Engine rebuild

[fusion1620]

Whats up show fans??? Finally going to fix up my 89. The car still ran when I bought it, but the oil on the dipstick looks really really milky. Found out that it has a leaky heater core so I bypassed it. But b4 I got it someone overheated the crap out of it. I'm going to get the heads shaved as long as they didn't crack. I'm thinking of getting a turbo down the line and plan to put in some pistons, valves, and cams. Anyone with suggestions on what to get for the rebuild would be helpful as this will be my 1st attempt at a rebuild.Oh yea I live out on the big island of Hawaii, so just getting another motor over here would **** me on the shipping..

Thanks

 

[Brett]

Thats the most unhappy looking cam i've ever seen. Ive seen cams sitting outside that look better then that. Geez guy, i hope it cleans up well for ya.

Anyways, rebuilds for these motors are not cheap. pricing my 3.2 is coming around 1500 just for parts. (i.e. gaskets, sensors, bearings) no labor. Atop of that you cannot buy a set rebuild kit, you'll have to piece it together yourself. Theres also alot of things that are hard to find or simply not made anymore, like thrust bearings for instance. Unless you plan on putting down big power and using some wiseco pistons i really think the best route would be to find a 3.2, do a full 60k and drop that in. Shipping will **** you as stated but i'd be willing to bet you a motor rebuild would cost more then purchasing a decent to good shape 3.2 and floating it across the drink.

 

[fusion1620]

Wiseco pistons? Should I have the cylinders honed out or leave them stock. Once again I am a noob at rebuilding motors. But having a project keeps me busy. Once a car is done I have nothing else fun to do.....

What's up with the block on the 89's? the 2nd gen blocks are better? for turbo, would the 3.0 or the 3.2 block be better????thanx

 

[shoon]

Wiseco pistons? Should I have the cylinders honed out or leave them stock. Once again I am a noob at rebuilding motors. But having a project keeps me busy. Once a car is done I have nothing else fun to do.....

What's up with the block on the 89's? the 2nd gen blocks are better? for turbo, would the 3.0 or the 3.2 block be better????thanx

All depends how much money you are willing to spend.

the 3.2 is almost identical to the 3.0, just a slightly better design IMO. It produces the exact same horsepower with little bit extra torque (10 - 20 ft/lbs IIRC). 3.2 has higher flowing injectors, and has larger displacement.

However, the 3.2 requires only one accessory belt... so either you swap all your 3.0 accessories for 3.2 accessories, or you retain all your cars original accessories and convert your 3.2 into a 2 belt design.

Ideally it would be best to send the block and heads out to a machine shop (preferably one thats familiar with Japanese engines) to have everything machined and assembled as a shortblock for you, but thats fairly big $.

but if you want to get away with the bare minimum, rod bearings, water pump, timing belt and pulley, and crank sensor are a must, as well craploads of gaskets. Felpro intake gasket set, cam seals, rear main seal, front main seal, oil pan gasket set, rocker cover gaskets, & of course head gasket... might be a couple more i forgot as well.

Send the head out to get it planed, inspected, and pressure tested, might as well have them do valve seals as well. Not sure if the machine shop will shim the valves for you.. but thats another thing to add to the list!

hope this helps you somewhat!

 

[fusion1620]

Hey thanks for the info. Anyone know what size Allen wrench is needed for the head bolts on the 89 3.0 manual trans Sho?? Sorry guys.. Found it. 10 mm. Finding one long enough to clear the cams might be tricky though. Thanks..

 

[thecrew2999]

the 3.2 block is indeed stronger... extra castings on the block.. not many people know about it but area91 had mentioned it to me and shown me.

you are missing shims in that pic and its really rusty in there... send those cams in for regrind for sure.

rebuild is far more with it if you ask me.. makes you feel like you did something good and it also means your gonna have a real healthy motor (if done right) for a lot of miles to come...

theres a guy on here right now with 425000 oringional miles on his 3.0 so these engines can last a long long time with normal maintence and good oil etc.

 

[Eric VerValin]

Hey man... let me save you a little headache. Find a socket with that 10mm on the end of it, and get the skinniest one you can find. The one head bolt... front head, all the way to the left on top, was a pain... I almost had an issue with that socket getting stuck against the cam.

Or ... maybe someone makes a socket like that where the hex part is longer (5-6" would be ideal)


Now someone else here help me out on this. I'm assuming if your oil was milky, then there was coolant in those heads / oil. So there is probally going to be a fair amount of rust there I would assume? Decking the heads is usually a bad idea, as it will throw your timing off a hair. You should be fine with honing the cylinders, and some new rings.

I also have a spare motor if you need something thats hard to find. Granted I know being in Hawaii isn't fun for shipping. Gotta be cheaper than sending christmas presents to Guam.

