doing head gskts, go deeper?

hitek

Registered User
I recently bought a 94 with the auto trans tore up. It has 117,000 miles on it and I am going to go ahead and do the head gaskets before I put it on the road. As long as I am going that far, I am curious as to how well the lower end holds up with that kind of mileage? I have not started the car, but the previous owner said it ran good prior to the trans taking a dump. It has sat the better part of 2 years.
Should I consider rings, bearings and oil pump as long as I am tearing it down to do the head gaskets?

thanks
 
As long as? We'll you'll need to remove the motor to do the rings and bearings.

I'd at a minimum do ARP head studs and replace the stock balancer with a BHJ balancer.

Rings and Bearings are not a bad idea, but If I went that far I'd figure on spending money at a machine shop and getting all of this cleaned up and validate all the dimensions. Then get the block and heads decked to make it baby bottom smooth and then go with the MLS head gaskets.

But if you just want a car that's fun to drive and reliable, do the bearings, rings, check deminsions, and if it's in tollerance, slap it back together and have fun.

The cylinder bores wear very well due to the high silicone content factory pistons. At that mileage, unless it's been very babied (and which used SC has ever been babied?) expect significant main bearing wear, as well as rod bearing wear.

But make sure you get a good balancer and the ARP head studs. if you do bearings, the ARP main studs are a good investment as well.
 
I was going to do the head gskts and then take the car to a trans shop and have them do the trans....but...
Will the short block and trans come out the top in one unit? Sounds like a pain to pull the trans out the bottom. Again, as long as I am this far into it, might save a few bucks and just deliver the trans to the shop.
I am not going to spend a lot on the rebuild but I figured I would surely benefit by tearing it the rest of the way down and doing the rings, brgs and oil pump. Just looking for a good reliable driver for now.
 
Thats what i thought i was going to do with my 35th. when i go it i got 2 sets of heads so i had the other heads machined before i started. Once i got the heads off the car and found that the head gaskets were shot i looked a little deeper and found alot of sluge in the motor. That prompted me to tear it out of the car and i was very very glad that i did because the rings were in ok shape but the main and rod bearings were almost all the way gone. I agree with getting the bhj balencer because both of the stock ones that i have are shot due to the rubber being severly cracked or gone. As far as getting the whole assembly out of the top of the car i think it can be done. I took the motor out of the top and then dropped the tranny from the bottom using 4 jack stands and alot of patitence. When i put it back in i got the block and whold bottom end and trans through the top of the car. Then i assembled the top end of the motor. i am almost done now and its been along time becuase of the baby and money the bhj isnt cheap, hell most everything for these cars isnt cheap. It will be all worth it in the end though. have fun and good luck.
 
I pulled my transmission from the bottom of the car. No need to do this yourself like I did, just convince 1 or 2 friends to help. I had the engine pulled already when I decided to go through and have my transmission rebuilt. The main thing is to have the car as high as possible. Take the shifter off before you pull it also. Installing the transmission is just as much of a pain. I used a normal jack to do everything. Theres just no happy way to pull it or install it without having a lift and a tranny jack, but it will make it a lot easier to have a couple people to help support the tansmission and control the jack. I'd do it again.

chris
 
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I have helped my friend pull an engine and auto trans in a 90 SC from the top. It was pretty easy just guide it so it doesn't bang into anything. And don't let it swing back into the windshield. We took the hood off by unbolting the two torx screws on either side of the upper latch, that way it lines right back up when you are done.
 
thanks for all the info....I think I will go ahead and redo the bottom end. I would hate to go that far and not have the added peace of mind.

Mark
 
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