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Some more pics of the head condition. For 120K, everything so far looks good









And just for reference, here are some R/T engine markings...







Now comes "WTF" section. I think I've lost my mind





Why would I take a perfectly good wiring harness apart? A V-cookie to the first person that answers correctly

I thought this was interesting. Ever wonder why your fuel rail wiring stay so straight? Here is why...



I thought it was a straw at first, but it's a solid round stick of plastic. It will be re-used.

I have also taken the manifold polishing job to the next level. I'm a glutton for punishment.

The manifold has pretty severe casting marks as we all know. But the welds are also fairly ugly. I don't like 'em. I will remove them. Here are some comparison shots. Mind you, I have just started on this part so you are seeing the work in progress.

Shot of the mostly stock cast mark on the lower part of the manifold...



And an idea of what it will look like when done...



A shot showing the transition from stock to modified...



Comparisons of the welds on the upper manifold at the outer runners...

Mostly stock


Beginning of the mod



Even the runners themselves are being modified. I was never too crazy about the blocky look of the manifold runners. So I will make them smoother as well.



More to follow. It will be hard to type with the straight jacket though

Jesus. You really are insane.

Nice progress though.

Can I answere the question about the wiring or will that be cheating???? lol I gotta stop by ur job to see that intake mani its gonna look sweet.

Is a V-cookie what I am thinking it is? And your doing a wire tuck?

Wow man, you are crazy lol. That head looks immaculate though! What oil do you run? Who ever had my head last ran some crazy oil that stained everything a yellowish color.


Just to fuel the fire, maybe you could polish the IAC while your at the manifold? I'm starting on mine now.

Yea you really are a glutton for punishment lol, but the mani is coming along very smoothly...Ok so next time to make it easier on myself how did you get the injector plugs off without damaging them? It was near impossible to get mine off so I just left them alone and did the job the hard way...

bone-yard-racing wrote:Is a V-cookie what I am thinking it is? And your doing a wire tuck?

It might be And since you are correct, here you are!

ZeroChad wrote:Wow man, you are crazy lol. That head looks immaculate though! What oil do you run? Who ever had my head last ran some crazy oil that stained everything a yellowish color.


Just to fuel the fire, maybe you could polish the IAC while your at the manifold? I'm starting on mine now.

I just run either Castrol GTX 5-30, or (most times) our Mopar bulk oil (which is regular Mobil oil now I believe). And I do have some plans for some more polishing work as well

LionheartedSXT wrote:Yea you really are a glutton for punishment lol, but the mani is coming along very smoothly...Ok so next time to make it easier on myself how did you get the injector plugs off without damaging them? It was near impossible to get mine off so I just left them alone and did the job the hard way...

When you say the injector plugs, do you mean the wiring going to the injector itself? Once you release the red lock tab, depress the clip release and pull with steady, even force. It sounds easier than it is since the connectors don't like to come off

Technician A (Juan) says: I'm telling you, you are going to have bent valves.

Technician B (Me) says: Shut up Juan!

Who is right?

A) Technician A

B) Technician B

C) All of the above

D) None of the above

And so everyone has all the information available to have a chance to make an educated decision, here are some visual aides.







Yeah, ouch. I would have expected to see two bent valves, but all of them??? Craptastic.

But, on the bright side, the pistons look ok.



This is the worst one...



The pistons don't have a lot of carbon on them either. Not to shabby for 120K

A some random shots of the exhaust manifold.











More to follow...

Even though Juan was right I'm gonna go with all of the above. Just cause he was right doesn't mean he can't STFU . So what's in store now? Ey? You going to rebuild everything?

Could you never ever put anything in ASE question format ever again?

LilSparkPlug wrote:Even though Juan was right I'm gonna go with all of the above. Just cause he was right doesn't mean he can't STFU . So what's in store now? Ey? You going to rebuild everything?

Yep, that's what I told him. I hate it when he's right though

But yes, she will be fixed up good as new. I'll get the valves out and survey the damage and repair the chamber. While I'm there I'll do some mild porting work too

bone-yard-racing wrote:Could you never ever put anything in ASE question format ever again?

I thought some folks would appreciate that. It's was Juan's idea to put it that way. He is still in class, so it's fresh in his head

lol! i loved the tech A tech B thing. Those always make me laugh when I do my dad's master techs for him... err wait. what?

