My 04 D2 rebuild adventure by knightmetro

3 minute(s) of a 35 minute read

I'm leaning towards getting an ARP head stud kit now. Should give my Reinz kit a good tight seal. I'll be doing some research to make sure that's the best route. Since I already have a head gasket kit, I don't plan to buy another one.

I wasn't able to pressure test the block over the weekend, due to not having the right size bolts, so I'll be doing that tomorrow night.

Everything is on hold until I know if the block is good or not.

If all goes well, I'll have the block stripped this weekend and ready to be hot tanked. Then I can start ordering all the parts to rebuild the bottom end. Firstly finding out if the camshaft and tappets are within specs/condition to reuse, or I'll be adding those to the order as well.

Now the wait....

The Disco has 127k miles.

How would I be able to tell if the cam bearings need replaced? I'd love to avoid that cost at the machine shop.

3-12-2014

Well....the block FAILED the pressure test. The cylinder with the slightly slipped sleeve has a leak. Looks like right next to the head bolt like usual. 

3-13-2014

So.... options.

1. Pull all liners, coat each cylinder wall with Loctite 640 and press liners back into place. Cure. Then pin liners in place.
2. Buy guaranteed used block with warranty, and do the same above.
3. Drop a couple G's on getting a top hat block sent to me. Yeah....I really don't wanna.

My theory. If I pull the liners, and coat the entire interior wall with Loctite 640, and press the liner back in place, how likely would that actually fail? It's good up to 400 degrees. It's got a huge PSI rating. It's specifically made to bond cylinder liners in place and seal them.

The cooling system is under little pressure. The liner will be sealed from top to bottom, and pinned in place so it will never move. Sounds pretty....sound.

They do the same thing in diesel trucks everyday.

Thoughts?

I know. I knew before I bought the car. I knew going into it what it may take to replace the block. I tested so I knew if it was actually the problem or not. Hence why I already have distributors of a new block in line, a machine shop if I wanted flanged liners, and feelers out to anyone that may have a good block laying around. I did that before I even signed the title.

I didn't go into this project thinking a couple hundred bucks and I'd have it back on the road.

My frugal nature is going to exhaust all routes before I drop $2,000 on just a flanged lined block. I'm doing all the work myself except any needed machine work.