Pull the engine down (you can leave the block in the car)....it may just require a new comp ring or a piston..........be easier for you to fix it than rather purchase another engine.

Yeah that was the pessimist in me Well good news is I have a 4 day long weekend coming up so I'm going to have some time on my side to actually get things done. I'm planning to make a start on it by Saturday & take it from there. This is a first for me so it'll be a good learning curve.

May as well send the head off for a rebuild while I'm at it too.

Anyone in VIC dealt with Edge Motorworks? https://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-Motorworks/205856306122576, they are my side of town which is ideal & seem to have a good reputation

How many Km's has the engine got?

Usually cordia head are quite good.........I would remove all valves, replace the stem seals, purchase new exhaust valves and have the seats re-cut, the inlet valves (once clean with no pits, cracks etc) I personally would use some grinding paste to re-seat.

After that get the head surfaced, should cost $20..........do alot of the work yourself and save a fortune.

Time for a vr4 transplant?

_________________
|VR4 4G63 RS|MicroTech lt8s|Ported TD06sl2-25g|Ported & Polished Head|HKS Front Mount|3" Exhaust|
|Coilovers|Swaybars|VR-4 2pot Calipers|TP rears|Evo3 Master/Booster|Evo 3 front bar|Side Skirts|Rear Lip|

Nice one Koray!

A head shave in Melbourne will cost you 60-80 bucks.

To have a workshop do all the work Andrew mentioned, it will set you back 600-1000 (depending on where you go).


Thanks...IMO there is no better excuse!

_________________
|VR4 4G63 RS|MicroTech lt8s|Ported TD06sl2-25g|Ported & Polished Head|HKS Front Mount|3" Exhaust|
|Coilovers|Swaybars|VR-4 2pot Calipers|TP rears|Evo3 Master/Booster|Evo 3 front bar|Side Skirts|Rear Lip|

Quite a few.. 3579024 Km's on the clock, I guess normal for it's age anyway.

Appreciate the info as always Andrew, if I can save a few dollars here & there I definitely will. Once I remove it I'll update back with the verdict.



If I had the time, money, working space & tools for a VR4 conversion I would in a flash believe me haha.

Thanks for the heads up Koray, I'm waiting on a quote from the mob in the link above if I do decide not to do it myself. In all honesty I wouldn't mind paying around $600 to have it done, any more will push me to attempt it.

Duggun balance on Newlands road have good prices and do decent work.
Orger engines in Bayswater do the best work and charge you accordingly.

As for a vr4 transplant, I have all the tools required. I would save up for a few weeks and go with the transplant. Up to you though.

_________________
|VR4 4G63 RS|MicroTech lt8s|Ported TD06sl2-25g|Ported & Polished Head|HKS Front Mount|3" Exhaust|
|Coilovers|Swaybars|VR-4 2pot Calipers|TP rears|Evo3 Master/Booster|Evo 3 front bar|Side Skirts|Rear Lip|

Gave Duggan Balancing a call today & got a quote for $295 (+ extra for any additional parts that may need to be replaced). Appreciate the thought too Koray, at this point I'll see how I go with this engine & see what becomes of it. I've still got to spend some cash to get my neglected Soarer back on the road as well

Slept the day away today after a long night at work but did manage to pull the turbo & manifold off, will continue tomorrow to remove the head.





Oil as far as the eye can see.











Last but not least a thanks to Andrew for the gaskets & TPS shaft which I received today & non-split induction pipe from David, cheers fella's!

Welcome Mike..........that turbo exhaust housing is stuffed, at least you got another one!

The engine looks "sick".........the only cylinder running clean is number 1.

With a "freshen" up it will run like a dream!

Good to see your making progress at least mate.
When its out I guess you can get more of an idea what the problem is.

What exactly are they doing for 295?

That's it mate, the sooner the better. I'm going to see these blokes tomorrow morning with the head & go over again what exactly will be getting done for $295, he did explain briefly on the phone but it's lost me now, too many things going on!

Removed the head tonight:









Radiator will also be sent off to be reco'd



Next up the pistons... anything I should keep in mind, any tips?

Cheers

Your doing well..........keep going.........when you pull the pistons/rods out check the ring clearance in all four cylinders........looks to me like you could get away with a quick hone...........check the top centre and bottom.........here is my engine build:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16628&start=280

Cheers Andrew, I've been scanning back over your build for reference as I go along, definitely a help. Planning to remove the pistons in the next coming weeks.

Not a lot has been happening over the past week, however the head was reco'd not long ago plus a VRS gasket kit to go with. Also scored myself a very good replacement exhaust manifold.

And as of just before finally got around to removing the pistons (only 2 so far) which along with the rings appear to be in 'acceptable' condition? I've yet to check ring gaps.

There also doesn't seem to be any abnormalities in either of the cylinders (3 & 4)



At this point I'm tossing up whether I should just replace with new pistons for the sake of an extra $130 when I go to order new rings & bearings for the peace of mind, seeing I've gone this far already.

Any thoughts welcome.

I'm not convinced cheap (but new) pistons will be better than stock.

_________________
|VR4 4G63 RS|MicroTech lt8s|Ported TD06sl2-25g|Ported & Polished Head|HKS Front Mount|3" Exhaust|
|Coilovers|Swaybars|VR-4 2pot Calipers|TP rears|Evo3 Master/Booster|Evo 3 front bar|Side Skirts|Rear Lip|

May be better off using the stock pistons again then & just give them a re-ring. Not that I wouldn't spend the money on good quality, but if the stock ones will last another so many 100,000 maintained km's I'm happy to drop them back in...

What do you guys think? The car won't be for major performance, reliability will be priority.

If you can get away with a re-ring go for it.........just make sure you measure the bores properly......if the ring gaps are too large or the bore has excessive taper I would oversize.

No worries, I'll be checking tomorrow. Will post up the results...

Cheers fella's.

It's been a while since I've updated, unfortunately no progress has been made since pulling the engine down & having the head rebuilt. I've been focusing on getting my soarer up to scratch seeing it's turned into my daily driver again.

I still have to check the ring gaps on the cordia before I can continue, is someone able to tell me what the factory gaps are meant to be?

Many thanks.