Piston Installation

[XiKeiyaZI]

Hey guys. I've searched through about 13 pages searching for piston installation, but nothing answers my questions. Most people are just upgrading pistons and whatnot.

Anyway...I recently bought a GSX that had poor compression. Come to find out, when I tore the engine down (since I had some ARP L19's, and to replace the timing belt) that the piston rings were shot.

So here is my situation. The pistons are perfect. I polished them up and set them out in order to the cylinder they came out of. I have polished the crank carefully, swapped exhaust manifolds, and cleaned the turbo. The head is also in excellent condition (I'm pretty sure this engine has been rebuilt.)

Anyway, the one thing I have never done is install pistons. So I thought I'd ask the pros! I'll be re-installing the stock pistons, which have been checked and are perfect. The Cylinder bores were also perfect, save for cylinder 1 which had a TINY, TINY taper at the top. When I honed the cylinders, the taper vanished, an I only did 4-5 quick thrusts with each cylinder. Got a lovely cross-hatch too.

Anyway, what is the proceedure for reinstalling pistons? I've never done it, and local mechanics are quoting outrageous prices. I'd rather do it and do it right (or f' it up) on my own and learn from the experience.

So I have everything I need. New rings, Bearings for the rods to crank, gaskets, belts, all those goodies. The Cylinder walls have been layered with oil to keep them clean and to keep from oxidizing. So, when I install the rods to the crank, do I lube anything? Wha?

xD Either direct me to somewhere I can read for a bit and learn, or just give me a quick breakdown.

Thanks.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

You want a large enough gap so it doesn't fuse together under heat but small enough to not allow too much gas by. That's over simplifying but I think I've under simplified enough

Lmao. Good enough of an answer for me!

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Update

Piston installation went GREAT! Everything lined up perfect... I forgot to copy the diagram, so I tried to recall by memory... lucky me I recalled correctly!

I tried to lube the crank and the bearing surfaces with some 10W-30 Royal that i had laying around.. when I torqued them to 14.5LBS (as my manual says) they were so tight I couldn't turn the crank. I backed them out and used some assembly grease that I had, a light coating, and tried that. Viola! Freedom of spin! I then torqued the Rod End Caps to 18LBS and went about my way.

So that's a question.. what's the torque that I should have on the Connecting Rods-To-Crank bolts?

Now, just an update on what we Did.

1 : Installed Pistons
2 : Torqued Pistons
3 : Installed Oil Pan
4 : Clean up Head
5 : Set new gasket on block and placed head on gasket
6 : Slid ARP headstuds through head into block. Used a Hex Head to tighten them down to 'finger-tight'.
7 : Tightened head bolts down in patter from 30Lbs-60Lbs-90Lbs
8 : Replaced Silent Shaft Belt, in TIME
9 : Tossed on new Timing belt .... It was surprisingly easier than my first time.
10 : Cranked over engine with Breaker-Bar 5 rotations. All arrows fell perfectly in line. No catches.

Today, I plan on pumping a little oil through it. Now, the oil pump was actually replaced not too long ago, so I didn't replace that or do the BSE (yes, I know...). Since the pump has not been changed, does it need to be primed? Or do I just pour oil and start?

I'm getting down to the wire, I'd say I'm about..70% done and to the point to start? I'm nervous. Haha. What should I remember before starting for the first time? Everything is going so well... I just know when I start it, a piston is going to go air-borne.

My own listed plan for the day after work.
1 : Run all hoses where they are needed.
2 : Replace all belts and pullys.
3 : Lift Trans and T-Case and install.
4 : Hook up intake piping, vacuum hoses, and such.
5 : Install new starter and starter harness. The old one was crap.
6 : Fill with new fluids
7 : Start and run for a few minutes. 10-15.
8 : Check for good oil pressure, listen for odd noises, watch for mass amounts of smoke.
9 : Drain oil and oil filter. Replace Oil and Oil Filter.

o.o Suggestions.. criticism..a pat on the back?

Na, someone told me about that, i think its on vfaq or something?

Total BS, not modification to anything needs to happen, just tighten them down, place the head and torque down the nuts to spec/sequence

For the record, I confirmed this.

If you palce the studs in and THEN try to set the head on, the front mount DOES get in the way, just because of the angle of the head. You cannot put the head on this way.

You CAN put it... if you put the head on first.. and then run the studs down through the head and tighten them like that. Of course.. I mean tighten into the block with a hex head screw piece.. and then tighten the nuts onto the studs to torque the head down.