Change S/C oil before LIM Change?

I know there's a benefit to installing higher ratio rocker arms, springs and push rods whilst I'm in there, but that's a little out of the price range at the moment. Is there a benefit of replacing the lifters while I'm in there without doing the rockers, springs and rods?

Also out of curiosity, how do you replace the springs on the valves with the head in place? I replaced the valve springs and valves on my motorcycle, but I had the head off for that. How do you keep the valves from dropping into the motor? I've seen friends put the motor at TDC and feed rope in through the spark plug hole, granted that was a Miata however.

new injector o rings are not "needed" unless they break on you. they do tend to tear some times. oil the old ones too if reusing.

you also want to get like 50 Q tips, spray brake cleaner into the cap and dip the q tips in the brake cleaner, then clean out the injector holes real good.

brake cleaner and new razor blades are gonna be your new best friends.

if you do plan to change them o rings anyways, cut the old one off, do not try to roll it off, you'l break the tip off the injector.

what i did was pull the lower rad hose off the engine, wedge the hose so it cant drain the rad, let the engine drain, then take the dog bones off, then rock the engine to the fire wall and hold it there, you'll hear coolant draining out, then pull it to the rad and hold it there. not one drop fel in the engine, i didnt even do a oil change when i was done.

this act will help drain the lim of coolant. the lim coolant ports have a lip, any coolant still in the lim will stay in there if you keep the lim level as you remove it.

busting the old coolant elbow helps.

see broken elbow in pic. then pry and pop the lim up, and lift it off as level as possible, helps if you got a friend to hold the wire harness out of the way too. dont forget the egr tube on the driver side of the lim, its under the crossover pipe.

http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...ob/limjob3.jpg

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Originally Posted by Brammer

I know there's a benefit to installing higher ratio rocker arms, springs and push rods whilst I'm in there, but that's a little out of the price range at the moment. Is there a benefit of replacing the lifters while I'm in there without doing the rockers, springs and rods?

Also out of curiosity, how do you replace the springs on the valves with the head in place? I replaced the valve springs and valves on my motorcycle, but I had the head off for that. How do you keep the valves from dropping into the motor? I've seen friends put the motor at TDC and feed rope in through the spark plug hole, granted that was a Miata however.

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no sense in doing the lifters unless they loose pressure over night and you hear em tapping in the morning.

the spring swap the rope trick works, or you can put a hose to the cylinder and use a compressor to hold them up, how i did mine.

a cam is a little more work, but costs about the same. cam always wins over rockers if talking hp gains or over all performance.

Awesome, I assume I need a new Supercharger Gasket as well? I also assume the throttle body doesn't come off if I don't need to so it doesn't need a new gasket either?

When scraping the mating surface of the block will it matter if gunk and such gets into the open ports?

supercharger gasket is called a upper plenum gasket. its ablut 12 bucks for a gen 3. gen 5 is a metal reusable gasket.

once the lim is off, lay some rags in the valley up the sides to under the intake and coolant ports on the heads, then clean your heads matting surfaces. scrap with a razor spray with brake cleaner wipe em down till they are clean of any crap.

the egr side of the lim and sc will need the most work to get the old gasket off. its baked on in that area.

Sounds good, I'm prepping to do this Sunday, it's supposed to be nice and 65 degrees and the rest of the week is clear so I can commute on my motorcycle if I need to until the car is done (or I fix what I broke). I assume it would be in my favor to clean the throttle body, LIM and Supercharger out with some carb and choke cleaner while I've got them all off as well?

clean all that stuff up. tb gasket is like 5 bucks. un bolt the tb before you take the sc off. its easier to crack the nuts off that way. and you dont have to un hook the throttle cables, just flip the tb to the side. one less step to do.

i got a magnum lim gasket kit, iirc it came with the t stat and side water cover gaskets, load of o rings. iirc it was like 40 bucks on rock auto.

also hit the parts store, advance if you have them near by, they have a peg board full of vacuum line T's, find the pack with 2 small white t's in the little box, and 3 feet of new vac line. the vac lines never seem to make it, one or so will break. the T's always break.

