[fantacmet]

Ok as some of you may or may not know my Bull has been down for awhile now. Blew the piston rings. The cylinder walls should still be in fairly good condition. I have a 2.3L 4 Cyl. It is possible I might be able to scrap up what I need to just replace the piston rings(gaskets and all that stuff). How feasable is this as opposed to rebuilding the entire engine, which in that case I'll either have to scrap the car, part it out, or wait a year or two and might have to scrap it anyway. The car is a fairly rare MT-5, with just barely over 100K on it. It's an 86, I've done alot of work to it, in customization. Was actually getting ready to order SFC's and STB's from Bob, as well as a nice set of wheels and tires, but when she hosed me it cost me my job since I was a driver. I was also going to replace the drivers side fender, and then have her repainted. Not just a cheapo job either but a nice paint job. So what do y'all think? Jack it up, pop the oil pan, D/C the con rods, pop the piston/rod combo's out, replce the rings, set them back in, button it back up? Most everything on the engine is brand new. Over 3500 in new parts under the hood right before I got her. All new sensors, injection is brand new, etc. Be a shame to let that kinda stuff go to waste. Thoughts please? Anyone? I'm broke as broke can get. I MAY be able to pick up an MT-5 parts car, but I have no idea at this point. Thanks in advance.

Michael

 

[projectSHO89]

Not really feasible.

If the rings are "blown", it would take a miracle for the cylinder walls to have survived intact.

Pistons should come out the top, not the bottom for proper replacement. While it might be possible, I wouldn't recommend it.

Steve

 

[toolbox]

I've done it before on a Dodge Colt. PITA but we did get it done. Plus I was younger and had more energy/ambition to try the impossible. You know!! Like this.

(Was told we couldn't do it).

When you say, "rings are blown," do you mean they are worn and will no longer provided adeqate compression. Or, do you mean they broke into pieces. Cause if they broke into pieces they may have caused cyl wall and piston damage.

With 100K on the engine there is probably significant cyl wall wear. I would carefully inspect the pistons, cyl wall, and try to measure the bore to make sure its not excessively worn. (If you choose to just put new rings in eng.)

Certainly it's a roll of the dice!!! It's a lot of work and a good amount of cash to spend and you really won't know the results until you're all done.

 

[jedhead]

You will need to rehone the cylinders at a minimum for the new rings to seat. If the rings don't seat you won't be able to hold the compression in the cylinders, you will burn oil, contaminate the oil, compromise the bearing, on and on. This is something you do to get rid of the car and screw the next owner.

Bob

 

[Patrick Norris]

Tempo engines are a dime a dozen and cheap as dirt. Just replace the engine.

 

[fantacmet]

As for the first reply I left out the part of removing the head. <_< of course I would take a hone to the cylinder walls. As for engines being dirt cheap, yeah the bottom end 65 HP ngines are, but I have the HP with pumps 135, which is "adequit" 65 horse won't cut it. 0-30 in 5 minutes, nah thank ya. As for the piston rings, they're just worn. It's not meant to be a permanant fix, but if it'll get me by for 4 or 5 months to possibly even a year it'll be worth it. If I can get it to last for 4 or 5 months then it'll be a good thing. Because by that time I should have another engine standing by to drop in. Biggest thing is right now dead car=no work. If the car is working I can be working and get the cash tp snag another cheapo car to drive while I rebuild the engine in the bull right, or find another engine to rebuild and drop in. Or just go to a V-6 or V-8