well, i have been having some troubles lately. i have just blown the 3rd head gasket in a month and there was more water than oil in the sump :bowrofl: :cry:

SO...

since i have a new reconditioned head already, im going to get it pressure tested and skimmed 15/20 thou. (lets get some torque back :D )

while im at it, im considering a mild port and polish. should make abit of difference... :badgrin:

NEXT... if i find out that the block is cracked (its a VERY REAL possibility at this point in time) then i may need to get a rebuilt engine to replace it. obviously.

also, the manual box im so blessed to have is alittle more sloppy than i could wish for. so, being the pedantic bas*ard i am, i will be changing some bushes and things. tight, nice feeling box. will make the car more of a thrill to drive.

so - rebuilt engine + head skimmed 15/20 thou + mild port and polish + weber XF carb + mild cam = 3.8L dore eater

this at the moment is all a maybe. but if i can raise the funds in time it WILL be done. i have around $400 (which is abit short) but the olds can pitch in 50% of the cost and well, im on my way there!

when im done, it will feel more like a previledge to drive this car rather than a chore. :D thats alot for a 1st gen to handle?

ill keep you guys posted,

brendan

unfortunate but it will only make it stronger :D

Sounds awesome, but also sounds very expensive! hehe mod bug has hit, started out cheap effective mods now we are into the staged development :) How much you looking at all up roughly?

Group buy on Head Gaskets? But for only one car...

Sounds great dude! Keep us informed...

yay. i just got home from work and apparently the mechanic rang who is looking at my car.

VERDICT:

YOUR HEAD IS CRACKED AND WARPED AND YOUR BLOCK IS CRACKED IN SEVERAL PLACES. COME IN ON MONDAY AND WE'LL HAVE A TALK ABOUT IT ALL. :dancin:

so now i look for recon engines. fun fun. $$$$$$$$$$$$$ is good to have. pity i dont have lots.

ill c how i go with it all. i think ill go to sleep now

brendan

haha cracked in several places :redface:

as for the head being cracked... they must be friggen touchy heads to crack after one overheating

yay. i just got home from work and apparently the mechanic rang who is looking at my car.

VERDICT:

YOUR HEAD IS CRACKED AND WARPED AND YOUR BLOCK IS CRACKED IN SEVERAL PLACES. COME IN ON MONDAY AND WE'LL HAVE A TALK ABOUT IT ALL. :dancin:

so now i look for recon engines. fun fun. $$$$$$$$$$$$$ is good to have. pity i dont have lots.

ill c how i go with it all. i think ill go to sleep now

brendan
Dam thats not good then

typical astrons........highly known for cracking/warpin the heads :nuts:

Group buy on Head Gaskets? But for only one car...

hahahaha, least the block was cracked and we wernt doing anything wrong

lol nice job on the block, not everyone can crack cast iron :thumbsup:

noob question = how do you actually crack/warp the head and/or blow a head gasket? And also what would make the block crack? I'm so noob when it comes to cars :nuts:

umm its common for the 2.6L blocks to crack between the welsh plugs, befor i got my TP-GT i spoke to a friend whos a mechanic and he said 2 things to look for in the magna 1st gens 1: if auto dont get it it's not worth pissin on, low power & auto's break easy, 2: he said climb under it and look up toward the welsh plugs look for seeping water or rust stains between the welsh plugs if it has it the block is ****ed, its a common fault ... maybe a weak point in the block, best advice is buy one off ebay or look for one sitting about some place there are bargians to be had if you just ask people

Pete

noob question = how do you actually crack/warp the head and/or blow a head gasket? And also what would make the block crack? I'm so noob when it comes to cars :nuts:


cracking/warping of the head is MAINLY done by overheating the engine. one the head is cracked/warped, water (under pressure) can seap from the water jackets (where the head connects to the block) and into the oil galleries. hence y the first thing u look for if there is a suspent head gasket leak/blow is "milky" oil. your oil will pretty much look like a bananna milkshake or something similar. another reason is a faulty mould from factory... rare, but it does happen.

now, the block is cast iron and is pretty tough as 1g magna man tried to get across. there can be faults in moulds aswell just like the head causing hot spots in the block. places where it gets way hotter than other parts of the block. but mainly, it can be done by overheating the engine. the constant warming and cooling of the engine isnt usually detrimental. but once the car is overheated (eg, run with low/no coolant for a long period) the material will get so hot (beyond the temp it should b handling) that wen it cools down, it cannot contract enough and so cracks appear.

