Tearing Into an Engine

Operation Stude: Engine Update

Projects never go as fast as we think they will, but in the following video the tearing apart of Studie’s Small Block Chevy (SBC) looks pretty speedy!

Unfortunately it got cut off right when things got interesting…I took to the heads with my Chicago Pneumatic impact gun (those bolts are long) and also had a little problem using the harmonic balancer puller. Evidently there’s a cone peice that fits in where the puller meets the crank threads…I was missing it and it resulted in messing up the threads (very important since this is what makes the engine turn!) But not to worry, threads can be fixed, although I wish it didn’t happen in the first place. Here’s some of the part names I was just talking about in case you’re learning too:

Basically you just go from top-down and front-back when you’re dismantling an engine. As you take bolts off, be sure you have a system in place so you know where those bolts are going again when you finish – this is recommended with any car work, but even more so with an engine! I used plastic bags and labeled accordingly – I’ve also heard of using old muffin tins with tape to label.

What is also important is when you’re taking off the heads that you do it evenly. Kind of like when you change a tire, you want to work in a star pattern. There are much more bolts in a head than a tire, but you get the picture – work from the outside in. This is helping to keep the torque throughout the head somewhat even, as you don’t want to warp the metal at all.

I also took out all my rocker arms. These and the push rods need to be very carefully organized so you know exactly where they came out – because when you put everything back together, they need to go back where they came from…you don’t want to move these things around.  (After I took the picture below, I secured the rods with tape. Another option is sticking them through cardboard.)

Once the head bolts, rocker arms, and push rods are out, it’s time to lift the heads off. Heads are heavy…so you need to be careful. Mine took a little bit of jiggling before they cracked off. Once they’re off, you can see down into the cylinders. All that black stuff on the piston surface is carbon build up.

The same icky carbon can be seen in my spark plugs. These demonstrate just how bad (and rich) my lil’ ol’ engine was running.

Now it’s time for me to clean, clean, clean so I can get a fresh paint job on this…I’m over the flamingo pink!

What color do you think I’ll choose next???