The Saturn gets some attention.

So today I just happened to get some time to work on the engine of the Saturn that has been in my driveway.  I ended up cleaning for the most part but I guess it has to be done. Here is what I started with. It was driving me nuts so I decided to clean and organize everything so things will hopefully go together nicely. The engine had a blown head gasket and a damaged piston. The owner just wants to sell it so she wants to get it running for as little money as possible. I am going to put 1 new piston in it,  put new piston rings on all 4 pistons, install a new timing set and put new gaskets throughout the engine.  

 I had previously removed the damaged piston and rod earlier so the owner could get another piston that was the right size. I had to remove the oil pickup tube and this plate to get access to the other 3 pistons.

 Here it is ready for the pistons and rods to be removed. The rod bearings look good. Someone has been into this engine before because the oil pan was plastered with silicone and there was no gasket on it. I guess they figured silicone was the way to go. I hate trying to remove silicone. It took awhile to remove it all but I finally got the pan clean.

 I removed the pistons and rods and flipped the block back over. The cylinders look really good but I have been told to hone it to remove any glazing so the rings will seat. I have a buddy with a hone so I am going to do that as soon as I can get a hold of it.

I cleaned off some working space and got everything organized. It's always important to keep everything in their proper place when you are going to reuse parts from an engine. You want to put everything back exactly as they came out. I have the 4th piston and rod at work in my tool box. I forgot to bring them home.

This is a terrible picture but I promise the cylinders look great. There is no ridge at all and they are as smooth as can be.

 The new parts have all arrived so hopefully this engine will start going back together soon.

 This is a little concerning though. I filled up the valve area on the head with alcohol and as you can see the 2 cylinders on the right leak a little. I will clean it up and look at it closer to see if I can get them to seal better. If that doesn't work, I will have to get the head rebuilt at a machine shop. That's a real bummer and adds some expense to this build but we want good compression even if it's just going to be sold.

I have this project and 1 more that I have to get done asap. I am hoping to get them done and out of the way because I am already sick of working on them. I have a front beam to install in my bug. The weather was absolutely amazing today. I got Dixie to go for a cruise with me in Ed this afternoon and she wanted to drive so I pulled over and let her drive. She seemed to have a good time.

Hopefully the weather isn't just teasing us. It was really nice today. Come back and see how the Saturn turns out. You never know, You may want to buy it when it's done.