nj88v6

Hey all.

Need some help.

88 Camaro 2.8 MPFI

Tore down the motor in the car to the head gaskets. Figured since the one side was blown, might as well tear the whole damn thing apart while I was at it.

Few things. Drained the block but the oil has mixed with gas, coolant and there is sludge all in the block clinging to everything. How can I flush this while all the parts are off?

Maybe take off the oil pan and clean it out by hand??? Is spraying water in there safe or should I just start scooping the crap out?

Also I dipped one of the valve covers in solvent not knowing there was a coating on the inside (i wasn't concearned about the outside, I can paint that). What type of coating is on the inside of the covers, so I can re-coat it? OR can I get those chrome ones from edelbrock? (In the thread about valve covers, someone said they got baffle inserts for them (rubber ones?), where do I pick those up?)

Also the heads are pretty sludgy too... Should I tear them apart and clean them and put them back together or can I just clean them the way they are. how should I go about that? If I take them apart, what new parts should I get for them? Is there a rebuild kit?

Also a lot of the bolts are coated in black paint or something black. Should I bother trying to strip this coating and re-coat them or should I leave them, or is there a bolt kit of some sort?

Lots of carbon deposits inside plenums... can I use spray carb cleaner on those?

Lots of carbon depoits inside intake manifold, can I use carb cleaner in that?

Also since the block is still in the car, was wondering the best way to clean the head gaskets off the surface of the block. Don't want to get any of that down into the block.

I probably should of just pulled the damn motor, it would have been easier, but like I said, budget of nothing. Had to bribe a couple of friends with food and some drinks to help me out!

Oh I also snapped a few of those small vacuum hoses (they are so brittle!) Can I get those same hoses with the same joints somewhere, or do I have to go digging in a boneyard? How the hell am I supposed to remove them from a junker without breaking them?!

Was also wondering how I go about re-building the distrib. I think it is the origional, looks to be. Is there some sort of kit? Where do I get it?

I think thats about it so far. If I remeber anything else, I will tell you. I snapped lots of pics. I will throw them up on my website and then send you a link, of course I hve more pressing matters, like getting the camaro out of my mom's garage before she kills me . I will definitely have them up sometimes, so that I can show you all.

Thanks!

nj88v6

Project: 85 2.8 bird

get a new motor. this is how I started out. blown head gasket on 2.8. Oilpan just filled w/grey sludge. your oil pump is shot. my heads had rust in them. With intake/heads off, you're almost there. read up on mine & Karls guides/current progress on the 3.4 swap.

**Karl (KED85) already has his first "2.8-3.4 swap boogie" as a tech article. read it. heed it. checkout the posts on my swap, a variation on 3.4 swap, and Karls curent 3.4 swap into a blazer.**

good info out there. There are also a few other swappers lurking around too. Myappologies if I caint remember all of you, been up for 21hrs now.

Xenodrgn

If you clean it the best you can, and prime it before you start it to flush everything, and it makes some kind of oil pressure, you're fine... just remember to be liberal with the oil changes for a while.

While you're down that far, might as well throw a cam in there, rebuild the heads and port them...

Although if you start with the "while you're there, might as well"'s, you'd be in the big time in no time.

If it held pressure before you tore it down, theoretically it should when you put it back together... (clean).

Although if you're getting rid of it, I will gladly take the entire thing/pieces off your hands for a bit of dough. I live in central jersey also.

Don't use a hose, pull the pan and use Brakkleen and pipe-cleaners in the small places. Go to your local parts store and buy a few gallons of parts cleaner (yes they sell them in large cans) and clean everything very well... Try to do this in one day, and when you're done oil everything down as best as you can... pay more attention to oil passageways than water passageways... I would advise you get a huge-*** catchall to put under the block and parts while you do this... parts-cleaner is reuseable. (our shop class would go through 2 changes of parts cleaner every semester, we had a recirculating tank that would pump the cleaner over the part, drain through a screen into the basin, where is was drawn through the pump again... They sell them in some places...)

