refresh bottom end questions

[nazthug]

im building a neon engine in class this semester and i was thinking about a few things

I have a 99 gst with 80,000 hard miles on it, many upgrades, etc...

Since i dont want to rebuild the engine just yet, can i do some refresh work on it?

I was thinking maybe pulling the crank out, replacing all the main bearings and rod bearings, reconditioning the rods and arp rod bolts, re-ring the pistons or new std pistons, and new main bolts


My car doesnt have crank walk but the main thrust bearing is getting worn a bit...however, i dont believe my car will want to walk because its the newer 3 piece bearing design and its doing ok so far, the play is still within spec after 80,000 hard miles


BUT, thrust washers do wear overtime and crank play will eventualy hapen like in any engine

is there anything wrong with simply refreshing the bottom end and putting all new bearings in it, refreshening the rods and arp bolts, and re-ringing the pistons?

THe cyl walls are probably pretty damn perfect still and wont even need a hone, so i rather not pull the block out, just do it while its under the car

I want to mainly do the rod bolts because i have had a few overrev's and i know parts can only be abused so much before they give up

I want to do this with the engine in the car still....just a quick refresh

???

 

[Big Woo]

There are many levels of rebuilding, so you can call it what you want. If you are completely disassembling the motor, then why leave the block in the car? If you have some concerns with the integrity of some of the engine components, then by all means do what you think needs to be done.

Some may consider this a little extreme for preventative maintenance, as some people live by the addage " if it is not broke, don't fix it" In the end it is your car and you can do with it as you like.

The ARP rods bolts are a good idea, just be sure to have the rods resized after having the bolts are changed. If you are installing new piston rings, then you may want to have the
cylinders honed, to help ensure that the new rings seat properly. If reusing the old pistons, make sure that all of the carbon deposits are removed from the ring grooves.