My 1989 Red Regular Cab Truck

Well, It seems I have had a little setback on the engine build......I got the rings out today to start measuring them and installing them on the pistons.....: Power has a plastic pouch that is divided into 3 parts, and the top rings go in the #1 pouch....middle rings go in the #2 pouch and the oil rings go in the #3 pouch. In my set of rings the oil rings are in the #1 pouch!
Now I know that they HAVE to go in the oil ring groove so that's not really a problem.....the problem is, the compression rings (1st & 2nd grooves) are ALL THE SAME! They look the same, they have the same bevel on them, the same paint mark, the same "dot" to mark the top side of the ring, heck, they even smell the same!
So, I know the 2nd groove rings are supposed to have a tighter end gap by about .002" or so......I came up with the idea to install ALL of the compression rings in the same cylinder (one at a time of course) at the same depth (about 1/2" below the deck height.....I used a piston with the ring compressor clamped on it so as I pushed the ring into the cylinder it would stop at the desired depth every time.) and then I proceeded to measure the end gaps of ALL of the compression rings. Guess what? They're all the same!!
Surprise, surprise!
In the factory manual, it shows the 2nd compression rings have a "stepped edge" to them and the stock rings that I pulled off of these original pistons were that way as well. I almost 100% positive that the set of Sealed Power rings I put in R90Barons engine recently had a distinctly different 2nd compression ring as well.
I ordered another set today and they should be here Saturday around noon and you can bet I'll be comparing these with the ones I have now!!
Time to switch back to Hastings rings I guess!

Why can't I get the correct parts in the correct boxes when I build a motor??? :fork:
Every engine I've done lately has some screw up that I luckily catch, before I bolt it all together and start regretting it!!

Here's some photos I took and sent to RockAuto so they know WHY I don't want to proceed with these rings! You know, the box for the rings is just a regular snapped closed lid.....I wonder if these were sent out to another customer and they did a swap with another set or pulled them out of their pouches and mixed them back up, or what!
Oh well, it will be interesting to see what the new ring set has in it!!























The box they come in is just a "tuck in the top" type of box....you can see it in the pics, so I would think anyone could open them, do what they want, and then close it back up and you'd never be able to tell.

I got the new rings......hey! They were in their correct pouches!
It appears that the Sealed Power ring set (SP part number..... E-542X ) has the same "looking" 1st and 2nd compression rings. There is a bevel on the top inside edge of both compression rings......I haven't measured the new set yet so I don't know if that set will have a tighter end gap on the second compression ring. If they do, then it would appear that someone possibly bought 2 of these ring sets and used both sets of the second compression rings because that got their end gap tighter while rebuilding a "standard sized" engine. Regardless, SOMEONE messed with that first ring set! I might measure the new ones tonight so I will know if the new set has a tighter 2nd end gap on them.
Anyway, this weekend......between Easter & eggs......I cleaned all the grease and gunk off the 5-speed trans and got it installed in the truck, along with the driveshaft, shifter, and shifter boots. Now I'll just have to finish the engine and drop her in there. While I was under the truck installing the trans & shaft I realized there is NO exhaust at all! I am putting a header on it so I'll let the exhaust shop fab a whole new exhaust for it when I get it going on it's own power.
Guess what? I didn't take a single picture of the trans cleaning or installing......I guess I'm slipping! I'll get a couple of them tomorrow. I got the other tail light cleaned and installed the chrome trim on it as well this afternoon!
She's getting there!

OK, I measured ALL of the compression rings in BOTH sets of rings........first off, both of the compression rings (1st & 2nd ring grooves) are the same style apparently because this new set is just like the first set I first bought.
I can definitely see why some engine builders order 2 or more sets of rings (or custom, file to fit rings) when putting a motor together because these 2 ring sets DO NOT have the same end gaps when installed in the same cylinder at the same depth. I did this to find out which set has the tightest end gaps since these rings are going into a standard bore engine with over 100,000 miles on it already.
It turns out, the first set I bought has between an .018" to .019" gap on BOTH compression rings, 1st & 2nd grooves.........while the new/second set of rings has between .020" to .022" on the 1st groove rings, and .014" end gap on the 2nd groove rings.

I am going to use the tightest 1st groove set (.018") from the first set of rings I bought, and then use the 2nd groove set from the new ring set I just bought which will get them gapped around .014".

YES, these gaps are larger than what the manuals call for the engine to have but keep in mind, I am using a standard bore block with over 100,000 miles on it so it's going to have larger gaps because the cylinders have worn some, especially at the top of the bore where I'm doing my "controlled" measuring . I have built another Mazda 2.2 just like this and it's approaching 100,000 miles since it's rebuild and still going strong.......no oil burning to speak of.......and that engine had larger gaps than this one will have. I think she'll be just fine!
Gonna try and get the pistons in tomorrow afternoon and have this engine closed up by the weekend so I can drop her in over the weekend!

