rebuild or no

SPSully

SPSully

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so I have over 100k on my motor. I'm getting ready to do the VCGs,coils, plugs, intake, a PnP job etc. Im at the point where it may be easier to drop the motor out and work on it. I had planned on stripping it down for custom internals this winter, but the moeny isnt there. I'd rather turbo it. The question is: should I striping the top end, clean it up, re gasket it? its like 400bucks for the top end gaskets and NO bearings. There isnt any problems yet. this would be more of a preventative maintenace thing. thoughts comments?
 
nah - the wear is all in the bottom end - simply cleaning the heads and adding new gaskets will not do that much to improve reliabiliy (IMHO)

removing the heads (rather getting them back on) is no fun task.
 
yeah ford doesnt offer a bottom kit for anything.... there may be a kit somewhere but I have yet to find it
 
I wouldn't say so. These type of motors don't really need re-builds just maintenance and some replacement of some wear and tear items. Not like a rotary:rolleyes: . Even with abuse if you keep up with some simple things it should last pretty long.
 
Check compression to make sure all the cylinders are even, then do a leak-down test to see if the blowby is out of the acceptable range. If it checks out good then just do the head work and be done with it.

If you do pull the heads, make sure you get new timing chain tensioners.
 
so tonight I started to change my VCG's and coil/plugs. Here is where I ran into my biggest fear. I got the passenger side off and almost deficated myself! The valve train looks like dirty bung hole! Somewhere allong the way, i got some serious oil burned onto everything. Its now where I'm trying to figure out what to do. I really feel like taking the top end apart, cleaning, and inspecting it. If the valve train is this bad what does the rest look like. The other thing I was thinking about. I have heard of a few oil cleaning methods that may help without having to rip everything apart. I was concerned with the age of the motor starting to catch up with me. Honestly if the motor blows, I'll either ditch the LS or drop a less expensive motor in there..... like a Cammer FE LMAO!!!! But this motor is light weight and is more than capable of good numbers with reliability above most others available today.


I digress. I need some thoughts on this. I want to clean up the valve train. Rip her apart or treat the oil with something?
 
SPSully said:
Honestly if the motor blows, I'll either ditch the LS or drop a less expensive motor in there..... like a Cammer FE LMAO!!!!
Click to expand...


Make sure to go to the "Land Speed LS" thread if you want to know more. :p
 
On a more serious note if you are seeing metal flecks then be concerned. But if you are just seeing some burnt oil well what do you expect from a car with 100k+? Maybe a little bit of a cleanup would be in order but I do not know if it will warrant the extent of work that you mentioned. If you do end up pulling the heads then you might as well do other performance oriented work while your dug in.
 
Sully, how about a little rundown on your oil history, etc. What type of oil do you use, and how often do you change it? It sounds like you have sludge. I don't think that you can blast it away with an additive, but it should be ok to leave it there and change your oil religiously. If you scrape any of it loose, that may lead to problems. Or will lead to problems. I had a old car with a 289 V8 get like that ( I picked it up for $100 ) and everything seemed ok, but after running it for some time, the oil would get trapped in the valve area of the heads, due to lack of flow back to the sump due to the sludge. I ran a can of Siloo Hydra Valve Clean in the engine and had the problem gone in 2 days. It looked scary under the valve covers for sure, once I took them off. With the clearances in these engines, any loosening of that carbon/sludge/coke would be pretty tough on things, especially in an DOHC setup.

Undoubtedly, a machine shop can recondition the heads for you with the equipment they use for doing valve jobs, if you want to go that route.
 
Oops

And don't forget to go to the 'Land Speed LS' thread.

Oh, I didn't need to say that, 'cause ILLS did it for me!!:confused: :D
KS from Ben's Place
 
i want to clear something up... Im not gonna run a jag motor like CammerFE... I was saying that the FOMOCO FE Cammer motor would be cheaper to drop in than another 3.9 Those motors are REDICULOUSLY expensive so there is no way it would be cheaper than say.... anything. Thats why I was LMAO
 
how bad is it?
post up pics.

Here is what mine looked like:

DSCF2053.jpg


DSCF2064.jpg
 
Cammer

SPSully, an FE cammer goes for 25K up.:eek:
KS

<edit> The Jag 4 litre I'm 'doing' was also dark with burnt oil. I found cam support caps that were chewed up and two spun rod inserts. Had to get another head. The bottom end was no problem because I intended to replace it anyway. KS
 
cammerfe said:
Oh, I didn't need to say that, 'cause ILLS did it for me!!:confused: :D
KS from Ben's Place
Click to expand...



If you take a look at some of my posts the last few days you will notice that I have been in a bit of a joking mood lately for some reason. Hehe. :D
 
in those pictures.... nothing is wet. its all dry even the dark brown parts that look wet
 
ILLS, you must be gonna move or sumthin'!!!
KS

<edit> My jag was much worse than that. If you decide to tear it down, some oven cleaner will make that look like new. KS
 
The sea foam website claims to work wonders for the fuel and oil system. Everyone I know is in one of two groups. Either they have no experience or they've used it and love it. I think its worth a shot. I'm going to put the one VC back on and try the seafoam. Then I'll take it back off and replace the VCG's.
 
It does. I never took a look under my VC's but I used it in the tank, the vacuum line and in my oil before changes and I do notice a difference in the car over all. Less noise ( except that Volvo like tapping form the intake man. ) less vibration, better mileage, and less hesitant starts along with way better idle.

Going on 90K and it really don't feel like it after I started using it.
 
SPSully, that isn't that bad at all. I have seen motors 400x worse that that and still be running fine.

Like I said in my previous post though, if you guys want clean motors use mobil 1 drive clean oil! I have tested it out many times myself on dirty engines and after only a couple oil changes the motor looked like new inside!!

1536x1012_valve_cover.gif
 
Drive Clean

I use M1 but never have used the 'Drive Clean'. Very impressive! How many miles on that engine and how long have you used the 'DC'?
KS
 
The valve cover was just a pic on I found with an article about mobil 1 drive clean. That was an actual valve cover used in a DC test though. That is the same results I have had as well with motors, mostly dirty hot running ford probe motors that come in on crates. They normally clean up within two oil changes no matter how bad they were.
 
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