Well, another three days off of work is here, and I am ready to start updating this thread.
Day 6:
Today I received the following items.
-Headgasket set (came SEVERAL days earlier than anticipated)
-Valve Stem Seals (If I knew the headgasket set would have came earlier than expected, I never would have ordered these separate and paid rush shipping on them... this new machine shop screwed me royally.)
-Head Bolt Set
-LIM Bolt Set
-Haynes Repair Manual - I still like having these around, even if I have online access, the real thing can't be beaten when working on a car IMO.
-Torque Angle Meter Gauge
Lifters SHOULD be here tomorrow, had to order 7 of them, the rest appear and SEEM to be in good shape.
Now, about this machine shop... I know a few members here are rather close to me, and I am going to go ahead and say this, do not, EVER,
EVER take your heads down to (forgot the name, will update later). At first I was told $80/head for both machine work, AND pressure testing, as well as dye checking, and for two bolts to be extracted from the heads.
Somehow this turned into all 12 valves being "reworked", a critical support bracket being removed from the head, ME rush ordering valve steam seals (that was $60 blown...) as he refused to supply them, or let us know we needed them in advance for him to get done early.
In the end, he wanted $150/head for what he did... It has rather ****ed me off, and I am considering legal action as he did work he didn't confirm that I wanted done, (i can do valve work my self) and he tossed bolts that shouldn't have been removed from the head. He was informed to remove ONLY the bolts that was sheered off inside the head, and told to leave all brackets/bolts other than the exhaust stud bolts ALONE.
He also left a metric ****-ton of metal shavings inside the coolant passages, and god knows what the stuff is inside my intake/exhaust passages. Appears to be metal flake.
In the end, it would have been cheaper for me to drive to somerset over an hour and a half away, and have my regular machine shop do the work for me. Cost would have been the same, and all work would have been done the same day, AND they would have left the brackets/bolts alone. Oh, my regular shop also provides valve stem seals for "free". They include that in valve job costs, not as an "extra" since they must be replaced.
So right now, I am a little beyond ****ed, and this is the fourth time a recommendation from a family friend has screwed me. Next time I am recommended something from this fellow, I will kindly tell him to go shove his genitals into a porcupine, that his friends he recommends have all screwed me over the last 10 years.
Plans right now...
-Go to fastenal and see if I can find bolts to fit these heads where the brackets should be at...
-Contact a friend to see if he is willing to fabricate a few brackets fast and cheaply with-out being able to perform precise measurements. The bracket missing connects from the head to the throttle body... No way to to all this with-out the bracket... No way to install throttle body with-out the bracket wither... Measuring isn't possible.
-Find some bolts to act as exhaust flange studs, as the ones sent are the wrong size, and everyone lists that size for my heads.
-Clean the block surface
-Partially install the cylinder heads. I can only put the gasket on, and do the first step of installing the bolts for right now due to my breaker bar breaking the other day. I wonder what 350 pounds at about 6 foot from a center point would read in torque value...
-Contact my brother to get some of his specialty tools as the LIM can't be installed with-out them and I don't want to buy the stupid things, only ever used them on this one engine, they have no real purpose other than this engine IMO.
-Clean the heads
-Finish cleaning the intake manifolds...
-Paint the intake and valve covers - I was thinking about painting the intake black, and get a chrome like paint for the valve covers... What's everyones opinion? I don't really wanna do odd colors as I want a stock appearance.
-Contact GM about a special part that can't be found anywhere and is critical for engine operation, can't even get one from the junkyard as it's plastic, and very brittle even new.
Photo Album has been updated, and pictures are now in chronological order for the most part. Newest pictures at the bottom.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...073741828.100000887370048&type=1&l=536c0a0b24
Figured I would give a little update..
Lifters and tools wont be in till later.
For now, enjoy the below pictures.
Rocker Arms during the first time I was in this engine at 150k miles, had no idea about Chem-Dip during this point in my life
Rocker Arms at 200k miles for THIS repair.
Rocker Arms after a complete cleaning with Chem-Dip for THIS repair.
