The Teardown...

[KicknAsphlt]

So, I finally was able to yank the motor on the Sup last week, and finished tearing down the top half of the motor this morning. I had a nice little suprise, however, when I took the cam journal caps off....

In sequential order, Intake cap 1-7, then Exhaust cap 1-6...camera battery died before I could snap 7. I'll get pics of that and the cam journals in the morning, as well as the journals in the head.

So, I guess the top question of mine is, would it be possible to machine the journals down on the cams and open the journals in the head and caps to accommodate bearings? Or is it not possible and/or just easier/cheaper to get new cams and caps? The journals in the head don't look near as bad as the caps pictured above, the only exception being the #7 journal on the intake side, has a couple of grooves along it...but could probably be smoothed a bit. This is, of course, assuming the rest of the head checks out good by the machine shop. I guess I'll find out in a few days, I drop the head and block off tomorrow morning. As always, inputs are welcome guys!

Thanks,

 

[pogoism9]

you aren't going to get new caps unless you get the head that comes with it. They are matched to each head (line bored from the factory). My suggestion? find a good used head that you can inspect before you take it home.

 

[jdub]

The machine shop needs to check 2 things:
- Hardness - Is the head annealed (i.e. soft)...if it is, sell it for scrap.
- Straightness - Is it turned into a banana. Depending on how bad will tell if it can be decked and can the journals/caps be line bored.

 

[92nsx]

If you ask me it is time to buy a good, used head from the F/S section. Most of them don't cost much, it is the shipping that will bit you in the ass. Also look around locally for one.

 

[KicknAsphlt]

Couple things I noticed when I was pulling the head -- all the exhaust side head bolts seemed to be a lot looser than the intake side...not sure how that happened, since I retorqued the head last March. Also, when I had the head off, I noticed that the Metal headgasket had delaminated, like the sealant or whatever that holds the layers together were gone. I'm also positive that the previous owner never had the surface(s) lapped for a MHG, so....that's probably where all my problems started...lol.

 

[KicknAsphlt]

If you ask me it is time to buy a good, used head from the F/S section. Most of them don't cost much, it is the shipping that will bit you in the ass. Also look around locally for one.

Well, the head is supposed to be brand new (as of when I bought the car a couple years ago), and supposedly been ported...I'll ask the machinist about that though, because those intake ports look like they've still got a casting finish on 'em...haven't really looked at the exhaust ports.

 

[92nsx]

And your cam journal's look like that!!. My head that was 19 years old and had 188,000 miles on it was in WAY better shape that that.

But never the less get it checked out by your machinist and see what he has to say about it.

 

[KicknAsphlt]

Well, my motor did piss all of it's oil out halfway between LA and Vegas....that's why the motor has rodknock as well. Although, I did look at the cap side rod bearings, and they all look pretty damn good....it's weird. I'll plasti-gage them here soon, as well as the mains...you could distinctly hear the knock when the engine was running, but the rods didn't feel loose...so unless it's the rod side bearings, or the rods stretched a bit... Anyway, I'm getting off-track a bit...lol. I'm sure the motor losing its oil is why my cam journals look the way they do.

 

[SupaMan]

damn that sucks justin you drivin the r/t now?

 

[KicknAsphlt]

Yeah, been drivin' it since August...seems like every time I fix something on the Sup, something else goes wrong, and the truck gets kicked back to D/D duty...lol.

 

[grimreaper]

those caps look like mine did. The head can be line bored like jdub said.

Scary to think your exhaust side bolts where not tight. how good was your tq wrench? Bolts/studs? oem or arp?

 

[KicknAsphlt]

Well, I knew the wrench was about 12ft/lbs off, so I had compensated for it....but then I threw it on the torque standard at work and it was varying anywhere between 11 and 14ft/lbs, so it wasn't consistent. But even 1 or 2 ft/lbs shouldn't have made THAT much difference... Oh, and they're ARP bolts...I was pleasantly surprised to find that out when I did the retorque last year.

 

[SupaMan]

Yeah, been drivin' it since August...seems like every time I fix something on the Sup, something else goes wrong, and the truck gets kicked back to D/D duty...lol.

thats what you get for kickin the sup to winter duty :biglaugh:

good luck with that man, i feel your pain my cars been in the same spot for like 3 months and im still waiting on my driveshaft.

 

[KicknAsphlt]

Actually, the sup is supposed to be pullin' D/D duty, winter or no....hasn't seen a Colorado winter yet though...lol.

 

[grimreaper]

fuggin scary, shit coming loose. However one could argue your tq wrench could be the issue. Might consider a new one for the rebuild? Did you do any compression test before tear down? No signs of said loose head bolts?

 

[willtotheumm]

ouch those journals are pretty scratched up. Mine didnt look that bad either...

 

[KicknAsphlt]

fuggin scary, shit coming loose. However one could argue your tq wrench could be the issue. Might consider a new one for the rebuild? Did you do any compression test before tear down? No signs of said loose head bolts?

Yeah, last April I bought a brand new Craftsman Digitork wrench before I put the heads back on my truck....shit is dead-on...lol. No compression test, but I'm wondering if those loose bolts contributed to/caused my oil leak that led to the motor chooching on me....I know that the previous owners didn't lap the block and/or the head for the MHG, and the car overheated out of nowhere a couple months after I had gotten it. After that, the temp gauge was always running a bit high, and would fluctuate constantly. Retorquing the head a year later seemed to help a bit, but then the problem came back after a couple months (give or take a few weeks)....now i think I know why...lol. I know the gasket is toast now...it's delaminated in several spots.

 

[grimreaper]

seems it was flirting with a full blown bhg then! Sucks to hear the PO lacked the attention to detail the 7m needs. Seems to be the usual case for alot of car.

good luck with it man!

 

[KicknAsphlt]

Thanks! Just talked to the head guy tonight, he told me there's a place that could machine the head, caps, and cams and put bearings in, but it'd be over $500 to do it....soooo, looks like I'll be buying another head...D'OH!

 

[grimreaper]

search on here, there is a website floating around that has remaned heads for $4-500 and a few guys have used them with good results.