This is certainly a project, but certainly not impossible... Don't set yourself up thinking this is fool proof, it'll be scary cranking it over the first time once it's back together, but when you drive it down the parkway, it's a very satisfying experience...

If you pull the pan, I suppose you could always replace the oil-pump for ****s and giggles... Thats up to you though.

So have I said enough? hehe, I'll shut-up now...

Gumby

disel fuel cleans up sludge real well with out too much fear of explosion. You can even turn to motor over if ya want, it is some what oily.

Old guys use to put a quart of disel fuel in before an oil change. Just let it idle for 10 mins and then watch all the crap come out.



It is amazing how many times you pull apart a "good" running engine and once its apart you find things you did not want to see. Once you get them apart that far its hard not to get it done right. but you can allway grab a tube of silicone ad close your eyes n just slap it back together and hope it runs as good as it did.

TomP

You could also use brake cleaner; that'll clean almost anything. And it dries quickly, too, without a residue. (B&M told me to use it on my transmission's valve body when I installed my shift kit- the instructions said "use a cleaner", I called and said "which cleaner?" I've used brake cleaner ever since; on just about anything dirty.)

One problem I see... how long has the oil been sitting in that motor? Gasoline eats bearings. The bearings might be shot!

As to scraping the heads, I've done that... http://www.geocities.com/tomp_3rdgen ... and it wasn't fun. Turns out that all the holes around the head are the coolant passageways. We blew the passageways out with compressed air to get rid of all the gasket scraps. Make sure you put rags over any other holes, like the lifter valley in the center of the motor, and the distributor hole, etc, so gasket crap doesn't get in there. Use rags instead of paper towels (pep boys, bundle of 6 rags for $3) because paper towels rip, and you don't want them to fall apart inside your motor.

Xenodrgn

Yes, brake cleaner (AKA Brakleen) works -very- well...

True about the gas and bearings. Good luck. You'll never know if you don't try.

P.S. 1000 posts... 2 posts a day and a year later...

TomP

Oh, duh, I read the name and it didn't click! I use the Prestone stuff, which is called "brake cleaner".

nj88v6

Thanks alot for all the suggestions...

After taking the day off from the car to help my friend Johnny make some doors for his shed (after all he's helping me with the car) I have decided on a few things.

First off I am definitely going to pick me up some brake cleaner...

Second I am going to take the heads apart and clean everything and put them back together. If I find anything broken along the way, I will have to deal with that when that comes, but for now the plan is to clean it all. Guess I'll have to pick up a valve spring compressor...

Third, I still haven't decided about the oil pump. Not sure exactly if it is non-functional. I was thinking that after the buildup, prep and start, I would pull one of the valve covers off, and if they were not getting oil, then I would go ahead and tear the bottom out and repalace the pump. Should I actually do this now, or can I wait?

About the bearings... Before I tore the engine down it was still running, with no power to the wheels. I was getting good pressure, except the passenger side-front. The fluids were mixing, and the coolant level was dopping but no external leaks. There was a popping sound nearest the front pass-side cyl and also saw some smoke coming out from there. There was also a lot of greasy build-up near it.

I did change the oil and other fluids every three months even though it was garaged. I also started and even drove the car (around the block a bunch of times) just to keep everything moving about. (Stalled out once around the block, thought I was stuck! But I got it to crank... haha..

It has been garaged and like this for two years now. It has been a month since I started the tear-down and just in the past week was the largest amount of the work done, since I convinced my friends to help me out.

So I dunno how long the gas would stay in there, but I'm sure the gunk is due to a long time build up, but it has been changed regularly... I will have to see about the bearings.

I still don't know what to do about my valve cover... Maybe I should just stop by the yard to see if I can pick one up in case. (Any of you central Jersey folks, where is a good yard for our cars?)

Also not sure about some of the vac hoses.

Again, thanks a lot... I don't think I would have even started this project unless I loved this car and also read this forum way too often