Hey guys,
See a bunch of you over here.
Anyways my project this time is on my wifes 84, her car has 219k on it and does run rather well. Last spring I replaced the heads on my 84, I took those and sent them out to get redone in hopes of putting them on hers. But before I do I wanted to do at least a dry/wet compression test.
These are what I came up with.
Cyl Dry Wet
1 150 152
3 140 155
5 160 158
7 145 150
2 155 155
4 150 150
6 180 180
8 155 179

It looks like I do have some ring wear which would be normal since the mileage is high. So what do you think: can I get by with just the reconditioned heads or should I just pull it and do it right?

Sorry but I personally wouldn't pay any attention to those numbers unless you do it on a warm motor. 84s especially, because they have forged pistons and are going to let more past the rings when cold.

I know it's not fun to pull plugs on a hot motor, but use some gloves.

Also after I do a check, I put the plugs back in and warm it back up, recharge the battery, then do another check in the reverse order. Because you'll find that as you do the test the engine cools, and the battery gets run down, both which decrease your compression numbers.

Although I may try my hand at leak down checks now that I have a compressor.

I'm not sure what you mean by, "Do it right."

The car has over 200K miles and you say it is running well. I wouldn't do a thing to it that wasn't clearly required and would start planning for a complete rebuild, crate replacement or a younger car. I would lean toward the younger car option (fewer miles on the odometer). Just my opinion.

Quote:

The engine was hot when I first did my checks and I ended up doing them a few times as the engine cooled down. Those set of numbers were taken when the engine was still warm.
Last summer I noticed that when she started the car up it would blow smoke until it warmed up so at the time I assumed it needed a valve job.


NorCal86- "Do it Right" to me means to get a replacement crate motor for it.

You have a car with a lot of miles. The 140# to 160# spread shows it isn't a new engine, but also, that it isn't on it's last legs. The puffs of blue smoke on start up are from oil passing through the valve guides. Very often on a high mileage engine after a new valve job the rings become overpowered and a new set of symptoms appear. You could try installing new valve stem oil seals if the smoking really bothers you, but the chances are that the guides are worn so badly that the valves, loose in the guides, will batter the new seals into a short life. The seals are about a $40.00 gamble for seals and gaskets. The valve job is a bigger gamble. My advice is to live with it until you are prepared to do it right. We all have different ways, but I would go out and buy a core engine I could build up while I was using the last of the old engines capabilities. In fact I am in the middle of that plan as we speak.

RACE ON!!!

Quote:
I never ever would, simply cause the age of the vehicle means next to nothing, and in my opinion, its better the devil you know.

Just as a further example, i had an 87 coupe for 6 years, i replaced the A/C compressor, rebuilt the starter motor, and rebuilt the alternator. The car was extremely reliable the whole time i had it. I moved up to the 94 i have now, and it was full of issues coming up all over the place cause it had been mistreated.

Thanks CFI, thats the info I was looking for. I had a feeling that by putting the reconditioned heads on it would create more problems than whats its worth. The smoke bothers me not her... I'm sure we can keep it going for another year or so.
The engine core idea is good maybe rather than pick up an extra crate for it, I'll just get a core to build myself... its a good learning experience.

I agree. Those numbers aren't horrible. Keep driving it.

Quote:They are bad enough. They are in excess of the generally accepted problematic 10%, but they aren't so bad that it can't run decently, for now. I would definitely be making plans before it becomes a serious problem. Mine is my DD. Even though I have a back up, I'd hate to make the back up my DD for long.

RACE ON!!!

HEY!! CFI-EFI Nice to see you around.

Sorry for the hijack. This is all.

Well fortunetly for me our vettes are just pleasure cruisers. We don't use them for DD.
I'm gonna take CFI's advice and just get a motor prepped to install in the next couple of years.
But at least by doing this it gives me an idea of what shape the motor's in. I may go ahead and do it on mine as well. Mine however only has 67k. Not that it makes in any better, but it doesn't hurt to check.