Help cleaning the lower body of the engine

[bjde0b]

I talked with my uncle earlier today and he told me to strike the head of the bolt and then give a breaker bar a pop. Worked like a charm. He also answered the question about the valve caps (he called them umbrella seals). They go on the intake valves so that you don't get oil running down the valve stem. He said mine probably cracked because they got hot.

I have been blasting the frame and I talked with my uncle again tonight and he asked me where the engine has been while I have been sand blasting. He said I should wrap the engine in a trashbag so that Idon't get any fine sand particles in the bearings. (TOO LATE) I have always learned better by making mistakes. I ran my finger across a few places and it felt gritty. The engine is in the garage and I have been blasting in the driveway with the garage door closed. I wished I had talked to him sooner.

Before I pull all of the pistons and bearings, I am going to plasti gauge the rear main bearing. He said if it is over 0.003 than I should replace the bearings while I am at it. If the bearings are good, then I am going to reuse them (I know, somebody is going to tell me to replace them). I also poured some gas in the exhaust ports (based on his recommendation) and I have a couple leaky valves.

Here are my questions:

How much would you expect to pay to get valves seated (lapped)? Also, I would like the block dipped to clean it, how much would you guess to pay for this?

[DuckRyder]

Those are not umbrella seals, they are lash caps.

Umbrella seals go under the valve spring.

If you vat the block to clean it you will have to replace the cam bearings as well, total I'd guess you will have a couple hundred in that. Some shops might be able to put it in a large automated pressure washer vs actually dipping it and save the cam bearings, but if you are going to tear it down that far you might as well do the cam bearings, in fact all the bearings and rings.

[bjde0b]

I am going to replace rings and bearings. I have found these article that makes me feel pretty confident.

http://www.musclemustangfastfords.com/t ... index.html
http://www.musclemustangfastfords.com/t ... index.html
http://www.musclemustangfastfords.com/t ... index.html

Piston rings - $43
Main and rod bearings are all in good shape (no grooves). Once I check with plasti gauge, I wil probably reuse these bearings.

Cam bearings - $22

Where can I find the correct dimensions of crank journal to determine what size bearings I would have to get if I were to replace them.

[FordHam]

Buy a book on these engines that covers tear down, inspection, replace vs. reuse, and build. I have one on a 351C and it is invaluable. Has all the specs, torques, clearances etc.

[fordman]

i have seen bearings that same oversize or under size on them. they should be marked i would think. or you coul dmic the crank and rods if you can see what they say.

[DuckRyder]

The bearings should have the undersize stamped on the back after the part number, they should say "-10" "-20" and so on.

Getting a book is a good idea.

BTW, did that post completely change or am I halucinating?

[fordman]

which post? i didn't see a edit notice at the botom of a post on this page.

[averagef250]

First, paint the whole engine, not piece by piece while you assemble it. Painting it piece by piece is half-a$$ to me, it says you don't know what you're doing. Most engines are painted as an assembly from the factory. If they are not then the parts are painted before machining and you cannot duplicate that. Painted bolt heads keeps the fasteners from corroding. Nothing looks worse than a nicely painted engine with a bunch of rusty bolt heads on it.

To clean an engine without disassembling I use superclean, a scrub brush and a steam cleaner or pressure washer. It does a good job with some elbow grease.

If you have gotten grit in the engine you will need to disassmble it to clean it. Hot tanking is the best option, but be weary of what shops charge for this. It should be less than $50 with a little more to remove/install cam bearings if you don't have the tool to do it yourself.

If you're on a budget disassemble the engine and clean the block/crank heads with the superclean/powerwasher method. I would be leary of sandblast grit as it is very destructive, but I've had great results doing budget partial engine overhauls powerwashing the entire assembled shortblock. I just make sure I get the engine back together and running within a few hours to evaporate any water left inside. If your a slow wrench turner I wouldn't recommend doing that.

Make sure you know what you're looking at if you decide to reuse bearings. Clearances are important, but a smooth finish on the bearings and crank is more important than perfect clearance. Always polish the crank when using new bearings or changing bearing location/crankshaft. You can get away with a lot of parts reuse when you're on a budget, but you need to have an eye for what parts are shot and must be replaced or you're throwing money and time away.

