Hey guys,

Long time no talk! hope everyone had a great holiday season.

As some of you who followed my project know, i spared no expense when i did the bottom end of my 2.6L (bored .030 over, balanced whole rotating assembly, custom pistons, etc).

I ran out of money and blew through 2 junkyard heads last year in only 3K miles. So to prevent this, i am looking to redo my top end for about $500.

This is what i'm thinking (any other suggestions or alternative ideas would be appriciated).

Clearwater head from a 1986 D50 (no jet valves, hydraulic lifters)
ARP Head studs
MLS Head Gasket (or TEP head gasket, i'm having a ***** of a time finding an MLS Cometic)


Also, has anyone replaced a freeze plug? long story, but i would prefer to not remove the motor as i no longer have a garage.

thanks boys!

What boost are you building for? Unless you are going over 12-14psi, the Starion oem or felpro 88-89 SQ are fine, and have more research on sealing than any metal gaskets except annealed copper with orings and water sealants.

I like your head type choice, but are you sure of the no jv's? my 85 truck hydraulic head had jv's. I think you can get Clearwater to deliver a no-jv head with hydraulic valves and rockers, if you just ask. That is my head of choice, with just a little clean up in the valve bowls, leaving the already to tight short radius strickly alone. Much more benefit from smoothing the outside of the air path curve, the top of the valve pocket. Just clean up core lines and casting trash. A high polish is actually not as good as a matte surface for air flow.

Freeze plugs are easy if you can get access. If you are paranoid, take this step first. drill a hole in the middle of the freeze plug and screw in a sheetmetal screw, then remove the s/m screw and screw in an eye'ed screw thing and tie on a piece of wire in case you drop the plug inside when you drive it. Now, drive the plug into the block, AND try to pin it against the inner block core. Easier than it sounds. Skwiggle it sideways a tad and get a good grip on a freeze plug edge with a pair of vicegrips cranked TIGHT. Then turn the plug sideways and pull it as far out the hole sideways as you can. Then use a prybar and maybe a wood block fulcrum and pry the plug out. Comes pretty easy, with the right wrist snap on the pry bar. Stick it in your eye on the way out to remind you to wear safety specs. BTW, I never drill the hole and tie it up. Can't fall far, and not much of a prob unless it's brass...

IPP

Nice folks.

Frank

When removing core plugs, I've always found you can make the plug rotate like a throttle valve by giving the very bottom (or top) of the plug a solid hit or two with a punch/hammer, then gently tapping it slowly to start it pivoting. Then grab the top lip sticking out with a pair of channel locks and use the natural shape of the channel locks as your fulcrum against the block (in fact, you don't usually need to even close the jaws on it, just hook the upper jaw into the core plug's upper lip and rock it out). Depending on clearance, you may want to decide which way you want to tap it. Whichever side you tap in, the opposite side will pivot out so if you have more room to yank the plug with the pliers sideways rather then straight up or down, then tap the left or right side in.

I am not (anytime soon) turbocharging it. I am just not wanting to deal with head issues. I went with the non-jet hydraulic head from clearwater. $460 shipped to my door here in Calgary, AB Canada. Factor in another $200 for ARP studs and the TEP gasket, and $100 for some machining, and i'm still pretty close to budget (this will make about $13K into the truck i wanted to build completely for $5K <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />).

Thanks for the tips on the freeze plug guys. it is the one towards the front of the block on the drivers side, since the head/intake will be off anyway, it shouldn't be too bad to get at. Hopefully i'll have a nice weekend within the next little while to get this done (no garage anymore <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />)

I haven't even driven it in 4 months but i'm gettin the bug again....

Oh yeah, and when i was chatting to the guy at Clearwater about the g54b, they won't even sell heads with jet valves due to the amount of warranty claims they used to do for cracking.

Why do you need ARP studs?

to seat & align the multi-layer head gasket properly. and people swear by 'em for the g54b

Interesting, I have been running that engine for 28 years and never seen a documented issue with head bolts. For 14 years I spun one past 8,000 every time it was on a track. I have over 280000 miles driving Starions, most all of that was with higher than stock boost. I have just over 100,000 miles on the turbo Montero conversion and never seen an issue with Mitsubishi head bolts and you are putting together a stock engine and need them. Interesting. You have much more money to spend than most of us then.
By the way, the MLS gaskets are riveted together and are located by the dowels that locate the head.

On a N/A engine, I think the ARP head studs allow you to ignore a degraded cooling system a few minutes longer. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Frank