Yes - I did pull my motor (well, only one bank) apart to answer a question - not Dave's question here on FCHAT but the one that was driving me nuts: Where is the oil getting into the motor? My hope was that it would be worth it, that it would be the intake gasket and that a new one would solve the problem. Turns out, problem is valve guides and it still burns oil even after reassembly. Oh well - sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.... A
Hey Alex, You could try the cheap fix... Pull the intake cam, spool some nylon rope into each cylinder, one at a time with the exhaust valve closed and moving the piston up to hold the intake valve closed, remove the follower, the keepers and the valve spring (need a lever type depressor, similar to Alfa) and replace the seal on the guide... Beats the hell out of pulling the heads... Anyone know anything about the silver 1980 5-speed in Maryland on Ebay? -Peter www.peterkrause.net
1980 car Silver/Black w/Bordeaux inserts 1/1989 sold at a Barrett Jackson auction in Arizona 5/04 for sale in California $36,000 20,000 miles 8/04 for sale Sports Car Co. in California $27,500 5/2005 for sale Sports Car Co. San Diego California Thats what I have
Peter: Thanks for the advice. I had actually considered this, but been warned that replacing the seals would not do much good if the guides were well worn. Think this fix would last a while (understanding I could do it several times and still have it be cheaper than pulling / redoing the head)? Car runs and drives great, does not foul (hot) plugs with MSD but has four bad (oil burning) holes on one bank and goes from MIN to MAX on the dipstick in one tank of gas... Thanks again, Alex
The heat from the engine bakes the normally pliable seals so that they're hard. They'll crumble as you remove them, for sure! It would take MAJOR guide wear (enough so that you'd have trouble with reasonable compression, what with the valve moving around so much being no longer concentric with the seat) to have the seal replacement not at least put the guide replacement off a couple years. I'm not advocating "cheaping out," I'm just advocating replacing (and upgrading) a part (VGS) that no longer functions without complete disassembly and the associated expense... Dave, sounds like an orphan... :<( -Peter www.peterkrause.net
Wow...I really love the Bordeaux inserts on that car...I love that interior. I strongly prefer a Series II interior though (can't stand the wood.) but damn, that's certainly a tempting little car.
