Here is were I will be keeping notes and asking questions about the status of my project. For you that don't know I will be doing what many have already done. Installing a 219 cam, 190 AFR Heads, Accell Base, 1.6 RR's, and lastly a SuperRam.
Please feel free to ask questions and please help me when I need it. :crazy: ...Thanks

 

Here is my first question:

I spent about 1.5 hours removing and labling all the componets such as vacuum lines, ect. I am not down to the manifold with the fuel rails still attached. I drained the little bit of gas out of the rail and thought that would be a good place to stop for the night. What I did notice that I did not like was the inside of the plenum and runners were covered in a light bit of oil. This obviously is coming from the line that runs from the passengers side valve cover to the throttle body. I presume this is some sort of vacuum, but is there anything I can do to keep the oil from going into my new setup? Is there a purpose to having the oil lining the plenum/runners and I imagine the base? This seems messy to me and I don't like messy :lol: Perhaps if I understand the purpose I will be able to live with the "mess". Thanks guys and I hope others learn from my trials on this project. Later :cheers:

 

Well..... isn't that hose part of the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system? If so, probably some oil on the rockers/etc in the valve covers is just getting fired in along with some of the air that goes in. I doubt there is anything you can do about it.

 

Boy Scorp you must be as sick as I am with this stuff. I am constantly reading on here. My women often ask if I know she still exists. I reply that if she knew as much about cars as you guys I would have all kinds of things to talk to her about. She just shakes her head.
Well I guess the next logical question about the line to the throttle body is: Would it hurt anything to just put a breather like the older cars have? This would eliminate the ugly line that runs along the valve cover and also eliminate the oil being deposited in the intake.

 

All TPI's have this black oil like coating on the inside of the plenum/runners and intake.

I think it is combination of the EGR system and the PCV systems.

Vic

 

Will it hurt anything to eliminate the hose in question...Thanks

 

You could splice in an inline filter, maybe a paper element or fuel screen type, that's what I did on the PCV side. I may do the same thing on the fresh air side too.

 

Mark,
Hey thanks for the reply. I think I have her figured out. Can I just put a pvc type plug on the passengers side, I guess it would be the fresh air side? Let me know what you think.
And that has to be one of the nicest looking engines I have ever seen. Mine is very clean, but that is unbelievable!!! :crazy: You have me thinking now. Were did you get the little red things that go on the pulleys. And now did you get the SR to be so shiney? WOW!! That is unbelievable I must say it again! I printed it out to show my dad. Thanks.

 

Ok guys,
Here is the new question but first I have it almost the whole way down. And boy was there a lot of stuff between the radiators. I never had a cooling problem so I just never bothered cleaning it. I saw all the posts and it is true what they say. These things are line vacuums. The question is as follows:

How long (end to End) is the cam shafts out of an l98. The block looks about 20" long, but I need to know how long the cam chaft is for sure. It may sound like a stupid question, but I am gonna try to install the new shaft without taking the A/C radiator out. If someone could please let me know I would appreciate it. Thanks a million.

 

You have to pull the radiator in order to pull the Cam out. I can't see you doing it any other way. Pulling the Radiator will only take you another 30 minutes.

Vic

 

I pulled the radiator Vic, but do not want to mess with the A/C radiator. I can pick up about 2.5" more by gently pushing on it. I really do not want to disconnect the A/C units. If I knew how long the cam was gonna be I could just measure the distance I have in front of the engine. THanks.

 

You're confusing everyone by calling it a radiator, it is the Condensor. ;) You MIGHT be able to pick it up about 1" to get it out of it's little ruber holders and move it forward. Be damn careful of those AC lines though!!

 

