What is the best way to clean the engine/head inside and out?
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What is the best way to clean the engine/head inside and out?
Hot tanking
Hmmm.....I figured hot water would work the best.
well i dont know if this would help but...here
Engine Block Preparation Guide for the Do-It-Yourselfer
take it to a shop and get it in an acid bath / hot tanked. :) will look way better than u could every do in the garage. :)
Monkey - awesome how to! Thanks!
Chris - how much would it cost just to tank it at a shop?
Hot tanking is the best
Quote:
Originally Posted by BITESIZE
it's not very expensive and the results are worth it. I can't give you an exact figure, because every shop is different. You have to completely dissemble the whole block to get it done.
yeah i dont remember exactly, but it shouldnt be more then $100 for both, but it may be much less..... just bring them bare head, bare block, totally dissasembled... wait im thinking it might have been like $26 per thing i had dipped... but im not going to go find my recepit to look! hehe
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobafett
on the head you can leave the valve train in tack and they can still tank it. Just remove the cam
I'f I wanna clean the head up decent do I have to dissassemble it? I plan on redoing the bearings on the block as well. The rings were done recently, should I take the rods out and keep track which cylinder they went in, or should I leave the rods in the cylinder and just replace the bearings? I'm not a total retard, just a newbie at block and heads. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by BITESIZE
No, just take the cam out and you should be fine. As for the bottem end, you are going to have to take out the pistons and rods anyways to have it hot tanked. If I were you I would go ahead and have the Crank, Crank pully, Pistons, and rods balanced. You would be pretty happy with how well the motor will run after that.
Question: If I get the head dipped, should I remove the valves and valve seals?
Honest opinion what all should i do with the block and head (stockwise).
What do you think about valve seals? Replace or leave alone? etc....
I plan on taking it slow on getting the engine fully assembled. I want to keep it stock. I want it to be clean and look awesome though.
P.S. I don't want to be digging far into my pockets for cash either. I'm no poor but not rich! :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by BITESIZE
With motors a old as ours it is a good idea to do anything you can. It all comes down to how much money you want to spend on it. Do you plan on turboing it or jsut keeping it stock.
No turbo
If your going to hot tank the block, take the pistons out. Keep track of which ones they go in by putting a punch mark dot on the lower part near the journal. One punch dot for #1, two punch dots for #2, etc. Don't mix up the rod caps.Quote:
Originally Posted by BITESIZE
When ever you pull the pistons out, you should always put new rings back in. Plastigauge your rod & crank journals to see if you need oversized bearings.
With the head, should replace the cam seals. If you want to clean it up real good, pull the valves out & remove all the carbon on the whole valve. Use a piece of cardboard & punch holes in it to keep track of where each valve goes with numbers & intake & exhaust side. Don't mix up any parts.
Also replace valve stem seals, check for valve wear by moving the vavle back & forth, if there is any play, then you would need to mic the valves for wear or the vavle guide needs replaced.
My Wife clean's my Head for me:rockon:
I just need a better engine than my 293,000 miler...
I would just buy an engine in nice condition, but what is the fun in that? I want to learn how to master our engine.
I'm hoping the same for Valentine's Day. :wave:Quote:
Originally Posted by TWOLOUDNPROUD
Honestly I think I'm going to go the extra mile and replace as much as I need to and bust out my fatty chilton's manual. I'm like a blind man walking down the street with no cane. LOL.
Every Day Valentine's Day for Me:bandit: As the Guy from Cabin Boy Says These Pipes are CleanQuote:
Originally Posted by BITESIZE
:werd:Quote:
Originally Posted by ddude2uc
Quote:
Originally Posted by BITESIZE
Yeah you might as well just rebuild the one you already have and learn something in the process.
Just make sure she dosent give you an acid bath :omg:Quote:
Originally Posted by TWOLOUDNPROUD
I want to pretty much yank my old engine out and put the whole new unit in.
I need new seals all way around.
Water pump
Timing belt/tensioner
Throttle Body FI
Distributer maybe...If I find one cheap enough
What else am I forgetting?
Quote:
Originally Posted by BITESIZE
I had no prior knowledge of engine building and neither did my friend, but we built my LS/vtec in no matter of time and it runs smooth as hell. Just make sure that you have all the proper tools, you get all you part machined to the proper specs, and you use all the proper TQ # for your nuts and bolts.
The cylinder walls look damn good, so I don't need to get them done. Pistons are fine. The block belonged to a friend, he took it out because he said he may have put the bearings in wrong. Do you think it's fucked up? He said he put maybe 500 miles or 1000 miles on it after replacing the bearings. He replaced the rings as well.
Here is a New DISTRIBUTOR on Ebay http://i22.ebayimg.com/03/i/05/d5/f2/0e_1_sbl.JPG Here si the Link http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-R...QQcmdZViewItem
That's freaking expensive.
hey david.... u know these engines are freaking stupily easy... ok the story on that block is that i put standard bearings in it... well there is a color key stamped into the block that i didnt know about when i did it.... it tells u what bearing to use in each journal... to get the proper bearings you need to look in the chilton and look at the letters on the block to know what color bearings to order FROM THE DEALER... the only way to get away from this senerio is to get the crank turned to a larger bearing size. i would consider helping you if u just said u were sorry and came up with the 75 from arianna.. im not really pissed off anymore i just will never understand what happened there... ohwell
I use Plastigauge to determine if the rod & main bearings are out of tolerance & if the crank needs turned & undersized bearings are needed.
don't forget new oil pump too.
Also get the new pistons put one and have the bores honed so that the new rings seat better. Have the block decked to level off minimal amount and smae for the head too. The bearings best to give to machinist get him to check for wear and balance and let him make judgement on the size bearings to use. Other than that as everyone said blocks are easy heads are harder and have way more moving parts. I've found that heads need re-conditioning more than the blocks a block will quite happily do 30k hard miles and the head will need to be pulled 15k to be cleaned up and de-coked and have the camshaft bearing surfaces re-polished but thats on my race engine standard engine block good for 200k easy trouble free head 100k needs new head gasket and strip and cleanup while your there.
I've got everything needed except the timing belt tensioner and bearings. Block and oil pan is cleaned as well as the head. I also need head bolts and a valve cover. I'm going to start working on it again as soon as I get the headbolts. As for the bearings, I have some research to do. Where is the color key stamped into the block for the bearings?
If you want head bolts, the only place to get them are the dealer & APR. Either plastigauge your bearings or take your stuff to a machinist to order the right ones. Can't go wrong. Never seen color codes on nothing, so where that is coming from I have no idea. The belt & tensioner can be bought at any parts store.
Edit- The head bolts can be re-used. Their not TTY (torque to yeild) bolts that require a torque meter after a second torque. An example is a 90 degree torque which is what most TTY bolts need.Quote:
ARP Head Studs, part # 218-4703
http://arp-bolts.com/Catalog/Catalog.html
For '98-'02 Miata. Same as ours.
I already bought the plastiguage a couple weeks ago. I'm just going to do it myself, it's not that hard.
if your car is an LXI (which it is) then u can reuse the head bolts... you only have to replace the strechy ones on the carb engines
I already got the headbolts and valve cover. Going to paint the valve cover metallic red. Also got some fuel injectors. I will get the intake manifold next week and clean it up.
