How to Rebuild Any Automotive Engine

PREFACE

Engine rebuilding is a time-honored tradition and like so many vocations, pastimes, and institutions of the last century, it has seemingly gone the way of television repair, drive-in movies, or mom-and-pop hardware stores. It’s easy to understand the reasons: contemporary automotive engines and their control systems are quite complex, creating the proverbial plumbers nightmare under the hood; ready-built replacement engines and crate engines are plentiful and cost-effective; and, modern engines are manufactured with better designs, materials, and methods that have drastically reduced the need for the traditional rebuild.

The evolution of society has something to do with it, too. A great many people live in suburban areas that don’t afford much extra space for pulling an engine out of a car and rebuilding it on a nearby workbench. Besides, who has the time for such an endeavor? Long commutes and the myriad details of everyday life make it difficult to carve out the time for such a project.

To create this book, I made the time. Citing all the reasons mentioned above—lack of time in my daily schedule being the biggest factor—it would have been easy to order a replacement engine or simply send off my car to an engine shop for a complete rebuild. I did neither. Sure, the book project helped make the decision for me, but, like so many other enthusiasts, it was something I’d wanted to do for a long time. I may never climb a mountain, snorkel in the Caribbean, or win a Pulitzer Prize for my automotive writing, but I’ve torn down, rebuilt, and reinstalled an engine in my own car.

Of course, I relied on professionals for necessary machine work and a few other details that I was not equipped to handle at home. However, except for a stubborn exhaust system, I removed the engine. I tore it down. I re-assembled it with new parts. I measured all the necessary clearances and tolerances. I reinstalled it in the car. And, most importantly, I got that rebuilt engine to start.

Few feelings of accomplishment compare to turning the ignition key after completing such a project and hearing, feeling, and seeing the fruits of the labor. It is a very satisfying experience, to say the least, and novices can accomplish it. The keys to success are planning, patience, and attention to detail.

Author Barry Kluczyk and the 1984 Mustang GT Turbo that served as the guinea pig for his engine rebuild project.

If you invested in this book, you’re probably like me—an enthusiast who is fairly comfortable under the hood, but has never attempted a complete engine removal/rebuild/reinstallation project. I’d worked on engines before writing this book and helped with a few engine swaps, but I’d never attempted the whole project solo.

It should be noted that while this book covers the general steps required to remove an engine, disassemble it, and then rebuild and reinstall it, it couldn’t illustrate all of the steps required for every vehicle. There are simply too many vehicle-specific design features and removal/replacement procedures, but wherever possible I have tried point out or use photos to illustrate differences in procedures for inlinestyle and V-style engines or front-wheel drive and rear-drive configurations.

Fortunately, the vast majority of steps and the cadence of them are similar, regardless of the vehicle’s drive configuration or engine type. That said, the builder who attempts this project needs to arm himself or herself with either factory service manuals or the aftermarket repair guides from Haynes, Chilton, etc. They will provide additional guidance on vehicle-specific components, removal steps, and, most importantly, the torque and tolerance specifications required during the engine assembly stage.

As described in Chapter 1, you’ll also need some tools and materials that aren’t likely in your home garage. If you haven’t got one, this project gives you a bona fide reason to buy a torque wrench. Like me, you may also wind up with a shiny-new shop crane in the corner of your shop, too. The accomplishment of the project proved that it was well within my grasp and I’m not afraid to break out that crane and use it again on the next wayward old car that winds up in my driveway.

I approached my rebuild project as a challenge, not a chore. I hope you will, too, and I hope this book helps to make your project a smooth, enjoyable, and satisfying experience.

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS A WORKBENCH BOOK?

This is an S-A Design Workbench book. It doesn’t present a hasty look at rebuilding automotive engines, nor does it give vague advice or only cover the high points. Furthermore, this book doesn’t require that you’ve had previous experience with engine building or a degree in engineering to use it. This book is a comprehensive guide that step-by-step shows you how to rebuild almost any automotive engine, foreign or domestic, and cam-in-block or overhead cam. Hundreds of photos guide you through the easy and complex procedures, and photo captions explain exactly where to look for possible problems and how to fix them. This book shows you how to rebuild your engine and ensure that it’s working perfectly.

