worth it?
 

Alright guys, here's the deal..

I have my old block out in the backyard of my mom's house. I plan on taking it apart once I have a garage to take it apart in. However, since I'm a "stupid girl" and don't know too much about salvaging engines, this is where all your knowledge/input/advice/suggestions/and put downs come in. Unfortunately I do not know 100% what happened to the thing since we never had it professionally checked out when it broke. The connnecting rod on 6 shattered and messed up the piston (or so i was told)but I do know that rod is shot.

Now, the car genius ::) I was with at the time, said the engine was pretty useless because there would be metal shavings everywhere and God knows what else wrong with it. Also, it's been sitting out in the backyard uncovered and in the dirt for a year now. :-\ I'm sure there's probably millions of spiders and ---- in it by now. :-\ Not to mention corosion probably? My dad just kinda threw it in a wheel barrow and dumped it out on the side of the yard. I'd like to be able to use it for my own personal learning sessions or whatever. Since I don't have a bf with access to a shop and lots of nifty ---- whenever he wants and can teach me all there is to know, I'll do it the hard way and take my own apart and bug other people when I get stumped.

What I'm interested to know however, is whether this thing will serve only as a learning/reference tool, or...could it be salvaged to a reliable running motor again? I don't know the criteria for something like this to be worth while. Or what determines an engine "done" (meaning don't bother fixing it, it'll never be the same and will just be a hassle til the day you die if you ever get it running again). So....let the criticism begin!!

Re:worth it?
 

what kind of car was it in?
do you know what motor it is?

Re:worth it?
 

why not just rebuild the engine thats in your car already ?

Re:worth it?
 

its a mazda mx6.

Re:worth it?
 

haha, sorry, that might have been a good detail to include huh. It's a Maxda Mx6 V6 2.0

Re:worth it?
 

rebuild it. you can do alot of ---- with those.

your single??

Re:worth it?
 

Because I don't have anything else to drive, that engine works and is already in, obviously. And I have an old busted one I can learn from instead of throwing it in a junkyard.

Re:worth it?
 

Hell yeah. rebuild that sucker and boost the hell out of it!

where are you from?

Re:worth it?
 

haha I'd rather boost the klze (the running motor) but I can't afford to have no transportation. Besides, this won't be for about a year since my mom's gone all weird and ---- about having her garage cleaned up. (my dad has had his "project in there for about6 years now :-\ )

and i'm an oregomer...i'm like the only one :'(

I wish I wasn't such a retard on the keyboard today so I could stop having to edit this damn post.

Re:worth it?
 

well i guess id rebuild the spare engine. sscaeg, this aint no love line. Mary is mine :-*

Re:worth it?
 

Don't ruin my God damn thread and get Steve in here bitchin and moanin again!! >:(

Re:worth it?
 

If I may tap into all your guy's expertise, what kind/level of damage would you predict a years worth of mud, wind, rain, snow and sun would have on this heep?

Re:worth it?
 

If the motor had everything sealed still like headgasket,valve cover,plug wires,plugs, something covering over throttle body it maybe alright but if you had anything open that would allow anything in it's rusted nicely.

Re:worth it?
 

How about we just bring back that pic of you in a thong and reck this post







;) :P

Re:worth it?
 

just say ---- it and buy a honda ;D
steve

Re:worth it?
 

this is travis' girl....
i was just tryin to be the cockblock. more power to you travis!!

Re:worth it?
 

don't be a bunch of cocksuckers >:( this is a legit thread that doesn't need to be ruined by 17 yr old behavior.

Oh lovely. :-\ Yea there was nothing covering it. There were no plans of keeping it when it was pulled. I'm sure my dad's thoughts were to just dump it, but I've been wanting something to learn from for a while, and I have one right here, might as well use it right? Maybe I'll go take some pics of it tonight...let ya'll see what I get to work with. :-\

Re:worth it?
 

not all hope is lost...the thought has definitely crossed my mind many times. there's just a bunch of variables that all require a bunch of money i don't have. who knows though...maybe a crx is in the market ;D

Re:worth it?
 

Oh yeah sorry...thats your department ;D

Re:worth it?
 

listen mary... take the head off the block.. then check for rust in the cylenders.. (spelling :P) if there is some rust or if the rod hit the sleeve.. the just throw it away..
sorry about the spelling.. im a little pissed today and cant think stright >:(

Re:worth it?
 

i'll look into that in the next few days.

i was just outside talking with my dad about this. he says the head is repairable. it's just been rained out. he's not positive about the block. apparently one of the cylinders is scored and would probably take as much as i got my entire new engine for, to rebuild it. (the block that is)

but thanks for the input (that actually had to do with this thread) everyone.

maybe i'll start from scratch and make a full race engine out of it ;D

Re:worth it?
 

