Rebuilding heads....a ?

[shojuan]

DHMag:

SHOooo:
I get the impression that you may not fully understand just how engines work.

and i get the impression you wasted a lot of time typing that post out.

Dale, what gives man? Chris gave a very thoughtful reply to the thread and if you choose not to listen to what he has to say then why try to make him feel bad after he spent time trying to HELP you out? Anybody who reads Chris' post will see that you've taken what he said completely out of context, he wasn't trying to put you down. If you're just having a bad day, next time try not to ruin somebody else's.

 

[SHOMurph]

yeah Dale...common its not rocket science! You might want to try taking apart a briggs and stratton motor and rebuild it first!!!

I'm kidding. Dale is a car guy and rebuilding his motor one step at a time and doesn't use it as a daily driver.

Chris did provide some useful information but the last paragraph could have been read as being patronizing to a car guy whose already rebuilt motors before.

 

[Doug Waschenko]

Dale, just putting on new valve stem seals isn't necessarally going fix the problem.
You have to check for guide stem ware.
If you are going to go that far it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a "valve job" done by a shop that is willing to set the cams up to proper clearances.
There is some flow to pick up in a SHO head by a nice 3 angle job.
There is almost no 30 degree top cut from the factory and flooring the chamber with a 30 degree cut is really essential to scavenging across the valves. The car will feel "crisper" after you do that.
It wouldn't cost a lot on these heads to pocket port them either. The short side radius takes about five minutes a valve to sweeten up. If you are looking to pick up some "reasonably priced HP" it should be a consideration.

 

[shojuan]

SHOMurph:
Chris did provide some useful information but the last paragraph could have been read as being patronizing to a car guy whose already rebuilt motors before.

True, but this is Chris we are talking about. That post was a breakthrough in SHOooo diplomacy!!

 

[DHMag]

SHOMurph:
yeah Dale...common its not rocket science! You might want to try taking apart a briggs and stratton motor and rebuild it first!!!

I'm kidding. Dale is a car guy and rebuilding his motor one step at a time and doesn't use it as a daily driver.

Chris did provide some useful information but the last paragraph could have been read as being patronizing to a car guy whose already rebuilt motors before.

MURPH - for one, it IS my daily driver until i can get my truck to pass inspection and 2, my father and i do lawnmower repair as well as i do mechanic work on the side.

as for everyone else, ibe checked the PCV vent hose and there is only a trace of oil residue in it, no smell of oil though. no, i cant smell oil burning while driving or after parking. the valve stem seals are as equally much a culprit as the rings are. this weekend, ill run a compression check to know for sure about the rings. im not looking to pick up any HP increase, just resolve the smoke issue. i dont plan on just pulling the heads and replacing the seals, ill pull them and take them to a shop for the valve grind job. ive already got my price quotes and its not as expensive as ive seen some pay for valve grinds. now, it comes down to if i decide the valves need ground or not. i wont know for sure until i get it apart. ill also be doing a shim gap procedure, so i assure you, everything that can be done to the heads to maintain them, will be done.

 

[svtman]

This may be trivial - but is your car acutally using engine oil? There is no mention of it here and if your engine is not losing oil, it may be some other problem. A compression test is a good place to start before you start tearing into the heads. Also, blow-by can manifest in the intake (check the throttle body for oil). If none of these is applicable - you may just be running rich which is another story.

 

[DHMag]

svtman:
This may be trivial - but is your car acutally using engine oil? There is no mention of it here and if your engine is not losing oil, it may be some other problem. A compression test is a good place to start before you start tearing into the heads. Also, blow-by can manifest in the intake (check the throttle body for oil). If none of these is applicable - you may just be running rich which is another story.

my engine IS losing oil. 1 quart every 1500 miles. im aware my cam seals are leaking too. crank seal, oil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets have all been replaced. when i did my clutch job, i planned on replacing the rear main but it wasnt leaking at the time and i was under a time crunch (was leaving for vacation the following week). so it never got replaced. in fact, just as i was pulling into the driveway on my return from vacation, the YELLOW Check Oil light came on. it also came on after i returned from one of our club meets (hard driving involved). i have seperate oil pressure/water temp/volt gauges, so i can monitor my engine more closely. even though the amount of oil in the crankcase drops, i never lose oil pressure.

to answer you, i guess. im not sure its burning the oil or just losing it from a leak, but i definitely have a loss of oil *somewhere*.

this weekend, im going to run a compression check. ill also check the intake manifold for oil puddles or whatnot. as i previously stated, i removed the PCV hose and didnt smell oil at all and there was only a trace of it in the tube. not enough for me to suspect the rings. but to put the proof in the pudding, ill run a dry, then wet, compression check. would anyone beinterested in my readings/findings ?

 

[svtman]

I'd be interested in you compression readings as I'll be checking mine when I check my valve clearences sometimes this year. Mine uses a bit of oil too, but not enough for me to need to add any between oil changes (about 1L every 5000kms).