Ok... time for some catchup to those not in the know. Engine wouldn't idle, but i fiddled with it enough to get it to start almost everytime. Then it stopped wanting to start.

 

On came the compression test. Cylinder 1, 70psi. Cylinder 3, 30psi. Didn't test the otherside (i wish I had :/)

 

Decided to pull the engine, got it out last night. Took it down to the block tonight.

 

Pass. side head has some cleaner whitish spots on it, as do the cylinders.

 

Drivers side head had white exhaust valves, otherwise normal look. All 4 of the lifters had a broken ring on them, and came apart when i pulled them out. Also a slight crack in the exhaust ports, leaking a little bit of coolant and exhaust apparently.

 

Its all in the wagon, in the morning I stop by my local shop and have the guys take a look at what I got.

 

Ideas? Thoughts?

did you manage to take the pistons out of the motor??

 

I'll betcha #3 is blow pretty bad. We've had one that looks perfectly fine, but once we took the ring off the piston fell apart in 3 pieces on the floor

 

 

Ok... time for some catchup to those not in the know. Engine wouldn't idle, but i fiddled with it enough to get it to start almost everytime. Then it stopped wanting to start.

 

On came the compression test. Cylinder 1, 70psi. Cylinder 3, 30psi. Didn't test the otherside (i wish I had :/)

 

Decided to pull the engine, got it out last night. Took it down to the block tonight.

 

Pass. side head has some cleaner whitish spots on it, as do the cylinders.

 

Drivers side head had white exhaust valves, otherwise normal look. All 4 of the lifters had a broken ring on them, and came apart when i pulled them out. Also a slight crack in the exhaust ports, leaking a little bit of coolant and exhaust apparently.

 

Its all in the wagon, in the morning I stop by my local shop and have the guys take a look at what I got.

 

Ideas? Thoughts?

Ok, just got back from talking to the guys at Action Machine about the engine.

 

This morning I talked to my buddy's up at Bow Wow auto. In the daylight, #3 cylinder is very marred. All cylinders have pitting. Looks like ring failure on #3.

 

Action Machine said the block looks like its gotten hot. (It had, thus the reason I resealed it.) They agree that #3 cylinder is way gone, but #1 and #4 aren't that far behind it. #2 looks the best, least amount of pitting. He said the engine got hot, then sat for some time, probally a matter of weeks with water in the cylinders. All true, car sat at zaps house for a week before I got it all the way to my house, then another week before I started pulling it apart and rebuilding.

 

My fault, I put decent heads and cams on a shot block. ANd drove it into the ground. THis would explain the doggy low end to some degree.

 

Options:

 

Jap. Import engine, locally - $820 after tax and in my garage

 

Action machine bore the block I have, new pistions, balanced, with them disassembling and assembling the short block - $1500 give or take $200 depending on new pistons, etc...

 

Same stuff from acton machine, only I take it apart and put it back together - $1000 or there about

 

Now, lets take a look at probally needing a new head. Has a crack in the exhaust ports, leaking exhaust into the coolant. - $150-$300 probally.

 

Now lets think of me living in a cardboard box, and walking to WCSS because I can't afford to live and pay insurance/ gas money.

 

If you had very little money, what would you do?

I wouldn't have anything more to do with your old block and heads. No sense in polishing a turd.

 

If I were you and could afford it I'd get the jap engine, put new headgaskets and timing belts on it, and run it.

get a good block, clean it up. get good heads, clean them up. Slap it all together with an OE seal kit

 

I'll bet I can come up with a good clock and heads for you, but you are so far away. Shipping would be a bit.

yeah, get a used carby block and have it checked, then all you have to worry about is heads.

and i'd recommend an "apartment" made out of a few large industrial appliance boxes. put a tarp over the tops and set the boxes on cinder blocks to keep the rain out. use your otherwise-idle car battery with a 12v converter so you can power a light bulb and your alarm clock. good luck!

Andy... I'm having a hard enough time building a reliable engine. I don't even want to try and mess with running higher compression on a turbo motor!

carbs have the same compression as turbos, SPFI and MPFI are the same as eacy other for high compression. don't forget the rottweiler on a chain to complete your new lifestyle (above if you missed it).

Dude, turbos are 7.7:1, carb is 8.5:1, and spfi/mpfi is 9.5:1

hm, heard somewhere that the part numbers for the pistons were the same. either I'm wrong or the CR difference is in the heads. Either way, Tex knows better than to take me seriously

I have an extra EA82 motor that I am trying to sell. It has good compression just needs new head gaskets. Its in Denver. Let me know.