Rebuild time! Best Place to Get a Rebuild Kit?

[leonbentz]

Excellent points Doctor Bill.

I found the best thing to do is wrap the crank as much as you can, while honing. This just keeps stuff off of it.

Once all honing is done, then thoroughly spray the inside of the crank case down with carb cleaner, or brake cleaner. Either one will rinse out all the fine particles that Doctor Bill is refering to and dry out after a few minutes.

Use Cleavite 77 Camguard on your bearings, when you put everything back together. It's awesome stuff.

[metalbeast]

Originally Posted by DOCTORBILL

When you are done honing the cylinder walls, Do Not use soapy water to clean
them out, as some suggest !

I did that and wherever ANY water is left it will corrode steel almost instantly.

Especially the surfaces of the crank shaft bearings!

Steel and Aluminum around water forms a battery and corrosion can occur instantaneously.
Oxidation-Reduction (ReDox) - trading electrons - the basis of Batteries and Galvanizing Sheet Metal.
Trust me.....(I forgot about that until it was too late!)

I'd use something like Kerosene or Paint Thinner if I were doing it again.

Buy one of those $1 plastic pump spray bottles at a Dollar Store - that way you can spray
or stream the Paint Thinner into areas hard to get at and wash grit and shavings away.
Let it drain onto the ground underneath - or a pan if you are an environmental nut...

Remember - you must remove any and all grit from the honing stones from the
inside of the Block.

Any slightest abrasive left in the block will eat the engine bearing surfaces as they
slide or rotate - from the inside out!

This goes for any dirt (dust) that lands on the open engine while you were working on it.

DoctorBill

Thanks Doc!. I actually hosed it down with some carb cleaner after I finished. I then sprayed some Aerokroil on the cylinder walls & jounals of the crank ot keep moisture off of it (it rained pretty heavy yesterday after I finished). Looked pretty good.

My rings, pistons, bolts, oil pump, & water pump arrive today. Hope to get the oil & water pump on this evening.

[DOCTORBILL]

If you can do everything in one day or if you have a closable garage, then dust
and dirt are not too much of a problem.

Where I live, it is always windy and dust and dirt blow off the fields and coat
everything in one night. I threw a clean towel over any part of the block exposed.

I worked slowly because I had never done anything like this before !

I wrapped my crankshaft in paper towels and wired it around them to protect the
bearing surface - but the paper towels got wet when I cleaned up with water
and the bearing surface got rusty OVERNIGHT!

I rubbed and polished of f the rust, but the crankshaft bearing surface is now pitted on
two of the three bearing surfaces.

I don't know how deep the pits are - but they are there!

So far, I have driven about 20,000 miles on those pitted crankshaft bearing surfaces
with new rod bearings.

The pits are into the crankshaft bearing surfaces, not protruding outward, so I guess they
will not score the soft Rod Bearings.

I suppose that had it been a fatal thing, I would have had my bearings burn up
by now.

I hope it is all right.

Stupid mistake washing with soapy water - you just never know where it will go or
what it will do.

I used plain motor oil on the new Rod Bearing as I reassembled them - someone
said that they do that in their repair shop - makes sense - only oil goes in there
normally and the oil pressure replaces it almost instantly anyway....(?)when you start up.

The argument was that the oil might not replace grease quickly enough because it
is much more viscous. Possibly not a big issue to begin with....matter of opinion. (?)

DoctorBill

[metalbeast]

BTW, Johnny Mullet mentioned a check valve on the head. I never saw it. Where is it located?

[DOCTORBILL]

Here is a diagram of the Oil Flow Path in a Geo Metro:



The valve is on the left side facing the engine and it is in the BLOCK.

It is that small hole on the far left just above the bolt hole....



DoctorBill

[woodmen]

Man parts in the K.C. MO. area are high, and Advance Auto Parts don't even list pistons etc. One place wanted $129 for a complete gasket set and $60 for piston rings. They wanted $650 for an overhal kit just bottom end.

Has any one had goodluck with the parts from partsdinosaur?

[metalbeast]

Originally Posted by woodmen

Man parts in the K.C. MO. area are high, and Advance Auto Parts don't even list pistons etc. One place wanted $129 for a complete gasket set and $60 for piston rings. They wanted $650 for an overhal kit just bottom end.

Has any one had goodluck with the parts from partsdinosaur?

I got my parts from them. Everything looks fantastic!


Doctorbill, thanks for the illustrations! You should write your own repair manuals!

Little update. My water pump & oil pump came in yesterday. I got the old oil pump off but had to go to get some gasket remover so I did not get the new one on. I called the machine sho yesterday & my head & pistons/rods should be ready today.