T3 is Apart, Now What to do?

[jckrieger]

I finally took apart my semi-virgin T3 last night and have the cylinder head on my work bench. The car/engine have 90K miles, so I'm trying to come up with a list of parts to replace while I'm digging in. The cylinder walls look new, the rocker arms look excellent, and the cylinder head has no cracks.

I've already replaced the lifters at around 45K miles and I'll be replacing the timing belt and installing a Cometic MLS head gasket. I also plan to re-lubricate the timing belt idlers since they seem low on grease. I also have special surfacing discs for preparing the block and head surfaces for the MLS gasket.

What else should I replace while the engine is apart? The oil pump and intermediate shaft were replaced at SDAC 3 years ago. I'm thinking about installing a set of new valve spring retainers, but I'm not sure it's worth while since the valvetrain looks great after 90K miles. Let me know what you guys think. This car is mostly stock with only a front mount intercooler and 2.5" exhaust.

Also, does anyone have a good source for pinning the cam gears when I set the timing?

[turbovanman²]

Give it to me,

I would get the retainers, helps take the load off the belt, do Jackson's idler relocation, hone it and new rings. Inspect oil pump and shaft teeth, new valve seals, stage 1+ cams from me, slight port job, log header or tube header from me,

Valve gears, simply pin with a drill bit, set at TDC and install belt, I like to use those brake hose clamps to hold the belt in the intake pulley, install tensioner pulley last.

[Tempted]

I want your old lifters...... I need a few bad ones for a little R&D.

I use allen wrenches to pin the cams, they are easier to get a hold of and get out than drill bits. And I doubt anyone here will admit it, but there have been a LOT of pins/bits/allen wrenches, etc left pinned when the motor is cranked for the first time. What I do is use a piece of painters tape and stick it to the cam gears, then run the tape back to the passenger side fender. When doing your once over(checking belts, tools, oil, coolant, etc) before starting the car it is very easy to forget about your pins. With the tape there, its impossible to miss.

[jckrieger]

That's a good tip! My old lifters only have about 40K miles on them, but a few of them seemed to stick once in a while and make a bunch of noise. I'll see if I can dig some up, as I'm pretty damn sure I saved the old lifters in the tray the new ones came in.

I got the surface preparation discs for the Chrysler service bulletin from a coworker, so I'll be prepping the head and block tonight with them. White wheel for aluminum and the yellow wheel for the block. I just hope Chris Wright can ship my new head gasket in a timely manner so I can get this thing back together.

I may bust out the die grinder and clean up the intake manifold and the intake ports, or I'll just leave everything alone. I'm going to try and get an idea of how bad the port match really is before I make any changes.

I want your old lifters...... I need a few bad ones for a little R&D.

I use allen wrenches to pin the cams, they are easier to get a hold of and get out than drill bits. And I doubt anyone here will admit it, but there have been a LOT of pins/bits/allen wrenches, etc left pinned when the motor is cranked for the first time. What I do is use a piece of painters tape and stick it to the cam gears, then run the tape back to the passenger side fender. When doing your once over(checking belts, tools, oil, coolant, etc) before starting the car it is very easy to forget about your pins. With the tape there, its impossible to miss.

[Tempted]

Meh I just got used to the noisy lifters. They are too darned expensive to replace every time one starts ticking. When I replace them is when they start drying out after high RPM runs and give a knock sound when you slow back down.

[turbovanman²]

That's a good tip! My old lifters only have about 40K miles on them, but a few of them seemed to stick once in a while and make a bunch of noise. I'll see if I can dig some up, as I'm pretty damn sure I saved the old lifters in the tray the new ones came in.

I got the surface preparation discs for the Chrysler service bulletin from a coworker, so I'll be prepping the head and block tonight with them. White wheel for aluminum and the yellow wheel for the block. I just hope Chris Wright can ship my new head gasket in a timely manner so I can get this thing back together.

I may bust out the die grinder and clean up the intake manifold and the intake ports, or I'll just leave everything alone. I'm going to try and get an idea of how bad the port match really is before I make any changes.

Becareful with those discs, they can still round off edges.

Meh I just got used to the noisy lifters. They are too darned expensive to replace every time one starts ticking. When I replace them is when they start drying out after high RPM runs and give a knock sound when you slow back down.

