Rebuilding 96 dohc

[chris's sc1]

I'm in the process of doing a rebuild. And I'm going to clean parts while the block and crank are at the machine shop.

My first question. Can I soak the pistons with out removing the wrist pins.

[onlinebiker]

Sure.


You can also shower in a raincoat...

But do you think that's really the best way to get cleaned up?

[chris's sc1]

20191205_182737.jpg
20191205_182820.jpg
20191205_182856.jpg

Starting the piston soak. Measured side ring clearance before removing the rings. I dont have to buy new pistons. I'll be pulling these out in 4 hrs.

[Waiex191]

Nice! Are you going to drill holes in the oil control ring slot?

Edit: new pistons are nice too.

[chris's sc1]

I wasnt aware that was an upgrade or mod. What does drill the holes do for it

[Waiex191]

Chris,
Do a little searching on the forum. The short of it is the oil is able to drain back into the engine rather than coking up an immobilizing the rings. That is what causes saturns to use oil. You will notice my aftermarket pistons have slots for that in the oil ring. If you have a V block and a drill press it should not be a hard job.

Edit: one thread that has a YouTube link.
http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=223094

Edit 2: my search.
https://www.google.com/search?q=site...obile&ie=UTF-8

[chris's sc1]

Yes I will be drilling those holes. I watched a YouTube video on it so now I'm up to date on that info. Thanks for sharing.

My pistons are not yet clean. I starting soaking them in berrymans chem dip last night at 6:10 utah time. My chem dip might be a worn out by now I have used it a lot. If they aren't clean by the time I get home today I'll have to get another gallon.

Unless there is another way besides wire wheel.

[alordofchaos]

You'll have to do a search but I think DIYguy cleaned his while they were out of the engine, using household ammonia. May have left it out in the sun to heat up.

Somebody else (cboss? ehunter?) said that soaking in ATF softened the carbon considerably

[chris's sc1]

Thanks for the tip. I just walked in. And havent checked them yet. But I'll update here shortly

[Waiex191]

I think Lowe's Depot still sells MEK. Besides being death on a Ritz, it is a very good solvent.

[chris's sc1]

Adding heat did the trick. Softened it right up. Only took an hr or so. But they are clean. I've got a friend who has a drill press that can drill the oil holes for me. I'll post some pics of them when they are done.

[toggenburg]

Looks like HomeDepot has gone the way of California.
No MEK, but been replaced with Klean-Strip (not as volatile).

But, Walmart of all places sells it by the gallon.($39).

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Methyl-Et...CABEgLS-fD_BwE

[onlinebiker]

Originally Posted by toggenburg

Looks like HomeDepot has gone the way of California.
No MEK, but been replaced with Klean-Strip (not as volatile).

But, Walmart of all places sells it by the gallon.($39).

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Methyl-Et...CABEgLS-fD_BwE

Our local TruValue hardware (Bob's in Otsego) still carries it. $26 a gallon if memory serves...

[454cid]

Originally Posted by toggenburg

Looks like HomeDepot has gone the way of California.
No MEK, but been replaced with Klean-Strip (not as volatile).

Klean Strip is a brand/company.

[chris's sc1]

All is good, pistons are clean and are ready to go get the oil holes drilled. Going off the YouTube video. 3 holes on each side should be plenty right.

Is there anything special I need to have the machine shop do to the crank and block.

The crank bearings were completely shot but the surface of the crank looks good to resurface. The cylinders look like they are good. the cross hatching is still there with very little up and down marks. I cant feel any differences in shape where the pistons reach tdc. So I dont think the cylinders need to be bored. Maybe just power honed to take the glaze off and redo the cross hatching. Decking the block, I'm going to have them do that just because I want it to have a true surface.

Let me know if theres anything else. Thx

[Waiex191]

Three holes per side is way better than zero. Seems good to me.

My machine shop evaluated my crank, bore, deck, and head. My crank was not turned down, I just got new bearings. My bores had taper and were bored up one size. I can't remember them doing anything to the deck but they skimmed a couple thou off the head to make it flat. Maybe they cleaned up the deck? Don't take off much at all though.


Here is the before picture.

[chris's sc1]

20191208_203617.jpg 20191208_203421.jpg 20191208_203734.jpg

Before pic of the deck and after math of cleaning the pistons. Using berrymans chem dip. Heating it up works wonders. I'll post more pics when I get the piston oil holes drilled out

[Waiex191]

Here was the inside of my bores before.

[chris's sc1]

Yeah those dont look near as bad as mine. The person I got the car from beat it pretty hard. The roll pin in the trans was broken so the trans was no good.

[chris's sc1]

Ok guys the block is at the machine shop. I'm having it decked just so the surface is true. Cleaned and honed. He said the cylinder walls look good enough to just do a power hone without over sizing.

What the best ring set I can buy. I'm going to turbo this motor and want to get good rings.