Ok so I tore down the motor today. Here is what I found.

Workin on it in the bay...



lookin kinda dirty...



GROSS! Is this normal for a 1995 with 150k?





#1 Rod bearing and cap, not too bad lookin, right?



Close





Cylinder looks pretty nasty but I think this is mostly surface rust? The motor was hydrolocked...see the finger smudge on the wall?



and the #1 rod...took most of the force lol.




So what do you guys think I need to replace here? Obviously it will be getting new rod bearings. Do I need new rod bolts? What about main bearings?

Do I have to pull the crank (and trans) to install main bearings? Forgive me if it should be obvious...I havent really looked at that part of the motor too much. And its 330am lol.

How does that cylinder look? I can clean it out and get a better pic...

Lancerman suggested that I just replace the rods and use the same pistons/rings to put it back together....how does this sound? Motor had perfect compression last Saturday.

If I have to do much more than change the rods/pistons I think I will just throw a 2.4 in it....lol...

Let me know what you think guys; I will update this as I go along.

 

id say rebuild the whole thing preventative maintenance FTW!!!!

 

My suggestion would be to pull the motor, replace rods, replace pistons (have the machine shop check the bore to make sure you can still use standard pistons, if not .020 over), have the crank checked just to make sure it's good and then micropolished. New oil pump (preferably OEM), water pump, bearings, engine gasket set, timing components (depending on how old and what condition they're in). Hot tank the block and head, because that shit is just nasty lol. This would be the bare minimum to ensure a quality rebuild.

 

Well my total budget here is about $500. lol. So I doubt its getting any machine work.

Wish I could do all that to it but just dont see it workin out that way lol.

 

Sweet jesus, what the hell did you do to that poor engine?

 

I have to agree here. Even though you are on a limited budget, think of it this way - if the rebuild is performed and one small detail causes a failure in the future, say in 1000 miles, or 5000 miles even, all the money and time you just spent on it is wasted.

Rings are never to be reused. To get an idea if you can get away with a poor man's rebuild, clean the block up and mic the cylinders and check for taper and out of round. IF the bores are square and in spec you can get away with honing the cylinders and installing new rings.

Additionally the rod journals need to be mic'ed and checked for taper and out of round. This will dictate whether or not it is a wate of money to reuse the crank and what size bearings you need to buy.

 

complete rebuilt.

full gasket kit, top and bottem

new rods, main bearing, rod bearings, new piston rings, clean the shit outta the pistons.

hone out the cylinders, clean and degrease

have the head checked out and re surfaced

tleast thats what i did but i want after market on rods and pistons and had the crank checked and micro polished haha

 

makes me not want to open mine up

 

^lol. And this motor didn't even smoke. And had perfect compression. ha. I bet they can get real nasty.

So I guess I need a bore gauge now...hope harbor freight has a cheap one.

Gonna pick up:

Bore gauge
cylinder hone
ring compressor.

anything else while im there?

 

you should let me use that when i do mine