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What is Involved in Rebuilding an Engine

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When you are ready to take on the task of rebuilding your engine, there are several options available to you. You can take the car to a qualified mechanic and have them do the work, you can save money by doing it yourself, or you can simply find another engine that matches the one in your car and replace it. However, to know for sure you are getting an engine that matches what you had before and works according to specifications is to rebuild the car engine you have. Here are the steps you will take to do this:

• Disassembly: The biggest challenge to any engine work is taking the engine apart. You have to pay strict attention to what you are doing so you can reverse the process later. If it isn't done right, you will have an engine that won't run, which means taking it apart and spending more money doing so. The best way to take an engine apart is to take pictures of the engine before you start working on it and gradually as you take parts off. This way you have a visual aid to help you later when you are replacing those parts. Plus, certain parts like connecting rod, valves, main bearings, and any other part that is in a certain position in the engine, needs to be stamped for that particular numbered position so that part can be put back where it came from. Or the new part can be placed where the old part came from. As you take parts and assemblies off the engine block, it would be a good idea to place the screws, bolts, nuts, and other fasteners in a bag and either tie or tape it around the part of assembly they came from. This way you'll know what went where.
• Machine shop: After all parts are removed, take the engine block, crankshaft, camshaft, rods, and pistons to a machine shop. The machine shop will have to recondition these parts so they can be used again. The only exception to this is with the crankshaft, camshaft, rods, and pistons. You may want to just replace these parts.
• Preparation: After you get the engine block and all parts back to your shop, your next step is to clean the engine (the shop will not do this), and make it ready to be put back together. You will need many tools including a torque wrench and piston ring compressor. You will also need a list of tightening (torque) specifications for each bolt, screw, and nut you put back, and some Plastigauge to measure bearing clearances.
• Reassembly: Here is where your time and muscle comes in because you have to lift heavy parts and you will be working slowly at doing this. It is at this time you need to put all new parts in the engine block and using the bolts, nuts, and screws from disassembly to reassemble the new parts in place. You need to replace the crankshaft, followed with the front and back bearings. Then you have to install the pistons and connect each piston to the crankshaft, then install the camshaft (unless this is overhead cam), followed by connecting rods, lifters, and finally the value head. After this is done, you just have to replace the distributor, fuel system, filters, radiator hoses, antifreeze, and engine oil.

Next Page: Breaking In the Rebuilt Engine

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