Following the build! Looks great. I'm about to disassemble my heads. You said there's a shop you took them to in Richmond, VA? I'm in VA Beach so I could definitely swing by and drop them off. How much did getting them rebuilt set you back? Did you have a lot of trouble getting the rockers apart?

Thanks for everyone's opinion, I figure for what I'm doing with my car I will not go wrong with whatever set I decide to go with. They all are very good quality and will serve me well. Here's what I found pricewise:ARP $550 Raceware $495 Supertec $650. As much as I want to support Henry's business I don't know if I can swing the extra $100-$150 but that's something I have to work out on my own. My goal for this weekend will be to get the old headstuds out. Would it be wise to take the pistons off, since I have to remove the cylinders, to clean off the burnt material on the piston tops or is that really not needed? The other thing I am wondering is should I order a new set of the copper rings at the base of the cylinders against case half? they are not leaking and appear to be in excellent condition but since they are the original and I'm literally right there, I thought it might be prudent to do it.
Sebastian, my car is at Chuck's Frame Shop in Richmond. Chuck is the tech that is fixing my car's body after I was hit on the pass side exiting T9 at Summit Point Main. The head work was done by Bob Hirsch at Anchor Atlantic, Anchor Atlantic Enterprises LLC - Home Bob was really easy to work with, I told him what I was interested in, what I use my car for, what my goals were, after that he did all the work. I'm really pleased with what I got back from him. If your interested in price, I would suggest you calling him and discussing what you want. I had EBS send him the valve springs, retainers, manifold studs so there was more in parts. Plus the machine work, plus the machine work with Dema Elgin grinding and polishing the cams. It's amazing how quickly everything adds up, and my rebuild is more of a refreshening than a rebuild so it's comparatively mild as compared to most.

Michael, I will have to shoot anchor an email and check their prices.. right now I'm 2k in machine work alone on the case for my 71 :eek: still have to buy a set of pistons and cylinders along with all the typical stuff you need (gaskets, oil lines, etc) and the Carrera tensioner update. I think I'm going to be in this engine around 6k by the time it's all said and done.. But I'm going to spend a little more in the beginning so that way I'll have a motor that will be able to last the life of the car and should end up giving me a little more hp (original for the car is 125hp to be exact).

Washington DC got hit with snow this morning and then sleet and freezing rain for the remainder of the day. So while I was making lunch I went out and turned the propane heater in the garage. By the time lunch was done, I was ready and the garage was waiting for me and that engine had my name all over it.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...152860d835.jpg

I was able to get all of the head bolt studs out, without breaking anything and only cussing a couple of times because one of the #2 cyl intake side studs had decided to be stubborn and not want to come out.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...37f4a5a228.jpg

So rather than force the issue, I moved the heater a little closer and to slowly warn the case and the stud. I decided to go work on the other side while that heated up. Worked like a charm. After I finished the #s 4,5 & 6 I went back to the last one on #2. Off it came, a lot of cracking popping and moaning but it came off. Nothing broken. Now all I have to do is wait for the studs from my friends at EBS Racing and I will be good to go. Would it have been possible to have taken the studs out without removing the cylinders? One would think that since you're only doing stud off, stud back on and there would be no issues. Or did I miss something in how these things are supposed to be put together?

3.2l rebuild, the quest for more power
 

In my mind, I have made a lot of progress since the last post. Although it always seems like once you start getting some momentum and making real progress your life gets in the way and you have to stop.
As I previously stated, I decided to take everyone's advice and come apart with the cylinders and replace the head bolt studs. Although I have to admit I really didn't want to but I'm more afraid of what would potentially happen if I did not replace them I really wasn't interested in tearing that thing apart again.
The head bolt studs came out with no issues but not without a lot of moaning, groaning, creaking and cracking. I got them all out without any major issues.

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Since I only have a metric stud removal tool I had to double nut the studs in order to back them out.

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I did just as Wayne's book suggested, small clockwise turn to break loose the bonding inside the threading and then through the use of some sweet talking using some very creative explicitives and slowly turning the nut, I got all 24 out w/out issue. I measured several along the way before removal to make sure I had a good data base for how far to screw in the new studs.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...bf41fe9424.jpg

I think I spent more time cleaning out the treads than it took getting them out but by the time I was finished, they screwed in with next to no effort.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...528ed2ddf6.jpg

As you can see, they was a lot of gunk in the threads.