Scorp,
Hey thanks for clearing that up. I usually come in after working on the car for about 10 hrs and my explinations are not very good. Sorry. I just put another 12hrs in, from 8am-8pm! My freakin back is killing me. Anyways, I have the heads off and they both looked very good. The pistons have some buildup of carbon on them so I gently removed it. They look like brand new now. What causes the carbon to build up on the pistons. Is there anything that can be done to prevent/remove the carbon once it is in there? I have read about water through the intake to cause the carbon to blow out. It would be neat to see if it really would clean them. This stuff was really a bear to get loose, without damaging the pistons surface. One other comment I would like to make before retiring to watch some UFC/Pride Fighting, is that the exhaust manifolds are absolutely TERRIBLE on these cars. The holes are ~30% smaller than the openings on the heads!! I sat there and thought to myself GM should be ashamed to even put these on a vette. They weren't even the same shape, I would have made something better than these were made. I wish I would have taken them off earlier, I would have ported and polished them. Perhaps that is why the pistons were carboned up. A word to the wise, if you don't plan on getting headers soon, take the exhaust manifold off and port the ones you have, you will crap when you see how badly they match up to the head. The one had a big glob of metal on the surface that mates up to the head, I :eek: have no idea how it did not leak.
Well I must retire to the couch now and watch some guy get the crap kicked out of himself. Later.


[Modified by ski_dwn_it, 7:53 PM 11/24/2001]

 

Ski

Is the Cam out yet ?

Nice progress report.

Vic

 

Ski, you can put a breather on the passenger side valve cover and eliminate that line running to the TB that is sending oil throughout your tpi. The hole in the stock valve cover is a weird size and i couldn't find a btreather to fit, so i just have the elbo sticking out...not a problem.

You might be able to rotate your condensor enough to get the cam in. When i just cleaned the space between it and the radiator, i was able to rotate it quite a bit....it'll be close.

Don't worry about the carbon on the pistons. It may look ugly, but it won't hurt anything and i don't think there is anyway to stop it.

Sounds like you you making progress. Cleaning all the stuff you took off and prepping everything for re-install taks a while. Take your time & good luck

 

Guys,
Thanks for the replies. I am going to be at it all day today again. I wake up in the morning and its the first thing I think about. I think it is taking over my life. Its going to really suck once it is back together because I am not going to be able to drive it till spring :cry
Thanks for the tip on the breather. I will definately do something I do not like the idea of all that oil in there. The cam may be out today, but I need to get a puller for the harmonic balancer. I need to send my heads to a guy that bought them so that is my first priority. Like I said I have all winter to complete the project. Its hunting season now so I probably will slow down a bit till it is over. Any suggestions for getting the cam out? Thanks all.

 

symptom:

excess oil from PCV

disease:
blow by, worn rings and / or valve guides


other discussion:

oil vapors from the engine go in the intake via the PCV valve & get "burned" in the combustion process.

Why.. pollution laws, pre PCV cars when you got the natural blowby (or excessive) oil vaprs would come out the breather cap, and on a really worn engine the entire engine compartment was an oily mess.

How bad is yours? some is inherent in even a good engine... a compression check will tell you.. If you don't want to do that... then on the HIghway run WOT a bit... if it blows the PCV valve out of it's socket then it's horrible.

 

Ok Guys,
I'm back with an update. I have been hunting for the past two weeks and had great success. Anyways I started working on the car again last night and all parts are to arrive by the end of the week. I removed the lifter last night with no trouble. I was afraid of the lacure buildup that sometimes keeps the little babies in there, but there was none at all and they lifted right out. I kept each one lables and oriented just as it came out of the engine. I made a cardboard holder that kept them in the same location/orientation that they were in the motor. Each was visually inspected and all looked great :D I then pulled the hamonic balancer off with no problem at all. I have heard that they can be a real bear. I used a 12.99 puller from autozone that allows you to use bolts that go in the threaded holes the pulley mounts up to and then pushes on the center bolt. I was afraid of boogering up the threads on the crank so I put a bolt in there to puch against and it worked really slick. At first it would not budge and I thought here we go...I just put some pressure on the balancer and gently tapped the outer side of the balancer. I put some more pressure and it started to come right off!! :cheers: At that point I had a beer! After the beer I began to pull the timing cover and and lowered the oil pan down a bit. At that point we stopped.
I was hoping that some of you could suggest a good set of timing sprockets and chain that I could replace the originals with. It probably would be alright but I thought if I am in there I might as well just change it to make sure. I am looking forward to your suggestions. With many thanks.
Jesse

 

I'm putting a Cloyes True Roller Timing Chain on mine. They are between 70-100 buckaroos.

 

Scorp,
I was checking them out in JEGS too. What is the difference between the "true roller" and the stock one. I have not gotten mine off yet, tonight I will, to really take a close look at it. Thanks. I think I have heard of others using Cloyes before. Any other comments? Thanks Scorp for the suggestion :cheers: