This is where i'm currently at with my rebuild.

 

Not planning a full strip down but rather clean and replace everything I can before putting the engine back.

 

The question is should I strip any further than this ?

 

There is a fair amount of oil residue and also general muck under the lower plenum so I want to clean the full

thing up as much as I can myself.

 

What do want to achieve?

Just to give everything a good going over and deep clean.

 

The engine at some point has had a bad upper plenum seal so its caked in oil.

 

I just thought stripping it down further would allow to do a more thorough job and also inspect the top of the heads.

While it is out and on a stand I would clean as much as possible, clean lifters and inspect the heads.

Decided to go the whole hog and strip it all the way down. :)

 

There's a number of good teardown videos on youtube so i'll just take my time.

Better to follow the instructions in the service manual then trusting some youtube videos.

It's quite easy to do more harm then good, as some parts need special procedures for removal (eg. heads/oilpan/camshafts/crankshaft/pistons/etc.)

Same goes for re-assembly.

 

If a good clean is basically your most important goal, then you won't need to strip the whole (core) engine.

I'd just degrease the outside as much as possible, remove the oilpan and give it a good clean on the in/outside, check/clean the oilpickup for sludge/debris, reseal the exhaust camshaft covers (and oilpan), put in new cam & crankshaft seals, replace/reroute/bypass all smaller coolant hoses around the engine, if necessary replace the knock-sensor(cable) and maybe do some other things like EGR removal and a (lower) plenum cleanup.

If the engine has noisy/sticky lifters, you could choose to replace those as well.

My experience is that cleaning old lifters may not always work and you may end up with an engine that still has noisy/ticking lifters...sometimes even worse then before.

ok,

 

I'm going the whole hog on this engine and I've decided while the block out stripped that i'll change all the bearings.

 

I'll dismantle everything myself but the plan is to send the three main blocks to be properly cleaned by a local company.

 

True that I've never rebuilt a zed engine before but i'm not daunted by it and I've assisted on a v8 build on my brothers Defender 110.

 

My only question is my understanding of how to calculate the grades of bearings required.

 

So first on the end of the main crank is stamped '0 1 1 2' which is the first numbers needed; and on the block we have '2 2 2 1'.

 

 

This would mean I need a 1x grade 2 and 3x grade 3's.

 

 

Is this correct ?

 

Then for the rods each rod is also stamped and a correlating stamp is at the other side stamped on the crank.

Next question is going by the grades do I stick with OEM or go with something better ?

 

Lastly anyone know best place to by piston rings as concept $212 for oem is expensive.

 

or do I do aftermarket for both parts ?

Think jimmer might be the best guy to ask Lee

ok,

 

I'm going the whole hog on this engine and I've decided while the block out stripped that i'll change all the bearings.

 

I'll dismantle everything myself but the plan is to send the three main blocks to be properly cleaned by a local company.

 

True that I've never rebuilt a zed engine before but i'm not daunted by it and I've assisted on a v8 build on my brothers Defender 110.

 

My only question is my understanding of how to calculate the grades of bearings required.

 

So first on the end of the main crank is stamped '0 1 1 2' which is the first numbers needed; and on the block we have '2 2 2 1'.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]106321[/ATTACH]

 

This would mean I need a 1x grade 2 and 3x grade 3's.

 

 

Is this correct ?

 

Then for the rods each rod is also stamped and a correlating stamp is at the other side stamped on the crank.

 

I'm not sure but that sounds about right, hopefully you will get a confirmation. However... the numbers on the block are in reference to the block in new condition, if the crank is worn then you may need to increase the bearing size to correct the gapping. Simply throwing in a set of bearing in the sizes stamped without measuring is a stab in the dark and a recipe for a spun bearing.

Next question is going by the grades do I stick with OEM or go with something better ?

 

Lastly anyone know best place to by piston rings as concept $212 for oem is expensive.

 

or do I do aftermarket for both parts ?

 

 

ACL bearings are popular.

 

There are some aftermarket cheaper brands, however factor in the effect that a cheap set of rings could have (tear down and rebuild again) it's not even worth it. The cost of replacing the HGs alone would negate your savings.

I personally used ACL in my build, but I know Mitch at EPR swears by King Racing bearings for his builds.

 

Unless your planning on changing the pistons themselves for forged items, is just go for OE rings.