That's how I operate. If I'm in there I mod everything else! Why the hell not

lol I love it when im right but in reality I really wish I was wrong, I would never wish stuff like this to happen to good people especially one that has helped me as much as John has. But I know John can get her fixed and I will help where I can.

sidepipe87 wrote:Those always make me laugh when I do my dad's master techs for him... err wait. what?

You really need to stop doing your Dad's master techs...unless you are going for a sugar daddy!

haha he comes home and gives me the damn thing and is like here, do this. guess he's not a fan of them but he must learn the info somehow because he always seems to know the stuff. Maybe after 40 years of doing the same crap it just works like that lol

DAMN SON!! What did you do? Lose the belt? Looks like it's time for oversized valves and a comp 400 cam.

invujerry wrote:DAMN SON!! What did you do? Lose the belt? Looks like it's time for oversized valves and a comp 400 cam.

danteneon wrote:The bad news is that the alignment dowel on the cam is no longer attached to the cam...sheared right off Since the most common reason for that to happen is because the cam sprocket bolt wasn't tightened all the way, I can only blame myself. I could swear I did tighten it to spec, but I was rushing a bit at the end of the job

I wanted to upgrade the cam, but money is teh suck I have a used 03 R/T cam that I got from Zerochad. I will do some minor porting, but nothing crazy

Update time. *Pic to follow shortly*

Work on the intake is going slowly. I work on it for 1 hour each night waiting for my wife to get done at work. At this rate, I'll be done with the manifold the weekend before Carlise

But there is progress...







It's things like the following pictures show that take the most time. Look at a factory manifold and you will see some pretty sloppy casts. My goal is to have all of the transitions made as smooth as possible. I have a sickness, I know.











As far as the wiring job goes, it too is moving at a snails pace. I'm going to replace all of the blue split loom with new black tubing since I'm going for the stealth look. I'm in the process of cutting and soldering the wire harness together and mapping just how I want the harness to be routed.

Got a great deal on this soldering station. It's not the brand I would use normally, but for $20.00 new I couldn't pass it up



Yet another mod I'm going to do is to replace the metal coolant lines with rubber hose from the heater core to the water pump outlet. Hey, it was good enough for the 60's and 70's so it's good enough for me! And since rubber doesn't retain heat like the metal lines, the wiring run near them should stay cooler. Plus I can tuck them more out of the way for a cleaner look.



And last but not least, the head work. I haven't touched it yet, but considering that that is the simplest part of the project (and the most expensive) I'm saving that for last.

More to come...

Wait... touching your head is expensive? NO WONDER I'M FREAKING BROKE ALL THE TIME!!!!!!

Yep! At the rate you are going Sean you will wipe out the national deficit!

Wana work on my engine?? It needs a rebuild... well not really but i want it

jetas wrote:Wana work on my engine?? It needs a rebuild... well not really but i want it

Ummm...no, not so much I really have my share of projects!

I have added some pics to the previous post as well.

damn, after seeing that manifold, it makes me want to take it off my car, dump the damn thing in paint thinner and then redo the damn thing over again. It looks great so far, it will be well worth it in the end though. So you have been using a dremel this whole time to do this?

I have used a Dremel in the tight places, and I used a die grinder with a rolock disc for the initial sanding of the runners, but everything else has has been done by hand so far.

I have some new attachments for the Dremel that should make the finer cutting and polishing much easier in the really tight spots.

Dam i was kinda hoping you would do it haha. That mani looks really really good dante.

Thanks

Trust me, it will look even better at some point

^^^
The manifold takes a shit load of time to get it right.After cleaning up all the casting you will end up having sand scratches you will have to work with before finishing it....

120K and stock belt? Good for you
They are a 90K service interval, and when we swap them out we also do the water pump at the same time.But if there's any timing belt related issues as for jumping time or coming off, chances are the valves are shot or it will take a piston with it.The head in my garage now cam off a motor that blew the water pump, the timing belt, and all the valves were bent, the head is ok though...

As far as I can tell, the head appears fine. Now that I have finished my taxes, I will be getting the parts I need to finish her up. Now I need to start the final stages of the polishing and get cracking on the wiring harness.

damn yo, that is looking good. coming along well. i hope she drives well after all of this.