Engine rebuild - ER27

[mr.radon]

Well I got the Corteco kit and went to work on the engine yesterday of my "new" XT6 AWD. This is the one I got last month for $200. It has a blown head gasket, since it fogged like heck driving over to my house. The drive was about five miles, and I stopped after every mile to check coolant and allow everything to cool off.
Anyhow, I've got the motor totaly stripped, I'll post pictures tomorrow. The heads are off and torn apart, got the cams on the table and lifters out. I busted three lifters getting them out of the holes they rest in. I've never had that problem before, the cap on top snapped off and the top of the lifter came out in my hand with the bottom still in the hole. Seeing how this engine was so quiet on the drive over I wanted to keep all the lifters.
I noticed several seals missing from the rebuild kit.
1) The 3 (per side) metal backed, o-rings. Two are circular and one is oval. Where can I get these? The dealer?
2) Both cam seals are missing - on order

I also have heat damage to the inside timing belt covers. Both the right and left sides are warpped, not a good sign but everything is checking out so far in the engine. Anyhow so I need the two inside timing belt covers, anyone?
All the pistons and cylinders look good (hand cranking the engine over), however, I was wondering if it would be worth while to crack the case and replace that oval water seal between the case halves? I'm leaning against doing it.

Wondering if I should replace the head bolts.

Interesting notes:
1) The harmonic dampner is brand new, had just replaced.
2) The water pump is new
3) Timing belts are new
4) New radiator

[austinXT6]

Nice! I can't wait to follow your progress!

-a

[mr.radon]

I've been bumbed, no painting on the rally car; its too cold and wet to paint, spend all day getting the garage heated up.
Been doing a lot of skiing and ice climbing.
This is the first real weekend in the garage.
Just ordered:
a new clutch kit and camshaft seals from thepartsbin.com
got dist. cap, rotor, wires, plugs, thermo, and replacement engine gasket set (bought my old set back from the friend I sold my spare ER27 to) from carparts.com

Oh yeah, I finally got an engine leveler for my hoist. What a pain it was to get the engine apart from the tranny on this car.
I wanted more room to work on the engine (rally car is still inside taking up space) so when I pulled the engine I towed the car backwards out of the garage with my station wagon. We had freezing rain last night, so when I got done I spent 20 minutes spinning out in the street.

I still need:
R & L inner timing belt covers
weird oil seals, wasn't there a post on these awhile back? I can't find it.
(3) lifters

[grossgary]

those o-rings are dealer only items from what i've seen and they generally want at least 8 dollars a piece for each o-ring. unfortunately the Fel Pro kits come with these o-rings, too bad corteco kits do not.

you'll need the cam carrier to head o-rings (one per side) in the bottom corners as well. corteco kit does not come with those.

for the cams - you should buy the cam seal kit, it includes the cam seal and the cam o-ring behind the seal. replace them both. i think thepartsbin.com sells the o-ring seperately if you only ordered the cam seal.

i would not separate the halves to replace that o-ring, but i'd like to see you do it and take pictures just for kicks.

FelPro kit doesn't come with oil pump reseal parts either or the crank seals.

head bolts are also very expensive. at 8 dollars a piece...or was it 12? you're talking over 200 dollars for bolts. they do not need to be replaced. i called dealers and asked around and everyone suggested i reuse the original bolts. if you hear any different, post up.

[mr.radon]

The corteco kits does have the o-ring for the cam carrier. <-- I was wrong they do not....
They also have the injector seals which cost a lot from the dealer. <----the injector seals are crappy.
However, no cam seals and no metal backed seals. They look old so I'll get them from the dealer. I still can get parts from them for cheap.

I'm not going to split the block. I just got done checking each cylinder and looked at the manual. If I needed new bearings I might have gone in.

I'll post pictures tomorrow when I get a chance.

This car's flywheel has more scorching on it then the ralley car's. Clutch plate looked brand new, pressure plate looks 10 years old with the same level of scorching (blue spots) then the flywheel. Wonder why they didn't replace the pressure plate. Cheap mechanics.....

