View Full Version : The Death of the Firechikin
So, I decded to fix the heads on the ol' Dirty Bird rather than buy a new car. It was like an 8 hour task between 3 of us, but we finally got the car back together (with its new heads complete with a 3 angle valve job, bitches :naughty: ) and after a long 2 nights of screaming at the car about how fucking stupid GM's techs are, it was time to start it up.
Crank....the valves aren't closing, we can hear it...Crank, crank...still nothing - double-you-tee-eff, the lifters should've had time to collapse by now?
Come to find out, we overlooked a very important fact...The bird uses adjustable lifters, and we torqued the fuckers all the way down thinking they were non-adjustable....
...Ripped the motor apart to find my pushrods had become pretzels, a few rockers had been broken, and we haven't been able to tear everything out to lift the heads and inspect the valves yet.
Does anyone know where I can get any heads/valves/rockers/pushrods - aftermarket or OEM, just anything I can get a decent deal on - to fix this? Also, are there any other places in the engine I should check for problems due to this little mishap?
corey r.
08-26-2005, 03:38 PM
all that work for nothing. ouch that sucks HARD. :(
Tackleberry
08-26-2005, 08:21 PM
1-877-448-5481 Dal
OEM GM parts at cost...
ouch...
summit sells all that stuff for pretty cheap.
on anothing note, i can't believe this post wasn't made by phinger. it sounds like something he would do
corey r.
08-26-2005, 09:00 PM
compucam makes 2 different cames for teh 3.4, give one a shot!
Sneakin Deacon
08-26-2005, 10:02 PM
i hate to say it...but that was fuckin retarded...dont do high skill level work on a car and not know what your doing. you tighten the rockers to 22ft/lbs.
every single valve is probably broken/bent. piston faces may be ok, but probably arent. hopefully you havent damaged the cam.
personally, i would go to a salvage yard and yank some stocker heads off a car. its going to be the cheapest way, and your probably lookin at 1-200 to do it.
Tackleberry
08-26-2005, 10:14 PM
ouch...
summit sells all that stuff for pretty cheap.
on anothing note, i can't believe this post wasn't made by phinger. it sounds like something he would do
sorry, im not that stupid you asshole...just because i dont know anything about AC systems does not mean i cant fix other things.
We were worn out and the thought that they were adjustable and needed to be tightened, then loosened until some play is felt, then tightened to snug, then turned 1 full rotation afterwards just slipped our minds. But I'll write down the 22ft/lbs, its easier than how I read to do it without a torque wrench, I'll remember it for round 2, thanks.
Anyways, to all of you who recommended numbers and whatnot, I'll probably give 'em a try given that the pistons weren't damaged in the little mishap. And for the cam, well, I think it really would be retarded to try and build a 3.4L, but meh, who knows - maybe if the cam is shot and the price is right (i also don't want to dig into that bottom end. The top end is a nightmare enough).
Oh yeah, on a sidenote, I think we torqued them to somewhere around 30ft/lbs...as I said, we were exhausted and not paying attention. I'm hoping that they might have had enough play not to fuck up the piston being that tight....?
Sneakin Deacon
08-27-2005, 08:47 AM
you should be ok on the cam. sounds like you only did a few rotations with it...after a while if it had been running and they were over tightened, you can wear the lobes right off the cam.
Tackleberry
08-27-2005, 09:13 AM
it probably would have been easier, and more worthwhile, to buy a 350 crate motor and just drop it in
it probably would have been easier, and more worthwhile, to buy a 350 crate motor and just drop it in
300-400 dollars vs. like 8,000 dollars. Believe me, I checked, and checked again, and then rechecked my checking again to make sure.
And gotchya, thanks Deacon, yeah, we cranked it a few times, of course it never started due to the valves being stuck open. Damn I hope the heads don't have to be sent off for more machine work...
Sneakin Deacon
08-27-2005, 01:07 PM
fuck machine work, you can get cores for the same price with valves and shit already in them.
willie666
08-27-2005, 02:31 PM
[QUOTE=vip18971] I checked, and checked again, and then rechecked my checking again to make sure.
QUOTE]You should have done that when you were working on the car.
[QUOTE=vip18971] I checked, and checked again, and then rechecked my checking again to make sure.
QUOTE]You should have done that when you were working on the car.
:finger: Fucker.
Update: Oooh, somehow I managed not to bend one single fucking valve! Teh V6 can nevar break!
Another Update: Fucker is running again. It was losing a little compression, but that was before we set all the valves and whatnot. Haven't done a compression test on it since, but it runs fine, so if anything, that might be worn out rings and I'm sure as shit not tearing into that bottom end. Advice for anyone attempting to do major work on an F-Body, by the way. Stop, think, and sell it instead. :)
I'm gonna call those numbers about some struts for the Bird, though, because they're squeaking. Thanks again for them.
vBulletin® v3.6.10, Copyright ©2000-2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content Relevant URLs by
vBSEO 3.2.0 RC5