View single post by answerman
 Posted: 09-24-2015 04:00 am
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answerman

 

Joined: 09-10-2012
Location: Little Chute, Wisconsin USA
Posts: 435
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 With the momentous occasion of Ms. Jenavieve's odometer rolling over to all zeros, I'm thinking that this winter will be a good time to really do what I can to ensure that I'll have her in good running order for the foreseeable future. I subscribe to the "I'd rather do it right once than do a half a**ed job and have to redo it later" principle. The questions are how much do I need to do, and how much should I do.

The two issues she currently has: (1) I think there are some valve issues, possibly a broken spring among other things, and (2) she leaks a LOT from the rear main seal. She may be burning oil too for all I can tell, but it's hard to be sure with the amount of leakage. The indication of the valve issue is that I can't get a vacuum reading at all, the gauge just swings around wildly. Otherwise, as far as I can tell she is running fine... no complaints, compression seems ok, plugs look good, etc.

So, I am preparing to just go ahead and do something approaching a total engine rebuild, since I have to pull her engine anyway to replace the rear main seal (it's a later lip seal engine, not a rope seal). I'm curious to see what everyone else here thinks I should do, what I don't need to do, etc.

Keep in mind that the goal is to return her to as close a condition to factory original as I can, not to try to squeeze extra horsepower out of her. I don't need to turn her into a powerhouse... not considering a stroker or anything like that. I'm overall happy with the way she runs and drives now... I just want to keep her that way as long as I can. So, I'd rather be proactive and do it now than wait for a problem to develop down the road and then be forced to deal with it.

The "for sure" items:

Pull the engine, for a bunch of reasons. One will be to clean up the engine compartment and give it a proper paint job, which didn't happen when her body got its new paint.

Remove her head and have it reconditioned. I figure that it's worth it to have the head redone with new valves, guides, seats, etc. by a pro shop (considering West Coast for the job). It seems like the kind of thing that will be worth the money.

Replace the rear main seal. Self-explanatory.

The "I should probably do them" items:

Hone the cylinders and install new rings. I can't say that there are problems now, but since I'm in there now seems to be the time to do it.

The "might as go all the way" items:

Replace the pistons with new, and also have the crank and/or cam reconditioned. New bearings, etc.

So: if you were me, how much of this would you do? Is it overkill? Not enough? What I'd like to have accomplished when I'm finished is to have an engine that I can expect to get another 40,000 to 50,000 miles out of, which at the rate I drive her will probably be 15 to 20 years.

Last edited on 09-24-2015 04:03 am by answerman