However, this book is more than a rebuild manual.

The author and the editors at S-A Design have packed this book with information including performance tips and modification procedures to improve power and economy—and we didn’t stop there. We wanted you to get the same professional results on your first rebuild that the pros get after years of experience. So we’ve detailed the special components, tools, chemicals, and other accessories you’ll need to get the job done right, the first time. You’ll even find tips that will save you money and produce top-notch results. To round things out, we’ve included a Work-A-Long Sheet to help you record vital statistics while you work on your engine.

This book isn’t meant to replace other books on your bookshelf. (In fact, if you’re looking for in-depth information on high-performance modifications or racing tips, refer to any one of several best-selling S-A Design books, including High-Performance Chevy Small-Block Cylinder Heads, How to Build Max-Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget, How to Build Max-Performance 4.6-Liter Ford Engines, Engine Blueprinting, and many others.) The book you’re holding is meant to detail, like never before, the workbench procedures required to rebuild and assemble your engine—using the same tried and true techniques used by hundreds of professional engine builders—and prepare the finished engine for optimum street performance. If these are your goals, you’ve got the right book.

Why This Book is Different

While the common rebuild book is a series of typical-looking chapters, this Workbench book is quite different. Why did we make it different? The answer is simple: We had to! This book not only helps you become familiar with your engine and the tools and materials you need to work on it. It also shows how to rebuild an engine in your own workshop, step-by-step. This means that it must look different from other books. It must have hundreds of photos (more than 400!) to guide you through the entire rebuilding process. This book also illustrates some performance components, accessories, and upgrades for most popular engines. Through the use of Workbench Tips, icon-labeled photos, and extensive cross-references, this book presents both stock and high-performance information and keeps each separate and accessible.

Text and Photos

The text and photo sections are the familiar part of this book. They consist of columns of text combined with photos, drawings, and charts. These familiar-looking pages contain the basic information you’ll need to obtain the proper tools and materials to begin specific building procedures.

Conventional text and photos are the traditional and most familiar way to present information about these wide-ranging topics. However, the best way to explain the detailed procedures involved in rebuilding an engine is to show step-by-step photos.

Step-by-Step Photos and Icons

Each of the step-by-step photo sections includes a sequence of numbered photos and captions that illustrate virtually every operation involved in rebuilding a typical automotive engine for general street or high-performance use.

This book provides the depth and detail to competently rebuild a stock engine. While we have gone to great lengths to include all pertinent information, we didn’t have enough room to include all the specialized information for the many different engines in the market. We recommend using a model-specific factory or aftermarket shop manual as a companion to this book, so all unique procedures and information of your particular engine are at your fingertips during the rebuild process.

This unique Workbench book shows you how to install high-performance components and perform assembly steps that are critical to proper operation or safety. To keep these photos separated from the main rebuild sequence, we have labeled them with unique icons. These symbols represent an idea, and photos marked with icons contain important, specialized information. An icon-labeled step may apply to your engine, in which case you should include the step in your rebuild. On the other hand, it may illustrate a procedure that doesn’t apply to your specific application; in this case, just skip it and continue with the next photo in the sequence.

Here are some of the icons found in S-A Design Workbench books:

The step-by-step photo chapters may include optional steps labeled with icons. This book also includes other optional information that, although it may not be essential for building a specific engine, the reader may find useful. These optional information packages are called Workbench Tips, and they can be found throughout the book.

Workbench Tips

This book contains Workbench Tips. These tips cover subjects that are generally too short for the text-andphoto chapters but present more information than a single icon-labeled photo. The author and editors selected topics that they felt would be most relevant to the subject. Many contain hints that a professional may have discovered after years of work. For example, there are Workbench Tips on how to use a valvetrain organizer, what’s a 10/10 crankshaft, cast or forged parts selection, degreeing the camshaft, and much more.

The Workbench Tips are not presented in a specific order. You can read the Workbench Tips one at a time as you progress through the book, you can look up specific Workbench Tips at any time, or you can even skip everything else and just read the Workbench Tips. However you choose to use Workbench Tip information, we hope it will add to your understanding of the engine rebuild process and help you build the strongest, most reliable engine.

