Pi headswap, underway.

[Willis_98GT]

man just be paitent, it'll all be worth it when its all running strong again. i wish i had a shop like that around texas..

 

[brightwhite98GT]

They are awesome. They work magic when it comes to fixing stuff. Im sure they will be able to repair the head for me. As far as pistons and rods go, only number 6 really needs to be replaced (both piston and rod). You guys really thing I will have to get everything rebalanced just by replacing the one piston and rod? Can anyone shed light on replacing pistons and rods?

It wasn't balanced when it left Dearborn. There's no light to shed dude, pull the oil pan,. unbolt the rod, shove it out the top. then rent a ring compressor, and beat the new one in, bolt the rod back on.

Well you shed enough light. Thats all I wanted to know. Thanks. I got some pictures, and it looks as if the little ledge on the head is what is smacking the piston, not the valves. Or my timing wasn't right. One of the two. The little grooves in the pistons look too close to the outside of the piston to be a valve. And theres no marks from the smaller valve (I believe the smaller valve is the exhaust valve? Not sure.

See the little ledge? It had silver marks going down the side of it, and the head looks saturated in oil. Valve bent?

Crack

Timing marks Im sure


Yeah, I think I totally fxcked up the timing on the driver side :nonono:

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Did you use silicone for a headgasket?

 

[MustangMatt96GT]

sure as hell looks like it... hope you didnt...

 

[reivaxtorres]

how does that happen? even if the timing is off, that swirl damn (helps mix the fuel, its what you pointed out as the tab) is not going to hit the piston unless you happened to use nothing as a gasket, or RTV as the gasket. did you use OE gaskets?

and also, what happened to the #6 intake valve? with the amount of damage done to the drivers side pistons, i would actualy want that crank checked to make sure you didnt bend it either. at this point, it might be a way easier (and maybe cheaper) task of just throwing in a used motor. if you want to keep it on the cheaper side, find a used NPI engine and put the PI heads on there, but make sure they are installed properly.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

how does that happen? even if the timing is off, that swirl damn (helps mix the fuel, its what you pointed out as the tab) is not going to hit the piston unless you happened to use nothing as a gasket, or RTV as the gasket. did you use OE gaskets?

I'm pretty sure that's how it went down.

FYI dude, motors take into account the thickness of the headgasket for clearance. I suspect you've learned that the hard way, but as a further FYI, silicone would have never heald that anyway. A cylinder see's pressures of over 150 psi, temps of over 800 degrees, in the future, save money longer and buy headgaskets.

Oh, and all the bolts are junk once you take them off the motor. All the head bolts, crank bolt, all of them throw aways, so if you were planning to reuse them, or did reuses them, take them all off and get new ones.

 

[reivaxtorres]

the cheapest head gasket/head bolt combo you can get is the Ford Racing head swap kit. it includes head gaskets, head bolts, dipstick tube. for the rest of the bolts, you would have to get from ford or ARP. also, does anyone know if the rod bearing caps, if the bolts are re-usable?

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Rod bolts are reusable.

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

:nonono:

thats about all i can say...

 

[brightwhite98GT]

I DEFINITELY used headgaskets. I ordered the entire headswap kit, but I was told by a few people to put RTV on as well, to help it seal so thats exactly what I did. The bolts under the brake booster I cant get in and out when the heads are on the block, so I put them in before I put it on and leave em in when I take it out. They were getting caught on the headgasket so I kinda just ripped it out (because I already knew you dont reuse those). Look at the bottom left corner, theres a piece of it.

I cant believe you guys would think I ONLY used RTV :nonono:


By the way, I'm not sure how it happened. Im not sure if my timing was off, or if the little swirl thing was hitting the pistons. Everything was torqued correctly. Im pretty sure my timing had to have been off, because it looks like I fucked up the valve seat on number 8 looking at the head, and number 6 ate the valve. I checked all the rods. Every piston reaches the top of the cylinder, all the way around and even. The rods are supposed to give out before the crank does, so I think the crank made it ok. I probably will get it checked anyways. Before the car died, I only heard the noise from the drivers side though. Im SURE it was my timing, almost positive. But the marks just look too close to the outside edge of the piston to be a valve. What do you guys think?

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

more pics of the damaged piston plz

 

[MustangMatt96GT]

more pics of the damaged piston plz

+1000

 

[reivaxtorres]

oh yeah.....there is a piece of headgasket there.... :hammer:

just making sure dude, ud be amazed at what some people do.

get us better pictures of the pistons and the heads. looking at the #5 cylinder on the head, it looks like part of the valve was hit since its a little different in color around the edge closest to the swirl damn, kinda shinny. the swirl dams dont look damaged tho, prob should have noted that the first time around.

get us better pics of the head. chances are the timing was off tho if it was the valves that were making contact.

 

[brightwhite98GT]

The outside edges of the valves are shiny. I'm now 100% is was my timing. Damn. It was my first time around though, and it only got toasted on the drivers side. I probably should of took the spark plugs out and double checked the timing. The compression probably hindered me noticing the timing not right. Everyone learns one way or another. Better than mommy and daddy paying some one else to do it I guess. I will have more pictures tonight. I'm getting ready for work right now, then I gotta do my presentation of this project for the SR board committee at school later on. ALL the pistons on the drivers side have little grooves in them from the piston valve contact but only 6 cracked. It has a crack all the way through then little cracks coming off the middle, but those don't go all the way. Just little spiderweb kinda cracks. The swirl tab does have a shiny spot on the inside wall where the valve obviously touched it, and there is oil on that head (number 8) I'm assuming all the intake valves at least on that side are toast. How much are new valves if I cant get Melvin to hook me up? What else do I need to replace on that side? My friends dad has a machine shop, and he said he'd fix it for me. Just get the parts for him and I'm good to go.

 

[jfor441]

IMO, the best thing you can do right now, is scour Corral.net's classifieds and see if you can find some good used pistons, rods cranks and valves. They may not be ideal for super high performance, but it will get you back on track for cheap.

 

[brightwhite98GT]

I got pistons and rods already. All I really need is valves (I think) and valve seats? I'm not sure what all is needed when replacing the valve stuff. I'm staying stock because passenger side is good, and I REALLY want my car back now. I miss it.

 

[MustangMatt96GT]

u can use the valves from your NPI for the PIs

 

[Jrgunn5150]

youll need valves and possibly guides

 

[brightwhite98GT]

I got all the valve train stuff out of my old heads, and had them put in my new heads. So I should be up and running soon again. The only problem i ran into today, was trying to figure out which rod on the crank lead to which piston (this may be a dumb question, but my mind is boggin out. Had a little bit of a rough weekend). I got the oil pan mostly off under the car, but not all the way (motor is in the car still). Enough so I could get the pistons and stuff out. Anyone know how I can tell with the car the way it is, which rod leads to number 6?

 

[MustangMatt96GT]

If I'm not mistaken it should be the 4th back from the front.