Make slowboy not so slow

[Shane@DBPerformance]

It's too hard to tell from those pics. The important areas to port and clean up are down by the valve seats, which you probably aren't going to be able to get a good look at or feel without the valves out or lifted off their seats a bit.

[asshanson]

I knew I should have taken pics when it was fully disassembled. Oh well, thanks for the info.

[asshanson]

I worked on the car for 2 hours outside after work last night, assembled the manifold/turbo/o2 and cleaned RTV oil the stupid oil pan, which I now hate. Then later, from 10:30 to 1:30, I cleaned RTV off the block, installed the oil pan, and put the xfr case back on.

I really hope it doesn't leak, that is by far the worst thing I've ever had to do on the car. I'm pretty sure it will be good though, I had both surfaces super clean, the oil pan looked new. Took me probably 3 hours just to clean them and reinstall the oil pan. I was getting a pretty bad headache after all of this (and was freezing), and this morning I woke up with a really bad sore throat. Being outside in an unheated garage for that long at night really takes its toll.

[scheides]

Just got caught up on the last week of updates man, this is looking good! Keep going!

[asshanson]

Man, the timing belt was probably one of the easiest things to do, not sure why I was so afraid of it. Not hard at all. Anyway, got that and the rest of everything installed. The battery died so I have to wait until I bring my laptop home from work tomorrow to reset the link settings and fire it up.

Important question though, I've heard that you have to build oil pressure before actually starting the engine, so I was going to unplug the injectors and crank it for 30 seconds or so. However, I never took off the oil filter housing, so really it's just like I drained the oil and didn't fill it back up for a few weeks. I guess I did take the head off, but that's all I can think of. Should I need to do this before starting the motor?

[scheides]

Did you use assembly grease when you put the rods on? I'm not really sure but I say just fire it up....

[FattyBoomBatty]

No, I'd crank it several times with no injectors or plugged in. Maybe even take the spark plugs out to let it spin freely, but it's good to let the oil pump suck up some oil and get even a little pressure going before starting it.

[asshanson]

I didn't have assembly/moly lube until the following day when I installed the headstuds and rod bolts, so when installing the rods/bearings I dipped everything in 15w oil (literally coated and dripping with oil). The head was assembled with lube though by the machine shop.

I'll unplug the injectors and take out the spark plugs then. I'm sure there is still a decent amount of fresh oil coating the pistons and cylinder walls, wouldn't want them to catch on fire with some spark, hahaha.

I have another question. While I was setting the timing belt, I used a ratchet to move the crank around a few times to make sure everything lined up right afterwards. Why is it so hard to move that? With the head off it seemed decently easy, is it having to move the cams/springs/valves that makes it so much harder? My ratchet doesn't have a super long handle so I actually had to use a decent amount of force to get it turned at some points, with no spark plugs in even.

[FattyBoomBatty]

Originally Posted by asshanson

with no spark plugs in even.

Originally Posted by craig

did you have the spark plugs in it?

No.

[craig]

did you have the spark plugs in it?

[FattyBoomBatty]

Yeah, when you first build it, it can get tight once you put the head on. If you've ever tried turning a camshaft in an assembled head (off the block) you will know why. Just think of the additional force required to depress the valve springs. I know my upgraded ones have a seat pressure of 100 lbs, and it only goes up from there.

That's why rotary valves are so pimptastic.

[asshanson]

I plan to let it get warm, change the oil, and take it out for a bit tonight. When I'm breaking in the motor, how long should I do the vacuum pulls to seat the rings? What rpm range?

[asshanson]

It's alive!!!! At first it was just running on 2 cylinders, changed the plugs and verified spark and still the same thing. Found out two injectors were completely clogged with e85 goop. Soaked them in gas for 10 minutes to dissolve the goop, cleaned up as good as new and it's currently warming up. Is it normal for it to smoke a little bit?

Just got back from changing the oil/filter. Everything still looks good, and the smoking stopped. Tomorrow I will do vacuum pulls, I'm excited.

[Kevin 1G Drummer]

The smoke was probably just the excess oil burning off the cylinder walls. Glad to hear it runs!

[TkrPerformance]

way to go.

[Halon]

Yeah a little smoke at first, I wouldn't worry about.

Now break her in, tune it, and bring it on the cruise!

Congrats dude.

[A//// Guy]

Woot!

[asshanson]

I did vacuum pulls and other random driving (accel, decel, etc) around town for 20 miles today. Smoked a decent amount at first, but less now. Still smokes a little though. I plan to drive it again tonight doing the same thing, and again tomorrow a couple times.

Something seems to be rubbing on the motor side of the timing belt, it looks a little glazed over on that part of it. So I'll probably fix that tomorrow.

When should I expect the smoking to stop? Is this because the rings aren't fully bedded yet?

Oh yea, I'm going to borrow a compression tester and see how it's doing so far. Then check again in a few days.

[A//// Guy]

Hmm I never had a smoking issue when I did my rebuild. Is the smoke coming out the exhaust for sure? Not sure residue in the engine bay? What color smoke? Black, blue, white?

[Kracka]

Give it some boost!