Questions About Installing Head

[nfgallimore]

Okay so I have the diagram from ARP on how to torque the head on, here is the steps I am taking to reinstall my head after a blown head gasket. I am trying to be as precise as possible so I went into every detail.

I sprayed the cylinder walls down with WD-40 after removing the head several months ago, and I simply didn't spin the engine and the cylinder walls rusted and the engine got seized. Well I finally unseized it and I used a rust-remover product from Summit Racing on the cylinder walls. I now just polished the cylinder walls with baking soda and it worked pretty well everything is all smooth now, but you can still see some of the rust with the cameras flash. However the crank spins pretty freely with a ratchet after about 30 ft lbs of torque. Heres a picture:

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I DID NOT buy new head studs, even though I know you should I am trying to avoid spending the money. One other thing is one of the studs the allen key to unscrew it is stripped and it basically is not gonna come out.

I know the torque sequence and I plan to do it in 3 stages 30-60-90 in the following pattern:

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I still also plan on doing the oil port mod, the first one not the one where you drill out the stud holes.

After I got the head back from the machine shop and they resurfaced and replaced the valves I can see a brown on the cams, I am not sure if its rust but is this normal or affect anything? Heres a couple pictures of the head:

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One thing that concerns me a lot is when I was trying to unseize the motor I broke the timing belt cover. While it isn't that big of a deal to me, I was wondering when I should start to deal with it as I have never re-timed a car. I have the evo-8 cams also. Here is a couple pictures:

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So pretty much I plan polishing the surface of the block a little bit with a Green pad (I can't find the red ones)

Putting the new cometic head gasket on after wiping it down thoroughly

Putting the head on then torquing it with the proper sequence

Buying a new intake and exhaust gasket (Is there any other gaskets I need, I think maybe the O2 Housing, or the Thermostat??) and installing both manifolds.

Buy a new timing belt cover (Has anyone ran a car without it?)

Borrow a buddies timing light and a little help from him to retime it.

And pretty much just go from there.

One last thing, should I worry about aligning the pistons at TDC before I bold the head on?? Doesn't this make timing easier?


Thanks for the help, even if noone responds this is simply a recollection of my thoughts to help make the process as correct as possible, and as this is my first post I'd like to give a shout out to all the DSMers in Ohio and hope to see you around at the track or closeby gas station!!

 

[zcoh2gdsm]

i run mine without a timing cover on it, i wouldn't recommend it at all but i haven't noticed any negative from it yet, i guess i got lucky though.

 

[Burntz]

Oh jesus. Never let an open engine sit that long. Otherwise you need to spray it with wd 40 every week or so. Is the rust bad? If its just surface rust, the rings should just fix it. I put the pistons all halfway in the cylinders when I threw my head on just to make sure no valves would hit. Put the cam dowels at 12 so they're where they need to be before putting it on.. Replace intake and exhaust gasket. Should have got a head gasket set with everything you need? Thermostat housing I blue rtv'd because none of the gaskets looked right.

No head on, my engine cranked over easier then 30 ft/lbs I'd imagine. I dont have any remnant of a timing cover on mine, although I would like to find a lower one. If a rock jumps up and gets lodged in the belt, ## fked. Id for sure at least put the bottom one on.

 

[nfgallimore]

Well I mean, I could probably get away without it but I have more than enough money to do it. Oh btw if anyone was wondering what my baby looks like:

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[bryanwheat]

First off, those cylinders look like trash. You are going to have quite a bit of blow by after the rings polish the rust off. Second that is rust on the cam lobe. You need to pull the cam out and polish the rust off and check the condition of the lobe. If it is pitted than replace the cam. I would check the cam journals also, along with the cam bores in the head and the valves for proper seal. If the machine shop installed them like that than i wouldn't trust anything that they do. Last, you DO NOT want to run without a timing cover. One rock, bolt, wire or any debris in there and you will jump time and destroy the valves. Spend 40 bucks for a good used cover and don't chance it.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Your luck on your price for a tb cover, get that block out, have it honed, and decked if your unsure how straight it is, doing a build right now. Dont chance anything have it done right, and you can have some peace of mind.

 

[nfgallimore]

Oh jesus. Never let an open engine sit that long. Otherwise you need to spray it with wd 40 every week or so. Is the rust bad? If its just surface rust, the rings should just fix it. I put the pistons all halfway in the cylinders when I threw my head on just to make sure no valves would hit. Put the cam dowels at 12 so they're where they need to be before putting it on.. Replace intake and exhaust gasket. Should have got a head gasket set with everything you need? Thermostat housing I blue rtv'd because none of the gaskets looked right.

No head on, my engine cranked over easier then 30 ft/lbs I'd imagine. I dont have any remnant of a timing cover on mine, although I would like to find a lower one. If a rock jumps up and gets lodged in the belt, ## fked. Id for sure at least put the bottom one on.

I think it is just surface rust, the piston rings should fix it and I just hit the cylinder walls with a green pad then 220 only cause it was the finest sand paper I had. With a ratchet on the crank I can turn it pretty easily actually, but it just won't keep spinning freely after I turn it. It will stop spinning almost immediately maybe like after an 1/8th of a turn. I'm gonna test right now and see how much I lowered the resistance and try to get it as low as possible by checking it with a torque wrench. I'm not to worried about it, just I'm looking to try to get it to spin as freely as possible in order to lower the amount of force the engine uses to spin it (DIY theorycrafting at its finest).

Funny thing though, the jackass who put the intake gasket on before I owned it used red silicone instead of a gasket. Which makes sense because when I bought the car I had a feeling the head gasket was about to blow, and the car wouldn't go over 80 and that was probably due to the POS "ghetto rigged" intake gasket. Eventually it lost all compression due to a coolant leak and it over heated. (I'm a jackass) But at least I have another gasket to mount on my wall next to the 6-7 others I claim as trophys!

Another thing I just found out is the head already has both oil port mods! Also I think there is also some rust on the crank, I have the oil pan off and am inspecting it right now. I guess you learn new things everyday, and I just wanna jump up and down I'm so excited I unseized that b*tch and will never let an open block sit like that again .

I'm not to sure I want to pull the block out yet, I would rather just put the head on. Besides I plan on replacing the 7 bolt evo block with a 2.3 stroker block using the Evo Head in the future. Since I plan on turning this car strictly into a road-course / track only car I most deffinently will have this thing apart and will eventually pull the block. (Just not until I order a new block or blow the thing to pieces)The guy I bought it from told me it had Wiseco Pistons and Eagle Rods, but who would ONLY do those and use the stock crank? Obviously I think he was lieing cause I ran the number on the pistons and they are from an Evo 1.

Regarding the cams, I'll deffinently take them out and polish them. I don't think they are pitted but I have never done ANY work to a head, hopefully I don't mess anything up but hey you've gotta learn somehow.

I'll post a picture of the cylinder walls after I hit it with the 220 in a minute. Also there is paint on the surface of the block.. I've gotta check if its against the surface of the gasket.