Calgary Engine Remanufacturer?

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » July 27th, 2006, 11:17 am

I thought I'd check to see if any of you would have some inside into this. I need both heads on my KLZE remanufactured (Valve & Seats machined, new stem seals installed, etc). This is something that someone should not tackle on their own due to the pression involved in machining these parts. Normally Moores, the Engine Professionals is the place to go, but their phone numbers and emails are all not in service. I hope they didn't close up shop. Does anyone know of places that do similar good quality work here in Calgary? I have replacement Intake and Exhaust stem seals.

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » July 30th, 2006, 10:56 am

Well I did my own digging around. It turns out that Moores no longer does consumer engines. They only do big industrial / oil and gas equipment. They told me that they sold all their equipment to Cetus / http://www.Fireboltengines.com . I went there and after to explaining of what I need done, they gave me a price of $600 per head. I coughed really hard when they told me that. I think I may just have to look at doing it myself. $1200 is damn near how much I bought the engine for.

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » August 2nd, 2006, 12:14 pm

Well here's an update (even though I'm talking to myself here).

I did a compression test last night and cylinder #5 is in bad shape. The NGK iridium spark plug is black with caked on oil carbon. By the looks of it, it is pretty much running on just 5 cylinders. No wonder the car felt slow. Now I will have to go through all the fun and joy of pulling the heads off and rebuilding them this weekend. Now if only I had money coming out of my a--...

Silktrain · Post by **Silktrain** » August 2nd, 2006, 9:26 pm

Well, you may be talking to yourself, but I'm listening. Too bad I'm a car-tard and really can't offer advice or help

Darcy · Post by **Darcy** » August 2nd, 2006, 10:23 pm

Lots of listeners. I'm scared to pull out my plugs (been a while) and see how bad of shape they're in...

Hope you get things worked out.

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » August 3rd, 2006, 10:00 am

Well I had Firebolt engines call me back yesterday evening and they said there was a miss communication with their NE outlet. They said the entire head rebuild with the cams and lifters removed is $600 ($300 per head). That price is a little easier to swallow but I still can't afford it right now. My father has an old buddy that used to race indy cars but is now retired and busier than ever (funny how that works). But anyways, my father talked to him last night and got a few names of some shops that they use and really recommend for engine machining. Precise Engine Rebuilders here in SE Calgary and Competition Services in Crossfield. Precise Engine Rebuilders is supposedly the best, so perhaps I'll request a quote from them.

I ran some Seafoam through the engine last night as a last resort (just incase the oil control rings on the pistons were gummed up or valves could be freed up a little). I bought 2 cans of Seafoam from Autovalue for this proceedure. First I let the car warm up. Then I sucked 1/2 the can into the intake manifold through one of the vacuum lines. I used the hose to the PCV valve since it is right after the throttle body and would go to both cylinder banks evenly. It's a bit tricky since you need to pinch the vacuum line with your fingers until you are ready to suck the fluid from the can. This stalled the car out a couple times while sucking up the fluid. Once 1/2 the can was in the intake manifold and vacuum line re-attached to the PCV Valve, I cranked the car until it restarted, Gave it a good rev to 4K rpm to blast the Seafoam into the cylinders, and then let it idle down to a stall. It should stall at this point but if it doesn't, try reving it up to 4K again quick and if it still doesn't stall, just shut it off. Now let it sit for a good 5-10mins. This will let the Seafoam soak into any carbon on the cylinder heads and valves. Some will run into the rings to clear up the compression ring a little.

After about 8mins I turned the key until she started. It takes a few seconds since the Seafoam really kills out the combustion. The car should spew out lots of white smoke for a few minutes. Give it a couple of good surging revs to around 4-5K. This may shoot more Seafoam out of the manifold and into the cylinders again so it may idle a little rough right after revving. Let the car run for around 5mins and then shut it off again. Now I added 1 full can to the engine oil. (Make sure your oil is topped up first) Then you start the car and let it run for 20-30mins. Part of the way through the proceedure, give the MX-3 a good rev to around 4K rpms but just quickly. Don't hold a high rpm. Do this 2 or 3 times during the 30min idle.

After the idling period, I pulled the car over the pit and dig an oil chance. Make sure you protect your hands because the oil is very hot and used engine oil is carcenegenic (cancer causing). When the oil was almost finished dribbling, I poured a 1/2 Litre of new Synthetic oil to chase out any sludge and left over Seafoam. Once it was finished draining, I installed the drain plug, filled a new oil filter with oil and installed it, and then proceeded to add 4L of fresh synthetic engine oil.

I took her for a test drive and the KLZE emediately sounded quieter. As soon as I pulled onto the highway, a nice white jet cloud of smoke started spewing from the exhaust.

I wasn't really forcing it. It was probably just more seafoam in the intake blowing through from the engine being under load. Any cars that were coming in the distance behind me completely dissapeared in the smoke. Tee hee hee... ooops!

The smoke eased off after about 10 seconds or so. Throttle response seemed a bit better along with overall accelleration and running noise. I will monitor my oil usage over the next few days and see if it made any difference. I will also give it another compression test on Friday afternoon (After 2 days of driving to work). If things have improved, but not 100%, I may run some more Seafoam through the intake manifold again and see if it helps some more before I consider ripping the engine apart. I'll keep you all posted.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » August 3rd, 2006, 2:36 pm

Sorry I didnt see this thread before man.. But it sounds like you did the seafoam job top notch

And hopefully it will have freed up your rings in #5 cylinder.

Best of luck.

Tunes67

wyldside · Post by **wyldside** » August 3rd, 2006, 6:13 pm

Yeah hopefully it helps, even if just short term. I'll find out pretty quick. If doesn't work, I'll probably be rebuilding her over the winter.