Rookie 3.0 rebuild

[Amstaff]

Couldn't help but put one on.

Got some good experience because I got to put it on twice. After installing the wrist pin instead of pushing the cylinder down I rotated the engine and pulled the cylinder off the piston. I got to pull the clip back off, push the wrist pin back out, bust out the spring compressor and start all over again.

The good thing is, no damage done and I won't make that mistake again.

[michael lang]

Tom, I appreciate all the pics that you have put up. It has helped me understand many things with my own project. Eventhough we have different engine sizes, there are so many things that are alike. You have done a wonderful job of documenting your build.
How hard was it to remove the old deadbolt studs before installing the new ones?

[Amstaff]

The head studs were a chore. I probably spent at least half a day getting them out. Having a good welder to weld a nut to the stud is a big plus.

I must say that removing those studs was the thing that I disliked the most.

After that it was all down hill

[Amstaff]

It didn't help that several were broke off

[Amstaff]

When you are installing the wrist pin if you will push it through a little bit you can actually slip it into the rod a little which will help line up the pin to the rod.

The red stuff is assembly lube.

[Amstaff]

So, I have all of the Pistons and cylinders installed. I didn't do them by the book. I put cylinder 3,2,1 in and then 4,5,6.

The reason?

I couldn't get the wrist pin clips in. If you put numbers 6,5 and 4 in like the book says you have to put the pins in the shallow side of the wrist pin hole. If you do them in reverse order you have the deep side of the wrist pin hole to work with and it was 100 times easier.

Ok, here is where I confess some mistakes. When you tap the wrist pins in put a little pressure on the top of the cylinder because as you tap the wrist pin in the piston it wants to walk up in the back and guess what happens? The rings pull out of the cylinder. Then guess what you get to do? Pull the wrist pin and start over. Since I don't have any kind of wrist pin puller I got to pull all of the cylinders off and start over. Not fun!

[Amstaff]

Today was a big day. Heads and cam towers are on!

[Amstaff]

Got both sides put together and it actually looks like an engine again

[Amstaff]

[Amstaff]

So technically 964 cams do not fit in a 3.0

For the life of me I couldn't figure out why the cam wouldn't go into the last cam journal. It rotated ok but just wouldn't go in. I pulled my stock cams out and realized that there is a small shaft that protrudes from the back of the 964 cam that is not on the stock cam. I assume I can just cut off the part of the shaft that keeps it from going all the way in.

The bummer part is that I loosened the cam tower up 3 times thinking that it was a bit out of line until I decided to see how my stock cams worked and BAM! It went right in. The right one is a little snug but I can push it in by hand so I assume it is ok.

[Amstaff]

Ok, here is another thing that I just couldn't do... Put sealant on the copper sealing rings. The book says pull the cylinder up about an inch, spread Locktite on the gasket and push the cylinder back down.

I pulled the cylinder up but was really afraid to pull a ring out of the cylinder. After getting the cylinder up there was no way to put the locktite all the way around the copper gasket because the head bolts and the other cylinders were in the way. I didn't think that putting locktite on part of the gasket would do any good so I skipped that part.

The book did say that it wasn't necessary.

[Amstaff]

Next up

Valve train, cam housings, cut cams down, sand blast more parts.....etc

Getting close but still a lot to do.

[michael lang]

that tab on the end of the cam you are referring to is for the power steering which just gets cut off

[Amstaff]

Took out the angle grinder and cut it off. Came off pretty easily.

[jjeffries]

Nice work Tom. Am watching closely in anticipation of my own 3.0 o'haul. Best regards, John in CT.

[Dpmulvan]

Awesome job and thank you for taking the time to photograph everything. I'll be going down the same path here in a few days on the same limited budget. Having these posts will be a great help for a lot of us.Thanks Tom hope she runs smooooooth

[Amstaff]

Got both chain housings on. Put some locktite on the gaskets and torqued the down. One bolt on each side I coulnt get the torque wrench on so I tightened them with a box end wrench.

[Amstaff]

Having trouble with my cam install so look for my post and see if you can help me.

[Amstaff]

I put this in a separate post but should the shaft protrude further than this?

[Amstaff]

Originally Posted by Amstaff

I put this in a separate post but should the shaft protrude further than this?

Thinking about it late last night I bet the key way popped up in the back and is holding the gear from going all the way back. I will pull it and check it tonight when I get off work.