Andrew's DiySB Rebuild

[StkmltS]

Last night was cleaning night.

I cleaned the crank, rods, and case halves in the bathtub with warm soapy water, and dried them off using Scott Shop Towels (supposedly they're low-lint). I lightly oiled the cylinders to keep them nice and purdy. Everything is on my work table in the garage covered in plastic and waiting for tonight. This is it boys, assembly day is here!

 

I decided against putting together the SB in my basement because... just because. Everything I was going to do in the basement to keep dirt out, I can still do in the garage. An air conditioned garage is a beautiful thing.

[StkmltS]

Obviously only so much assembly lube will fit between the bearings and journals, but how much is too much?

Should I keep it neat and tidy inside the block, or should the lube explode with great violence around the bearings?

 

Are there any negative consequences of having a globule fall somewhere inside the block and just leaving it there to be assumed into the oil after the motor starts?

Edited August 10, 2016 by StkmltS

[xt2005bonbon]

Good question. I want to know too.

[birkhoff]

Assembly lube. Just spread out a medium-thin layer with your finger over the whole bearing surface. It will squeeze out when you torque the case. The key thing is to keep it off the block mating surfaces. Any stray lube will be washed out by the oil on startup.

 

Maybe I missed it, but when did you size your rings and load the pistons? What gaps did you decide on?

[StkmltS]

Assembly lube. Just spread out a medium-thin layer with your finger over the whole bearing surface. It will squeeze out when you torque the case. The key thing is to keep it off the block mating surfaces. Any stray lube will be washed out by the oil on startup.

 

Maybe I missed it, but when did you size your rings and load the pistons? What gaps did you decide on?

 

I haven't test fit the pistons yet. I'm not sure if I'll have time to get them into the block and onto the rods tonight or not. I'll be happy as long as I get the crank/rods assembled and the SB halves torqued together.

 

When I fit my rings they all had the same numbers. Either they're pre-gapped from the factory, or they conveniently happen to be identical to each other and correct. I haven't been able to find any evidence as to whether they're intentionally pre-gapped or not. The gaps are correct per the LGT FSM, except for the top rings, which are correct per the STI FSM.

 

Specific details about the rings on page 1, post #6.

[birkhoff]

I see. It is the top (compression) ring you want to be careful with. You have extra gap there which is the right way to go if you deviate from the spec window.

 

I set my gaps as top= 0.0110, second= 0.0170, control=0.0170.

So my top was also a little open compared to spec, but for my purposes, reliability trumps performance. So far nothing blowed up

 

Not sure what the STI limit spec refers to, but at nearly 4 times the upper limit of stock gap, it seems to give a lot of leeway for an 'oops' when you hand file your rings.

[StkmltS]

The rods are torqued onto the crank at 38.4 bls/ft.

That's balls per foot in case you're wondering.

Edited August 31, 2016 by StkmltS
to add photo

[StkmltS]

Bearings cleaned, installed, and lubed, SB mating surfaces ultra-grey'd, four (three black and one orange) o-rings installed, and SB halves torqued together. The crank easily spins by hand as it should, with no hesitation or strange sounds/feels.

 

Pic #1 is so I don't wonder if I lubed all of the bearings.

Pic #2 is so I don't wonder if I put in the correct o-rings, and how much Ultra Grey I used & where I put it.

Pics #3 and #4 are because this is a major milestone. Assembly is underway!

 

For the record, my crank had "AAAAA" and some other numbers stamped on it. It seems like it would make sense that the A's on the crank indicate that the main journals are standard size, and they correspond with the stamped 2's on the block for the standard size main bores. After it was all together I realized that I didn't get a picture of the markings. Maybe someday I'll try to pull the info from the videos I've been recording.

Edited August 31, 2016 by StkmltS
pic uploaded to server

[SBT]

Definitely progress - everything looks clean, good and tidy - well on its way.

[StkmltS]

Ring time

Edited August 31, 2016 by StkmltS
pic uploaded to server

[StkmltS]

That wasn't too bad. Typing this post on my phone took about as long as it took to load the rings.

 

Per ME (H4DOTC)-69:

Top rings gaps are at position "A".

Second ring gaps are at position "B", 180° from "A".

Top oil ring spin stoppers are snapped into the side holes at position "C", 25° CW from "A".

Oil expander gaps are at position "F", approximately 25° CW from "B", and the ends are NOT overlapped.

Bottom oil ring gaps are at position "G", approximately 35° CCW from "B".

Edited August 31, 2016 by StkmltS
pic uploaded to server

[birkhoff]

AND, dots on first and second ring all pointing up (I see one of them there).

 

Getting them in the bores is easier than you might think. Lube well with plain engine oil and go slowly just in case a ring hangs up. Very unlikely, given the large chamfer on the bores, but if it does, reset the compressor and try again.

 

You can tap them in or simply push with your thumbs.

[SBT]

AND, dots on first and second ring all pointing up (I see one of them there).

 

THIS!

 

Getting them in the bores is easier than you might think. Lube well with plain engine oil and go slowly just in case a ring hangs up. Very unlikely, given the large chamfer on the bores, but if it does, reset the compressor and try again.

