How to rebuild an engine
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== Requirements == | == Requirements == | ||
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Step-by-step. Everything you need to do to your engine prior to assessing it for machine work. | Step-by-step. Everything you need to do to your engine prior to assessing it for machine work. | ||
Before you start taking things off of your engine there are a few items you want to have on hand so you can start and finish with few stops and starts. | Before you start taking things off of your engine there are a few items you want to have on hand so you can start and finish with few stops and starts. | ||
| − | You will need a 4-wheel engine stand (3-wheel engine stands have a wicked | + | You will need a 4-wheel engine stand (3-wheel engine stands have a wicked tendency to tip easily). Using a 4- wheel engine stand is the safest and fastest way to dis-assemble an engine. |
You will need baggies to put all of your nuts and bolts into so you do not lose any of them. Make sure to label the baggies. Some like to use a metal coffee can with some 1/8th inch holes poked in the bottom and sides, to clean parts with prior to putting them in the baggies. This will allow you to rinse the dirt and grime off all the fasteners very fast and you do not have to worry about any of them falling out into the solvent bath. A can of WD-40 or something like it to be used on the rusted fasteners. It is a good idea to have a bunch of clean rags. Some of these engines can be DIRTY and if you keep your tools clean as you go, you will not waste time washing your hands. If at all possible roll the engine to a place where you can clean/degrease it from top to bottom. The only thing worse than dropping a greasy iron head on your foot is trying to catch an engine tipping over on a 3-wheel engine stand. I would also like to take a few pictures of the engine from all angles. Then when you are putting things back together you have a reference photo to figure out just where that bracket goes. | You will need baggies to put all of your nuts and bolts into so you do not lose any of them. Make sure to label the baggies. Some like to use a metal coffee can with some 1/8th inch holes poked in the bottom and sides, to clean parts with prior to putting them in the baggies. This will allow you to rinse the dirt and grime off all the fasteners very fast and you do not have to worry about any of them falling out into the solvent bath. A can of WD-40 or something like it to be used on the rusted fasteners. It is a good idea to have a bunch of clean rags. Some of these engines can be DIRTY and if you keep your tools clean as you go, you will not waste time washing your hands. If at all possible roll the engine to a place where you can clean/degrease it from top to bottom. The only thing worse than dropping a greasy iron head on your foot is trying to catch an engine tipping over on a 3-wheel engine stand. I would also like to take a few pictures of the engine from all angles. Then when you are putting things back together you have a reference photo to figure out just where that bracket goes. | ||
| − | The first items that come off of an engine I am going to rebuild are the exhaust manifolds. Then take off all the brackets holding the A/C compressor, | + | The first items that come off of an engine I am going to rebuild are the exhaust manifolds. Then take off all the brackets holding the A/C compressor, alternator,power steering pump, and smog pump. Then take the distributor out. I wrap a clean rag around the bottom end of the distributor and then put it into a zip-lock plastic bag. I can then clean this later. Now for the carburetor or fuel injection or throttle body. For the injectors I put them into plastic bags. Again when it comes time to put new "O"-rings on the injectors I can work on each, one at a time, without getting them dinged up in the fastener can. If the engine has a carburetor do not turn it upside down unless you plan on installing a rebuild kit on it also. Any "crud" that has settled to the bottom of the carburetor fuel bowl will become lodged in places you do not want dirt or rust, so keep it right-side up and again wrap a clean rag around it and then pop it into a plastic bag. I do not like to keep the carburetor in the garage all wrapped up like this so I put it in the storage shed with the gas cans and things. If you are working on an engine with a throttle body just put the unit in a plastic bag for now. At a later time you can put in new "O" rings. You just don't need all these parts in your way until you start to reassemble the engine. |
For an engine with a carburetor now is the time for the fuel pump to be taken off. On Small Block Chevys (SBC), there is a spacer plate that needs to be removed also so you can take the fuel pump push rod out of the block. I put this rod and the spacer plate in with the fasteners. | For an engine with a carburetor now is the time for the fuel pump to be taken off. On Small Block Chevys (SBC), there is a spacer plate that needs to be removed also so you can take the fuel pump push rod out of the block. I put this rod and the spacer plate in with the fasteners. | ||
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