Ok, so I got some unanswered questions I thought I might get out of the way before complete rebuild. Does it matter which way any of the new pistons and rods face?? If I'm reusing my old lashers and rockers, should I soak them in oil prior to installing them, or store them in oil?? Ok, I know you put cam lube on the cams and on the lobes and on the journals, what do I use on the rod bearing and on the main bearings? Am I missing anything else that I might not know before complete rebuild and start up??? Thanks for any help at all.
~Jeffo


Hey, have you seen my new tail lights? Yeah, cool huh, get used to looking at them.

Originally posted by powellds
Ok, so I got some unanswered questions I thought I might get out of the way before complete rebuild. Does it matter which way any of the new pistons and rods face?? If I'm reusing my old lashers and rockers, should I soak them in oil prior to installing them, or store them in oil?? Ok, I know you put cam lube on the cams and on the lobes and on the journals, what do I use on the rod bearing and on the main bearings? Am I missing anything else that I might not know before complete rebuild and start up??? Thanks for any help at all.

The pistons and rods are not directional, but it's good practice to face them in the same directions. If you look on the underside of the pistons, you will see the "JE" logo, so face them all one way, and then on the rods, you will see numbers on one side by the rod bolts. You dont have to do this, but I did, just becasue i'm really picky like that. If you are using stock pistons, then the arrow on the piston top faces toward the timing belt. BE SURE to stagger your ring end gaps!!! Any chiltons will have the diagram of how to do this, but basically, all the ring gaps are staggerd about 180 degrees of eachother.

Soak all the valvtrain parts in oil, until you are ready to install them. It's also a good practice to "bleed down" your lifters in a vice prior to install. YOu want to get any leftover oil out of the lifter, just incase at firt startup the lifter gets stuck fully extended, which is bad...The lifters will be noisy at first, but they will pump up in no time.

I used engine assembly lube on everthing really, but the pistons/ring/cylinders. I put it on all the cam journals, rod/crank journals also. Used it in the oil pump gears, to help initial prime.
When installing the pistons, just use normal oil to lube the walls, and the piston/rings.

So, on the oil pump, how exactly do you prime it? Also, how do you recommend getting the timing sprocket key off of the crank?? Anything else I might be overlooking guys?? Thanks for the advice and help XtremeRS.
~Jeffo


Hey, have you seen my tail lights? Yeah, well get used to looking at them.

Originally posted by powellds
So, on the oil pump, how exactly do you prime it? Also, how do you recommend getting the timing sprocket key off of the crank?? Anything else I might be overlooking guys?? Thanks for the advice and help XtremeRS. ~Jeffo Hey, have you seen my tail lights? Yeah, well get used to looking at them.

Pull the relay on the firewall to kill the fuel pump and unplug the coil pack, then crank over the engine to prime the oil pump.

For removing the woodruff key use a pair of needle nose vise grips and a mallet. Tapping the key itself will loosen it, sometimes enough that it will just come out. If not use the vise grips and the mallet to get it out. Just be careful not to mar up the key.

Exile Racing Technologies
http://www.exileracing.com
Go that way, really fast, if something gets in your way... turn.

Cool, thanks for the help. When I pull out the relay to the fuel and the harness to the coil, I crank the motor over by ignition, right?? Thanks.
~Jeffo


Hey, have you seen my tail lights? Yeah, well get used to looking at them.

the pistons, however...ARE directional as far as I know. the wrist pin is offset and closer to the exhaust side than the intake side. normall they are marked which direction faces forward. and on the rods, tangs go to the exhaust side.

JE 8.8:1 Pistons are not directional. Perfectly symmetrical, both old and new part numbers.

Placing the JE logo towards the exhaust side is good practice.

Ok, thanks for the help. Also, I was looking at my JE pistons and JE rings, I'm kinda lost when it comes to putting the rings on, it says I have to gap the rings or something?? Am I supposed to file something on them?? I have the 8.8:1 pistons and am going to run 10 and 15 lbs of boost. Do I just put the rings on, or do something else, it's really the only thing I don't understand. Thanks.
~Jeffo


Hey, have you seen my tail lights? Yeah, well get used to looking at them.

Originally posted by powellds
Ok, thanks for the help. Also, I was looking at my JE pistons and JE rings, I'm kinda lost when it comes to putting the rings on, it says I have to gap the rings or something?? Am I supposed to file something on them?? I have the 8.8:1 pistons and am going to run 10 and 15 lbs of boost. Do I just put the rings on, or do something else, it's really the only thing I don't understand.

After the block is bored/honed to the proper Ra finish for the type of ring you are using and is cleaned to absolutely spotless condition, you want to check the fit of the ring(s) in the bore that they will be used in. You do this by putting them in from the bottom of the cylinder about a 1/2" from the bottom, turn an old flat-top piston upside down, gently lower it into the cylinder and use it as a guide to make sure the ring is sitting square in the bore as it would when installed (you want to be at the bottom because this will be the tightest fit), then measure the ring gap with a feeler gauge. Compare that to service manual specs or to the ring manufacturer's spec, if given. IF it needs filing to get it to size, file in one direction only and that is inwards!!: inwards toward the center. This prevents breaking off the outside finish on the ring. Go slow and don't over-do it. Clean and re-measure. Once all the rings are measured and assigned to a specific bore (Yes, there will be slight differences in bore size even with the best of machinery...don't ask me how I know....lol), make sure the cylinders are spotless, and you can start assembly: the bottom oil spacer ring goes on first, then the top land ring for that spacer, the bottom land for the spacer, then the 2nd compression ring and finally the top ring. Stagger the gaps of each ring such that the top ring and the 2nd ring are 180 degrees opposite each other, same with the other ones. Once everything is assembled and the gaps are placed right, oil the cylinder, dump the piston head in oil, put the ring compressor on and gently tap into the bore. IF it should hang up, do NOT force it, back off and start over. A lot of times, the machine shop will forget to chamfer the top of the cylinders after bore/honing and you will have to do it with a fine round file and some emergy cloth (put gray tape on the file end so you don't accidently gouge a nice new bore (don't ask me how I know this....lol). A good shop manual is a must for this kind of stuff unless you just got tons of experience and do it everyday for a living..... :)

what key ways are on the 420. I have done a rebiuld on my 99, and did not see a key way on the crank or cam gears. I may have missed them but I don't think so. If I did then I'm a tard and you can look over me.

There is a key that resides in a small machined slot in the crank snout. The timing belt sprocket goes over it, and it holds the timing belt sprocket in place.

that would explain it, I didn't take off the sprocket. Thank you for shedding some light for me.