Usually its crud, just take them apart, clean them and put them back together. I have the updated set and they started making noise, took them apart and found the plastic rings were coming apart and were inside, cleaned them, good as new.

[Tempted]

I am looking for some failed ones to see what I might be able to come up with. I'm sure I can get something together. I have a CNC mill with 3d scanner software, would be neat to cut one apart and see what I can do.

[turbovanman²]

I am looking for some failed ones to see what I might be able to come up with. I'm sure I can get something together. I have a CNC mill with 3d scanner software, would be neat to cut one apart and see what I can do.

Cut apart? They fall apart, its really simple, you have the lifter base which is a cylinder with one closed end, then you have a spring and a plunger with metering holes, that's it.

[Tempted]

Yeah but I can't scan it in one piece, the camera won't be able to capture the inside. I need to cut one from bottom to top, don't want to do it on a good lifter.

[Tempted]

This is what I use.

http://www.tormach.com/product_cnc_scanner.html

[black86glhs]

I've never left a pin or anything holding cam gears before. I don't have to lie about that. I did leave the rotators out of a quad 4 once. Cranked over really fast ....lol.

[jckrieger]

I won't be pulling the pistons since this engine has good oil control. I do 10K mile oil changes and the car uses less than a pint of oil between changes! In fact, this car uses less oil than any other car I've owned (which isn't saying a whole lot I guess).

I'll install a header once the turbo blows up. My philosophy with this car has been "upgrade as stuff breaks". Luckily, stuff breaks all the time so it has been getting plenty of upgrades lately. I'll be installing a 3 bar map and +40's if I ever get around to making a flashable SBEC.

Give it to me,

I would get the retainers, helps take the load off the belt, do Jackson's idler relocation, hone it and new rings. Inspect oil pump and shaft teeth, new valve seals, stage 1+ cams from me, slight port job, log header or tube header from me,

Valve gears, simply pin with a drill bit, set at TDC and install belt, I like to use those brake hose clamps to hold the belt in the intake pulley, install tensioner pulley last.

[turbovanman²]

I've never left a pin or anything holding cam gears before. I don't have to lie about that. I did leave the rotators out of a quad 4 once. Cranked over really fast ....lol.

LOL, never did that with a Quad 4 but did break one drill bit on my van, but that's another reason to use drill bits, they simply break rather than bend and mess other things up.

---------- Post added at 09:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 AM ----------

Yeah but I can't scan it in one piece, the camera won't be able to capture the inside. I need to cut one from bottom to top, don't want to do it on a good lifter.

Gotcha.

[Tempted]

My biggest "are you kidding me" moment was changing oil on a Spirit R/T. Got it all drained, new filter on it and in the Mobil 1 went. And out the Mobile 1 came because I forgot to put the plug back in the pan.

I also forgot to put an ignition fuse back in a car after changing a fuel pump one time. Took me an entire extra day to figure it out, I sent the customer home in one of my cars.

[black86glhs]

I'd rather have those moments than the, "did I torque the rod bolts?" moments any day!

[Tempted]

Or the "Where did this brand new piston ring come from?" when your cleaning up after a rebuild.

[turbovanman²]

I'd rather have those moments than the, "did I torque the rod bolts?" moments any day!

I had something similar happen, back when I was an apprentice, I was putting an SBC together and was adjusting the valves, stupid tower operator pulled me off to do a quick oil change after I'd asked her not too otherwise I could forget something, well got it back together, it was in a fully loaded van and the f*cking lifters were noisey, had to redo them in the van,

[Tempted]

Just tell the customer that you upgraded them to solid lifters and they tick...

[bahelion89]

if you replace the valve seals look into alternatives..a few of the guys use thunderbird seals(i think) and they work alot better and are dirt cheap...its what im switching to at the beginning of the year. i'd give you the link but its saved on my phone..do a search and it will pop up.

modded or titanium retainers are a must i'm kicking myself for not having them yet(i will have them at beginning of the yr) it doesnt have to deal with valvetrain as much as cam life and belt life. the retainers plus jackson mod pretty much make so u never have to worry about your valvetrain or belts again. the roughly 200 dollar investment is the best you can do for these.

if you have the time and money a little head work and hot tanking wouldnt hurt either along with arp everthing. pass that enjoy the car if u turn up the boost to much you will have to look into different rods

[turbovanman²]

4.6 valve seals, I posted that up,