Ongoing questions thread /end- All Q answered with KA24DE FAQ

[babowc]

***ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED ON POST #12***

Got my plastigauge and forgot moly lube (assembly lube)

#1: I have ARP hardware for the mains and heads, but I was wondering if I just hand tighten the studs on the block wet (lubed in motor threads) or hand tighten dry.

#2: Also, if first question is answered, do I tighten the nut dry or wet? I've heard numerous times it should be wet in order to get proper torque.

AND, #3: the studs are just supposed to be hand tightened first, correct? Not torqued down before girdle or head goes on.

*I do know the tightening/stretching procedure for the studs*


I believe this will be a very good thread for future purposes!
Please keep off-topic discussion out of this thread or I'll delete em!

[babowc]

Answering my own questions..

#1: Tighten stud on block wet (moly lube)
#2: Tighten nut on stud wet.
#3: Hand tighten studs on the block and with allen wrench just about firm evenly.

[hellfire]

Yep, all that is right.

Also, what I do is take something flat and lay it over the studs to make sure they are all the same height.

On a KA, it isn't THAT important, becuase the oil pan is deep and they won't hit anything.

On a SR however, the rear two will almost always hit the upper oil pan if you don't tighten them down pretty good.

Tyler

[babowc]

More questions.

I did a quick mesurement on a built head I had.. for a 89-94 KA24DE
My clearances are as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
I .022 .024 .012 .012 .012 .012 .015 .013
E .014 .013 .011 .010 XXX .009 .014 .014

The XXX = nothing fit, not even .0015! yikes.

Anyways.. Intake clearance is supposed to be .012~.015 and Exhaust clearance was to be .013~.016, therefore I think it's safe to say intake valves # 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, are fine at where they're at..
And Exhaust valves #1, 2, 7, 8 should be good too, according to my measurements.

The question is now.. does the valve clearance HAVE to be checked on a warm head?
The FSM states to check the clearances on a warm motor..

If the above question is fine, how can I go about changing out/buying new shims?

Is there any possible way for me to adjust the valve clearance without getting new shims?

And.. my final question would be where I could buy new shims.
LMK guys.. I just need the head correctly shimmed and I'll be on my way to assembling the block.
Thanks!!

[babowc]

And.. PLEASE don't tell me to take the head to the machine shop again...
I honestly don't want to fork over another $200-300 to get this done again

[babowc]

Assembled crank today, but since this is my first time and all, I'm not 100% sure on how stiff the crank should be.. can anyone give me a rough estimate of how much pressure I need to apply to spin the crank??

I had to put a bit of pressure to spin it.. my clearances were good, but I'm not entirely satisfied with the spinning..
Also, I did apply molylube on all bearing surfaces before final assembly and cleaned off the plastigauge with goopoff. According to many other hotrod engine builders, lacquer thinner and such will work just fine removing the plastigauge.

I torqued the girdle down to 25ft#, then 45#, then 60# for the final torquing.

Just concerned/curious about the slight difficulty to spin the crank.

[babowc]

Update:

Got info from KA-T.org that the girdle may be out of alignment, causing the crank to bind on the thrust bearing (middle)

I'm going to have to take it apart and check what's up and lube it up some more. :(

Who knows how to align the girdle?...

[babowc]

Answering my own questions throughout this thread.. lol.
No help from fellow 240atlantians??


Anyways, it seems like the problem is that AMS decided to send everyone .15mm oversized thrust bearings in their rebuild kits.
What a piece of shit.

I need to get new bearings.. another 3 day push.

What in the fucking hell.. I won't be able to finish my motor during spring break (this week)

[babowc]

Found answers to post #4.

http://jimwolftechnology.com/wolfpdf/CAM%20INSTALL%20INST%20FOR%20KA24DE.PDF


I'm talking to myself.. lol.
I'll compile this in one post later after the build is done.

[babowc]

Re-checked the clearance, perfectly fine.

Made a STUPID mistake.

Everything rotates freely :)

[babowc]

Done with shortblock, will post pics and a small write up!

[babowc]

Important notes:

Always lube any sort of bolt/nut to get correct torque measurement.
On the KA, there are 3 longer main studs, two goes toward the rear of the engine, nearest to the flywheel, and one goes in the middle.

KA24DE girdle is directional, it is shaped like a rectangle with two sides a bit slanted like so:
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7925/dscn0128px6.jpg

As you can see, my girdle was installed incorrectly, thus the crankshaft was not able to be spun easily.. this mistake didn't cause any damage to the bearings.

Also, keep in mind the clearances for a boosted motor.
On my motor, I kept the clearances to .002 ~.0015 on the main bearings and clearances were exactly .002 on all four rod bearings.

Stock clearances wasn't meant for a boosted motor and a little extra clearance was added for safety.

Keep in mind there are different torque ratings for aftermarket hardware. For my ARP mainstuds, I used a three-step method. 25ftlb, 45ftlb, then finally 60ftlb.
Follow direction from FSM on torquing down the girdle. Center to out.

To clean plastigauge after measuring clearances, get some sort of solvent to dissolve it away or you'll be polishing the bearings to no end. I used GOO-GONE. Lacquer thinner should also work. If unsure, test on your used bearings and see if the solvent eats away the bearings. It shouldn't.

Rod cap nuts were torqued down to 11ftlb and then 32ftlb according to FSM because I did not have ARP hardware for the rod. ARP suggests 45ftlb for their hardware.

Don't forget to molylube before assembling bearing surfaces.

On KA24de, thrust bearings should be aligned.
You can align the thrust bearing in three steps: Use a rubber mallet to hammer the nose (front of motor) of the crankshaft hard, then from the backside (flywheel side), and finally hammer the nose once more at half the force of the initial blows.

For ring gaps, I set my gaps to .018 and .021. Some have set it to .022 and .023, but I thought that was a little extreme, and went midway from what was suggested. Ring gaps must be good so the piston rings to not butt each other under heat expansion and crack. Also, they must not be too far apart, as there will not be good compression.

There are 5 rings total. 1st, 2nd, and 3 oil rings. There is the top and bottom oil ring and the oil ring expander. These must be installed in the fashion FSM states.