I finally got the heads off this weekend, and as some predicted it's pretty nasty inside. The first warning sign was the head bolts were almost loose. I read horror story after horror story of people breaking sockets and tools getting these things off. But for me, only three of them put up any real fight, and a cheater bar solved them no problem.

The right head came off first, no real evident damage to the gasket, but this side was definitely leaking externally. The left side was the real nasty one. Large chunks of the gasket were gone by cylinders 1 and 3. Cylinder 5 had some standing water in it. Rust all over.

The only real good news was the cams. I pulled half the lifters out, and they were all in great shape. No signs of wear or dishing at all. Obviously I couldn't get a great look at the lobs in the block, but from what I could see it was the same - some varnish, but no loss of metal.

The way I see it I've got three options.

1. Give up and part the truck out. I only paid $700 for it, so I probably would make out okay.

2. Attempt to hone out the cylinders with pistons in place. A fellow at work suggested this, but I'm not keen on it. I have no idea whats in the piston rings now, and despite best efforts I'm sure material from the honing process will get down in there and cause untold damage. Pros - this is the cheap fix, cons - if the engine wasn't on it's last legs before it will be now.

3. Pull the pistons and hone the cylinders. Basically, throw a bottom end rebuild onto the project. Taking out the pistons means pulling the front cover, so at that point I might was well inspect the water pump, replace the timing set, replace the front main seal and check the oil pump.

My preference in this instance would be to leave the crank and camshafts in place, just replacing the rod bearings, but with the bottom end off I'd obviously take a good close look at the crank. And doing all that of course assumes I can clean all the rust off the cylinders and leave them within spec, and there isn't any significant warping of the block.

It's more work, and more money, but if I keep digging far enough, at some point I will run out of things to fix (on the engine at least, I know this is a rover).

 

What was wrong with it in the first place? Is a simple head gasket job not going to cut it?

 

I think the major issue is the rust in the cylinders. I would go ahead and pull the pistons and do a proper job. It's more work but you should have a strong running truck with fresh bearings and head gaskets when you're done.

 

You gotta pull the pistons.
That will not be all that hard.

Then hone the cylinders.

You'll be happy when done.
Problem is -- that the other owner just parked it for years.

Take the piston rod bearing off of the crank.
then get a wooden rod and shove it up into the piston and try to tap it out carefully.

Actually -
I would put Wd40 or similar into ALL the cylinders and try to break the pistons loose using a large socket and breaker bar on the harmonic balancer nut - carefully...

Even if you can only move them 1/2 millimeter that is OK for starters.

 

Go with PB Blaster or Kroil for the win!

 

Thanks guys. That's more or less what I figured. put a bunch of penetrating oil down the cylinders, then use a breaker bar on the crank to get it freed up. Then it's time to tear open the bottom end. What's the size of socket on the crank pulley/balancer?

 

For $700 I'd put new head gaskets on it, fog the cylinders with fogging oil, crank it over by hand a few times and drive the b!tch.
No way I'd spend the time and money on a full rebuild for a $700 truck, unless I was doing a complete restoration and making it a show/parade truck.

 

I'm with Spike here.. Just clean out the cylinders.. Fog them up and spin the thing around a few times and see what you've got... maybe spin a hone in them and then wash them out good and oil them up...Spin them and look for bad marks.. If there aren't any.. Do the heads and bolt it back up..

The bottom ends of these things are pretty tough as far as I know..

The head gaskets were the real issue..

But I'd go ahead and do the timing set and a new water pump as well..

90% of bad engines are because something went south in the top end...

Good Luck

John

 

id be really impressed if those rings dont break when you go to spin that over.

good luck!

 

I'm an electrical/electronic guy but here's m2c:
hone the cyls with the piston in place but first seal the gap between the piston and cyl. I'd use something like "window draft stopper/sealant", it doesn't quite stick to the windows and is quite strong to be pulled off in the spring (like an elastic) so that the windows can be opened again.
You should be able to do 4 at a time this way. Before turning the crank, remove the sealant and soak with PB Blaster.

SD