Don't you mean it's a 2.5 v6 DOHC (24 valve) motor?



That is an all aluminum engine so you're not going to have to worry about rust/corrosion that much, a very fine wire brush wheel should be able to clean it up nicely. If the entire block was sealed and just the outside looks nasty then it is salvageable in that aspect.

I have taken cast iron sbc heads left out a year in the field and sandblasted them back to good condition. A quick resurface of the mating area and I can run them again (still debating on that one, nothing wrong with my 350 heads). Of course I trashed the valves and valve springs, but those need to be refitted with some performance ---- anyways.. I just like the heads all sparkly clean lying next to the dog food bag.

The problem that you have is you most likely spun a bearing, causing the rod to break apart so you will have some scarring of the cylinder wall. There is still a chance that this didn't happen but luck will have it that the motor has more problems then what it's worth. If you still decided to go for the rebuild then re-sleeving would be your option, the price of the machine work is making this rebuild less and less feasible when compared to you buying a replacement medium mile motor if you decide to over boost that JDM block that you're running right now.

In fact if you want my opinion on the matter, rebuilding that block would be completely asinine given your financial state and level of skill (no offense implied). If this were a high nickel content small block chevy v8 350 then it would be a good core to build a stroker motor with, but this one is pretty much going to be a project block for you. There is nothing wrong with a learning experience.

As long as the motor hasn't suffered a great over heating in the time before it died then tearing it down shouldn't be that difficult (reason for the overheating is cause the parts that are supposed to "unbolt" will be fused together). You will need a good set of half inch drive metric sockets and an impact to make the job go smoothly. You can do it with hand tools but that is a pain in the ass to try to take a free floating block and break down the torqued head bolts.

Along with the learning experience you might be able to sell some of the engine parts online. I realize that car isn't as popular as many honda/mitsu parts can be but I would imagine that you could drag in 100-200 for the head, valve cover, oil pan.. ---- I would even save every bolt that came out of the thing and sell them as a lot.

As far as the spider colony that is currently residing in the block, I would buy a can of engine degreaser and spray it down, then hose it off. I know how much we all hate spiders so figuring out how to rid yourself of that barrier would be step #1 in your engine teardown/learning experience.

Re:worth it?
 

you must have posted that last comment while I was writing up that nice page for you. some more info on the heads, you can take them off and visually inspect them for cracks and warping. After removing all the sensors and ---- attached a decent machine shop should charge you no more then $30 a head to hot tank them and run a pressure check. That is about what I paid and I recently had a volvo head inspected and checked out.

If you want to go the cheap route then just remove them and clean them up and sell them as is. Like I said in the last post, a fine wire bursh should make them nice and pretty.

Re:worth it?
 

sounds like you've got a crush :-*

Re:worth it?
 

if you are referring to me having a crush on her, not likely. I'm not blinded by the e------ like the rest of the kids on this board. A member asks a question, I give a detailed answer. Read some of my first couple hundred posts on this board, everyone got a page or two of information when they asked ----.. it's how I made moderator after a month ;)

Re:worth it?
 

i'm not talking about you dumbass..

Re:worth it?
 

next time you should probably read into this concept called CLARIFICATION before you start posting stupid ----. Dumbass

Re:worth it?
 

I clarified when I quoted her.. dumbass..

Re:worth it?
 

whatever

but good job of trying to ---- up a perfectly good technical oriented thread.

Re:worth it?
 

:D

Re:worth it?
 

Well, in my experience with motors, here's a little rundown of my motor's condition before and after:

- When I bought the engine from my buddy a looooooonggggg time ago, it was rusted on the outside, oil caked on the bottom outside and bottom of oil pan inside, and all kinds of dirt on the flywheels, and clutch, etc.

- Then, after taking the motor completely apart (I do mean APART), cleaning the crap out of it using Brake Cleaner and Engine Degreasers (I ended up using like almost 15 cans of this ----. But the motor is like immaculate on the inside and out. Took the block, head, and manifolds, and did a little sanding to remove the carbon deposits on the pistons, piston walls, valves, intake and exhaust ports, and etc.

Basically after four long months of drama and drawbacks, I had a spanking new looking B18A1 LS Motor.

So, was it worth it? You betcha bottom dollar I did. I bought the whole darn motor minus the tranny and dizzy for $150 from my buddy cause it looked like ----. But in the long run, I saved money and my buddy hated my guts for selling me a good engine.

