Hey arb how long does it take you to pull the head? You must be getting good at it lol? I assume the job is easier in the van?Curious what type of abrasive and grit you use for lapping and how long it takes to flatten out 0.005"? Do you use a new piece of glass every time? How fast does the glass wear? Have you checked the flatness of a used piece of glass?
...BTW your Bieber avatar is awesome.-Malone
Ye gads that alternator rides low! I guess the bigger wheels may help a little? Time for a lift kit?
Quote from: arb on July 28, 2009, 11:00:37 amOMG !!! yes, I can go through every set, every bolt, in my sleep !! Yes, its much easier in the van. It was designed for a V-6 so there is lots of room. The only hard part last night was to remove the lower manifold bolts while the head was still on. The first time I pulled it as a set, but it is really heavy that way with the turbo hanging off the back of the cast iron manifold.The glass is about 5/8" thick tempered safety glass. Yes, its flat. I clean it, then use a hot glue gun on the perimeter of 3 of the sides - it takes 2 sheet of 150 grit sand paper to cover the head with room to spare for sliding the head. I also put the glass on a flat table so there is no flexing. But, safety glass this thick doesn't move much. It takes only 10 minutes or so. Most of the material comes off in the first few minutes, then it is much slower as it becomes more of a polishing job with the sand paper loads up with carbon & aluminum. The glass does not wear as I have the sand paper glued to it.Before sanding a head I would MAKE SURE that the cam journals are still aligned. You can lay a straightedge across them or plastigage them all. If the head is warped to the point that the cam journals are not aligned, then sanding the head gasket surface flat is not the right approach. I use a similar setup. I have a large flat desk onto which I place a big sheet of 3/8" steel and then a 3' x 2' piece of milled granite. I then use a piece of 120 grit floor sander paper from a roll that was originally 8" x 50 yards. I use a piece that is sized so that the head can move in any direction without going off the paper. I use an even coat of 3M spray adhesive and an intelligent lapping pattern to ensure that any imperfections in the sandpaper or the adhesive are minimized. I spray the paper liberally with WD-40. The last head I sanded was a Suzuki 16V head for my sidekick. When I was done it was totally flat. No measurable warp at all. It has performed flawlessly since I put it back together a week and 150 miles ago. It probably took me an hour and 3 pieces of paper to get it totally flat.
OMG !!! yes, I can go through every set, every bolt, in my sleep !! Yes, its much easier in the van. It was designed for a V-6 so there is lots of room. The only hard part last night was to remove the lower manifold bolts while the head was still on. The first time I pulled it as a set, but it is really heavy that way with the turbo hanging off the back of the cast iron manifold.The glass is about 5/8" thick tempered safety glass. Yes, its flat. I clean it, then use a hot glue gun on the perimeter of 3 of the sides - it takes 2 sheet of 150 grit sand paper to cover the head with room to spare for sliding the head. I also put the glass on a flat table so there is no flexing. But, safety glass this thick doesn't move much. It takes only 10 minutes or so. Most of the material comes off in the first few minutes, then it is much slower as it becomes more of a polishing job with the sand paper loads up with carbon & aluminum. The glass does not wear as I have the sand paper glued to it.
Quote from: drrtybyl on July 28, 2009, 11:24:39 amYe gads that alternator rides low! I guess the bigger wheels may help a little? Time for a lift kit? Yeah, I need to make a protector out of angle iron. I would have already, but the rear attachment to the "K" frame (why this is a "K" car) has been the only hold up. yes, the 14" wheels help some, and when I get the 15" wheels on it, that will help more. It already looks like I have a lift kit as the VW engine / trans are quite a bit lighter than the V-6 auto-slop this was designed for :-)Yeah, Lucky I didn't crack it this time. I will not drive it again w/o a properly functioning temp gauge. That's part of why I bought a Sun set of steam gauges - you can see if it is working unlike an idiot light ;-) Too bad this Sun jumped the peg. I've never seen one do that. Summit has the studs? We have summit up here in the land of 10,000 lakes. What's the part number for the studs & nuts ?Went home 2 hours early last night to button this engine back up. My son and I polished the head to almost spec, but the #1 - #2 junction still has a low spot. Then the thunderstorms rolled in. We packed it in, when to buy his 13th birthday gift - an e-trigger paint ball gun. (Extra sweet gift was my ex-wife is so anti-gun ;-) So, I hit the hay at 8:00 pm.. Good thing - Its still raining here now, but the rain should end by noon and we should be able to finish polishing the head and put it back together. I wonder how many times you can take off and reseal the injection lines before their seals no longer seat...