NOTE: i didnt intentionally run little/no coolant. it all just wanted to go and mix with the oil.

and in reply to 1g magna mans statement/dig: not every block is perfect. they are made in moulds. they dont just dig up astron II blocks from the soil :P ... after MANY blocks are made with this mould (tens of 1000's, i mean, u c half of them every day around town!) the moulds can develop an imperfection. this means that some blocks have imperfections from the factory. mitsu dont know (could u c a hairline crack between cylinders or on the inside of the block? no), they can handle 1 in 1000 or wateva blocks that ARENT perfect. just because they are cast iron, dosent mean they are indestructable. they can come from the factory up ****s creek. not to mention they aren't the best designed engines around. thank u for listening.

brendan

Awesome, thanks for the description. Makes heaps good sense :)

cracking/warping of the head is MAINLY done by overheating the engine. one the head is cracked/warped, water (under pressure) can seap from the water jackets (where the head connects to the block) and into the oil galleries. hence y the first thing u look for if there is a suspent head gasket leak/blow is "milky" oil. your oil will pretty much look like a bananna milkshake or something similar. another reason is a faulty mould from factory... rare, but it does happen.

now, the block is cast iron and is pretty tough as 1g magna man tried to get across. there can be faults in moulds aswell just like the head causing hot spots in the block. places where it gets way hotter than other parts of the block. but mainly, it can be done by overheating the engine. the constant warming and cooling of the engine isnt usually detrimental. but once the car is overheated (eg, run with low/no coolant for a long period) the material will get so hot (beyond the temp it should b handling) that wen it cools down, it cannot contract enough and so cracks appear.

NOTE: i didnt intentionally run little/no coolant. it all just wanted to go and mix with the oil.

and in reply to 1g magna mans statement/dig: not every block is perfect. they are made in moulds. they dont just dig up astron II blocks from the soil :P ... after MANY blocks are made with this mould (tens of 1000's, i mean, u c half of them every day around town!) the moulds can develop an imperfection. this means that some blocks have imperfections from the factory. mitsu dont know (could u c a hairline crack between cylinders or on the inside of the block? no), they can handle 1 in 1000 or wateva blocks that ARENT perfect. just because they are cast iron, dosent mean they are indestructable. they can come from the factory up ****s creek. not to mention they aren't the best designed engines around. thank u for listening.

brendan
What's affectionatly known as a "Friday Car"

What's affectionatly known as a "Friday Car"

Whats that, it might work on a friday?
**** dude, had a read of your stories in here, makes me glad i sorta went to the darkside. EFI.
All the problems you speak of seemed to get ironed out in the TP (owning a TN beforehand). Have you got full comprehensive on ur car?
You could always get someone to steal it for you, burn it out and get insurance money. :bowrofl:
Or if you really feel the need to get it fixed, i know of some good engine building workshops down here. Though shipping could be a problem. :confused:

Whats that, it might work on a friday?
Nope. Means it was built on Friday, at about quarter to knockoff time, if you catch my drift.

noob question = how do you actually crack/warp the head and/or blow a head gasket? And also what would make the block crack? I'm so noob when it comes to cars :nuts:
i cracked the block of my motor... it cracked between the welsh plugs. older astron blocks didn't have the ridge between the welsh plugs and the block didn't like to be touched when it got reconditioned with new welsh plugs... that motor lasted a week then i got my third engine which was crap like my first recon engine :bowrofl:

another reason that alloy head motors are more likely to blow a head gasket when overheated compared to a cast iron head is that alloy and cast iron expand and contract at different rates so a hot alloy head will expand much further than a cast iron one, i have seen alloy heads over heated and expanded so far that the head bolts have been pull in to the top of the head, the head was completely loose and stuffed once it cooled.

Brendan why not go for a complete TR/TS efi engine for the higher compression and put your carby setup pn the side of that, I bought a second hand TS engine from the wreckers 12mths ago for $500.

Brendan why not go for a complete TR/TS efi engine for the higher compression and put your carby setup on the side of that, I bought a second hand TS engine from the wreckers 12mths ago for $500.

yeah well ill weigh up all the possibilites 2morrow wen i go and talk with the mechanic. i was speaking to one of the guys there the other day wen i dropped the car off and he has a sigma that he has been doing up aswell... hes got twin webers on it (not sure how big) and was asking me where to get a mild cam from. apparently a place near me sells an intake manifold that fits the magna/triton/sigma (its a multifit. has holes for all) yeah a twin carb intake manifold. apparently its $400. i dunno we'll see