The point is...Persistence. How far are you willing to go and how dedicated are you? Diferent folks have different motivations. This is just my input...

Re:worth it?
 

Well that was just a motor that looked crappy and was worn out? Yeah I'll do that to cast sbc blocks all the time.. I want to find a nice all steel 327 jewel from a redneck one day.. that would be nice.

The problem with that mx6 block is it got fucked up, and might have more problems. Not to mention it's not a popular choice like an LS motor that has plenty of parts avail for cheap and all sorts of support for doing it.

Re:worth it?
 

ANYWAYS, Mary ill give you a 100 % for atleast wanting to rebuild your own engine. i think thats very awsome. im not too firmiliar with Mazda engines, but im sure if u posted around other forums you'd find a better response than on HMT.

Good Luck !

Re:worth it?
 

yea that sorry. you have 6 cylinders mary...not 4 ;D

Re:worth it?
 

oh yea...long time secret crush...me and jeff wheewww we go way back :P lol glad that's all out in the open now ::)

Re:worth it?
 

Anyways, thanks Travis for the support, and thanks to everyone else who contributed to this thread accordingly. Your advice/input has been noted.

I'm not so sure about it's ability to be fully rebuilt. The block might have been more damaged than either me or my dad know. (we'll have to take a look at it obviously) And God knows what other types of problems it has. One issue I'm a little leary of is that I don't think it was taken very good care of by it's previous two owners. Simple maintenace like oil changes I don't think happened too often. On that note, I know that lack of care in that area can cause the capilaries? (i think that's the right word :-X ) to become congested with old cruddy oil resulting in not enough oil getting into the sleeves to lube up letting the pistons move up and down freely. I don't feel like having any fused pistons on my hands. Anyone know of a good way to check for good or regular flow out of these specific areas? And/or ways to fix the build up?

And as far as getting better responses...I've pretty much been getting the types that I was looking for. I'm not asking anyone "how" to rebuild this engine. I'm simply asking if you had one in your posession that was in similar shape and condition, would it be worth it, or even possible. I know all motors are different and some would/will be easier to fix/clean than others. But it's pretty general what I'm asking.

And Ryan...given my "financial state and level of skill" you're damn right it'd be a project. It's nothing I plan on having done in four months. I won't even be able to start working on it til after September most likely. My dad thinks I'm a nut for wanting to rebuild it. We got the klze for 900....it'd probably take that much or more to rebuild this pile of metal out in my yard. :-\ But we'll see.

Re:worth it?
 

I doubt that oil buildup is that bad, I've seen much worse from overheated blocks.. your block would crack apart before you had major oil breakdown.

If you really want to preflush the motor, I would just flush it with kerosene. Since it's not in the car, this may be a problem. Here is what I would do:

Drain out the motor oil, fill it full of kerosene. Next the motor has to be rotated over with some sort of force. The oil pump has to be engaged, on v8 and most slant 4 cylinder motors the oil pump is driven off the distributor so engaging it is easy.. I'm unsure how the platform is on that v6. Pulling the plugs and bolting up a starter would be about your best option. Run it for a couple of minutes on the starter and then you will have kerosene cycled thru all the viens and ready for a gunk free tear down.


The first step would be to just tear the motor apart and throw everything into boxes, get it to a level where u can inspect it. Once you are at that point then you will know which direction to go. If the block isn't fucked up then you just might want to consider replacement pistons, bearings and seals. Never hurts to have spare motors around.

Oh yeah, tearing the block down towards winter will help somewhat on the colony of spiders living in it.. you will still have those bastard black jumping ones hiding deep in the crevaces. Don't forget about all those ------- mud dobbers that like to fill up bolt holes with larva. Yeah leaving ---- outside completely sucks.

I wouldn't spend that much money on brake parts cleaner for everything, gasoline, diesel fuel or degreaser should be a cheap way to clean the crud off.

Re:worth it?
 

i think im going to make a HMT name and pretend im a girl, because if youre a girl and ask stupid questions, you dont get flamed, now if this was a guy asking this question without providing all the necessary info, the flaming would never end.

Re:worth it?
 

it's a pile of crap out in my backyard that blew up over a year ago. what more should i have provided? it's sitting upright with no valve cover, water in it everywhere i'm sure. i'll go take pics tomorrow. :-*

Re:worth it?
 

there is no need to be racist or sexist on a forum that is completely blind. I actually thought makattack was a guy at first (since 25% of the members here have a chick as an avatar). Like I mentioned before, check out my earlier posts. I gave absolutely everyone this kind of response to their question, even if the member had only one post and never returned to follow up.

How many times have I helped you in the forced induction forum?