And things just keep getting better.. Gunna have to pull head unless.. (Ideas?)

WhiteFox · Apr 20th, 2004, 12:42 PM

Well... yesterday I pulled out spark plug No. 4... The plug was nice and white.. but anywho- I checked the gap on it and it looked to be almost TWICE the distance- No matter... cleaned and re-gapped, no fuss.
Took a look into the cylinder with a flashlight and ugh.. you would NOT believe how it looks. All black and I swear you can actually see LUMPS of stuff on the piston top. Looks like somebody toasted a GI Joe action figure in there. I'll clean it up when I tear the head off.. Which I'm hoping isn't going to HAVE to be now.

Moving along to #3..
This is where it gets worse..
The spark plug was putting up a bad fight.. Yeah, y'all know where this is going. Finally got it out and Gee, if you wouldn't have guessed it, there was metal rings that flaked out of the threads on the plug.

Okay... deep breath.

Maybe I can get lucky. I cleaned the plug, re-gapped... cleaned out the threads best I could.. AAANNDD..... Nothing. The damn plug won't even go in more than 1/4 turn at best. I tried with different plugs.. nothing.. I can't get anything in there.

I'm almost to the point of just twisting the living hell out of it and fix it later.. I can't afford to keep it out of commission for long right now.

So, unless I can fix the threads with the head still on (2 or more holes will need it..) I'll have to yank it off the block. And I REALLY don't want to have to do that right now-- anybody have any bright ideas?

The shortest amount of time & money is the goal here- I can replace everything I need to later on. I just need it to be back to running.

B11sleeper · Apr 20th, 2004, 12:47 PM

ugh...

if the threads are toast, then i don't think it can be fixed with the head on. e series heads are available cheap on ebay, might just be better to swap heads. i doubt anti-sieze paste will help now.

BeEleven · Apr 20th, 2004, 12:59 PM

he's right....get an overnight delivery 33M head off Ebay for like 50 bucks. You should be able to swap in your intenals and buy yourself a new set of gaskets while you're at it. The hardest part about replacing the head is messing with the timing belt while it's still in the car. Aside from that, not too bad.

B11sleeper · Apr 20th, 2004, 01:09 PM

like this $64.00

WhiteFox · Apr 20th, 2004, 01:30 PM

65 bux for the head.. 10 bux for the packaging fee.. 34 dollars shipping..
Over 110 dollars?
Screw that. That's 8 more days before the auction closes anyways!

Keep in mind I don't want to remove the head RIGHT NOW.

I'm talking next few days, tops to have it running again.
Not perfectly, mind you. Just needs to operate.

WOULD it work just cross-threading the bastard in there and call it a day?
I'm not too concerned about the threads at this point- I know they're screwed. Can this damage the head in any other way such as splitting or cracking? If not... I just may have to do that.

I'm going to be either replacing the head or fixing it while it's off LATER ON.
I do not want to waste the time and money on something I'm going to tear apart within a month or so. Head removal isn't a 2 minute job, after all.

Thanks for the input, though. As I was saying I'm trying to avoid that route if at all possible.

Myetball · Apr 20th, 2004, 04:31 PM

You can try forcing the plugs in. You might get lucky and it will seal. Then again, you might just completely tear up the threads and be back to square one.

You might try buying a tap and retap the holes. Then rig up a tube on a vacuum and suck up as much debri from the cylinder as possible.

Dean GXE · Apr 21st, 2004, 05:02 AM

I`ve seen heads with plugs epoxied into them.

WhiteFox · Apr 21st, 2004, 01:17 PM

Well guys, wish me luck. I'm gunna wrench the F*** outta the plugs and pray they don't pop.

BTW, that epoxy doesn't sound too shabby, especially if I do totally strip them.. whatever..

I hate aluminum threads..

I'm still gathering everything I need for my 'big rebuild'..

Gsolo · Apr 21st, 2004, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteFox

Well guys, wish me luck. I'm gunna wrench the F*** outta the plugs and pray they don't pop.

BTW, that epoxy doesn't sound too shabby, especially if I do totally strip them.. whatever..

I hate aluminum threads..

I'm still gathering everything I need for my 'big rebuild'..

i would epoxy and get plugs as far as possible.

WhiteFox · Apr 21st, 2004, 11:07 PM

I showed those threads who's boss!

No worries now, guys. After it got started, rather badly, with a lil WD-40 and elbow grease, the plugs went back to their good thread pattern.

From what I can gather is that the top few layers of thread got messed up but the lower ones are fine.. Cleaned all 4 plugs and re-gapped so they're good for a long while now (platinum)

Thanks for the feedback fellas.. It's a relief to get it running (better, in fact!)