Head problem

[mjjstang]

Ok me and my freind put a new engine in and decided we would see what was wrong with the old engine so we just started tearing it apart not thinking that it might be a very small problem (which it was) So I decided I would rebuild the engine well now I have a problem. All the parts were in a bin and luckily the cam towers are marked but the shims and valve covers arent. actually I guess they are but they are worn off. how would I go about replacing these shims to factory specs since I guess they have 35 different sized shims they used. Is there any hope for this head. Thanks. also the arrows on the cam towers, do they point towards the timing or the back of the engine and does the intake cam have the orange or green paint on it. I think its arrows towards timing and intake green. but I want to double check.

BTW its a ka24de

[FastBack 240]

Go to the dealership...It always works best and I think they know enough about your engine to where they can help.

[deviousKA]

make a note to yourself not to take a head apart like that. you will need to go to dealership or machine shop to get all of your tolerances correct. you will need to send your head into a machine shop to get it rebuilt anyway. they may not want to help you with your rocker assembly. best bet is to go to dealership and pay out the a$$

[ridebmx]

Originally posted by devious
make a note to yourself not to take a head apart like that. you will need to go to dealership or machine shop to get all of your tolerances correct. you will need to send your head into a machine shop to get it rebuilt anyway. they may not want to help you with your rocker assembly. best bet is to go to dealership and pay out the a$$


exactly, never take a motor apart like that, you should check and see what have to be marked so you can put it back together and have the right shims etc. ive seen people take motors apart to the block, then they ask well what do i do now (might have had a bad piston or whatever) since they didnt mark there rods, main caps, etc, it made things a pita and they ended up throwing all the stuff in boxs and its still sitting there to this day

[mjjstang]

yah I wasnt expecting to do anything with the engine besides throw it away untill we found it was just a little piece of metal in the valves. Oh well I guess Ill just go the sr20 route instead. does anybody know the cheapest place to get the newer one with 255 HP.

[AceInHole]

Originally posted by devious
they may not want to help you with your rocker assembly.
Sorry, just thought that was really funny.....


Best bet, put it back together yourself. You'll learn how to do a lot of PITA work at least.

I'm hoping you didn't take the valves out, because if you did, you're in for a lot more work (valve seating.... doh... but, then again you could always check each valve is seating correctly or reseat the valves yourself if you're brave, so.....).

But, all you really need to do is get a caliper gauge and measure the thickness of each shim. Write down which shim you're putting in where (all the valve covers should be the same, and at this point it doesn't matter) on a peice of paper you won't lose, and put everything back together. When you use the head (i'm assuming you're putting it back together to use it, or when you use it), install it, warm up the engine, and measure the clearances between the cam lifters and the shims. Write down the clearances, and do the math for each shim, like which are too tight, and which have too much clearance. The ones with too much clearance, you know the clearance, and you know the shim height, so add the clearance (whatever will bring it to spec at least) to the shim height and that's what shim should go there.

I guess you COULD have a machine shop do it all... but what's the fun in that??

[uiuc240]

why not just skip all that **** and buy a used KA head for like $150? I *guarantee* someone will sell you one for that much.

Eric