I got the pistons in and the oil pump on it and the rear main seal all done.
I cleaned up the oil pan, oil pick-up tube, windage tray or whatever it's called.
I have to finish cleaning the oil pan bolts and she is ready to close up!
I would have done that tonight, but I worked too late.

I worked with my buddy that I sold my old work truck to so I snapped a couple of pics at lunch (we poured a concrete slab that day hence the late lunch!).

The bottom is buttoned up!
I put the oil pan on today after work, and painted it so it will be ready to flip over and install the water pump and head, timing belt, intake......all the brackets and such. I'm hoping to drop her in there on Sunday.



Before mounting the oil pick-up tube I filled the oil pump with oil also.





I also filled the pick-up tube with oil before installing the oil pan.



Oil pan installed and before painting it.....



And now it's blue!









Gonna have some fun tomorrow!

I ordered some parts I need to proceed, no parts stores in town had the little cam plug I need for the back of the head.....I have a couple of them coming now! I ordered the Walker exhaust pipes also since there was no exhaust on the truck when I bought it.
I am going to fill the trans with oil today and pull the jack stands out from under it and then start cleaning the engine bay. I might drop the engine in it before I get the cam plug, but who knows, I might just wait and drop it in next weekend. We'll see.
I did remove the bedliner, very little rust, and none is rusted through so I'm going to touch up the few areas that need attention and then get some of the liner protector to put down and then re-install the plastic bedliner......I like them, you just need to keep it from rubbing the paint off really.....here in Florida anyway.
Time to get some work done!

I had a few members wanting to know about the costs of the rebuild........


Thanks guys,
On the cost of the rebuild, it's going to vary with how much machine work needs to be done to the block and what stuff you want to replace when your doing it. You can do it from $600.00 to $1800.00 depending on what you replace/rebuild.

You almost always need to redo the head and usually that's $300.00
A good head gasket set is around $85.00
Bearings (rod & main) are around $100.00
Rings are about $45.00
Always use a new oil pump! It's around $100.00
Water pump is $35.00
Rear main seal & housing gasket is $15.00
Timing belt kit (with bearings) is $80.00
You usually need new motor mounts, another $50.00
This would be the time to put a clutch kit in, another $120.00-$200.00
Turning the flywheel for the new clutch set, another $40.00
If your engine cylinders are worn a bit, boring them and buying new pistons and getting them put on the rods is going to be $300.00-$400.00

As you can see, it really depends on what all you do at the time, and that's going to depend on what shape the engine is in. And this is you doing all the building.
Sometimes you get lucky and the motor you get has some new re-usable parts on it.....this one had a new clutch and pressure plate in it.....I'll need a throw out bearing and a pilot bearing though.
On a smoking engine, you could probably tear it down, clean the pistons good and install some new rings, slap it back together and eliminate most of the smoke and oil usage. The Mazda blocks have some very durable metal in them and usually have very little taper to the cylinders.....even on a 300,000 mile block!
If the used motor your getting runs fine, swap it in and then build your engine at leisure and as funds allow, then do the swap with the new engine.

Got some more done this past weekend. I spent most of the day Sunday just cleaning the valve cover! I bead blasted it also to get it nice and shiny on the outside. I need to find a high temp clear I can spray on it so it will stay nice looking. Here are some of the pics.











I started cleaning the cam caps up good and swapping the rockers over to the mech. style.







I made my own front distributor housing gasket also.....I would have had to order it if not.



Mech. swap done, but just sitting there, I have to get the cam & front housing clean now!







I got busy working on it this weekend and forgot to take some pictures as I was working!















And here's what I worked on all day Sunday! I sure wished I would have taken a before pic of this valve cover! It was nasty! I couldn't find the original one so I had to grab one I had in the parts area!





This is what it looked like on the inside of the cover, not just under the PCV baffle!



Looking good now though.











I haven't bolted the valve cover down yet.









I should get her installed this weekend for sure. We'll see!

Thanks!
Yeah, if that paint doesn't last long, I'm going to post a MEGA sized pic of it all burned off, and tell the whole forum who painted it! :rollinglaugh::rollinglaugh:

Hey 87forever, that was a marathon cleaning session on the valve cover! I had to clean it with the degreaser cleaner about 6 times on Sunday just to get the gunk out of every crevice on the inside of it.......and then I bead blasted (glass) the outside to get it back to the raw silver aluminum color, and then I worked on it with a brass brush to get the shine back.......I need to get some other media (maybe pecan shells?) for the little blast cabinet I use that will polish it after I bead blast aluminum.