The factory Ford shop manuals have excellent engine sections in them. Thoroughly read through the disassembly and assembly sections to find everything you ever wanted to know about bearing wear patterns, how to read piston skirt wear, measure clearances and more.

[fitzwell]

First, paint the whole engine, not piece by piece while you assemble it. Painting it piece by piece is half-a$$ to me, it says you don't know what you're doing. Most engines are painted as an assembly from the factory. If they are not then the parts are painted before machining and you cannot duplicate that. Painted bolt heads keeps the fasteners from corroding. Nothing looks worse than a nicely painted engine with a bunch of rusty bolt heads on it.

.

Guess we're just gonna have to agree to disagree on this.

Nothing screams "Krylon Rebuild" than painted bolts, painted gaskets, etc, IMHO. I paint the block, inside & out first. Any sheet metal/covers etc get shot seperatly.I put the bolts that i'm reusing (factory nuts & bolts) in a bullet tumbler with some starblast, or wire brush & carb cleaner if needed. When one of mine is assembled, it looks ..."detailed" As far as inside....you are correct, if you know what to look for, you can get away with re-using some components. Also a close inspection can reveal the cause of the failure before the machining process begin.

[fordman]

you paint the inside of the engine? i know i'm not reading that correctly. am i?

[bjde0b]

Yes, the post changed. I wrote some stupid things that I wanted to hide.

Dustin, thank you for the good advise. It was logical and had good supporting reason coming from somebody with experience.

I talked to a shop that would hot tank for $30. Another shop said $50 to tank and dynamax (I think I am calling this the right thing). The engine hasn't been punished since the last rebuild so I think a hot tank would be sufficient.

Someone mentioned previously that if I were to hot tank the block then I would have to replace cam bearings. Dustin, can these bearings be reused once they are pulled?

I know everybody tells me to get a book (I have a Chilton's), but I like to learn from people too.

Answer the cam bearing and these piston questions and I will let this post die. Can I reuse the rings? Do I need to hone the cylinders with a dingleberry or stones if I do/dont reuse the rings? Do I need to polish the crank with 800 grit emory cloth since I will probably reuse the bearings? You can look at the bearings yourself. I can't post the pictures without it taking forever because I am working from my BlackBerry, but you can see some pictures at this link.

http://www.bjandkristen.com/myf100/pict ... r/bearings

And I definitely will be painting the engine assymbled.

[fitzwell]

you paint the inside of the engine? i know i'm not reading that correctly. am i?

yep...you read it correctly. Buddy of mine convinced me to try it. Glyptal (an industrial armature coating) in the inside of the valley, timing chain area & the heads. Seals the castings & promotes oil drainback. Added bonus, on vehicles that are "seldom driven" it helps to keep the corrosion down if the vehicle is left for long periods of time. There are arguements, both for and against, for this procedure. If the block is not prepped correctly, the paint will lift, and end up in the screen....not good.

Once the cam bearings come out, they're trash. Before the block goes in the vat all the freeze plugs, galley pugs, etc need to be removed. If you get the block tanked, before the cam bearings are installed, get a set of rifle brushes & clean the block....completely. You'll be amazed at what kind of crap comes out of a "clean" block

[averagef250]

I agree that taking the rings off the piston you should replace them. Having worked in a machine shop and worked on lots of engines and a wide variety of them I've gotten a feel for what good rings should look like. An engine that smokes or uses oil through the rings usually has a major lack of ring tension. That's not always the case though, you can read the sealing face of the compression rings to see how well they've seated when they have good tension yet the engine still had oil use issues.

I've reused rings in a pinch. I've gone as far as to pull rings out of the scrap pile, stretch them out and install them in a different engine to get a rig back on the road asap. I've always had good luck with rings, but feel how you break the engine in after assembly has a large part to do with rings holding up. Small blocks are easy to load down in a truck and get rings to seat. Low compression big blocks and diesels can be more of a chore. With some engines if you don't hook onto a heavy trailer and hit a mountain pass at full throttle within a few hours of run time the rings will give you fits.