Rackmfool

I have a 96 Z with about a 125K on it. I blew a head gasket and at the same time I ran into a serious finicial problem. The car has been sitting for a little more than a year. Now that I am back on my feet and I thought I had enough money to do some work and fix it I found this............

I took off the drivers valve cover today to just have a look see and I found Rust. A lot of rust. Some of the sides of the rockers, some of the push rods.

So how screwed am I. Do I now need to replace EVERYTHING. As in I might as well save more and buy a crate motor.........I really would hate to do that because this has to become my daily driver and I cannot wait long enough to save the extra $$ it would take me. Any thoughts..........


Brian

Rodrigues

The rust should wipe off, just spray some WD40. Make sure you change your oil, coolant flush, and replace that gasket.

jim88iroc305

You'll be fine.

Take heads to reputable machinist to mill and bead blast - they'll come out looking better than new.

As previously mentioned clean up the rust and change out the fluids after it is put back together.

Zeueses 97 RamAir

Nio biggie there if you want take the heads off clean them off replace all fluids get original head gaskets and clean dont be in a rush you will have to havwe patience,while you have the heads off if you have the will and like working on your car mild port them yourself, then send them to get cleaned, change the oil.... you should be fine then e-mail and tell me how everything went...

Rackmfool

Thanks Guys......

I feel better now I thought I would be really screwed....


I will make sure to let you know it goes......


Brian

xchief1320

What about the cylinder walls? If the rockers rusted like that i bet the Cylinder walls are pretty bad..

Sorry to bring the bad news..

Get the heads off and then go from there..

Steve

Geezer powered

well when the heads are off have a look you should be fine.

Rodrigues

Im sure the cylinder walls are rusty too, but it doesnt mean much. Your disc brakes are made out of the same material as the block and those rust daily

xchief1320

Are you serious?

The rings don't like a rough surface to ride on to begin with..lol..Brakes are a totally different thing,the brake pad is designed to withstand rough/dirty surfaces like that..Rings are not..They want a nice straight clean wall to ride up and down on..

If it were me and i saw it had bad rust on the cylinders,i would personally pull the motor out and bore it..If the rust is real light with no pits at all then try to wipe out the surface rust with ATF"yes tranny fluid" and a rag..If that doesn't get it off and you can feel the rust with your fingernail then it's time for a rebuild..

If you don't you will prolly have nothing but problems..Again something as precise as the rings aren't anything to play with..

If you ask why tranny fluid go ask any GOOD engine builder about it..Tranny fluid is real abrasive and also a VERY good cleaner..You can wash a cylinder wall down with ANYTHING till you think it's spotless before you build a motor.Then take a Lint free rag and put some tranny fluid on it.wipe out the cylinder with it and watch what comes out..Alot of dirt/metal actually gets stuck in the crosshatch groves..


Steve

Z95m6

you could use a "Glaze buster" hone to remove that rust.

xchief1320

How would you get all of the cylinder with the pistons still in them?

Plus if you turned the motor while the rust was in there is would prolly mess up the rings anyway..

I don't halfass things i do this as a profession so i always like to do things right..

I hope for his sake that the cylinders are alright..

Steve

Rpm280

The same thing happend to me. I blew a head gasket and let the engine sit for a while before I got to it. If I had just replaced the head gaskets it would have cost less. Anyways, I let water sit in the cylinders for months , maybe a year. I ended up taking the engine out and having it rebuilt. The rust was too "tough" after all that time . I would have the engine honed or bored, and new rings and bearings. If the engine sat for that long , the rust may be pretty hard to get out, PLUS I would not want rust falling into between the walls and pistons and getting into the rest of the engine , which will most likely happen if you try and clean it . Also it may be hard to clean good with the piston in, unless it's really light.


I ended up having it rebuilt, and had to have the cylinders bored 20 over. (New pistons) Also new rings off course and bearings. It cost about 600 including labor. Depending on how worn the engine was, you may just need honing if neccesary. Although I would get bearings also since the oil was contaminated for so long, and also rings.