Engine Freshening Tips (long)

[wmc2004aug at bellsouth.net]

At 05:02 PM 12/8/2006, you wrote:
>What else should I be looking for?  .....  Is pulling the pistons 
>out of the bores a /really/ bad idea?  Does anyone have a "Garage 
>Monkey SR20 Engine Rebuild HOWTO"?  I have the FSM for both cars as 
>well as Haynes manuals that cover all G20s and B14s for visual 
>reference.  I have a good set of torque wrenches, and know my way 
>around with them.  Is there a left turn at Albuquerque I need to watch for?

I didn't keep up on the later SR20 stuff...  what's a "2001 roller motor"?

I think you're setting yourself up for failure and wasted money with 
this plan.  It is not going to be dirt cheap -- you will still 
probably have several hundred dollars in gaskets, lube, sealers, 
parts, etc.  And you are likely to end up with an engine that's 
"nothing special" at best;  at worst, it may self destruct or run like crap.

The head is a big issue.  You propose using a 180Kmi head with no 
rebuilding.  SR20 valve guides wear *badly*.  They were quite sloppy 
on the 70K head I rebuilt.  At a minimum, replace the guides, get the 
valve seats re-cut at a shop with a Sunnen or Sedi mill, grind the 
valves, and re-shim all the valve heights.  Oh wait -- that's 85% of 
a complete head rebuild.  You might sneak by under $500.

You didn't mention mileage on the bottom end.  But if you think the 
bores are rusty, that's BIG trouble.  I have to guess rust is going 
to be nearly a couple thousandths into the metal.  A sheet of paper 
is approx 1.5 thou' -- 0.0015", and that's HUGE unless you're working 
on a lawn mower.  All those "grades" for pistons etc in the FSM are 
in increments of a few ten-thousandths;  usually like 0.0004" 
steps!  Unless you're going to correctly over-bore & re-hone the 
cylinders AND replace the rings and pistons, I'd just leave them in 
there and cross your fingers.

Besides tq-wrench:  micrometers, bore gauges, SR20 valve-stem height 
tool & dial indicator, angle tightening wrench.

I think you'd be better off and money ahead with a low mileage 
junkyard or JDM engine.

Crap.... $320 was probably way too little to sell my 93K mile 
partially built SR20  :(  Oh well -- at least I should get to see Rob 
like some ass in 2007 competition!


    -Wayne  '06 RSX-S / 93 SE-R / '93 NK2k / '90 Miata / '07 Scion tC