Compression Test...Can someone tell me what's next...

[Bleyseng]

That black cap is a plug that goes into the bottom of the oil filler assembly. Just turn it over and you'll see.
How many miles is on the motor? If its a high mileage engine 150K the bearing are probably shot unless you can be sure the oil was changed every 3k.
The engine is the typical dirty engine so clean everything back to oem new and it will run cooler.

I would re ring it but check the bottom end.

[415pb]

Ok, so splitting the case was not that big of deal. Did it today, but it was not splitting. So after checking and checking and checking some more, I finally found the last fastener (thanks Dave). Then I split the case by hand. So what's next? Thanks to all for the help.

[DDS]

OK, I've done it once, (successfully so far) I'm no expert, but here goes:
I removed the press-fit oil gallery plugs, and removed the oil pressure relief pistons and everything else from the case. I used a centre punch and marked each rod, piston, cylinder etc prior to removing them from the crank and reassembled each bit as it came off so the parts wouldn't get mixed up. You can mount the flywheel to the crank to make it easier to work on - makes a good stand.
Once you have it all pulled apart, you can bring the new pistons and cylinders, old rods, crank and case to the machinist and have him check:
The crank - he'll know what to do, this will determine which bearings you order.
Rods - he'll know, these will/may need to be re-bushed and honed to fit the new wrist pins and resized on the big end, and maybe straightened. I bought new nuts he used the old ones when re-sizing.
Case - are the bearing bores in line? cracks? Galled threads? Bent studs?
New pistons and cylinders - why not have him check those as well? Do yours need to be honed or not.
My machinist 'tanked' the case for me as well - he does lots of alloy work so he didn't destroy it. I was told to be careful about this, some guys treat aluminum like iron...
Also, I had mine balanced. This may or may not be worthwhile for a street engine, I'll leave others to comment on that. I brought my Lotus engine in yesterday to the same guy and he felt that it would be a waste of money as the rebuild was essentially stock and Renault Gordini engines were pretty well balanced from the factory. Told me some horror stories about 'Murican V6's though.
Anyway, after that , clean clean clean. Repeat, etc...Then clean clean clean. His clean and your clean may be two different things.
I had my guy order the bearings as well, that way he was in control of all the variables when resizing the rods and checking the main journals. I still checked the oil clearance with plastigage when I reassembled the engine.
To remove the oil gallery plugs, I drilled and tapped them then extracted them with a puller rigged up with a screw, washer and socket.

I think that's it.

Oh yeah - check where the oil pickup hangs on the screw which runs through the case web by one of the cam bearings. If the oil strainer screw is overtightened it can fracture the case by pulling that assembly down. Look how the oil pickup hasngs and you'll see what I mean.

So guys, what did I miss?

Dave

[415pb]

Thanks Dave. I really do appreciate it. My pistons are fine and so are my cylinders. There at the machine shop now with the heads. I did find something unusual, see pics below. I guess I will be replacing these. It is only this one, everything else looks fine.

[415pb]

Got my heads, valves and P/C's back from the machine shop..Not a crack to be found in the heads. I had them replace the valve guides and do a valve job. Wow, it looks great.

All I need now is the engine gasket kit, the bearings, cam, lifters, and rings. I cant wait til I get it back together again. Here is a pic.

I have a question. The machine shop asked if I wanted them to port and polish the heads and intake manifolds. Is this beneficial? I still have fuel injection and want to keep it.

Thanks, Rod

[DDS]

Pretty heads.... IMO, don't waste your cash on the porting and polishing. That is max flow stuff and with the stock displacement, cam and D-jet (torque falls off at higher RPM anyway) you probably aren't going to see any benefit at all, and porting takes TIME. Lot$a time.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I disagree--slightly.

Polishing and porting, or rather work on a flow-bench, can indeed help the power on a stock motor. But (and this is why the disagreement is only slight) the time and cost is likely going to be way out of proportion to what you'll get out of it.

While I feel it does some good, I don't think it's worthwhile unless you have to get every single fraction of an HP out of the motor--while at the same time, keeping the displacement and compression and induction system stock.

--DD

[415pb]

Yea, the machine shop wants around 400.00 to do this. But if it's only a slight increase, I dont think I will bother.