Where to Begin

How to Rebuild Any Automotive Engine is organized in a sequence that, theoretically, allows you to start at the first chapter and read straight through to the end. When you’re finished, you should have a top-quality rebuilt engine. However, one reader may want to focus on the final assembly information in Chapter 6, while another may want information about a particular rebuilding procedure described in a Workbench Tip, and others may be interested in the advice on the tools required for rebuilding, found in Chapter 1. Because of these wide-ranging needs, here are some tips for using this book:

If you’re starting from scratch to rebuild a street engine: Start with Chapter 1 and read the whole book, in order.

If you have some experience and would like to assemble an engine from miscellaneous components: Start with Chapter 4 and review important issues that you need to discuss with your machine shop, then continue through the remainder of the book.

For all readers: Review the tables of contents and study any unfamiliar information until it makes sense. Carefully review and study the entire rebuild sequence before you begin your project. The more you understand and practice these techniques, the more you’ll benefit from—and enjoy—precision engine building.

This is an example of the hundreds of step-by-step photos in this book. The photos will guide you through easy and tricky procedures, while the captions explain exactly what to do, what not to do, and how to avoid problems.

Several other S-A Design books contain information that you may find very useful in your engine building project. Some of these books are pictured or mentioned here. If you would like a complete catalog of S-A Design publications, visit our website at www.cartechbooks.com, or

CHAPTER 1

PREPARATION AND TOOLS

The task of removing, rebuilding, and reinstalling the engine of a car, truck, or SUV is more accurately described as a series of interconnected sub-projects that all fall under the large umbrella of the primary project: getting the vehicle back on the road. Those sub-projects comprise the topics of each chapter in this book. Strategizing the work, materials, and expectations of the overall project is easier when tackled in this manner. The following chapters in this book illustrate the numerous tasks or sub-projects and show them in the approximate order in which they should be started and completed. This chapter focuses on the preparation, materials, and tools needed to get the project started.

Preparation is the key to a successful and time-efficient project. Although removing, rebuilding, and reinstalling an automotive engine is a project that can be tackled by those with limited mechanical skill or experience, the procedures involved require strategic thinking, contingency planning, and reconnaissance. It is no fun to discover that, with the car immobilized with a partially extracted engine, a tool is required that isn’t in your toolbox. For those very reasons, you should do as much research as possible before starting the engine removal and acquire the tools, materials, and knowledge needed for the job. This means reading the factory service manual or an equivalent aftermarket repair manual prior to grabbing the first wrench.

The vehicle, the home shop (garage), and an enthusiast’s ambition form the foundation for an engine-rebuild project. Before the toolbox and shop crane are pushed into place, research and prep work is necessary to ensure a straightforward, high-quality, and accurate process. It is a project that can even be accomplished by novice builders who have never previously removed an engine or rebuilt it.

Factory Service and Repair Manuals

Don’t attempt this project without a set of factory service manuals and/or aftermarket repair manuals. Even if you are familiar with the underhood environment of your vehicle, you need the guidance provided by the manuals. In most cases, they provide the basic steps for engine removal, as well as describe specialty tools or hardware involved with engine removal, engine teardown, and engine assembly. For example, if you are unsure whether the engine is removed from the top (up and out of the engine compartment) or from the bottom (lowered out of the chassis on a cradle), the manuals will provide this basic but vital information.

These manuals also provide the specifications to which the engine should be rebuilt, with charts on torque specifications, component usage, and other details. You will not want to start the engine assembly without a copy of these specifications.

Aftermarket repair manuals for more popular and later-model vehicles, commonly known by their publishers—such as those from Chilton, Hayes, and Clymer—are generally available at most auto parts stores. They’re also available online through sites such as eBay.

If a factory service manual cannot be obtained, an aftermarket repair manual from one of the major publishers, such as Haynes or Chilton, is an acceptable alternative, but these manuals typically don’t offer the depth of information that is found in factory service manuals.

Factory service manuals, particularly for older models, can be harder to find and are considerably more expensive. A complete set of manuals, which typically include electrical, chassis, and body sections, can be had for only a few dollars for some models and upward of