be surprised if the mains look perfect though, 5 out of the last 6 motors I did were in great shape. Here’s where I got my leak-down gauge from.

http://www.globaltoolsupply.com/cgi-...html?E+scstore

Gator_86_951

I haven't left yet. LOL. Been crusing rennlist.

Budget isn't that big of a concern. I already have raceware studs which shouldn't be all that hard to get out, as I put them in myself about 2 years ago. They have been working since then just fine.

Any idea where I could get a leakdown tester locally? Seems nobody knows what it even is. If I have it shipped that puts my time line all out of whack for getting this wrapped up. Doesn't seem like something a chain (e.g sears) would have, so I guess I will just start calling around.

The timeline is I need to send everything out for machining or have my parents or brother send everything out while I am away working at the law firm (12 weeks). So, I want to make the decision and do the disassembly this week. Motor comes back together in August when I get back. If I send it to get machined. I would send just send the block I guess, or maybe have them assemble the crank etc... and send it back to me from the pan up to the block surface down, and keep the cam box and the head, since I very sucessfully assembled that myself last time.

The budget is "reasonable." I have more than enough $$. I want the car to be able to get driven, like it has been, with no leaks. I will be upgrading the power some way. Not sure yet if I will be going with a bigger turbo or just doing a MAF and keeping the k26.

Any suggestions on reasonable machine shops? I know ski was using a guy in texas that was very reasonable.

The car will be used for track events as much as my schedule allows. The last time the car was on the track it ran great. However, I really needed more oil cooling, the brakes were not adequate and the suspension was way way too soft. It isn't very difficult to run out of equipment on one of these cars at a track with lots of braking zones and when the ambient temperature is really high.

Ski

Duffin Engine Service in San Antonio -(210) 341-8183, he's done 5 engines for us. He must have the pistons you are going to use so you have to decide on a coating if you want that done before you send it to him. If the bores are out of tolerance, well, you can address that when the news comes from them, if you use them. I would get a crate the engine that a forklift application will work, whether an actual forklift or pallet jack. You're a few hours from Jacksonville, you might try, and try the key word, what Broadfoot might charge to check/finish the block. You could probably deliver and pick up, save on shipping; you just never know about timeline but if you have 12 weeks, that should be plenty. Call (904) 641-0009 for an appointment.

If you want to add to the bullet proofing, I'd call Sam Shalala:
Pro Technik, Inc.
12999 Murphy Road, Building F
Stafford, Texas 77477
281-879-8861
and get him to get you a set of Teflon coated main and rod bearings done, beautiful work, as I just assembled a short block with both sets.

Laust Pedersen

Paragon has a leak-down-tester and can ship fast.

If you actually get it “100% bullet proof” then you don’t need a non-interference conversion , but if you do let me know.

Laust

jacklet

you can build a leak down tester cheap do a search on the net or i can send you my test rig if you'd like

Gator_86_951

This first post is just general photos of my caca engine.

Gator_86_951

First Question:
What the hell is up with this head stud, and why is their rust/water on it. Was there water leaking into that stud? I don't recall having this same problem 2 years ago when I did the headgasket.

Gator_86_951

Second question. Here is the scoring on cylinder 4? Closest to the belts. There is also a picture from 2 years ago See this thread https://rennlist.com/forums/944-turbo-and-turbo-s-forum/144102-blown-hg-cylinder-wall-scoring.html. I can definately feel the scoring with my fingernail and the other bores are fine.

Seems like the last two years haven't been so nice to my car. If it weren't for rennlist, I wouldn't even remember how badly it was scored. I'd have to search for the pics!

Looks sort of bad to me. What ch'all think.

jacklet

from the pics it doesn't look bad-a hone and paste job should take care of that as long as the scratches aren't deep. my 87 block looked similar and a hone and paste fixed it bores were straight and i had the pistons coated used total seal rings life seems good know-check your clearences

MichelleJD

DON'T HONE THE CYLINDERS! They're coated with alusil and you'll remove the coating if you hone.