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homegrowngarage · 07-14-2017, 11:03 PM

Been awhile since the last update. At the end of the the summer we were still dealing with some minor issues like idling, seized calipers and other stuff. To make a long story short, I ending up taking the car around the block with no coolant in it, and as I pulled back in the driveway I popped the headgasket.

Now being that we were leaving for school we decided to just leave the car and fix it later in the year when we came back. But we made the shitty mistake of leaving the oil/coolant/frosty mixture in the motor..... for 9 months!

Fast-forward to May 2017 when we think we're just a quick gasket change away from driving the car and we discover this mess.

The lobes of the camshafts were rusted from water condensing on top of them over the months, and everything was covered in thick sticky milkshake. Time to dig in and fix it.

Our friend Adam helping us out while pulling the motor back out.

Cams out. Notice the rust in the head.

Hating life

We ended up completely stripping the motor down to the bare short block and getting a case of brake cleaner and cleaning the goo off. We figured it would be worth a shot, if the motor blows then we'll just pick another one up. Since there's a lot of small nooks in the head we took it to a car wash and power-washed the hell out of it lol.

Pouring fresh oil on the bearings after brake cleaning the block. Worked surprisingly well, we got just about all of it out. We got cheap conventional oil from Walmart and planned on putting a few miles on the motor and then changing it.

Cleaned and ready for assembly

Reassembly

Also did new gaskets on the motor, and a front main seal.

Not pictured was the frustration of stripping the threads on the idler gear sprocket for the timing chains, which resulted in $50 wasted on a helicoil kit. Also we needed new cams, and our friend had an s14 KA laying around which we picked up in exchange for a case of miller lite. (Thanks Logan!) This did mean that the new cams are now 232 degrees which is a little smaller than the s13 cams, but I can't complain. - Jordan

07-14-2017, 11:03 PM	#130
homegrowngarage Leaky Injector Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 117 Trader Rating: (0)	Been awhile since the last update. At the end of the the summer we were still dealing with some minor issues like idling, seized calipers and other stuff. To make a long story short, I ending up taking the car around the block with no coolant in it, and as I pulled back in the driveway I popped the headgasket. Now being that we were leaving for school we decided to just leave the car and fix it later in the year when we came back. But we made the shitty mistake of leaving the oil/coolant/frosty mixture in the motor..... for 9 months! Fast-forward to May 2017 when we think we're just a quick gasket change away from driving the car and we discover this mess. The lobes of the camshafts were rusted from water condensing on top of them over the months, and everything was covered in thick sticky milkshake. Time to dig in and fix it. Our friend Adam helping us out while pulling the motor back out. Cams out. Notice the rust in the head. Hating life We ended up completely stripping the motor down to the bare short block and getting a case of brake cleaner and cleaning the goo off. We figured it would be worth a shot, if the motor blows then we'll just pick another one up. Since there's a lot of small nooks in the head we took it to a car wash and power-washed the hell out of it lol. Pouring fresh oil on the bearings after brake cleaning the block. Worked surprisingly well, we got just about all of it out. We got cheap conventional oil from Walmart and planned on putting a few miles on the motor and then changing it. Cleaned and ready for assembly Reassembly Also did new gaskets on the motor, and a front main seal. Not pictured was the frustration of stripping the threads on the idler gear sprocket for the timing chains, which resulted in $50 wasted on a helicoil kit. Also we needed new cams, and our friend had an s14 KA laying around which we picked up in exchange for a case of miller lite. (Thanks Logan!) This did mean that the new cams are now 232 degrees which is a little smaller than the s13 cams, but I can't complain. - Jordan Last edited by homegrowngarage; 07-14-2017 at 11:55 PM..