Engine Rebuild Chronicles

[JLGarbanzo]

Well, no turning back, the engine is out. Friday was a beautiful nice sunny day and she just fell right out.

These next few weeks should be fun. I should have Saturday morning updates each week.

Wish i snapped a few more pictures, but heres what i have.

[Gunter]

What's the plan?
I hope you'll find Nikasil (Mahle) 95mm P/C's in good condition.
Re-ring?
Heads?
964-cams?
SSI's?
A '78 already has the larger CIS.
964-cams and SSI's would add ~30 horses.

But, the big question is the P/C's. If you find Alusil (KS) a $$-choice has to be made.

The CV's look like they need some TLC?

[JLGarbanzo]

Gunter,

First goal is to replace all the exhaust studs...found a broken one during a valve adjustment this summer.

The rest of the plans is a little up in the air. The only limiting factor is time. I am getting credit for this rebuild, so the project has to be done before the end of the semester. It all depends on how quickly it all comes along and what i actually find when i open it all up.

As far as i can tell, i have set Nikasil. Grady took a look at a few pics over the summer and as far as he could tell, i have a set of Nikasil P/C's.

For the heads, ill take a look when they are pulled and see if a regrind is in order.

The car already has a good set of SSI's, so thats one more thing off the list.

I've been thinking about 964-cams, but as you said, i really need to wait to confirm my P/C's. There isnt much point in putting an aggressive cam on low compression cylinders. Just out of curiosity, how much would i expect to spend if i did take the plunge?

[Gunter]

If you have Nikasil P/C's in good condition you might want to re-use them even with 8.5 : 1 CR.
An option would be to get 95mm JE pistons with 9.8 : 1 CR (About $1k)
Or, like I did, 98mm P/C's with 9.8 : 1 CR (Very costly $2-3K)
Total can be anywhere from $4-8k depending on condition of crank, rods, cams, heads etc.
I assume that you have Wayne's book, read it carefully, it'll tell you a lot about procedure and costs.
Get good tools like a calibrated 3/8 drive torque wrench, Z-block, dial indicator, cam sprocket wrench, engine stand with the proper mount ring or yoke. You can always sell the stuff when you are finished.
Take notes and pictures when dismantling, it'll help very much later!!
Especially the electrical stuff.
After everything is apart, send it all to a parts washer; most shops have one.

[JLGarbanzo]

Here is my second update. With a week off for spring break, i didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but i now have the engine down to a long block (minus one SSI - see below) and i have pulled the timing chain covers off.

Unfortunately, I left my camera at school, so i wont get a chance to post the newest pictures until tomorrow.

But I do have one question:
For some reason the SSI's are not symmetrical. On one side of the engine, there are 3 access holes to remove the exhaust stud nuts. However, on the other side, the middle nut is missing an access hole. For the life of me, i cannot find a tool to get in there. I have tried a 13mm universal joint, heated and bent a wrench to a 45 degree angle, and about a thousand other stupid contraptions. Now, all I have is a stripped bolt that i cant get off. Any suggestions?

[JLGarbanzo]

Gunter,
I just read over this thread and realized a typo in the post above. Yes, i did find a broke exhaust stud, but what i really meant to say was that i found a broken head stud during a valve adjustment and that is why i am opening the engine.

[Gunter]

The above link doesn't work.
Regardless, I just finished building and installing a 3.2 short-stroke and know pretty well what you are facing.

3.2 short-stroke observations, building and starting.

For the SSI's, 2 holes is normal on that side. A swivel-head 13mm socket is used. Also, get a set of short metric wrenches called "Stubbies"
Exhaust stud removal is done with heat or, at worst, ground flush and drilled out. Do a search on this.
To replace the head studs, the P/C's have to be removed. The heads get a valve-job. That's the time to replace the exhaust studs on the bench and do machining for the broken ones.
Head studs: Replace ALL with Steel studs. Wayne's book tells you how.

You are facing a complete rebuild here with splitting the case and do the whole engine, bearings and all. Read Wayne's book! It cannot be done cheap especially if it turns out that you have Alusil P/C's.
The crank, rods have to be checked. New ARP rod bolts and bushings.
Paint the tinware with Rust Paint.

I was successful with my 3.2 SS because I was meticulous and had the heads, rods and crank done professionally.
So, get an engine-stand and the necessary tools and do it right according to Wayne's book and make sure you stay within the specs and radial/axial tolerances.
And yes, it'll cost thousands but, if you don't do it right, you'll be very disappointed in the end.

[JLGarbanzo]

Sorry about the broken link. Apparently my threads were combined into one, so i will just continue to add to this one.

I am hoping to avoid splitting the case, since the bottom end was redone about 15000-20000 miles ago. My plan is to pull each cylinder with its piston and replace all the head studs. While the engine is apart i am going to replace all the exhaust studs, the oil level sender, and weld an o2 bung in my SSI's for my LM-1.

That is my starting point. Anything else i find along the way, i will obviously take care of.

[JLGarbanzo]

It has been a while since i last made a post, so here are the updates.

The engine is completely apart, down to the short block, and I successfully replaced all the studs (including the broken stud). All in all, it was pretty simple. The snap-on stud extractor had no problems with the solid studs and for the broken one, we simply tig welded a nut to the top of the stud and it pulled right out.





So now i am in the process of cleaning everything before reassembly. Everything seems to be cleaning up nicely between the parts washer in the glass bead blaster.



So i have only one question at this point. I really like the blasted look of the fan right now and i would love to protect its appearance. I took my time to poke around on the forum for protective varnishes, but no one seemed to have a conclusive solution. Does anyone have any suggestions?