Project Rescue

[immortality]

Bit behind on updates, so about a week and a half ago I managed to get some time to work on this thing.

Finally, some nice weather on my day off!

Picked up some oil for the boys beemer this morning and we'll do that when he's finally up (finished his last shift for the week on the bus this morning 6am).

Got stuck into the VT after lunch time.

Tried something new for cleaning surfaces.


New felpro head gaskets and ARP studs after cleaning all mating surfaces with isopropyl alcohol.


Did the oil change on the boys beemer and thought I might as well get the LIM bolted on, but it's completely filthy so chucked in the little parts cleaner instead

The gasket surfaces cleaned up ok but there is a bit of corrosion on the faces around the coolant ports.

[immortality]

After fitting my new 90lbs valve springs I was worried about the 340,000km timing chain so I decided to pull the front timing cover and fit a new one. Got stuck into that yesterday. Got the balancer off first thing, it's been replaced at some stage, the rubber is still good and there is only minimal wear on the hub seal surface.



So the next job was to get the timing cover off, shouldn't take to long right?

Remove the PS pump pulley and idler pulley and mount. Then remove all the bolts in the timing cover but leaving the water pump bolts in place as that has already been replaced at some stage and I don't want to disturb the gasket.

Well **** a duck, an hour later and the cover still isn't off. The cover is sticking on the pin that locates the timing cover and the CAS sensor. Tried cleaning it and using plenty of lube combined with lots of wiggling but it's a no go. I even tried loosening off the sump bolts which has potentially opened a whole another can of worms but that was also off no benefit.

Time to get creative...

First I tapped a thread into the bottom hole in the timing cover so I could put in a bolt to try and get more leaverage to pull it off but it didn't really work. next I decided I needed to get something behind the cover to help push it off the pin.

Winner winner, chicken dinner...


The inside of the timing cover is very clean but the timing chain gear has definitely seen some moisture.

[immortality]

Last job of the day was to clean up all the parts.

After about an hour's scrubbing we ended up here.

Next job will be to clean up the front of the block, change the timing chain, although it's still got tension on it it's showing signs of some stretch and it's better to be safe than sorry.

I also plan to remove the oil filter extension housing and do a little porting work.

[immortality]

So today's job was to remove the old timing chain, clean everything up and maybe splash some paint around. That was the plan....

But turns out I don't have the right size socket for the cam gear retaining bolt, thought I'd use a large spanner, but slipped and smashed the cam timing sensor magnet instead So now I need to source one of those and I'm not having much luck finding any locally here in Auckland or NZ for that matter.

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I also cleaned up the block and found the engine number and it matches the paperwork I have so that settles my debate about the engine.

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And I might have splashed some paint about....

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And just to make me more sad/mad, the seals and other bits I ordered last week arrived at lunch time today. If I hadn't stuffed up the magnet I probably would have had it back together by this evening

[vlad01]

Hard getting V6 parts in this part of the world. I normally buy via ZZP or GM factory outlet but $$$ for postage either way.

That chain looks pretty healthy actually unlike most of my engines after 300k on the clock after I had my way for a number of years.

[immortality]

Yeah, I was surprised when I pulled the cover off. Having said that, with that LPG mixer on the front of the TB it would choke it a fair bit so it would have been a good cruiser but never a fast car even if you floored it.

I think I've found some on ebay or amazon but then we are looking at a couple of weeks with shipping, something local will be much preferable. I've messaged one of the big Holden wreckers hopefully they have something.

[immortality]

I think I've found the only tool shop in Auckland that actually manages to ship bits overnight. Got the right socket for the cam bolt this morning and got stuck in.

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Decide to disco the PS pump/bracket and balance shaft retainer for a little more room for cleaning, peeled off the old gasket and hit it with some gasket stripper to soften up the old gasket goo.

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And whist that does it's job I'll go have lunch.

[Gareth]

progress

[immortality]

progress

Yes, indeed. Come to a screaming halt though, the weather has just set in, driving rain But before that, I did manage to get a little more cleaning done. my new toy makes it much quicker and easier and much less painful.

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Soaked it all in some WD40 and covered it up. Hopefully some good weather soon to get more done.

[immortality]

Need opinions on some cam specs (for turbo application).


Duration @ .050" is 224°/218°
Lift is .536”/.528” with 1.6 rockers
Lobe separation is 116 degrees