Cali' Explorer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- December 14, 2003
- Messages
- 477
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Sacramento, CA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '97 XLT 5.0
Well, another small update (still no pics, but I think I will be able to get some as I start cleaning things up).
Cylinder Head Status:
The Cylinder Heads came back from the shop all nice and pretty. When I asked them if they found anything wrong, they said that there wasn't any thing directly. Leak tests and Magna Flux all came back AOK.
When I asked them about the Valve Guides and their condition, he said they didnt' check them because they replaced them as part of the rebuild. This frustrates me only because I explicitly said I wanted them fully checked out before anything is done, but such is life. The good news is that I "manually" checked the valves to see if they have any wobble and they are now wobble free now (before I could physically see them wobble when I put pressure on the valves).
The heads look nice, very clean. I was suprised in that, one of the freeze plugs appears to have almost a rubber grommet with a screw through it. There is one on each cylinder head, with the opposing one being a normal freeze plug. Anyone have any clue what those are for?
Other Parts (Teehee):
Since the heads came back ok and everything looks nice on them, I decided to splurge a little on the X. I went ahead and purchased the following from Jegs:
- Crane Cams 1.6 Pedestal Mount Roller Rockers (Identical to FMS one's, just natural aluminum I believe)
- Crane Cams Pedestal Rocker Shim Kit
- Comp Cams Pushrods (stock length)
- ARP Head Bolts (Hex Head of course)
- Accel Black Wire Loom (To make my spark plug wire routing nice and purdy)
- Various Lubes and Greases for Assembly
I still need to go pick up some RTV and a few other basic components because Jegs couldn't ship the order 2 day with them (darn hazardous waste). The good news is, that stuff is probably cheaper locally anyways.
Next Step:
I am starting to strip down and clean up all the parts I have gotten home. I am planning on painting the Cylinder Heads black (masking off all the internal parts as well as any bolt holes and the Freeze Plugs). I am then going to clean up the upper and lower intake (no painting, I like the Natural Aluminum look).
Some Questions:
I do still have a couple of questions that I was hoping someone could help with. I can probably wing it, but if I can get confirmation I'll feel better.
1. For painting the Cylinder Heads, should I use an Engine Paint, or a High Temp paint? Engine Paint is usually good up to 550 F, and I don't think the Cylinder Heads see higher then that, but I don't want to have it peeling off either.
2. For the RTV, I was planning to just get a can of the Ultra Black compression poured stuff. I'll be using this to make the Block/Lower Intake gasket gaps (I believe "Booger Glob" is the term used here =)). Should I be using anything else anywhere else?
3. I am going to put sealant on the bolts that are sitting in the water passages, but want to confirm which those are. It appears that those are all the lower Cylinder Bolts, the ones that are outside the Valve Covers. I am planning to use sealant on these and then the Assembly Oil that ARP Recommends for the others (I have it just lying around).
4. For the valve covers, my Fel-Pro gasket kit came with a set of Cork gaskets. I'm assuming these should be fine, but when I removed the Valve Covers, they had Metal Gaskets with Rubber seals on both sides. Is one better then the other, or is it like the difference between Russett and Idaho potatoes?
5. Last and not least, I have a 20 - 120 ft-lb torque wrench which should be fine for the heavy duty stuff, but for the upper intake and what not, it calls for a smaller torque wrench. I was going to just pick up one of the smaller in-lb torque wrenches from Sears for all of the little things, but wanted to make sure it won't be a mistake in doing so. My biggest concern here is, a few years ago I was rebuilding an Oldsmobile Cutlass 3.1 and it had aluminum heads. I followed the directions and did everything right, but when I got near the rated torque for the heads, I killed the threads. I ended up having to use heli-coils on all of them and I obviously don't want to repeat this.
Thanks again for all who are following and any help any of you can give.
I will try to get some pictures of all the parts and the re-assembly since the Fiance said that she can take some pictures for me (non-digi, so you'll have to wait for development =)).
Cylinder Head Status:
The Cylinder Heads came back from the shop all nice and pretty. When I asked them if they found anything wrong, they said that there wasn't any thing directly. Leak tests and Magna Flux all came back AOK.
When I asked them about the Valve Guides and their condition, he said they didnt' check them because they replaced them as part of the rebuild. This frustrates me only because I explicitly said I wanted them fully checked out before anything is done, but such is life. The good news is that I "manually" checked the valves to see if they have any wobble and they are now wobble free now (before I could physically see them wobble when I put pressure on the valves).
The heads look nice, very clean. I was suprised in that, one of the freeze plugs appears to have almost a rubber grommet with a screw through it. There is one on each cylinder head, with the opposing one being a normal freeze plug. Anyone have any clue what those are for?
Other Parts (Teehee):
Since the heads came back ok and everything looks nice on them, I decided to splurge a little on the X. I went ahead and purchased the following from Jegs:
- Crane Cams 1.6 Pedestal Mount Roller Rockers (Identical to FMS one's, just natural aluminum I believe)
- Crane Cams Pedestal Rocker Shim Kit
- Comp Cams Pushrods (stock length)
- ARP Head Bolts (Hex Head of course)
- Accel Black Wire Loom (To make my spark plug wire routing nice and purdy)
- Various Lubes and Greases for Assembly
I still need to go pick up some RTV and a few other basic components because Jegs couldn't ship the order 2 day with them (darn hazardous waste). The good news is, that stuff is probably cheaper locally anyways.
Next Step:
I am starting to strip down and clean up all the parts I have gotten home. I am planning on painting the Cylinder Heads black (masking off all the internal parts as well as any bolt holes and the Freeze Plugs). I am then going to clean up the upper and lower intake (no painting, I like the Natural Aluminum look).
Some Questions:
I do still have a couple of questions that I was hoping someone could help with. I can probably wing it, but if I can get confirmation I'll feel better.
1. For painting the Cylinder Heads, should I use an Engine Paint, or a High Temp paint? Engine Paint is usually good up to 550 F, and I don't think the Cylinder Heads see higher then that, but I don't want to have it peeling off either.
2. For the RTV, I was planning to just get a can of the Ultra Black compression poured stuff. I'll be using this to make the Block/Lower Intake gasket gaps (I believe "Booger Glob" is the term used here =)). Should I be using anything else anywhere else?
3. I am going to put sealant on the bolts that are sitting in the water passages, but want to confirm which those are. It appears that those are all the lower Cylinder Bolts, the ones that are outside the Valve Covers. I am planning to use sealant on these and then the Assembly Oil that ARP Recommends for the others (I have it just lying around).
4. For the valve covers, my Fel-Pro gasket kit came with a set of Cork gaskets. I'm assuming these should be fine, but when I removed the Valve Covers, they had Metal Gaskets with Rubber seals on both sides. Is one better then the other, or is it like the difference between Russett and Idaho potatoes?
5. Last and not least, I have a 20 - 120 ft-lb torque wrench which should be fine for the heavy duty stuff, but for the upper intake and what not, it calls for a smaller torque wrench. I was going to just pick up one of the smaller in-lb torque wrenches from Sears for all of the little things, but wanted to make sure it won't be a mistake in doing so. My biggest concern here is, a few years ago I was rebuilding an Oldsmobile Cutlass 3.1 and it had aluminum heads. I followed the directions and did everything right, but when I got near the rated torque for the heads, I killed the threads. I ended up having to use heli-coils on all of them and I obviously don't want to repeat this.
Thanks again for all who are following and any help any of you can give.
I will try to get some pictures of all the parts and the re-assembly since the Fiance said that she can take some pictures for me (non-digi, so you'll have to wait for development =)).