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Originally Posted by ScottyDoggs

clean all that stuff up. tb gasket is like 5 bucks. un bolt the tb before you take the sc off. its easier to crack the nuts off that way. and you dont have to un hook the throttle cables, just flip the tb to the side. one less step to do.

i got a magnum lim gasket kit, iirc it came with the t stat and side water cover gaskets, load of o rings. iirc it was like 40 bucks on rock auto.

also hit the parts store, advance if you have them near by, they have a peg board full of vacuum line T's, find the pack with 2 small white t's in the little box, and 3 feet of new vac line. the vac lines never seem to make it, one or so will break. the T's always break.

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Gotcha, I'll grab those vac lines and T's as well as the TB Gasket. I picked up this FelPro Gasket Set and it looks like it has everything I'll need.

By the way, 195 thermostat or 180? The car only has a panel K&N a the moment, but hopefully more in the near future. Also plugs? Autolite 606 coppers? or grab the NGK iridium OE replacements?

just run the 195. 180 is worth less without the fans being tuned. and even then its not really worth it. id just reuse the old t stat, why fix whats not broken. you could just leave the t stat housing bolted on the lim, as your kit dont come with the t stat gasket.

the iridium plugs last longer, copper only 12 to 15,000 miles. your call.

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Originally Posted by ScottyDoggs

just run the 195. 180 is worth less without the fans being tuned. and even then its not really worth it. id just reuse the old t stat, why fix whats not broken. you could just leave the t stat housing bolted on the lim, as your kit dont come with the t stat gasket.

the iridium plugs last longer, copper only 12 to 15,000 miles. your call.

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I'll spend the extra $ for the Iridiums then! Basic AC Delco wires?

cheap parts store brand with a lifetime warranty work just fine.

Sounds like I've got everything ready to roll then! You mentioned Q-Tips in Brake Cleaner and cleaning out the inside of the Injector nozzle? Do they get all gummed up?

not the injectors , but the holes they live in in the head. they are nasty.

That makes a lot more sense! Can I simply spray brake cleaner in there?

in the injector holes? no. they go into the intake runner and all that crap will go into the valves. Q tips dipped in brake cleaner works perfectly.

dont forget the thread sealant for the lim bolts too. clean the bolts, then apply new sealant on the bolts.

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Originally Posted by ScottyDoggs

in the injector holes? no. they go into the intake runner and all that crap will go into the valves. Q tips dipped in brake cleaner works perfectly.

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Ah, I thought the injectors went into the LIM. I guess I would've known this if I did some recon work first haha.

As far as thread sealant, any problems with regular Loctite Blue?

this stuff. little jar is like 8 bucks at the parts store. ive had my jar now for like 5 years. you need it for the water pump too when you change it, and you will one day.

http://www.warrenpipe.com/hardware-s...s/44165150.jpg

I'll grab some of that as well along with the TB Gasket, Vac Lines and Vac T's. I'm going to be doing my Valve Cover Gaskets while I'm at it, nothing special needed there that I know of, anything?

Just for my own sanity :
- FelPro Gasket set (LIM, Injectors etc)
- Set includes RTV, consider swapping to Permatex Gray?
- Supercharger Gasket (Plenum)
- TB Gasket
- Valve Cover Gaskets
- Vac lines and T's
- Thread Sealant
- 1 Gallon undiluted Dexcool
- 5 qts. oil
- Oil Filter
- Thermostat and gasket (not needed)
- Plugs and wires
- Aluminum Coolant Elbows
- Brake Cleaner
- QTips
- Utility Razor blades
- Shop Towels

use the rtv in the kit, get a extra qt or two of oil to wash down the lim should you spill coolant.

the valve cover kits get a felpro kit with grommets, rock auto once again is as cheap as you may find. local its a 75 dollar kit.

when you put the covers back on, take a look at the bolts, they have a shoulder at the end of the threads, only snug these bolts, or you will snap them.

if you do spill coolant you'll really want to dump the oil, then add your new oil and filter, run it for a few minutes, and change the oil and filter once more to make sure the coolant is out of the engine.