 

[AREA 91]

Hey man... let me save you a little headache. Find a socket with that 10mm on the end of it, and get the skinniest one you can find. The one head bolt... front head, all the way to the left on top, was a pain... I almost had an issue with that socket getting stuck against the cam.

Or ... maybe someone makes a socket like that where the hex part is longer (5-6" would be ideal)


Now someone else here help me out on this. I'm assuming if your oil was milky, then there was coolant in those heads / oil. So there is probally going to be a fair amount of rust there I would assume? Decking the heads is usually a bad idea, as it will throw your timing off a hair. You should be fine with honing the cylinders, and some new rings.

I also have a spare motor if you need something thats hard to find. Granted I know being in Hawaii isn't fun for shipping. Gotta be cheaper than sending christmas presents to Guam.

Eric,

I took a 10mm allen wrench and cut the end off. Now you have a strait 10mm allen that will allow you to use a 10mm deep well socket on. This will fit past the cams.

 

[shoon]

Eric,

I took a 10mm allen wrench and cut the end off. Now you have a strait 10mm allen that will allow you to use a 10mm deep well socket on. This will fit past the cams.

excellent suggestion

if you do go this route I suggest you do at least 1 of 2 things: stuff rags down the oil drain holes in the cylinder heads!
those holes drop straight down to the oil pan... would suck to put it all back together and drop something down there. I've heard of a few people finding treasures in their oil pans when they go to do rod bearings.. then they get all freaked out because they think that their engine is falling apart and they can't identify where the part came from

Also find a way (electrical tape maybe) to secure the allen wrench to the socket so it doesn't fall out.

good luck!

 

[Eric VerValin]

LoL 91... you know I've done that before on other things.. never even thought of that for this one..

 

[fusion1620]

Going to take the heads into machine shop in the next couple of days.Looks like engine got a new timing belt and new cam seals already. Nice..I need to clean up the heads and was wondering what kind of solvent to use. something alcohol based I guess or maybe gasoline? That block seal (oil and water?)stuff is everywhere yuck!!One of the cylinders looks like where the problem was. Blown head gasket most likely. I also wouldn't mind cleaning the oil and water jackets in the block, but I don't think I'm going to pull the block unless some more $$ comes my way soon. Can I clean them without pulling the block? Maybe by taking off the oil pan? Thanks.....

Missing shims? not too familiar with shims.....I want to check the heads for warping as this usually happens after major over heating.If they are warped I should be ok shaving them right??Never had problems b4.. I also couldn't find the timing belt tensioner help..

 

[Eric VerValin]

Now someone else here help me out on this. I'm assuming if your oil was milky, then there was coolant in those heads / oil. So there is probally going to be a fair amount of rust there I would assume? Decking the heads is usually a bad idea, as it will throw your timing off a hair. You should be fine with honing the cylinders, and some new rings.

Can I say it again? If your cam's aren't rusty, and you can clean up the tops of the pistons a bit.. you'll be ok with that end of it. Shaving / Decking the heads is not a good idea. something marginal wouldn't be bad, but taking any sort of real "meat" outta there is not good.

As far as cleaning up the heads... have the machine shop do it.. should only be 10 - 20 bux and they'll look like this...








The best 10 bux I spent on the car so far!

 

[Devin]

I used Simple Green and a hose and they looked like that, sans the mating surface where it looked like crap because I can't plane/clean gasket properly.

 

[AREA 91]

I believe the maximum you can remove from the heads by "decking" them, is .003 thousandths of an inch. Find a strait edge and check both heads as well as the block.

 

[thecrew2999]

as for honing the block tho as i hear it, you hone it then your gonna end up burning oil, might not be a lot but it will be there because now your asking more of the rings... best to have a machine shop bore it and go with bigger pistons

 

[fusion1620]

Now what??

I fell like someone just killed my favorite pet....Took the heads from my SHO into the machine shop today to have them cleaned and checked.. The guys there said that the heads are too warped already.I almost wonder if they were hating??The last owner drove it into the ground. The oil pan had nothing but water and super milky oil and the motor was still running without any knocks. These motors are almost indestructible. Almost... Now I'm questioning what to do next. I've seen a few SHO's over here, but finding parts is going to be hard. Hey Eric, do you still have a motor or heads?Let me know. I'm selling my 98 Taurus SE that I did a transmission swap on for around $3,000 really soon. I just can't see myself in a Honda or a Neon...Aloha...

 

[fusion1620]

Might have to go 4 it

Found one on the other side of the island. http://honolulu.craigslist.org/big/car/608772021.html
What do you guys think. It looks like another GEN 1. I kind of like the 2nd gen better, but I got Parts 4 this one

 

[Eric VerValin]

Your best bet is a parts car... kinda... depends on the car / motor I suppose. But yes, I still have everything.. Should be putting up an ad here today or tommorow with all my spare goodies. I'll give ya dibs on stuff if ya need it. Shipping out there would be kinda pricey, never know tho.