EA82: Engine Assembly Chemicals

[DirtyMech]

I've just about got the engine out of my DL, and with the gasket set in from the mail I'm close to taking it apart. I'm researching five basic things that will be needed to put the engine back together: threadlocker or coater, assembly lubricant, engine cleaning chemicals, the Permatex anaerobic sealant that Snowman told me about, and a method of thread repair (chemical or otherwise). Words of wisdom from those who have experience with various products is very much appreciated, as are the stories of those who have experimented with inventive solutions. My limited knowledge and input is below:

 

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1) Threadlocker/thread precoater: The small (50 mil) retail bottles of threadlocker are expensive and dont cover a whole lot of bolts, and whether they are necessary I do not know. I can't find any bulk hi-temp threadlocker for sale online, but maybe there's a better solution. Perhaps a product used for a different application would work just as well. Hi temp silicone gasket would resist heat and movement, if the threads could be well coated. But the possible downside, that the threads become way too tight making it near impossible to take the thing apart again, is what keeps me from experimenting. I imagine that all bolts that I take out of the motor should be coated with something before I put them back in the engine. Theyre definitely going to have to be cleaned with my wire rotor brush before they go in, and some I know I will just have to replace altogether. All of the bolts were covered in rust and taking them out nearly busted some of them.

 

2) Assembly Lubricant: I've heard that regular motor oil works fine on Subaru engines for when you want to put them back together, but I'm not convinced that white grease or some other prelubricant might do the job even better. Certainly theres hundreds of possible solutions, but maybe just using a heavy grade motor oil would be the best solution, both for the machine and the wallet. Or maybe a mix of two different lubes for different parts, white grease for valve parts and motor oil for the rest, or something along those lines.

 

3) Engine cleaning chemicals: The heat-tempered deposits on the outside of my engine block can't be completely reached with a rotor wire brush, especially in the areas around the spark plug holes. I've used Powerhouse Heavy Duty oven cleaner to take off the major stuff, but the heat-treated carbon deposits remain. I imagine that some kind of acid would do the best job, but what is appropriate with regard to the metal (and my skin) I am not certain about. I need to research cleaning chemicals more, but I included it because its one of the five chems that I will eventually need.

 

4) Permatex Anaerobic Sealant: This is for the block halves, and replaces the OEM stuff that is no longer available. One problem: there's two kinds. One is called Permatex Anaerobic gasket maker, and the other is Permatex Anaerobic Flange Sealant. The difference in name is subtle, but the difference in price is around 600%, as can be found near the bottom of this web page with different permatex gaskets:

 

http://caswellplating.com/permatex/permgasketmakers.html

 

Snowman probably knows the difference. If I'm lucky he'll be around to clarify the difference between the two, and what I should use (and how many of those goddamn tiny 50ml bottles I'll need to do the job).

 

5) Thread repair: I've had bad luck with physical thread repairing using taps and the like. I see that Permatex has a liquid thread repair system, and I've also read about the threadeded inserts such as HeliCoil. Appropriate thread repair technique is a question common to all engines, so who out there has had really good success, and what did you use?