Rough, High Idle, Ticking -> Head Disassembly & Update

[DirtBronco]

interesting... so I should probably be worried that there was nothing connected to it?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

interesting... so I should probably be worried that there was nothing connected to it?

Nah. Unless you dont know how to read a dipstick lol

 

[DirtBronco]

While looking through the cam tunnel beneath the lifter valley, I found a catastrophic crack across a cylinder jacket. That would explain all the coolant in cylinder 6 with no noticeable break in the head gasket. Naturally I needed to find another block. Went to a junk yard and pulled another 2.9.

Although the heads don't look too nice, the block itself was pretty good. Rockers were in pretty good nick but I left those for another poor soul who dares submit to the 2.9.

Tach on the donor Ranger said 22XXX and I'm hoping there was only a 1 before that. Jaws of life were taken to the roof so it gave me hope this was a running block before the vehicle's demise.

Much cleaner than the one I got. No soot build up on the crank and the lifters and pistons actually fell out when i rotated the engine upside down. Either recently rebuilt or I'm just lucky... Or both

My dumbass thought to get the "block" price at the yard, it had to just be just the block. Cashier told me otherwise so now I've got 2 cranks, 2 cams, 12 pistons, and double all the other stuff.

The new block has a cast date of 5/87, but I've still retained the heads off the old one with a cast date of 10/89.
Despite them saying 86TM, they are the improved design with the square pedestals.

If your rig has some obvious wear on it, the heavy duty clamp from Advanced is much better than the tiny claw clamp you rent from other shops. Every time I would clamp down with the economy ones, it'd just push the valve down.
.

Even with the better compressor, I had to wack the retainer with a hammer and socket to loosen the keepers but as you can see, I'm not too pressed to be keeping the old valve... Those hi-flow ones from SI are starting to look like a good idea.

We're all aware of Ford's awful QC department during the time they made these parts, but please tell me this isn't a product of that... Sand in the valve ports?

Also, thats not a crack between the valve ports. Just built up crap. Picture doesn't have any depth.

With the super-duper fancy new cam coming in, I'm gonna opt for heavier duty springs so realistically all I'm keeping are the retainers and keepers.

Machine shop tomorrow. But actually.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Glyptal.

 

[DirtBronco]

Glyptal.

For the head rust im guessing?

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Nope.

Google what it does.

 

[DirtBronco]

Oof.. yeah I was thinking of doing that. The factory grey isn't pretty enough for me.

Can't promise it'll be yellow tho, might clash with the red engine bay.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Oof.. yeah I was thinking of doing that. The factory grey isn't pretty enough for me.

Can't promise it'll be yellow tho, might clash with the red engine bay.

Lol. Glyptal is an insulation paint for armatures in large a/c motors.

When properly applied to cast iron and cast aluminum, it completely seals the surfaces and allows oil to return to the pan without pooling.

Smokey Yunick started the trend in racing. Worth a Google.