3.2 Rebuild... and your thoughts?
 

Hi all... I've been thinking about a rebuild on my '87 Coupe... It has 124K miles and is leaking a bit through the cam covers and puffing smoke occasionally upon downshifts... and feeling a bit tired.

I wanted to first let you know what I'm thinking for a rebuild and ask for your thoughts and things to watch out for:

- Top and bottom end to be done

- Stick with a 3.2, and add already purchased, new 3.2 Euro p's & c's. I was told these are simple bolt-ons, with any other mods needed... true? This part makes me a bit nervous as I am not sure about the 10.3:1 compression ratio.. I was told by several respectable shops in the Seattle area that this is not a problem with our 92 octane gas. And what about any clearance changes with the Euro p's and c's.... Thoughts?

- Rebuild heads with phosphorous bronze valve guides - anything special to do with the heads?
- Grind the cams to 964 spec
- Polish the crank
- Add ARP rod bolts and head studs
- Lighten the flywheel
- Not sure about clutch - Should I stick with Sachs? Go aluminum pressure plate?
- Balance crank, pressure plate, flywheel
- Weigh rods and pistons for balance
- New springs (not sure what kind... any recommendations?)
- Titanium retainers (any suggestions of what kind?)
- Add MSD 6AL ignition with Bosch blue coil and new Magnecor wires
- Have SSI already with Dansk sport muffler
- Recently added MSDS cone filter air intake
- Intend to get a Steve Wong chip for this setup

What am I forgetting? Look forward to your help...

Thank you.

Slippery Slope
 

Dude welcome to the land of dollars and slippery slopes. Do a search on 3.2 rebuild and you'll find tons of opinions, all different. The best advice I can give you is to read Wayne's engine rebuild book first. Then ask yourself this question? How much money do I have to spend on this sucker? Budget yourself 75% of your budget because while you're in there you'll find something that must be done, period, that's the other 25%, or the rebuild isn't worth it.

I myself had Steinel's in Twinsburgh, OH, do a rebuild of my engine taking it from 3.2 to 3.4 liters. (I took off a week from work and "participated" in the rebuild. A worthy experience.) I am very, very happy with the results and would recommend to anyone considering replacing their pistons.

Just one of a billion different opinions on the subject. Read first, then spend your dollars.

wj

Sean
I have an 88 with 110k, engine is still humming along but i reckon that a rebuild is going to take place within 50k.

Who are you planning to have do the work?

With your setup I would just keep the stock Valve train and not change anything if the springs spec out and leave the flywheel alone. and there is not much you can do to improve the stock carrera ignition..

Seems like JackMan has some really good advice. 100% of the reason I do the upgrades or mods to my car myself was because I invested some time in finding out exactly was involved and making sure I did everything possible to have all the tools & parts that I thought I was going to need when I did the project. The hardest part was taking the damn thing apart.