That was no expert in my opinion. Adjusting valves are part of regular maintenance and if they have never been done, then they are going to be way out. However, they may have had a modicum of truth in their statement in that if the valves have been neglected for years, then they will need to be re-ground because the seats could be messed up, but that would more likely be from tight valves, not loose ones. I would do the adjustment and see how she reacts to having someone love on her.
Again, saying that performing regular maintenance will only delay the inevitable is just stating the obvious. Eventually, that motor will need to have a good rebuild, but it should go at least another 80k before that.
Spraying the motor down with a good engine degreaser and pressure washing that off is a good idea though. Just make sure to put a bag around the distributor. You will probably have to hose the wires down with WD-40 afterward to get her to run smooth until the water is driven out.
Yes, the engine has to come out to do the rear main. That's a good time to replace the clutch too.
You might not be able to do the oil pan gasket with the engine installed depending on how close it is mounted to the front cross member. Could try loosening the motor from the engine mounts and lifting it with a hoist to get clearance.
There are a few shops around, I haven't have to do much engine work, but I know a few guys that should be able to hook us up with someone good and cheap. I know at least one guy that used to work for beer, but I don't know if he is still taking that form of payment.
Of course your partner is more than welcome to join you! We can hangout and swap stories. I like a good bourbon or scotch over beer, if that's OK. There's a brewery around the corner we can try out and there is a distillery in town that I have been itching to go visit. I have taste tested some of the products from both, but have not gone to their store fronts. I don't drink much unless I am at the farm working crops, it's part of the therapy. I go up there to escape my real job, or maybe working at the farm is my real job and I just work as an enginerd to pay the bills?
That's just my aspie sensibilities. And it's kinda funny that I didn't realize that at first. What he was saying was basically "a good way to damage the engine is by running it."
So take the carb and battery off, put a bag around the distributor, and pressure wash it. I'm immensely happy about not having to deal with sensors and sensitive electronics on this old engine. Should I cover the starter too?
If we were going to drop the engine out anyway, how much extra time would it take to replace the clutch, do a ring job, replace any burnt valves and check clearances? Maybe even polish the crank, but I don't know how involved any of this is. My guess is that with 112k the cylinders only need to be honed and it doesn't need professional machining, right?
While sending the engine off to a machine shop and having it rebuilt would be great peace of mind, I've read around and it seems the turnaround would be months, and I called a shop today and they quoted me a range of $1300-2600 which is pretty 'ouch' compared to the cost of rings, a couple of valves, gasket set etc, plus some good food, good scotch and labor
But then, I don't know if that's something that can be banged out in an afternoon, or if it's such a meticulous process that it would take a week to do. I watched a machinist do his thing on youtube last night and saw him play with 0.1mm clearances on thrust washers. That was a racing engine though, for a car probably designed to hit >150mph.
Pre-detonation can do all kinds of things to the plug, but the classic is having the ground burned away and the end of the plug just about destroyed.
Here's a good picture of what I was always taught:
http://www.aa1car.com/library/reading_spark_plugs.jpg
And here's another good one that has a lot of detail:
http://bustekhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Spark-Plug-Condition-Chart-1.png
This one is probably the best I have seen the the range of conditions.
To me, it looks like you have a lot a ash deposits which can be weak valve guide seals, but I would run the new set of plugs for a bit then check to see the condition of the plugs before jumping to any conclusions.
Wow, so I guess, like everything else I've discovered about engines, it's much more complicated than it appears. That diagram is completely different from my manual, which shows detonation as that corroded white ashy look, but, obviously, I definitely trust you.
Hopefully they won't come out so lean after I fix the vacuum leaks & HAC lean mixture/timing advance.
I'm just going to rip the plugs back out and fix the gap, then chase them and pray they don't need to be coiled yet. Not gapping them was probably the dumbest mistake I've made in a while. I was also putting off the compression and leakdown test until after I replaced everything, then failed to realize that would be hard to do with damaged threads. So I'll do that then too.
I'll update tomorrow after I get all the work done! I'm very excited about it.
