D16z6 engine came with car- said to be running from PO. Cannot run it yet as it needs some stuff like ECU and radiator(another story). Said to have 180k miles on it.

My plan was to rebuild it forged internals, but time is an issue as is money. My goal is completely stock and reliable for my 80 mile commute(roundtrip).

For sure on my list: complete engine rebuild kit- all gaskets and water pump and oil pump.

Aside from that- should I worry about the valves and pistons and springs? Should I bother having it pressure tested/leak tested? Since I'm tearing it down anyway is this something that can be visually inspected?

I plan on bringing it to a machine shop to have it hot tanked, and just to save time and hassel prob have them check main bearings and all that for clearances so I know what bearings to get.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

If you're ripping it out and replacing the gaskets, you should also replace your bearings and seals. That includes your valve stem seals, as well as your piston rings. Those are the two primary failure points that make an engine burn oil. You should also replace your timing belt (if that wasn't already obvious) as well as your t-belt tensioner.

 

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to add those to the list. My main question I guess, is should I go as far as replacing the valves, springs, pistons? And what should I have the machine shop do?

 

Valves are solid pieces of metal - as long as they aren't physically damaged, they don't need to be replaced.

As for your springs and pistons, there's one big detail we need before we can answer that. What are you going to do with the engine? Are you just planning on keeping it a reliable DD, or are you planning on working the engine up and boosting it in the future?

 

Here's the TL;DR version.

Stock/DD build: As long as the pistons aren't damaged, and the valve springs aren't binding/cracked/damaged, no need to replace them. If they are damaged in any way, replace all of them. You don't want to replace just one piston, or just one valve spring.

Upgraded/future turbo: Same as above with the valve springs. If they aren't damaged, no need to replace them. You should upgrade your pistons and rods to forged and H beams, though.

 

OK. Cool. The Mrs. says I have to sell the car because its too expensive- so no turbo plans...for now. As far as the crank goes, seeing metal ground onto it from the bearings would be the only reason to have it polished or resized?

 

While I'm a fan of if I have it apart go ahead and have ashop go through the head, you might consider taking a look at the plugs. they can tell you quite a bit about whats going on inside the engine.