Rebuilding the engine - what parts to use?

[oldeskewltoy]

INSPECT! INSPECT! INSPECT!

DON'T BUY ANYTHING YET!

Do you have a factory service manual? Borrow one if you can.. READ the engine section like your LIFE depended on it, Now read it again. There are processes and procedures that can screw things up if you don't know what you are doing or in what order they should be done......
for example... more than 1/2 the people I know who has rebuilt their own engine... didn't know there is a procedure for cylinder head removal... doing it wrong could lead to warpage....

Good old fashioned expereince helps too... for example... 2/3 of 2 egg cartons become perfect recepticles for bucket/shim. That way *IF* you don't replace cams... you likely won't have to reshim the whole thing.... If you are replacing cams... it is a good idea to measure and know how thick each shim is(mark each shim).... it goes a LOOOOOONG way later in helping you adjust valves....

When ever you rebuild the engine... new oil pump... new water pump.. (and in AE86 case... new metal plumbing parts) should always be considered... Have you chosen a machine shop? At the very minimum you'll want the block tanked(cleaned) and oil galleys opened, cleaned, and resealed.

Basics... from the bottom - pull the pan... begin looking at the rods, begin with #4, then move forward. The reason #4 is first, is it is the last crankshaft point to get oil... #4 rods fail more often in a 4AG then other rods. If the rod end is blue.... chances are its junk... Blue means it has run an intense heat cycle. Mains are not usually a problem with a 4AG. I've seen 2 blue rods on a 4A engine and the mains were still all perfect!

Basics... from the top - remove all ancillitory items(cam covers, t belt, rear covers...) strip the engine so the head can come clear EASILY. Be careful with the cam journals and the bolts... they are fragile - follow factory service manual procedures. Also... since you read the book... you also know each journal cap is marked with where it belongs on the engine. Find the loosening procedure for the head, follow it. Remove head, look at cylinder bores. look at piston tops, ESPECIALLY around the piston edge. Look for crumbling

There is still more inspection required... but... if you haven't come across any problems yet... NOW you can begin to think of buying some parts.... but don't go too far... you still need to strip ALL the parts from the block and measure EACH cylinder bore in at least 3 places, you'll need to check the head for flat.

On to the head - the cams are already out(required to pull the head off)
OH... DON'T forget/lose the washers under the head bolts!!! They ARE REQUIRED!! An oldeskewltoy fuck up... trying to help you avoid
Remove shim/bucket assembly, follow the trick I point out above... or some other way to keep things organized. Now the "tough" part, there aren't many valve compression tools for the 4AG... Use a 5/8"(16mm) spark plug socket...[13/16"(20.5MM) can also be used] and follow illustration below. Then use a palm rachet to put pressure on the retainer, to allow the keepers be removed... This same tool can be used to reinstall the keepers the only other "tool" needed is a balled up cloth that you can stuff under the head to hold the valves in place.



Do one valve at a time... I'd mark each Intake valve on its face using I1, I2, I3 thru I8. I do the same for exhaust valves. As you remove each valves keeper you can put them in with the bucket/shim. remove all valve springs, retainers, seats. Check each valve-to-guide clearance, compare to FSM specs....

There is more... but you get the idea....

Once everything has been checked... THEN you buy..........