Keiths 87
He had a white 88 automatic but it was stolen and crashed, you can see that car here: Keith88s
Starting with a stock engine, it was bored 20 over then honed, new cast ACL pistons-press fit pins, ACL rings, a polished and neutrally balanced crankshaft, reconditioned and balanced rods, new oil pump, rebuilt mechanical head.
Random photos of the engine.
These are the ACL cast piston they have the usual dish but a raised bump in the center. Sold under the Beck-Arnley name.
Left, compression ring #1, beveled upper/lower edges
Right, compression ring #2, notched top and small notch on bottom
Rod bearing install, make sure you center and fully seat the inserts before you put the halves together. It is possible to put the inserts in a little off. These would have to be squared up as the rod started to on the crank. Just look at the spacing on either side of the insert and make the distance on the end with the notch the same on the opposite end.
below left-correct below right-incorrect
This is the clearance above the piston to the block deck in the below left photo. This is an unmilled deck and this clearance is greater than the thickness of a compressed headgasket in this case. We then flattened the deck surface with a stone down to the low spec limit. Before starting the deck was low in the center and out of spec. Without doing this the ability of the headgasket to seal would have be compromised.
Fill the oil pump with assembly lube, remove the pressure relief valve to check that it doesn't stick and fill that cavity too, this combined with the use of assembly lube in the rest of the engine will assure you of a safe start up even if you don't prime your pump -we don't. Have your motor setup so you don't have to rotate it after you put the pump on. Using moly lube or assembly lube under main cap bolts and under the caps themselves (main caps actually move a little side to side so don't leave this area dry), under rod bolt nuts, all bearings inserts (not under them) and cam journals. Oil the chains and a light coat of oil or trans. fluid and on the rings and cylinder walls before you push in the pistons. We tap them into the cylinders from the ring compressor with the end of a rubber hammer, you can use a stick but don't use a metal object or your fingers. You will get the piston stopping as a ring is trying to exit the compressor tool if you go too slow and stop on the chamfered edge going into the cylinder then hang up and the tool raises up and the ring may get chewed up or the ends come out and gall the cylinder walls. Don't "hammer" in the pistons either and that is not what we did in a vid. file of tapping one in. It takes very little effort to press a piston out of the tool but you don't do it in S L O W motion either and you should keep pressure on the tool to keep it from riding up.
We got a 2 smaller table top blast cabinets from Harbor Freight (be sure you reseal all the seams of these cabinets before use) to be able us glass beads and walnut shells (those things are about useless) in addition to the aluminum oxide we were using in the stand-up cabinet. Glass beads with aluminum parts makes them look just like new. You can put small parts and nuts/bolts in a wire basket then aim and hold your gun steady and shake the basket and they will clean up and rotate on their own. Makes for faster cleanup just wash the grease and gunk off before you put parts in your blast cabinet to keep the media as clean and dry as possible.
Tape up ends, threads, voids or polished surfaces you do not want to have blasting media contact like the stub of the crank pulley, if you blasted that your oil seal would get A T E U P. You absolutely NEVER want any media getting into the oil pan or valve cover baffles you will have a very hard time getting it out. You don't want to blast the intake manifold without the openings taped off either there will be much media trapped inside especially behind the tin ring in the throttlebody opening you can never get cleaned out behind that ring and that will just pump media right into the motor and grind away your bearings and your crankshaft journals and your cam and and your lifters and your water pump seal and end up totally destroying your entire engine so be careful and clean every part thoroughly. The engine block of this motor was blasted with a portable gun using aluminum oxide but we mask off every single hole, the entire deck and the entire bottom side and both ends and only blast the two outer painted sides and no machined surfaces. It does remove all the old paint but don't expect a smooth surface it will actually be a rougher finish after your paint it again from the old paint layer(s) not smoothing it out more.
The oil pickup tube screen usually has bits of chain guides stuck in the screen, these can all be pushes out and the screen flushed clean it just takes some time and patience. A parts washer and some kerosene, although it stinks pretty good does a very good job of cleaning off old grease, wipe dry or it will evaporate in a few hours if you wait.
Rebuilt heads do not always come with all new parts. This head has a reground cam and cam bearings.
Dealer tools do save time but are hard to find.
Left in each photo is the new spring; Right is the old.
If you have a head that was overheated, chances are the springs are junk. They will appear dark or black and burned on the bottom. Measure them the spec. are in the factory service manual.
All new springs for this head, the old ones were all short and most leaning.
These valve seals were in the old gasket kits, they don't hold with a much pressure but this head did have one guide that was oversized and you can't force the seal with the metal tube to stretch over them so you need to compromise and use one with the expandable spring on the bottom edge like this one. That ring will compress the seal to grab on the groove cut in the guide.
The valves were new, they were lapped again.
Oil Pan
4qts in the pan + 1/2qt each are in your oil filter and oil cooler
One Quart
Two Quarts
Three Quarts
Four Quarts
Dipstick w/4qts just above the 2nd notch
Addition pan sump baffle for reducing slosh-out and turbo drain going into the pan
to be welded in place, one more baffle to be added not shown here will be slightly above the first one.
Any time you weld, grind, cut or media blast an oil pan be sure to wash it thoroughly and use a mirror a check under the lips and in cracks to see its fully cleaned. Some solvents do not wash away all debris you may have to use just plain soap and water.
An additional baffle is inline with the #4 main cap. I tested this pan with kerosene only in the sump and pushed and pulled to try and slop the fluid out of the sump and the curved baffle does work. It throws the liquid that hits it back forward as was intended. The small amount that does pass under and between the slits around the baffle drains back as quickly as it came out. There is some webbing in the block on both sides of the #3 and #4 main caps that also helps keep oil from getting past those points. The rear baffle was placed at an angle on purpose to try and catch more of the oil that did move up the rear slope of the bottom of the pan.
The crank scraper plate was used as an additional oil control measure -as sold do not fit well out of the box.
Alignment for your motor necessary.
I'm not sure how others cut or mod the scraper plate to be able to use it but I cut a notch in the pickup tube so it would remain seated into the oil pump in the factory position but the rear arm I put on top of the plate so the screen would be at the same level it was before the plate was installed. No point in making the distance from the bottom of the pan further away. The plate deflects a small amount where the arm fastens to the main cap bolt.
There is a cork gasket under the plate mated to the block. A cork gasket used with the type of sealing ridge this pan uses isn't a good seal as crankcase pressures can cause leaks but mostly its because it is over-torqued and is cut in the middle then its junk. The paper gasket is used on the oil pan side of the plate.
This is the additional oil drain from the head back to the sump so less oil will have to pass over the timing chain. The cover for the mech. fuel pump will have a fitting in it and a hose will just run from here down to the new fitting we put in the pan.
The stock pcv valve was replaced with a check valve from McMaster. The rear port will be used only for a vacuum relief valve. Crankcase pressure will not be allowed to vent here. Pressure coming up from the crankcase via the oil drain for the head could impede the oil flow back to the pan. The oil spray will be collected from the two openings and be screened before passing through to an air-oil separator.
This is part of the change we are making in the crankcase for pressure control. This is where the fwd dipstick would have been. Hole was tapped.
This is where the turbo drain hose used to go, this will now be used as a point to relieve crankcase pressure.
Rebuilt an old stock 12A turbo. This turbo wasn't locked nor had any excessive play from being oil starved it was just encrusted inside with coked oil. Parts bead blasted then turbine shaft polished with white compound, the oil seal groove polished with a strip of cloth held spinning in drill press. Cartridge blasted then center bore lightly polished.
