Well why not tear it apart first and see if you need pistons or not. If so just grab the DNJ kit for like 300$ and an 8770 felpro for $15 and be done. (You have to press the p istons off, aka $50 at a machine shop) otherwise just piece together some rock auto closeout stuff and be done.

Head bolts are fine. Just re torque after a heat cycle and again 1000 miles later. Unless your boosting to 16psi or something its fine. I'm at 7psi on head bolts.

I have done several without issue, and I know a lot of others that have replaced them successfully. The running clearance on them is quite large, basically a glorified cam bearing. If you are replacing a set of bearings that were wiped out and the next set goes, you missed an obvious problem or created a new one.

I made my own bearing press tools, it was pretty simple. Most balance shaft bearings can be reused and are in perfect shape. I replace them just because its easy.

I have run with and without balance shafts. The vibration without them is annoying and yes that was on a balanced motor.



Hastings does not make a moly ring for the 2.6 and Randy did not have custom rings made. For that matter, he mentions in several posts (Starquest board) that for stock pistons he sells chrome rings and that they work really well. I'm not sure what you have, but something does not add up.



The other solution is to make an offset cam bushing. It's simpler and more reliable. That and a .020" deck cut does not result in a noticeable change in cam timing.

Engine Rebuild:

Three things I would look at.

1: Budget
2: Intention
3: Condition of your existing motor.

The right way is to tear the engine down and evaluate its condition. That's going to determine how much you need to spend to get a reasonable amount of service out of the engine.

Anyone can make a perfect motor by throwing money at it, the hard part is knowing what is still serviceable.

Also, knowing how the motor died (assuming it died) and how it ran before you tore it down can help narrow down your search.

A visual on the bore is a start, measuring them is the right way to do it. Out of spec means you need to bore the motor over sized. Same goes with the rod ends and the crank.

My recommendation is to get a fresh set of stock bolts, reuse your cam (assuming it looks OK). Most cam damage is a wiped out journal and will be obvious.

ACL make a good pistons, same with sealed power. I have never used ITM. The Sealed Power look to be really good for a stock type rebuild.

I agree 100% with Kevin. Tear it down first, no need to throw money at it.

Too bad i didnt speak to you about bs bearings when doing my build. If you say its not to bad, I might of actually atempted to change my hashed up ones. All I've read on topic always stated otherwise. Plus all the reports of seized balance shafts scared me.

Regarding rings. All I know for a fact is that i bought rings from randy in a hastings box. The rings were flat black, while my old rings and the extra rings I got free with my pistons were chromy and shiny. So that would mean I got moly rings, no?

I bought itm pistons as a last resort since I couldn't find sealed power or acl pistons available anywhere for turbo applications. They only make them for n/a engines?

Never heard of offset cam bushings. Do you have a link to a part number or more info on the topic? Fascinating...



<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/sleeping.gif" alt="" />

I make my own. If your lucky you might find one for another application that has the same ID as the 2.6's cam bushing.

Interesting. So it basically offsets the cam angle and degrees in the cam correctly?

I also heard of guys drilling offset holes in the cam gear to degree in the cam.

(And why is there a sleeping smiley in my post lol)

I should one day check my cam degree, just too many other priorities.

Not to be argumentative, but they're probably not.

There has been discussion ad nauseum on this board and others regarding this very topic. I've always reused head bolts until I had to tear a new head install back down because the head bolts were stretched...coolant leak.

New bolts; proper torque; no more leak.

They're cheap. Replace 'em with OE.

Oh, sorry. Wasnt clear. I didnt mean reuse the old ones.

The question was wether he should buy new head bolts or step up to new head studs. I ment new head bolts will be fine for a n/a application. No need for head studs unless under significant boost.

Fair enough. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

NEW stock head bolts are ok for turbo applications, too, provided the bolt holes are properly cleaned of anything inside.

Used head bolts will bite you.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a vendor that sells a head gasket kit? Part numbers even? I tried the search feature.
I'd like a complete upper kit if possible.

Use those numbers and append "engine set". With the full engine set you get the pan and water pump gaskets, the BS cover gaskets, the main seals, plus a complete upper set with the n/z (8770) or turbo (9116) head gasket. As stated, the turbo gasket is quite good for either application.