Well I took off my heads to replace a suspected blown head gasket, and when I popped the head off, turns out the situation is worse than originally thought. One of my pistons has a small piece missing from the edge, and about half of its circumference (centered on the missing piece) seems to be eroded/damaged. Under closer inspection, it seems there are small flecks of what I assume are melted metal stuck to the top surface of the piston in the damaged area. Below are some pictures of the piston in question:
And a closeup
Different lighting
And a closeup
The car seemed to run pretty good before I took it apart. The only reason I decided to replace the HG was that the one cylinder had slightly lower compression than the rest, and I had a coolant leak that hadn't gone away after replacing all the usual suspects. Since the coolant wasn't leaking anyplace externally that I could find, I assumed I had a leaky HG.
Surprisingly, the cylinder bore itself seems okay, the worst looking part (the scoremarks where the major piston damage is) seems very smooth to the touch, and doesn't catch a fingernail when drug across.
My first question is, what would be the quickest and most economical way to fix this? I am on a very limited budget, and was hoping to get the car back in running shape before the fall semester begins and I am swamped with research, teaching, etc. Oh, and since I haven't mentioned this yet, the engine is still in the car, so if it all possible I would prefer to fix it without having to yank the whole motor (its parked in my driveway which has a rather steep slope so pulling the motor would not be fun). My hope is that I can just drop the oil pan, pull that rod and piston out, give that cylinder a quickie hone-job, put a new piston/ring-set on the old rod and bolt it all back up. From your guys experience, does this seem like a workable fix? The car is a hotair, and my daily driver, so its not ever going to see much more than stock boost or power levels and might make it to the track once or twice a year just to see what it'll do. Like I said, I'm really trying to get a workable fix done easily and quickly here, so while I know it'd be ideal to pull the motor, get it professionally gone through, etc. I'm hoping it won't come to that.
My second question is when replacing the bad piston, any clue where to get another one? I have no idea if the pistons in there are stock. Are the stock hotair pistons the same as the stock IC'd pistons? If so, mine do not appear to match the ones pictured in the
Piston Photo Guide on GNTType.org as the stockers have a dimple to denote the front side, whereas mine have two notches. In addition, mine also have "STD" stamped/cast into their top surface (I assume denoting standard bore, as opposed to .030 over, etc.). If anyone can identify these pistons, or shed any light on which brand/type of piston I should get to replace it, please let me know. I assume I should get the same style/brand as the one in there to replace it to retain the same weight and balance for the rotating assembly.
I know this is a long post, but I really need some help here guys, I need to get this car back on the road soon, and this damn piston just threw me a stumbling block. Thanks for any assistance you can give me.
And a closeup
Different lighting
And a closeup
The car seemed to run pretty good before I took it apart. The only reason I decided to replace the HG was that the one cylinder had slightly lower compression than the rest, and I had a coolant leak that hadn't gone away after replacing all the usual suspects. Since the coolant wasn't leaking anyplace externally that I could find, I assumed I had a leaky HG.
Surprisingly, the cylinder bore itself seems okay, the worst looking part (the scoremarks where the major piston damage is) seems very smooth to the touch, and doesn't catch a fingernail when drug across.
My first question is, what would be the quickest and most economical way to fix this? I am on a very limited budget, and was hoping to get the car back in running shape before the fall semester begins and I am swamped with research, teaching, etc. Oh, and since I haven't mentioned this yet, the engine is still in the car, so if it all possible I would prefer to fix it without having to yank the whole motor (its parked in my driveway which has a rather steep slope so pulling the motor would not be fun). My hope is that I can just drop the oil pan, pull that rod and piston out, give that cylinder a quickie hone-job, put a new piston/ring-set on the old rod and bolt it all back up. From your guys experience, does this seem like a workable fix? The car is a hotair, and my daily driver, so its not ever going to see much more than stock boost or power levels and might make it to the track once or twice a year just to see what it'll do. Like I said, I'm really trying to get a workable fix done easily and quickly here, so while I know it'd be ideal to pull the motor, get it professionally gone through, etc. I'm hoping it won't come to that.
My second question is when replacing the bad piston, any clue where to get another one? I have no idea if the pistons in there are stock. Are the stock hotair pistons the same as the stock IC'd pistons? If so, mine do not appear to match the ones pictured in the
Piston Photo Guide on GNTType.org as the stockers have a dimple to denote the front side, whereas mine have two notches. In addition, mine also have "STD" stamped/cast into their top surface (I assume denoting standard bore, as opposed to .030 over, etc.). If anyone can identify these pistons, or shed any light on which brand/type of piston I should get to replace it, please let me know. I assume I should get the same style/brand as the one in there to replace it to retain the same weight and balance for the rotating assembly.
I know this is a long post, but I really need some help here guys, I need to get this car back on the road soon, and this damn piston just threw me a stumbling block. Thanks for any assistance you can give me.
