1G 4G37 Rebuild ?

[xXDSM22Xx]

I have a 1.8 94 Laser, it does have the infamous lifter tick.
I want to do a rebuild on it, and then get intake and exhaust.
I do have plans for the future to turbo it, back to my ottoman question.
I want to know if it's possible to do a rebuild without pulling the engine?
I want to get all new gaskets, main and rod bearings, new piston rings(oil reasons), and maybe new pistons. At the moment I don't have a way to pull engine
And I also font have a stand. Since there is so much room in the engine bay, I think it could be done. And if anybody could give me advise on exhaust it would be greatly appreciated (2.5" exhaust w/ high flow cat I imagine) thanks to all in advance.

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[MasterFrmMO88]

Dont have particular experience with that engine itself but rebuilding with the engine still in the car means you're going to have to support it somehow. At some point in time you are going to have to pull the tranny which will get rid of 1-3 of your motor mounts and the final one gets in the way of changing the timing belt, etc. THEORETICALLY it can be done if you pull the tranny to drop the crank for your bearings and pistons and such, then put all that back together, mount the tranny back up to get your motor mounts back, undo the final mount and pull the head so you can do all that work. The bi*** will be figuring out how to support the engine from the top so you can work on the bottom of it without destroying the one engine mount.

I would never suggest a place like harbor freight to anyone with the exception of an engine lift and stand. A stand is a chunk of metal that serves its purpose pretty well and the lift has the hydraulics on it that will eventually go bad because it is harbor freight. But you'll get the $150 you spend on them back in the satisfaction of how much easier it is to do a rebuild with the engine out.

Again, dont take my word as gospel since I dont have experience with the 1.8s but I can certainly feel confident in saying that my 4g63 rebuild was about 1000x times easier with the engine out of the car. Just my two cents.

EDIT: Final word of caution. If you do all the piston work with the head still on, you are going to have a really hard time getting the pistons back in with proper timing so you dont bend the hell out of whatever poor valve is still open.

 

[xXDSM22Xx]

I was thinking it was possible, but it would be very hard just as you describe . I will just wait until i am able to pull the whole engine, by then I'll probably want a new clutch, so 2 birds 1 stone in a sense.

Thanks for your time in helping me out. Its greatly appreciated.

 

[DSM1G90]

4G37's are a dime to work on.

Doing lifters is ten times easier than the 4G63's - you don't even have to take off the rocker assembly all the way to drop old lifters to put in new ones and you don't even have to bleed them being that the 4G37 is a non-interference motor as you do with the 4G63.

Doing a turbo kit on a 4G37 is made for owners that have a lot of green lining in their pants pockets and want to get rid of it quickly, but the results of the turbo conversion only justifies a 20 to 30 hp increase due to the valve train being the SOHC, making the system not to breathe too well.

Also, the 4G37 has a longer stroke than the 4G63 making it run out of steam when it gets close to 6krpm.s The head alone isn't designed for the conversion, but the motor can and has been done to be a turbo.