Reno

Don't worry, it's not in pieces on the garage...yet.

I'm planning on taking out my L98 and building it up for some serious fun in the next year or so, but I and noone I know have ever actually been inside an engine before. I learn all my stuff from the boards, which has worked great so far, but I don't want this technique to destroy an otherwise decent running engine.

My plan is to replace the pistons and connecting rods to prep for nitrous (can this be done without taking the crank off?), take off the heads and have them worked on (valves, rockers, springs, porting/polishing, etc), and put the whole thing back together without performing a full rebuild (half lazy, half cautious). Also new pushrods and a cam while everything is apart. If I'm not mistaken, all I'll really need is an oil pan gasket (or a load of RTV), head gaskets, gaskets for the intake, and the rod bearings (umm, if such a thing exists, I'm assuming...). And timing chain cover gaskets, etc for the cam.

Really, for that matter, could I do all this without removing the engine? I know, that's way too lazy, but I can hope, right?

Any suggestions would be useful, and "just give the engine to a pro" is not a suggestion. A friend's dad told me that and I wanted to tear his head off. I do my own work, period (unless it needs special tools, like the heads).

Thanks in advance.

-Reno

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"We are the middle children of history. Our Great War is a spiritual war, our Great Depression is our lives" - T.D.

Joshua Leslie

no, u cannot do the pistons/rods withot taking the motor out...unless u lift the engine way up, but u may as well take it out.

yes, you have to take the crank out.

be sure to check the bearing clearances, when re-assembling.
you dont need to new pistons or rods as long as your not planning on running over 5500 rpm or 450H.P. or so.
I would just leave it stock, but head work is always a plus.

Reno

Not trying to question, or argue an answer, but I was just checking around, and I've read that you can definately get the oil pan off without yanking the engine. If that's true, couldn't you just rotate the crank and drop the pistons one by one? I know it can be done on the 2.8, that's where I got the idea from. Has anyone actually tried this?

And I know the stocker could hold up to the 150 Nitrous I have planned, but I'd rather build something a little more bombproof, so I'm going forged pistons and connectors, just to be safe. Also, a high mile engine, so an excuse to re-ring it can't hurt.

-Reno

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"We are the middle children of history. Our Great War is a spiritual war, our Great Depression is our lives" - T.D.

Joshua Leslie

well, u can get the oil pan off, but u do have to jack the motor up.

and its xtremely hard to get the pistons out, you do have to unbolt the rods from the crank and all that, in my opinion, it would just be easier to pull the whold thing.

killer305

iTrader: (1)

yeah you will definatly be better off pulling the motor, and definatly reaplace the main bearings, its so much eaiser to torque a rod bolt on a stang then laying on your back

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90 RS 305 tbi, 4 3/4" cowl Hood, Edelbrock TES headers, Flowmaster exhaust, Crane roller cam, comp roller rockers, vortec heads/intake, ported tbi, w/new injectors, MSD probillet Distributer/ coil, 1 inch tbi spacer, air foil, 14x4 k&n flat base air cleaner, Rebuilt 700r4 w/ B&M shift kit, B&M Megashifter, 3.23 posi, 2 12 RF's with mtx amp, top of line alpine cd player, soon to have 90-91 gfx, z-28 wing, new paintjob, rims, and all new lowered suspension.

stingerssx

The stock rods would be better than stronger rods. There are alot of things that you can do to them, shot peen, ARP bolts, ect. you should use forged, or atleast hyperutectic pistons, and definately replace the bearings. While your at it, get the crank micro polished, even if your machine shop has to grind it. Besides that, ARP head bolts would be better. Port match the intke to the heads, and make sure that before you flip the switch, or hit the button, have it tuned perfectly. A miss-fire would be bad. and you will only need a stock oil pump, as long as the clearances with in it are good.

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'82 Firebird, dead stock, 9 bolt disc rear, over 200,000 miles and still going strong, more to come...
http://www.spinfrenzy.com/stingerssx...easures.html#4

Guest

It can be done, but to leave the engine in the car and basically strip it down to a bare block... well thats just an exercise in frustration. Just pull the motor.

BTW if you are running new pistons (and assumably rings) you really should hone the block as well... thats no fun at all with the block in the car.

[This message has been edited by madmax (edited November 15, 2001).]

8Mike9

Well, I had this long post typed out, with about 20 reasons why you pull the engine and not 1/2 a s s it, but instead I'll suggest that before you spend any $$ on parts, you should buy a copy of David Vizards "How To Rebuild the Smallblock Chevy".

I think if you read that book, you'll see why you don't want to go the way of trying to "recondition" the bottom end, without machinework.

Good luck

TPortFormula

Let me give you a real good suggestion.

Don't half a$$ anything on your car. If your gonna do it, do it right. Pull the engine. Rent a cherry picker or something, and buy an engine work stand for like fifty bucks. If you want it to take on a lot more miles, do it right, especially if your gonna spray.

To help you in the rebuild, get the rebuild manual like Mike said, or go to helminc.com, and get a factory (directly out of the factory) operation manual for the exact year and model of the car. Cost yah $90 (ouch!), but its well worth it if it has over a 1000 pages on the car and will tell you how to rebuild everything on it.

Take it from someone who's done half the stuff to his car half a$$. It runs a lot worse than it should. An engine is not to be worked on with out doin it right. Just MY 2 cents.

AJ_92RS

Slow down!!!!!!

Why do you feel that you need to recondition the engine to run nitrous? Are the rings bad? Do you have a lot of blow by? Are the valve seals leaking? Are the head gaskets leaking?

How often do you plan on using the nitrous? How much power are you looking to add with the nitrous? Is this gonna be your daily driver, or just a drag car?

Answer these questions first. If you can't, then tell me you don't know, and I'll tell you how to find out. JK.

Seriously, the engine in your car will hold 125hp shot of nitro, as long as the cylinders will hold compression. Have a 'leak down' test done, or even a compression test. You can do either yourself, but it would cost you more in tools than it would just to pay someone else to do it.

And add all the other things needed when running nitro. Like an AFPR, and a timing retarder, and probably (I assume you car is TPI) a new O2 sensor.

There's a long list of things to have when running nitrous. Do the (or have it done) leak down test, or compression test. Then go from there. That'll tell you more about what you need to do to get the engine itself ready.

OMT, don't assume that the engine is OK just because it has low miles, or was a 'one owner' or anything like that. Like the others on here already said, don't do it half a-s-s-e-d.

AJ