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At this point. I'm ready to take on the challenge of getting the cylinders back on.

I would have removed the Pistons with the cylinders. Trying to hold the piston, compress the rings, and press the cylinder back on multiplies your chance of breaking a ring and not knowing it. Plus, aren't you going to replace the rings?

Now the part I was not looking forward to... reinstalling the cylinders. But first I needed to get a tool. After a lot of searching online and talking with some mechanics I decided to buy the Hazet tool. Holy crap that thing was pricey! But like my wife said, spend the money now right the first time or spend it twice wrong. I hate when she's right.
Once I got the tool set up I was ready to go, or so I thought. Since this was my first time doing it and all I had was my rebuild book and the Internet to show me the light, it was slow going.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...91e6e55e1f.jpg

On this particular pic I think I put that stupid tool on the piston a good two dozen times because either the ring would not go into the cyl or the top ring would pop out of the band for the tool. Talk about frustrating, I was ready to blow the damn thing up. Four hours later this is what I ended up with

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http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...52f048f343.jpg

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After all that I put into it, I now feel like I have to take the cylinders back off because on a few of them going on, there were some loud popping type sounds that happened as the cyl when down over the rings. I was reading that if a cylinder doesn't feel like it the others then you should investigate what was going on. I really don't want to find anything when I remove them but I will feel like I just saved my own ass if I do see something.

Since I'm going to take the cylinders back off, yes I'm ordering a new set of rings. I was actually considering taking the pistons off and taking them down to the shop for a good cleaning. Probably would not hurt getting rid of 25 years worth of carbon build up.
If I've learned anything during this adventure it's been the appreciation for how these engines are put together because this whole thing started out as all I wanted to do was install some cams and change my exhaust. Now look where I am, I never thought I'd go this far.

3.2l rebuild, the quest for more power
 

I really didn't want to take the cylinders back off because it was such a pain in the ass getting them on the first time I'm sure it will be the same pain the second time but I took them off. Luckily I did not break any piston rings but I did find something that made me glad I took them back off nonetheless.
This is what I found:

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http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...b793e766ca.jpg

All those shavings must have come from the headbolt stud holes. I thought I I protected them but I guess not as good as I thought.

I took every down to the shop and had run the cylinders and pistons through the parts washer for a few cycles just to make sure I have them clean enough. The replacement piston rings came today from Porsche so maybe now I can restart putting things back together.

Did you use a thread cleaning tap, or a thread cutting tap? Looked like a cutting tap.

Thread cleaning / chasing taps look like this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1428068759.jpg

I wouldn't have used a tap to clean the threads.
I would also have installed the pistons and cylinders before the studs, much easier.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda...I'm learning. I've taken my time to be very careful not to mess something up, and when I've come across an area where I was unsure about it, I have stopped and gone back and made sure I understood what was going on so I didn't make more of a problem than what I already had. This may be my first time doing this but I can already see certain things where I would have done things slighty different. Take the cleaning of parts/hardware for example, the way I have done it was take all my stuff into the dealership clean the parts throughout the day, haul all the stuff back home and try and build some momentum again. Next time I think I would just buy a parts cleaner for my garage so that I would not have to stop, this would become especially handy when you have some momentum and are making progress. That's just one example of how I would do things differently.
The best news I received all week was my car is getting close, we now have primer and paint is coming soon. Fingers are crossed for end of May. It's looking like I might just get back to the track this season. I'm really excited!!!

Is there anything I could do to remove this carbon or should I not even worry about it knowing it will return after a few drive cycles?

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...1f5544e098.jpg

How thick is it??? It can me cleaned pretty easy and I clean them before installing.

Tag the pistons, remove excess oil, then overnight soak in a bucket of fresh carb cleaner with or without the rings, or glass bead. Be careful not to blast the ring lands. Don't be too quick with the putty knife.

Sherwood

After they ran through multiple cycles of the parts washer at work they came out a lot cleaner than what I started with. All the oil has been washed away on the pistons. What you see in my last pic was probably the worst of all six. I could take them to the shop and use the bead blaster on the tops if I was to be super anal. I suppose I could tape the outer walls of the pistons to protect them while inside the cabinet. Just out of curiosity, is there any advantage to doing something like that vs putting them back in the way they are with a little crust otherwise very clean?

The degree of being anal is up to you. Obviously, the engine worked fine with the existing crust. Some anal questions/factoids:

What's the problem with removing carbon from engine parts already removed?
How thick is the carbon crust? Thickness provides variable compression ratio differences between cylinders, albeit minor, but nevertheless, different.
Carbon crust will inhibit heat transfer and thus increase exhaust gas and chamber temperature
Carbon can, depending on operating conditions and engine parameters, glow red and create pre-ignition conditions.
Carbon can flake off and migrate between valve and valve seat, piston and cylinder. Loose flakes are more prone to glow red (see above) and encourage more carbon buildup.
Carbon flakes could migrate to catalytic converters downstream.

OTOH, carbon can also be scrubbed from combustion chambers by running the engine at high idle and introducing a fine water mist into the intake. However, not easy to monitor extent and effect on combustion deposits.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=effects+of+water+mist+engine+cleanin g

Sherwood

I would bead blast them,just something I always got in the habit of doing,makes me sleep easier at night.

It's a relatively thin layer, probably between .25-.5mm thick at its thickest point. Yes Sherwood you are correct, it was a perfectly running when I took it out before I took the body down to be repaired.

Somewhere along the slippery slope, one must decide how far to go. A few hundred here and there and before you know it, you have a busted budget. Go with your comfort level.

Sherwood

Isn't that the truth. I was just talking about it last night with my mother in law. I feel like I am making progress but because this is my first time doing this I feel like I am at times feeling my way through it.

I used something called "carbon remover" that I soaked my pistons in. After a night in that the carbon could be rinced away with a stiff brush.

3.2l rebuild, the quest for more power
 

After doing some online searching and looking around the forum it lead me to Chem Dip.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...c11408ccda.jpg

Lots of really good reviews, even found a you tube video of it so I bought a gallon.
This is what I started with

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This is after about 4 hours soaking

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I used a brass bristled brush to remove the excess cake on the top of the cylinder and let it go for another few hours. This is what it looked like after I let soak overnight

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...d24e39e731.jpg

Before we opened and my day got out of control I taped up the sides of the piston to help protect it and put it in the bead blaster this morning. Here's what I ultimately finished up with and I think it is clean enough to stop and get these things put back in.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...a0cbe876e3.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...6179c14e31.jpg

If I can get all six looking that I will be more than thrilled at my results. I have a feeling this is going to be a good day.

Good job.

In my first post, I was going to add a story about Steve Jobs about a lesson he learned from his Dad rebuilding a fence, but Jobs, as brilliant as he was, turned out to be too anal and verbally abusive toward others to impart any lessons to anyone.

Sherwood

Have you measured the ring lands and piston skirt for wear?

Thanks Sherwood, I really appreciate the compliment, hearing that from you makes me think I am headed in the right direction. The final picture is what I envisioned that I wanted going back in my engine as I reassemble it and it feels very satisfying accomplishing that goal.

Matt, I really didn't measure those things, I didn't think I needed to since I had the sides of the piston taped and fully protected from any bead getting to the sides or inside the piston where the wrist pin goes. Plus, if you look at some of my earlier pics I had already put the cylinders over the pistons only to take them off because I was worried I broke a ring. Anyway, Matt, they were tight tight tight so I feel I will be fine on that. Was there something I should be looking for?

Mike,

I was referring to wear that happens when an engine runs. Ring lands become wider, so you can end up with too much side clearance even with new rings. And piston skirts wear/bend which causing rocking, also hurting ring seal. While yours look fine it may not hurt to have them measured up. While you're in there... :)

Sorry Mike. Mr. B is right. Better to have confidence the engine won't need reopening for another 100K + miles .....at least for rings and/or pistons. :) Shouldn't cost much to have a skilled machinist double check for you. Bring specs and your pistons/cylinders//rings. Prep a chart so the can record measurements, e.g. piston/cylinder number, piston-to-cyl. clearance, cyl. dimensions, ring lands 1-2-3 x 6, etc.

Sherwood

3.2l rebuild, the quest for more power
 

My rings came earlier this week and because I knew I had a heavy workload this week I figured I would spread the "decarboning" of the piston tops a couple at a time. Happy that all 6 came out perfect as perfect could be. I was expecting installing the rings to be more tedious and time consuming. Couldn't have been easier. Clean the slots, clean the rings, wipe down the tops install the three rings. Take your time and be very aware of the tension on the ring as it is being slid over the piston top and into its correct slot.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...f5fb161a3b.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...e8b183c23d.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...fe6a37a859.jpg

Now for the hard part... getting them back into the cylinders. Goal for the weekend is to have the heads/cam tower installed.

Did you install the rings in the cylinder and measure gaps first? Always a good precaution so you trust yourself and not someone else.

This YouTube series is good for an overview of engine assembly. There's no one "right" way to do it, and it's interesting to see how others tackle this and the steps they take to ensure correct assembly.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QEajH5xvMAo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hope this helps,
Sherwood

mreid, to answer your question, yes and no. I did install them into each of the cylinders to check for fit but since I do not have the correct measuring tool I do have the spec. I only used a flashlight on the opposite side of the cylinder to see if light came through between the cylinder wall and the piston ring. The light from inside the cylinder drowned out the pic so I don't have one to post but based on what I had yesterday, I think I will be okay. I thought the first time I put the pistons inside the cylinders was difficult, this time it will be damn near impossible. Those brand new rings are tight!!

You really need to check the ring gap, do not trust that new rings are OK. If they are to tight you could be in trouble...
The tool is cheap and available at most places that sells tools.

With the right ring compressor it should not be very difficult to install the cylinders over the pistons.

A 'ring gap checker' is just a feeler gauge... Putting the rings in a cylinder and checking the end gap is probably the easiest part of the whole process. No reason not to. If you get fancy you can check the gap at various locations in the bore as a check for cylinder taper.

Mike, you need to check the end gaps of the rings and file those that are too tight. You do not need a special tool to do this, although they do make a ring file tool. These are really small gaps and if too tight will destroy the cylinders in short order. Too loose will just give away compression and low power is the result.

I have a really good ring compressor if you need to borrow one.

Jon, thanks for the offer. I stepped up and bought the Hazet ring compressor. I have to admit, for such an expensive tool I thought what the hell and am I going to do with that thing and I hated it at first, I thought it was awkward, did not do a good job of compressing the rings and took forever to get the piston inside the cylinder which is why originally I thought I broke a piston ring. That was the first time I used the tool. Then I took the cylinders and pistons back apart to replace the rings. The second time, I figured it out. I was able to install all six in about an hour or just under. The problem was I did not understand what the trick was for setting it up. I got it now.
I took the time to measure all 18 rings in each of their perspective cylinders. All 18 are good and within spec. I did it just like Wayne's book suggested. Inserted piston in through the bottom and put each of the three rings in through the top starting with the bottom ring first. Checked the end gap and side gaps. All within .3mm so I went back together with it.
Now comes the part that I have been not looking forward to, I have read and read about setting the timing but for some reason, I just can't seem to visually see how the setting the timing comes together. I'll just have to jump in with both feet once I get the cams installed. I'm sure I'll be posting some very elementary questions so please forgive my inexperience with I'm sure some really dumbs questions in advance.

Mike, Allie lives in DC if you need a second set of hands and someone to read the manual as you go. She will be doing cam timing next weekend on her 3.4 project if you want to wait until that is done, she will have 1 time experience. As long as your not some kind of white van serial killer or stalker with a record it would be ok.

Cleaning hardware...........
 

Considering the overall cost of a rebuild, I decided to spring for a hardware kit from PP. Having all new, clean, etc nut, bolts and washers helped make for a better final product.

By any chance, does she have her Passport :):D:)

Of all the offers I have seen on PP this is it http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...ys/drummer.gif