1st drop & top end observations & questions

[Lapkritis]

Almost to the half way point.

[r-mm]

And no broken headstuds!

Anyone want to do a forensic on my heads n pistons? At this point i think it does make sense to send the cylinders out to be measured. If anyone has a suggestion of a shop, send it my way. Heads heading to anchor atlantic and they dont do cylinders.

[whiz05403]

Nice work! You just passed me up, my cam tools should be waiting for me when I get home from my airline trip.

Where are you going to send your heads. How do you know you have the Alucils?

Mike

[r-mm]

I didn't use the cam tool for removal, electric impact. I do have the tool from SIR though, nicely made, perfect fit and will use it on assembly.

Alusils... well they're light gray and non-magnetic. Today's task is figuring out where the hell the markings on the cylinders are to confirm that fact and then deciding exactly what exactly to do with the cylinders & rings. My instinct is to have them measured, cleaned/lightly honed then re-ring.

Heads going to these guys. Anchor Atlantic Group LLC :: Ultrasonic Aqueous Cleaners They're not a full service machine shop but have been recommended many times for their headwork and the price is right - I was quoted $750 presuming no new valves, studs etc.

Originally Posted by whiz05403

Nice work! You just passed me up, my cam tools should be waiting for me when I get home from my airline trip.

Where are you going to send your heads. How do you know you have the Alucils?

Mike

[Smoove1010]

No broken headstuds - nice! Sounds like Alusil to me. If you've got 10 fins, forum wisdom says Alusil.

I did the hone-and-re-ring approach on my alusils, honing done professionally. The rings seated quickly (I followed the routine prescribed in numerous threads on this forum.) At just over 500 miles I've yet to detect any oil consumption at all.

Post pics, we want to see how those heads, valves, and ports look.

[r-mm]

Pics galore! Go back a few posts.

I'm doing some serious reading on Alusil. Interesting stuff. Here is a veryveryvery technical article on honing alusil from the Tech Head of Sunnen. New Honing Options For Hypereutectic Aluminum Cylinder Bores : Modern Machine Shop

[Smoove1010]

Originally Posted by r-mm

Pics galore! Go back a few posts.

I'm doing some serious reading on Alusil. Interesting stuff. Here is a veryveryvery technical article on honing alusil from the Tech Head of Sunnen. New Honing Options For Hypereutectic Aluminum Cylinder Bores : Modern Machine Shop

I think I know the thread where you got that link - I spent many Fall and Winter evenings reading it, left my head spinning a few times.

Your chambers look a little cleaner than mine. I knew I needed new rings because I had lots of blow-by, and the engine just felt like one or two cylinders were tired. When I pulled the cylinders off, I found that the oil rings were completely clogged.

You're just getting to the really fun part, keep-em coming!
GK

[r-mm]

You know, this engine project is a diversion from bodywork on the Alfa and I was really looking forward to just plain spinning wrenches for a while. Follow instructions, keep parts clean, bag parts, use torque wrenches. Then something like the alusil decision comes up. Urrrggghh. I hate these moments where the choice is $3200 or uncertainty.

I suppose I know for sure i'm pulling the cylinders. Seems silly not to at least measure them and check for broken rings. I had great compression but heard hissing in the crankcase on most cylinders during my leakdown test. I will be the first to say, I have never done a leakdown before and I did it cold so its a fairly useless test. But having come this far, I would be rather pissed to put it back together and have the ring be bad, or to have them go bad in 20-30k miles which would be 130k and a perfectly reasonable time for 25 y old rings to pack it in.

I haven't read up on it yet, but should I go the new P+C route, are any complimentary mods necessary to use the Euro 10.3:1 pistons, which are priced the same as the US ones?

Also... stand by for results of injector cleaning. They should be back from witch hunter today.

[whiz05403]

Per Waynes's book, you can slap the EURO pistons and cylinders as a direct swap.

That's the route I think I will be going. Here they are:

Pelican Parts - Product Information: 99-0174-915-SET

I will also be dropping some coin on the improved Rod Bolts. It seems our stock ones are a weak point on the 3.2.

I hope to catch up with you this week. Then decide if I am going to split the case.

Fun stuff!!

[Lapkritis]

I would recommend cleaning them thoroughly before potentially spending money unnecessarily. WD40 and a scotchbrite pad / plastic bristle tooth brush will remove all the carbon without damaging the metal surface. You can remove the rings and clean those as well - keep track of orientation and handle with care.

[r-mm]

Are there any subsequent (DME, valve timing) mods that need to be made on account of the higher compression? My guess would be no.

I certainly hope not to add $3200 to the rebuild bill but I do want to do it right.

Originally Posted by whiz05403

Per Waynes's book, you can slap the EURO pistons and cylinders as a direct swap.

That's the route I think I will be going. Here they are:

Pelican Parts - Product Information: 99-0174-915-SET

I will also be dropping some coin on the improved Rod Bolts. It seems our stock ones are a weak point on the 3.2.

I hope to catch up with you this week. Then decide if I am going to split the case.

Fun stuff!!

[KTL]

Nice job Rus. Keep going!

A tip for plugging oil delivery holes (oil cooler ports, oil lines, oil return tube bores, etc) is to use rubber stoppers. I bought a bunch of various sizes from Ace Hardware. I also stick a wood screw in them as a "handle" to pull them out, since sometimes a chosen size can be a little on the small size and it goes farther into the hole than you'd prefer.

[Lapkritis]

Originally Posted by KTL

since sometimes a chosen size can be a little on the small size and it goes farther into the hole than you'd prefer.

That's what she said.

[KTL]

Everyone's got their cross to bear........

[r-mm]

Well the injectors turned out to be in pretty damn good shape. Got them back from Witch Hunter with a flow comparison. Always nice to have peace of mind, not to mention new seals.

[Smoove1010]

None leaked? Great, you're on a roll! I almost went with them, but they warned me of the likelihood that the 158's would leak, so for just a few more $ I went with reman'd 360's from Motoman. They work like a charm. The only down-side is that a chart like you got doesn't come with the reman'd units.

GK

[r-mm]

Just a few bucks more!? I paid $22/ea injector. How much were the 360s?

[Smoove1010]

Originally Posted by r-mm

Just a few bucks more!? I paid $22/ea injector. How much were the 360s?

I paid $35/each, but I just checked his site, and the link for the 360's sends you to the page for the 364's for $45 each, which are also out of stock.

[MConn]

Originally Posted by r-mm

Also has anyone replaced this part, called "pipeline" 930 110 328 05 ?

I'd rather not pay $145 for a new assembly if I can just replace the hose, which is cracked. It appears that the hose itself is stepped ? Has anyone dealt with this?

I removed the crimped end from the hose, and found a copper plumbing fitting that fit over the brass, soldered it on to build up the end. Then I used a straight piece of hose.



Mike

[r-mm]

Got the heads boxed up and ready to go to Atlantic. I made the mistake of checking the replacement cost on PP - christ - $1500 ea. I suppose the prudent thing to do is insure them for that amount or close to it, which will cost about 3x shipping.

On another note I've been ultrasonic cleaning various parts and wondering about the goo used to seal the various posts and studs on the timing chain housing. For instance the studs which the tensioner and idler mount on seem to have some sort of JB Weld / Goo on the back which is brittle in places. It's visible in this lousy pic in clean part of the housing and you can see the outlines of two more sealed areas in the dirty part. What am I supposed to do here? Re-seal? Let it be?

DUMB QUESTION - is it only possible to replace two chain ramps w/o splitting the case?