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I got the cylinders and the top of the pistons cleaned up a bit. There are still some imperfections on the cylinder walls that I don't know if I should spend more time on them with the steel wool or not. You can see them, but cannot really feel them, more or less discolored or darkened areas. Also I did not get all of the gunk cleaned off of the pistons because I was not sure about the amount of pressure I could put on them. They have a slight gold/yellowish tint to them and if I pushed too hard on the wire wheel then it would go down to a silverish fresh metal. I didn't know if the gold color was some kind of a protective coating or not. Am I just being paranoid? lol
A comparison
I don't know how I did not see this before, but there is a line/slit/crack thingy going down the #1 cylinder.
On the #2 cylinder I can feel a bit of a dip where the red circle is.
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Looks like you're doing a really good job! The block/head mating surface looks great. The top of the piston looks pretty good. AFAIK there's no protective coating on the pistons from the factory. If you're worried, take a small screwdriver and scrape the carbon in the recesses of the piston and then go over it again with a wire wheel. That should get it almost perfect.
Looks like you got most of the surface rust off the cylinders. Any motor with 150k is going to have some discoloration on the walls. They look good.
That's a pretty good scratch in the #1 cylinder however, I've seen worse and the motor was slapped back together and run. I wouldn't worry about it. May cause a bit of blow by but shouldn't affect compression too much. The low spot raises some concern though. Is it soft? These motors are notorious for having thin/off centered cylinder walls. Could just be a casting flaw too. If it were me, I wouldn't worry about that stuff. I'd just go with the seal-n-shine and get it running. Don't forget to check the bearings.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
I don't know if I would classify it as a scratch on cylinder #1, it is too straight and has to much of an even depth to be a scratch IMO. Also it goes up past where the piston ring would go so it makes me wonder. It almost looks like a seam of some sort, but I kind of doubt there would be a seam in the cylinder. IDK
It is hard to tell on cylinder #2 if it is soft. From what I can feel it doesn't seem soft, and it doesn't seem to flex or anything, but the movement of the engine on the stand doesn't help much. I guess if you think it is ok, then I shouldn't make a big deal of it. Hopefully later this week I can check the bearings.
As for cylinder 1, it may be a pressed in sleeve. You can buy sleeves for cylinders if they have been over-bored or if there was any damage to the cylindr wall.
The only way you could tell is by measuring each cylinder and find the stock specs and compare
Picked up some Plastigage material dreamer refered to, not sure if I got the right size though. I have the red one that measures .051 to .152 millimeters. I am not postive as to which specifications I am looking at in my book, is it the main bearing oil clearance or the shaft end-play? And is it on the crankshaft or the connecting rod?
As for the Plasti-gauge, you can use it to check the clearences on the connecting rod bearings and the main cap bearings for the crankshaft.
To check for clearences, remove a strand of plasti-gauge, place it on the full width of the journal (load side), and torque the connecting rod cap or main cap down to factory specs, then remove the cap and compare the plasti-gauge to the chart on the packet. Then you need to figure out what the maximum clearence specs are for the bearings your measuring
I hope i explained that easy enough
To check for end play on camshafts and crankshafts, all you need to do is use a Feeler Gauge.
Im sure if you look online you might be able to find some 'How To...." on the above processes
Hope this helps.
Thanks for explaining that for me dreamer, it made a heck of a lot more sense than what the auto parts guy told me.
I pulled the bearing caps off and everything looked good until I got to #4.
The crank doesn't seem too bad, I can feel some imperfections, but nothing near the wear on the bearing. I don't know if I will just need new bearings or if I will need to have the crank shaved.
I plastigaged piston #1.
I am not quite sure what to do from here. Also, my book says to torque them down on the First step to 50-60 ft. lbs. and on the Second step to 80-90 ft. lbs. What is a First and Second step? I tried torquing it down to the 80-90, but couldn't get past about 72 ft. lbs. I was affraid that I would start stipping the threads.
I am not quite sure what to do from here. Also, my book says to torque them down on the First step to 50-60 ft. lbs. and on the Second step to 80-90 ft. lbs. What is a First and Second step? I tried torquing it down to the 80-90, but couldn't get past about 72 ft. lbs. I was affraid that I would start stipping the threads.
Torque down each bolt to 50-60 in crisscross form, then 80-90 in crisscross form.
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"The battery is discharging, the oil temperature is very high, the oil pressure is very low, the engine temperature is off the end of the scale, I'm running out of petrol, but the clock is correct!"- James May
That bearing has a good gouge in it but I've seen worse. You may want to slap some bearings in it. Cheap insurance. No need to turn the crank. Others might say 'you have to turn the crank'. They may also say you should have the block bored out too. In a perfect world you could rebuild the whole motor but you're working with limited finances and you want to get it running. Unless you want to spend $1k to rebuild it right (and that would just be a stock rebuild of the bottom end) just put it together and fire it up!
BTW, your bearings are within tolerances. The allowable main bearing to crankshaft journal clearance is 0.0008 - 0.0026. You're good. That would also give a clue to the motor's mileage. I forgot what you said but the odometer read something like 54,000 and you joked it could be 154,000 or even 254,000. With bearing clearances inside the allowable limits I'd say, you're probably at 154,000.
As far as torque, al ngl explained it well.
Next up, bearings, retorque everything, new oil pump, throw the pan on, get it to the carwash and clean out the water passages, install new freeze plugs and paint. Then you're ready to address the head!
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
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