Ok, so stopped for the day because the LH Engine Mount Nut will not come off.  24" breaker bar, no.  1/2" Impact w/ a 60 gallon compressor, no.  So sprayed it with PB, friend is spraying it again tonight, and then one of us will in the morning and try again.  Worst case scenario = 3" cutter (air or electric I have access to both) and that nut is going to come off and the engine will come out. lol

 

 

Few pictures of where it's at.

 

I've since removed all the upper end stuff.  Just to note, the TB covers were missing when I bought it (I have a set)  It looks like either he got upset and ripped it off or this engine has thrown a timing belt previously.  The bottom part of the right hand TB cover is still there. lol

 

 

Here's a few other shots of the engine bay.

 

 

 

 

try some heat, may only need 10-20 seconds from a propane torch.

try some heat, may only need 10-20 seconds from a propane torch.

 

The problem one is rounded off somewhat now.  I cleaned up a bunch of my craftsman tools last night which have better tolerance spec (tightness to bolt fit) than Pittsburgh stuff.  

 

If it doesn't come off I'm just going to cut it off and replace the mount.  They are probably due for replacement, I was just trying to avoid any more costs.

understood - sometimes you can hammer on the next size smaller English socket - might crack it though.

 

good luck

All the sockets I care about are craftsman or Pittsburgh so if it breaks, oh well.  I'll just run it to Sears or Harbor Freight and have them swap it.  If it's one of the off brand generics I have that brakes, oh well. lol

I got the motor mount nut off (after pb for 24 hours) by pounding my 13mm Craftsman 1/2" onto it.  It finally came off, but the nut needs replaced.  We also ran into an issue w/ the lower left hand transmission stud nut but it finally came off as well.  Been an interesting experience, but not near as bad as others I've done.

 

And it's out, now onto the stand (early evening/tonight) to do the head gaskets. But first stop (while it's still in the back of the truck) is a car wash!

 

Passenger side Head is off and I can see the break on Cylinder 4.  It is a bit nasty from my car wash pressure wash, but you can obviously see the break on the block picture...........

 

Yummy. Something very rewarding about going through the hard work and dirt of tearing an engine apart and breathing new life into it.

Well that alignment dowel (aka straight pin) that decided to stay in the head instead of the block just put me out until Monday.  I have 4 new ones on the way, now to get all the old ones out.

 

I also have a new T for the PCV I'm picking up (that plastic brittle POS broke) and I'm replacing the passenger side PCV hose.

So, I had that alignment dowel that wouldn't come out and without a tap set there was no way I was getting it out. 

Since the new ones won't be here until Monday and Craftsman can't replace my spring compressor until the end of next week I decided to take the heads down to Import Engine Supply.

Import is cleaning and milling the heads, installing my valve stem seals and cam seals. I'm supposed to have them back on Monday.

So the driver's side came off as well (realized I forgot pictures of that).  Here's the driver's side mating surface now.  That's 2 sheets of 220 and 1 sheet of 320.  I can still see some ridge lines so I'm doing another sheet of 320 before I go to the 400.

 

Edited May 18, 201510 yr by lstevens76

Both heads are done and the flex plate/separator plate is off.  Now to figure out which sealant and reassemble the thing in the morning.

 

Hand milling heads is long tedious work!

 

And it looks like I'm going to have to do the RMS.  I was hoping to avoid it, but looking at the pictures it seems obvious to me that it's leaking.

 

Newest round of pictures.  All the milling is done and this is the RMS, Separator Plate area.  And no impact needed on this car, 2 of the bolts for the Separator plate were lose and the rest came out no problem.

 

 

I'll post pictures later but the heads are now on.  I misplaced one of the grommets for the timing cover back so I have to pick it up in the morning.  The rest should go pretty quick though.

 

Honestly I think I was scared of installing the heads, even though I shouldn't have been.  If something is wrong it isn't likely in the install but either in my milling, etc... and I believe that was done well (at least it looked good to me when I checked it for flat).

 

Now to the valve covers, dipstick, oil filler, etc...

 

But I missed an o-ring on the oil pan so it has to be removed and resealed again.  Loads of fun but at least I caught it before getting the engine in the car!

be careful mating to the trans. the TC can slide forward and cause a situation putting too much force on the pump.

And I'm finally putting it in tomorrow morning.  Notice, it has timing covers now!

 

Very nice work!

I'm going through pretty much the same with my 98 Outback. Massive clean up and repairs after years of neglect.

I have about 2 hours until I can go install it.  Might do the fuel injector o-rings real quick since I have the time.

And I drove it home tonight!  It ran great, good power, temp gauge stayed right where it was supposed to.  The power curve was really smooth and the power itself was better than it ever was before.  Could easily get myself in trouble now. lol

 

These pictures were about 3 hours before I drove it home.  We still had to do the belts, intake duct, oil, coolant, and a few misc. bolts.   

Congrats and nice work! bTW I saw that you used blue devil head gaskets repair before you tore everything off, did you see any evident of clogging anywhere in the cooling system?

Well you can see what the block looked like in the pictures.  The gaskets were nasty, but I still had circulation after using it.  I don't believe it clogged anything, but I followed the directions exactly.  

And to update this thread, about 140 miles now and I sat in a line for 2 hours yesterday (about a 1 mile  line) w/ the AC on Max and the temp gauge never moved, not even an mm.