First time engine drop

chris.817 · chris.817's Garage

See this thread for most of how I got here... Your thoughts on 3.2 rebuild

My last effort was to have my local expert give me a second opinion. His take was that my valves were horribly out of adjustment and that he could hear nothing amiss with his stethascope. He cut open the oil filter and it had a good amount of brass "bits" in it. They were evident in the canister and in the pleats of the filter. I guess main and or rod bearings are the source of my reduced oil pressure and maybe the noise that I hear under acceleration.

Any way... Out comes the motor for what may be the first time for a 22 year old car with 175k miles. Removed and will replace myself (with my buds), and disassembled to the long block. My mechanic came by the house on Saturday while the crew was still there and we put it in his pickup for transport to his shop!! 6 hours and done! With 4 four helpers... And a case of beer once it was sitting on the ground.

The plan is a stock rebuild and the "whole 9 yards" as far as what to replace. I'm assuming at this point all the big stuff like case, crank, rods and pistons are good but will replace all wear parts and rebuild the heads. Needs new clutch. I'm going to replace the sound pad, clean everything that came off, repaint the sheet metal, replace the fuel filter (lines look fine), and generally clean every piece of the rear of the car while I can get to it. Given time I'll also send my injectors out for a cleaning. Otherwise, back together without a whole lot of fuss.

Any one care to throw out a few "while you're there" comments.

A few pictures.

Before

During

After

Proud papa

Best buds. Thanks to Jim, George, Ty and John.

Nice driveway on a Saturday.