 

You can tap them in or simply push with your thumbs.

 

Coat your your pistons and rings with oil, and definitely oil the bores, work it around the entire circumference with your fingers. I get pretty liberal with it.

 

Wiggle, gently, while tapping, gently, with the heel of your hammer handle, starting at the center of your compressor/piston area, and working outward in a spiral and they should go in without any resistance.

[StkmltS]

AND, dots on first and second ring all pointing up (I see one of them there).

 

Getting them in the bores is easier than you might think. Lube well with plain engine oil and go slowly just in case a ring hangs up. Very unlikely, given the large chamfer on the bores, but if it does, reset the compressor and try again.

 

You can tap them in or simply push with your thumbs.

Point to you, a ring got hung up.

 

The top oil control ring somehow came out of the groove and folded itself over, cutting a scratch all the way down the wall. It went in fairly easy, but obviously I should have pulled it back out and looked it over again.

 

This weekend will suck. Instead of assembling, now I need to reopen the block, rehone the cylinder, pray the scratches come out, realize they're too deep, cry, figure out what to do, spend more money, try to convince myself that it wasn't entirely my fault even though it was, and be thankful it happened now vs later.

Edited August 31, 2016 by StkmltS
pics uploaded to server

[SBT]

Dang man.

[StkmltS]

Revised plan for this weekend:

 

Correctly install pistons 1 and 3 to bring my confidence level up to 50%.

Separate block halves, leaving the crank on the RH side bearings, place o-rings back in a bag.

Remove the the LH side main bearings and set them on the crank journals.

Seal RH side case half in a plastic cocoon of safety.

Hone cylinder 4 until I'm blue in the face. At this point I have nothing to lose.

Clean and evaluate cylinder 4.

 

-If the scratches are at least 87.6% gone:

--Measure the new piston to wall clearance using "A" and "B" pistons.

--Order a new "A" piston if necessary (which would make my block AAAA).

--Scrape off liquid gasket, reapply liquid gasket, install main bearings in LH side, install o-rings, torque halves back together.

--Resume assembly reusing one of the top oil control rings from my old pistons.

 

-If the scratches are still too deep:

--Take a deep breath and pause to consider my next move.

--Buying a new SB is no longer an option because of the cash I've already spent on internals and the turbo.

Edited August 12, 2016 by StkmltS

[BarManBean]

 

Hopefully all is good and the worst part (aside from the time) will be scraping off the fresh RTV.

[xt2005bonbon]

 

Hopefully all is good and the worst part (aside from the time) will be scraping off the fresh RTV.

 

 

Sorry to hear man.

[heiche]

Try not to beat yourself up about it too much. At least the 2nd time goes much quicker

[birkhoff]

Bummer. That's the only thing I can think of at the moment. Very bad luck.

 

At this point I have nothing to lose.

 

 

 

Hold on there. Not quite true. If you build the motor up and it is compromised by that cylinder, you lose all your prep steps, the bearings, pistons, a good bit of the head work, and a full gasket set. You have a lot of reasons to...

 

Take a deep breath and get back on track.

 

I suggest at this point that you split the block, order a new piston (A grade this time) and take it, the other pistons and both halves into a reliable machine shop. Have them hone out the scored bore to fit the new piston, and then hit all the other bores with a light hone. The bottle brush hone is already a weak point in your program and it will cost you nothing to have this done once they set up.

 

While you are waiting to for the machine shop to do its thing, show us a picture of your ring compressor. This should not happen. Something is not right with the compressor or the setup.

[FJuan]

That's sucky, Andrew. Is that a ringland crack between the lower to middle ringland?

[StkmltS]

^ just a scratch from where the ring dug in.

[StkmltS]

If you tap a piston down and stop at juuuuust the right spot, you can see that the oil ring is positioned correctly BEFORE causing any damage.

Edited August 31, 2016 by StkmltS
pic uploaded to server

[StkmltS]

Suprising progress. Despite having no faith that my block is (DIY) salvageable, it appears to be working. Only about 1/2" of one of the scratches can be felt with a finger nail. This is after about 5 minutes of honing (if it was continuous). I know that this is the wrong way to do the right thing, but if it works I'm gonna go with it.

 

It looks like the other half is going to need to come completely apart so that I can get off all of the RTV. No biggie.

Edited August 31, 2016 by StkmltS
pic uploaded to server

[StkmltS]

Here's how it looks after another 2-3ish minutes of "honing". If you close your eyes and concentrate you can still catch a bare finger nail on it. With nitrile gloves on you can't feel it. A negative consequence of doing what I did is that now the cylinder ridge is more rounded than chamfered.

 

After I verify that that this "B" cylinder now needs an "A" piston, I'm going to use the block as it is. It's a gamble, but considering my post-screwup options it's a chance I'm willing to take.

 

I need as many cards in my favor as possible, especially after this ordeal, so I put both bare halves back in the tub and gave them a thorough scrubbing.

Edited August 31, 2016 by StkmltS
pic uploaded to server