300k mile maintenance

[BMS]

Okay, my car's gonna be damn near 300k miles this winter break. I know that I need to drive it easier than I do, but it's so damn reliable I just forget all together how old it is sometimes. For it's 300k mile party I was thinking that I'd treat to something real special -

I want to take off the head, replace the head gasket (for safety), and the vavle-cover gasket (might as well while I'm in there)
Clean the piston heads
Have the head hot-tanked
Possibly look into new valves/cam (would these get worn and should be replaced for overall better engine?)
Flush cooling system
New brake pads/rotors



Are there any other major things that you can think of that should be done (fairly superficial) that I can do? I was thinking that I might wanna replace the piston rings, but that's a little deeper into it than I wanna get for now. The main thing that I am worried about is that I drive from San Jose to Chico (~500 miles round trip) about once a month. I really don't want to be driving down the freeway and have my engine blow up. Also, I don't drive it as nice as I know that I should, and with that many miles I want to do all the preventative maintenance that I can, and maybe I can make it 400k.

[k-roy]

Don't forget the valve steam seals. I would go with all new head hardware, timimg belt, timing belt tensioner, distributor o-ring, new head bolts, paint the valve cover, new accesory belts, water pump, thermostat, any hoses that look old, head + intake + exaughst gaskets (duh), carb to manifold gasket.

[88LXi68]

i wouldnt do anything except change the timing belt and water pump. That kind of mileage I wouldnt want to disturb anything that is working right.

[BMS]

Originally posted by 88LXi68
i wouldnt do anything except change the timing belt and water pump. That kind of mileage I wouldnt want to disturb anything that is working right.

Yeah, I am kinda worried that after I take it apart something is just gonna turn to dust, and then it'll never run again.

[accordlxi2.0]

i knew this guy from school who had an '89 with as much milege as your's.
and he bragged that he drove his car with the timing belt that's 200,000mile's old.
and he drive's like it's a race car/suv.
and his car was'nt in our shop compared to my previous car.
so don't worry, if he/she runnig good then no problem.
just work on the body or do something a little less more than you wanna do on the engine.

[mowery]

I would agree it's best not to open it up if there's nothing serious or obviously wrong with it... Always a chance something won't go back together right and then continue to be a problem. I've not touched mine for that very reason. I am about to replace the original main seals and all gaskets to stop the oil leaks though.

It never hurts to flush the cooling system too often though. It's just as important to engine life as clean oil.

Just keep on top of the timing belt changes and change the oil religiously!!!