VSS, Lifters, IAC, Vac line reduction...

[EvilNCarnate]

Well those are my attempted plans for this weekend, barring scorching temps or rain. I plan to pop the hood and ruin my car. I have been reading up on how to do the swap for the lifters, reading up on how to do the VSS and I am going to undertake this myself. I have no idea how I am going to compress the springs but I will cross that bridge and set it on fire when I get there. My car has went from a small puff of smoke when sitting at a light to a large puff of smoke and if I rev high enough after setting it will give whatever is behind me a 007 smoke screen and oil bath. I hope VSS is all thats causing it at this point and I hope I can handle the job.

Wish me luck or better yet wish my car luck.

[Duck Vader]

I wish both of you luck. You have had a good share of good luck lately. I hope it continues for you.

[Jeff V.]

I'll get you some pictures of the tool that Dark Helmet and I used to do his VSS. It's a pain in the ass. If you do not have a magnet on a telescoping rod, go buy one. You'll need it for the valve retainers. Get one of the 5lb tools. The hardware store I go to had a cup of them at the checkout for $3 each.

In your reading, did you come across the rope method for keeping the valves in the up position? It worked great for us. Let me know if you need an explanation.

[vegasidol]

What ever happened with your cooling fans?

[EvilNCarnate]

[quote=""Gatecrasher""]I'll get you some pictures of the tool that Dark Helmet and I used to do his VSS. It's a pain in the ass. If you do not have a magnet on a telescoping rod, go buy one. You'll need it for the valve retainers. Get one of the 5lb tools. The hardware store I go to had a cup of them at the checkout for $3 each.

In your reading, did you come across the rope method for keeping the valves in the up position? It worked great for us. Let me know if you need an explanation.[/quote]
That would be awesome, I think I read about putting a rope around the valve to let it drop down but not able to drop all the way down into the engine. I also read another method about slowly cranking the piston down and pushint the valve down very slowly with it.

Any tips and ideas at this point would be great and the more pictures the better.
[quote=""vegasidol""]What ever happened with your cooling fans?[/quote]

The other one has been going in and out as well. Yesterday the car got hotter than I have ever seen (not to the redline yet) and today when I parked the other fan didnt start running even though the engine was hot so I assume its shot as well. So I ordered a set of FlexALites from IPS. I really should have pm'd you and for not doing so I am sorry. I had a bunch of pm's going back and forth and missed replying to yours.

[Jeff V.]

There's really no room to attach rope to the top of the valve. Even something as thin as fishing line wouldn't work.

This has to be done with the cams out. Even if I could figure out a way to hold the valves in place, I still can't imagine reaching around the cams to get to the seals and somehow compress the springs.

I'll be damned if I can remember who suggested this. But anyway, what you do is get some good nylon cord (something that won't fray and leave debris in your chamber) and slowly feed it down into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. You may need to use a long screwdriver to poke it in there. Once you've fed in a few feet, crank the engine by hand until you feel the piston butt the pile of rope up against the valve faces. Then compress it a bit more just to make sure the rope is well packed.

Once this is done, go to town on the springs and seals. Once you've done all 4 and reassembled it, back the piston down to free up the rope, and then pull it out.

[vegasidol]

[quote=""EvilNCarnate""]
The other one has been going in and out as well. Yesterday the car got hotter than I have ever seen (not to the redline yet) and today when I parked the other fan didnt start running even though the engine was hot so I assume its shot as well. So I ordered a set of FlexALites from IPS. I really should have pm'd you and for not doing so I am sorry. I had a bunch of pm's going back and forth and missed replying to yours.[/quote]

Nice! Sounds like you can afford them with that big fat raise you got coming to ya.

[My92Stealth]

Good luck to you. I remember reading something about a home made valve removal tool, but I cant find it for the life of me :\

[BleedScarlet]

from what Greg told me, doing the 99 lifters isn't even necessary, just cleaning them is good enough.
Good luck on the vac reduction though, That's gonna be my first boost mod

[bluej]

[quote=""Gatecrasher""]There's really no room to attach rope to the top of the valve. Even something as thin as fishing line wouldn't work.

This has to be done with the cams out. Even if I could figure out a way to hold the valves in place, I still can't imagine reaching around the cams to get to the seals and somehow compress the springs.

I'll be damned if I can remember who suggested this. But anyway, what you do is get some good nylon cord (something that won't fray and leave debris in your chamber) and slowly feed it down into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. You may need to use a long screwdriver to poke it in there. Once you've fed in a few feet, crank the engine by hand until you feel the piston butt the pile of rope up against the valve faces. Then compress it a bit more just to make sure the rope is well packed.

Once this is done, go to town on the springs and seals. Once you've done all 4 and reassembled it, back the piston down to free up the rope, and then pull it out.[/quote]
that's a really good idea.

when i rebuilt my heads i went the home-made spring compressor route. definitely wasn't the easiest way to do it, but it wasn't that bad and it'll work.

good luck!

[Gray Haze]

You've got some work ahead of ya

The rope trick in the cyls works awesome, I used air last time on mine, and had quite a few that didn't want to budge off the keepers, but with some fighting it got there. In the car its a pain in the royal ass.

Make sure you follow the factory proceedure for bleeding the lifters in diesel or ATF before installing them, as failure to do so will result in throwing rockers on start up. If you can push the lifter head down, it isn't bled. If you start the car up and hear loud taping, shut it down IMMEDIATY to avoid severe damage to the cams and rockers. It could also possibly bend a valve if it stuck the rocker sideways.

A hook, flat peice of steel, peice of pipe, bolts, nuts, washers, and some cutting tools will make your spring compressor.

