Posted by Vaughn [108.68.94.243] on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 22:23:42 :
In Reply to: Doing rod/main bearings, rings: should I pull the motor? posted by don in nh [96.61.72.163] on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 21:38:35 :
Doing it in truck is fine, it’s a lot less work to give the engine a partial refreshment:
- Get a ball hone for the cylinder size.
- Get a cylinder lathe to cut the wear ring out before pushing out the piston. The lathe does a nice job cutting and can also take care of any parallel cylinder ridges that form due to broken rings.
- remove the front grill/radiator so you can remove the water pump and replace the water distribution tube. It also makes it easier to hone the cylinders and reinstall the head because you can stand on the engine and work over the engine.
- Use soap/water mixture when honing cylinders and then wash cylinder with soap and water to remove grit. Grit will cling to the bottom outside area of cylinders so you want to clean that area good or you'll pull grit back in when you lube the cylinder to install the piston.
- Install your oil ring gap parallel with the piston pin for maximum oil control and remaining ring gaps 180 degrees from each other for maximum compression.
- Check the head for warpage and remove carbon from top of engine/head/piston heads/ring grooves. Be careful not to get carbon under intake valves. You might want to rotate engine to close I/E valves on each cylinder as you clean, and rags to cover other cylinder valves.
- Use chrome rings, they seat well and last longer. Inspect the piston pins for movement towards front of engine. Because of the off-set rods, they tend to push the pin towards the front of the engine pushing the pin clip outward. If you see that, you’ll need to replace the pistons and have new piston pin bushings installed.
I did mine this way several years ago.
Follow Ups: