top end rebuild help

flying bird

Registered User
Well i've decided to do headgaskets,they have'nt gone yet but with the luck i'm having with the car they will. 93 5 speed w/136xxx on it. I've been fooled into thinking I can do it myself,thanks to this site.lol what i need is help with what i should buy for the rebuild,such as what kind of valves, springs,rockers how much should it be ported and what does polishing do for the heads?I'm planning on taking the heads to a shop to have them done,Ijust want to know what i'm talking about. thanks.
 
Why not rebuild your motor completely instead of only half way?
Your engine has over 100k miles and the rod bearings will probably be the next to go. Better to do them now before they wear out your crankshaft. Same with the rest of the bearings and the piston rings.

- Dan
 
Ddubb said:
Why not rebuild your motor completely instead of only half way?
Your engine has over 100k miles and the rod bearings will probably be the next to go. Better to do them now before they wear out your crankshaft. Same with the rest of the bearings and the piston rings.

- Dan

He's right. It's probably a good time to rebuild or upgrade the blower also. Make sure to use quality parts too. Get some nice HG's and use good hardware (ARP).
 
I think I mite go ahead and do a full rebuild,but any help on good parts would hepl such as names and where to buy them.I've never rebuilt the bottom end on a car before but I guess i will learn:eek: .Ihave all winter so I can take my time.
 
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Ok, so full engine rebuild and rebuilt blower ... that's, what, $1500?

My opinion: I wouldn't even mess with the HGs until they go. You could buy the parts now, absolutely, and just keep them until you need them. I think that includes HGs, head bolts or studs, IM gaskets, TB gasket, EGR gasket if equipped, thermostat gasket, thermostat, plugs and wires (why not do them at the same time? never easier). You will prob. need new O2 sensors once the HGs go (coolant screws them up). I would go with Motorcraft parts, mostly. Also, you may want to think about getting your exhaust manifolds ported when you do the HGs. Maybe injector cleaning service too.

Heads are up to you. They need to be milled at a minimum. Make sure that the surface finish is compatible with the HGs you buy (ie, smooth enough for Ford multi-layer steel hg's, if you get those).

I'm probably forgetting things. It's been a while since I did the job to my 89 Base model.
 
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You could do a search on this site for the mileage on lower ends of SC’s, which are fairly tough. If the SC taken care during its life you can get allot more out of the lower end. It’s always better to go ahead and do the head gaskets before they blow. Why take the chance of getting coolant in the lower end if you don’t need to and really toast it. . You can just take your heads in and have a good pressure check, decked and 3 angle valve job done and it will take care of it for quite some time. Unless you’re going for big power. Gaskets, ARP studs and head rework is all you need to do at this time, if everything else is going well. Two weekends worth of work and boom it's done. Just my 2 cents worth…
 
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I was thinking the samething, I don't want to wait for the hg's to go I think It would be more of a pain in the but.I don't mean to sound stupid but what do you mean by 3 angle valve job? btw I am looking to get a little more power out of it. I'm planing on being at next year's shootout,and would like to give at least one person a run for thier money:rolleyes:
 
flying bird said:
I don't mean to sound stupid but what do you mean by 3 angle valve job? btw I am looking to get a little more power out of it. I'm planing on being at next year's shootout,and would like to give at least one person a run for thier money:rolleyes:

It's the way most machine jobs do their valve jobs now; it does a better job of sealing. If you’re looking for power, after the HG and exhaust go a blower upgrade. Look in the performace and tech sections and you will find a ton of info . I should have done that before some of my upgrades.:D Waiting to put a nice blower on mine now, just need funds...:D
 
hey flip, thanks for the help.i noticed that most are going with arp head bolts,does this mean that you donnt have to tork the like the oem,s 3 or 4 times?I just did the hg's on my 93 n/a bird and tork to yeild bolts suck!
 
ARP studs do have a toque sequence but they are better then OEM bolts, reusable and the only way to go..
 
compadres. a quick question. what is forged in these cars? just the crank or are the rods and pistons forged also? i am thinking of doing a rebuild on my SC also since it is at almost 170k. runs like a champ but dont wanna mess up something. somebody explain what kind of rods and pistons and rings we can use. thanks a million.
 
They will last a long time

Mine has 212,000 miles on the origional HGs and runs strong.In addition to hp mods and HG saving mods I never rev it past 4,700 rpms cause that's the peak.I have to think that this helps.
 
Another question pertaining to the heads on our cars.....

Is there a maximum amount that can be taken off these heads before getting into trouble with valve clearances?

I have a few sets of heads that I don't know the history of and I don't want to spend the $$$$ having them decked only to find out I am going to have a problem somewhere else.....:confused:

I guess I am looking for a minimum deck height....
 
darkstar_one said:
compadres. a quick question. what is forged in these cars? just the crank or are the rods and pistons forged also? i am thinking of doing a rebuild on my SC also since it is at almost 170k. runs like a champ but dont wanna mess up something. somebody explain what kind of rods and pistons and rings we can use. thanks a million.

I’m don’t think that anything is forged in the SC, I might be wrong on that.
“I am wrong on that, I believe that the cranks are forged.” Not sure about the rods?

But here are a couple of good posts on what you’re wondering about.

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55471

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54274
 
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i beleive in mid-89 they switched from a duracast crank to a steel crank for the remainder of the production run. The pistons are cast, and so are the rods.
 
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