Before doing the VSS though, I'd make sure you still have good compression, as trashed piston rings netted the same effect on my car on the old engine.

[EvilNCarnate]

[quote=""Gatecrasher""]There's really no room to attach rope to the top of the valve. Even something as thin as fishing line wouldn't work.

This has to be done with the cams out. Even if I could figure out a way to hold the valves in place, I still can't imagine reaching around the cams to get to the seals and somehow compress the springs.

I'll be damned if I can remember who suggested this. But anyway, what you do is get some good nylon cord (something that won't fray and leave debris in your chamber) and slowly feed it down into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. You may need to use a long screwdriver to poke it in there. Once you've fed in a few feet, crank the engine by hand until you feel the piston butt the pile of rope up against the valve faces. Then compress it a bit more just to make sure the rope is well packed.

Once this is done, go to town on the springs and seals. Once you've done all 4 and reassembled it, back the piston down to free up the rope, and then pull it out.[/quote] I am definitely going to use this method... any specific size rope that you found works best, obviously small enough to fee through the spark plug hole.

[quote=""BleedScarlet""]from what Greg told me, doing the 99 lifters isn't even necessary, just cleaning them is good enough.
Good luck on the vac reduction though, That's gonna be my first boost mod [/quote] 99lifters is a grey area. There are some that say you dont need it some that do. In fact I have also read about trying to find the failure reason that causes the lifter tick. To my knowledge though there isnt a downside to the 99 lifters and for the price I can deal with it being something not everyone thinks is necessary.

[quote=""bluej""]that's a really good idea.

when i rebuilt my heads i went the home-made spring compressor route. definitely wasn't the easiest way to do it, but it wasn't that bad and it'll work.

good luck![/quote] Something tells me I will need all the luck I can get.

[quote=""Gray Haze""]You've got some work ahead of ya

The rope trick in the cyls works awesome, I used air last time on mine, and had quite a few that didn't want to budge off the keepers, but with some fighting it got there. In the car its a pain in the royal ass.

Make sure you follow the factory proceedure for bleeding the lifters in diesel or ATF before installing them, as failure to do so will result in throwing rockers on start up. If you can push the lifter head down, it isn't bled. If you start the car up and hear loud taping, shut it down IMMEDIATY to avoid severe damage to the cams and rockers. It could also possibly bend a valve if it stuck the rocker sideways.

A hook, flat peice of steel, peice of pipe, bolts, nuts, washers, and some cutting tools will make your spring compressor.

Before doing the VSS though, I'd make sure you still have good compression, as trashed piston rings netted the same effect on my car on the old engine.[/quote] I was planning to check the compression before and after to ensure that the VSS are the only issue. I feel it is the problem as a year ago i had the normal small puff after idling for 5 minutes or more... now its a large cloud and an oil bath. Last thing I need is to have to yank the motor and rebuild it. I guess if I do I might as well buy another DD in the mean time. Its just so hard to not want to buy another VR-4 as a DD.

[bluej]

[quote=""EvilNCarnate""]I am definitely going to use this method... any specific size rope that you found works best, obviously small enough to fee through the spark plug hole.

99lifters is a grey area. There are some that say you dont need it some that do. In fact I have also read about trying to find the failure reason that causes the lifter tick. To my knowledge though there isnt a downside to the 99 lifters and for the price I can deal with it being something not everyone thinks is necessary.

Something tells me I will need all the luck I can get.

I was planning to check the compression before and after to ensure that the VSS are the only issue. I feel it is the problem as a year ago i had the normal small puff after idling for 5 minutes or more... now its a large cloud and an oil bath. Last thing I need is to have to yank the motor and rebuild it. I guess if I do I might as well buy another DD in the mean time. Its just so hard to not want to buy another VR-4 as a DD.[/quote]
it'll be a challenge but i'm sure you're up to it. you seem to be a competent DIY'er. there are instructions for making the spring compressor on 3si too.

[jackhammer]

Some good advise here.

have fun, and wouldnt wanna be ya

[EvilNCarnate]

I'm still trying to find a good way to do the VSS, I figure making the tool isnt hard but I really dont want to get into removing the cams for the VSS replacement. What type of luck has everyone had with not pulling the cams.

Looking over all the instructions on everything it looks like something with an open mouth capable of sitting on the springs and some type of pinion point that allowed you to exert force downward with stability in a small area you could do it with the cams in.

AHHHHHHHH. I wont know much until I open up the cover and just look at what lies before me.

[Duck Vader]

Well good luck again. I am sure you will do fine.

[jackhammer]

I wouldnt dream of doing it without removing the cams, but thats just me.

[bluej]

[quote=""EvilNCarnate""]I'm still trying to find a good way to do the VSS, I figure making the tool isnt hard but I really dont want to get into removing the cams for the VSS replacement. What type of luck has everyone had with not pulling the cams.

Looking over all the instructions on everything it looks like something with an open mouth capable of sitting on the springs and some type of pinion point that allowed you to exert force downward with stability in a small area you could do it with the cams in.

AHHHHHHHH. I wont know much until I open up the cover and just look at what lies before me.[/quote]
honestly, you'll just create a lot more work and headache for yourself by trying to do it without removing the cams than if you just remove them.

+ for doing VSS in the car is that the heads are attached solid and can't move around. when rebuilding mine, it was a bit of a pain to do it on the bench. i had to have a parent/gf help by holding things in place.

- is that it's harder to access the rear head.

cams and such are a wash since you should really take them off either way.

edit: listen to wayne, he's the master

[jackhammer]

I AM THE MASTER OF DISASTER!!!

[Jeff V.]

I AM THE MASTER OF DISASTER!!!

Is this really the image you want to convey to a guy who's about to rip the top of his engine apart?