Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

[cam_wmh]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

God this is awesome!!!
Keep it up

[Vulcan]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

Great reading about your progress. I noticed that the top of your block in the photos of the new head gasket seemed like it had rust on it??? Not sure if it does or it was just the photo but you should buff that off first.

[RONDAL]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

its not rust, and its completely smooth but i have decided when i get back from vancouver here i am going to buff it with a 3M scuff pad and take all that off. i took a razor blade to it earlier in the week and it was flat but you can never be too safe

[Vulcan]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

Awesome....just didn't want something silly to crap on your build.

[RONDAL]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

engine goes back together tomorrow

[GINCH]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

Let me know when you want to pick up your crack pipe and T-stat housing!
Derek

[RONDAL]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

i'll call you tonite and come grab it. Thanks D.

[RONDAL]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

January 15th, 2008

Clean up of Head & Block

So after a bit of time off over Christmas and a delay in being able to work on the Smurf after picking up my MK2 beater and the associated crap I had to deal with to get that running I finally got around to sorting out the head and block PROPERLY.


After doing more research and speaking with others I realized my initial attempt at "cleaning" everything up didn't go far enough and to avoid possible headgasket leaks down the road I figured I might as well do it properly the first time to avoid the headache of leaking or weeping gasket.


Last week I made a run to Auto Value and grabbed a can of permatex copper gasket spray. This tack allows the gasket to be sticky when you put it on and helps to avoid leaks and weeping.




To clean up the head and block I went to Canadian Tire and picked up some 3M autobody abrasive pads, I chose the red one as its the medium strength.





Grabbed a sanding block and it was work time!








Started off doing the head. There was still some oil inside the head which leaked onto the gaskets when i first tried laying it down. So what I did was sprayed some brake cleaner into the ports to try and thin out the oil and allow it to flow out easier. I threw the head on the table on some 2x6's being careful not to rest on the valves and coated everything down. Bunch more crap came out that I thought would, prolly better this way to avoid anything messing with the gasket seal.









As you can see from the pictures there was some buildup of dried coolant near some of the water jacket holes.
I coated small areas in brake cleaner and slowly scrubbed away at them until they broke down and disappeared.









Finally the finished it after about an hour of work. I tried to get as much of the coolant and carbon buildup off as I could but I didn't want to damage the valves or etch them at all so I left the areas directly around them alone.




This is what it turned out like







Happy with that result i went back to the block. I removed the ARP headstuds (hadn't torqued them down at all) and the gaskets and did the same thing on the block.

This is what it looked like before when I tried putting it back together, and I was trying to clean it up more than that.





After a little love:








The finished product with some Canadian BLING!





I also took the time to clean up all the crap surrounding the coolant port on the block with the thermostat housing connects. As you can see in the previous pictures there was a leak here so I cleaned it up.






That's it for tonite, tomorrow the tranny gets finished off and I will post those pics and I will mount the head back of the block and do the timing chains if all goes well.

Cheers.



*Derek come by tomorrow if you want, i'll call you regardless*

[VWSM]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

i hope you cleaned it good those 3M pads are loaded with abrasives and can cause engine failure.
put a sealer on the head it looks porous.

[RONDAL]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

i will be vaccuming everything out and using compressed air to blow out all of the oil lines to get rid of anything that mau have gotten into the head or block.

[VWSM]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

we use a sealer and razor blade to spread it evenly and cover the nicks and holes.

[RONDAL]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

That's what the permatex copper gasket tack spray is for. Lots of the guys running high boost VR-T's have used it and swear by it for creating a proper seal. It will fill in any of the slight imperfections.

[Stonewall]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

I find these posts very informative. Keep up the good work. Also helps me that I now have a VR6 to take care of.

[niXon]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

I'm not gonna lie this thread makes me jealous.

[DeanerF]

Re: Screw weight saving....just add more HP (Project Turbo Smurf)

i thought this was supposed to be done right . . . . I guess not