[grossgary]

one of my corteco kit did not have the cam carrier o-rings. if i remember i'll check the other two kits i have.

you lifters can be rebuilt by Mitzpah for like $4.95 each. they'll replace any parts that need replaced. or pick up some used ones and use the caps from them.

[Dima]

Hey Mr.Radon!

Me here.

I also will be resealing my engine - as soon as some parts arrive from your side. I will be pulling the engine out and re-doing the head gaskits. I'll be doing this by myself in my garage.

I've never taken an engine out or taken one apart before. If you could PLEASE take all the pictures you can and post them up here, I would GREATLY appreciate it! I have a few good ideas on what to do, but a few described pictures would really help!

Cheers,
Dima

[mr.radon]

you lifters can be rebuilt by Mitzpah for like $4.95 each. they'll replace any parts that need replaced. or pick up some used ones and use the caps from them.

Send me info on these guys, maybe I'll have all the lifters done. Phone number, address, anything.

[mr.radon]

Here we go. I put a couple of pictures up.
The first one is the heat damaged inner timing belt covers. I not only need the right and left but the center is damaged too.

[mr.radon]

This is the head removal.

[mr.radon]

These are for the cam seals. There is an oil seal on the end and a large O-ring opposite the oil seal.
Inside the carrier there are two metal backed o-rings and a metal backed oval ring. They attach with metal clips.

[mr.radon]

A few more pictures. To get off seals I drill a small hole very careful not to punch through. Then screw in a wood screww and pull it out. Works well every time. How do you guys get these seals out?
Also, I found the Right front cylinder had a some Al smeared (galing) onto the cylinder wall. I came off but where did it come from? I wonder if I should pull the pistons.
I'm worried about the heat damage to the covers, this engine got really hot at one time.

[mr.radon]

This is where I'm at right now. Am also looking for a good head shop in Seattle. Haven't checked for warped heads yet. I also want to get the heads checked for cracks. I got all the valves out. Looking for a shop that will reseat the valves for me. All the intake valves had (cleaned them up) gunk on the back side, came right off with carb cleaner.
Got new valve stem seals. The old ones were so bad. They just crumbled as I worked the old ones off the valve guides. They were at times a pain to work off the guides.
Want to make sure the engine block is not cracked. So to check I might just pull the engine apart and inspect it closly. Compression check will be doen when I get it back together.
On one side I had a bad time getting the lifters out. I pulled on the top of them and the cover came off. On a few I had to pull prety hard to get them to lift out. I still need a contact for lifters. I google'd the name I was given and nothing turned up. I looked on line and no luck on lifters. All I realy need are new caps to seal them off. I'm thinking, can I just put the old ones back in without caps? I mean, they are not going to fall apart assembled in an engine right?

The Corteco kit came with all the seals I needed except:
Oil pump seal - not the funky O-ring gasket but the shaft seal (size anyone?)
Cam seals - had the large o-rings
Cam metal back rings (2 rings, 1 oval)

What I still need:
(3) lifters
Oil pump shaft seal
R, L and Center inner timing belt covers
Valves reseated (PNW shop, will check USMB for advice too)
Heads checked for cracks (PNW shop, will check USMB for advice too)

All in all I thought I would be done by now, but darn it I need parts.

[kacerdias]

Since it appears that the engine had been overheated at some point in its life, I would *definitely* get the heads checked out to make sure everything is in spec. Make sure the valve springs are square, valves aren't bent, head is still true.

Since you've already taken the trouble of pulling the engine you may as well do the bottom end too. In my experience with the XT6, when you fix something, something else will break. Tearing the engine down can be a pain so it's best to take care of every conceivable problem before reassembling it. Get some Deves rings for it and have the cylinders polished. Maybe replace the bearings too while you're at it. If this motor was overheated they may go out and at the worst possible moment.

Damn, I'm such an optimist.

[mr.radon]

A-ha! I got all the info on lifters I need, here it is for you folks:
http://www.mizpahprecision.com/
Mizpah Precision Manufacturing, Inc.
100 Main Street, P. O. Box 22
Mizpah, MN 56660
Phone: 218 897-5922
FAX: 218 897-5905
mizpah@paulbunyan.net