Rod

[DDS]

Good points Dave, I stand (slightly) corrected. Any notion what kind of power increase one might expect from a stock motor that has had proper, careful work done on the flow bench? Would it be across the RPM range? As you point out, that kind of work is very expensive, certainly disproportinately so for a street driven car. I had my heads ported and polished, matched to bigger valves and a manifold correspondingly matched to the ports and to the carbs, no flow bench work, just 'right sizing', and even that was not cheap.

Rod, does the $400 mean ported on a proper flow bench or are they winging it?

Dave

[DDS]

Just looking at the pics rod - does yours have a windage tray? I don't see it there. It is a louvered sheetmetal thing in the sump above the oil pickup.

[415pb]

It does have one, it's just not in the pic. I took it out before I took the pic. The machine shop didn't tell me if it would be done on a flow bench. They only told me to bring in the manifolds and they would match and port the heads and manifolds. I'm new to all this, but if it's not going to give me a substantial gain, I dont think I will bother. I guess I would rather spend the money elsewhere on the engine.

Rod

[Bleyseng]

Porting can net about 10hp on a 2.0L if you tune the MPS also.

Geoff BTDT

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

That much??? Wow, that's quite a bit more than I tought!

Sounds like it requires dyno time though...

--DD

[Bleyseng]

Yes, otherwise you will run lean which as you know is BAD!


Geoff

[DDS]

That surprises me too. I would have guessed at 5% or less. Just for laughs, how much do you think that 10hp would cost?

[Bleyseng]

$3-400 per head for porting
$200 in dyno time if you have the tools
ie: Wavetek meter for MPS adjustments
or $350 for on of those wideband O2 meters

Geoff

[sammyg2]

What they are probably talking about isn't really porting, it's port matching.
BTW you can do this yourself, it's easy. It's also easy to screw up if don't pay attention. (disclaimer, don't do this unless you know what you are doing, if you screw it up it's your fault not mine .

Get a few intake manifold gaskets.
Take one and glue it to a head. Try to make sure it fits snuggly around the manifold studs so it doesn't slip around and so that you can put it back on in exactly the same place and orientation every time.

Get out your trusty dremmel and very carefully grind away the gasket until it is perfectly even with the edge of the port. Basically so there is no gasket hanging over the edge. Then carefully grind away any aluminium from the port that extends out past the edge of the gasket. Smooth it back a ways so you don't have any dips or hills or valleys.

Peel off the gasket. Glue it onto the intake manifold and compare. MAKE SURE the gasket is oriented correctly everytime you move it from one place to the other. Don't flip it over, mirror image won't help you.

Do the same thing again, taking all the gasket material off that extends out too far, and grind off the extra port material. Take your time, do a little at a time, check twice, grind once. Don't take off any more than absolutely necessary.
Then, take the same gasket and place it back on the head and check your work. You will probably have to touch it up again, but every time you do it you will get closer to perfection.

Repeat for the other side.

You are trying to make the port edges line up perfectly when assembled so there is no disruption in flow or turbulance where the intake manifold bolts to the head.
When you are satisfied both ports line up and are even, take a new gasket and make it match your ports. Make sure you keep straight where and how it goes so you don't put it in upside down or backwards.

It also helps to try and make the outside edge of the gasket match the outside edge of the manifold, at least in a couple of places. That helps you to make sure it is perfectly lined up when you install it for the last time.

This little trick makes a big difference on fire breathing high rpm motors, may help a little on a 914, depends on how bad the ports line up from the factory.

Don't know if there is anything you can do with the exhaust side, never tried on a 914.

Doing this on the exhaust side of a built small block chebbie can mean 40 hp or more but that is mostly due to the incredibly sloppy way most V8 headers are made.

[415pb]

Sammyg2, thanks. I met give it a try, then again, I met screw it up. I am ready to put my heads back together. Can anyone tell me if there are washers that go under the springs? I can't remember if there were and I cant find them. Or does the springs go straight to the heads, then the valve spring disc then the keepers. Help

[415pb]

Anybody, please.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There are shims that are sometimes found underneath the spring. But they are specific to that exact spot on the head, and with that exact spring as well.

The Wilson book refers to "spring seats", but I didn't find an obvious listing in the factory parts books.

--DD