Robyn
07-06-2006, 07:33
Well I am happy to report that the dollars and time spent doing the recent rebuild on our 94 Sub was well worth it.
The new heads from Clearwater Cyl head seem to be working fine and all in all there have been zero problems since the initial fireup last wed.
The power is good and the cold start is wonderful ( barely turns and its going)
We are going to finish this tank of fuel and then run a milage check on it the next fillup and see what we get.
Looks like the cost was in the $2000 range for the parts and such and well I guess I have to do this one for free since its the family car.
My hats off to the friendly folks at Loren Berg Chevy in Newberg Oregon for helping with many of the GM only parts. Their parts manager busted his butt on several ocasions to get me the stuff I wanted.
I replaced several wiring harnesses and the 94 is out at the fringe of availability on some things so he had to look around for some items.
Also getting all the original manifold bolts took some time too, as they had to come from all over the country 1 here 2 there and so on.
A big thanks to those here who offered advice.
With any amount of good luck this old Burb can give us another 100K or so.
A note in passing, I have built many engines in my life but this is the first 6.2/6.5 and the overall scenario was pretty much the same old stuff. I will offer this, use the goop in a tube on the valve covers and not the gaskets that come in the kits. The pan gasket set was fine. There simply is not enough bolts in the valve covers to work well with gaskets. I had one small oils leak on the left valve cover and it was right at one of the large bulges along the lower edge where there is little support. I got lucky and used a 1 inch round bar and stuck it down on the area and tapped the bar with a large ball peen hammer smartly. The leak stopped and I washed the area off with brakeclean and smeared high temp silicone all along the lower edge against the head and the cover margin. there does not seem to be any more issue there but if I was doing it over I would use the goop instead.
I grew up in a time when gaskets were the gold standard and goop was a quicky (backYard) way.
Some nice cast aluminum covers would be sweet but I dont know of any for these engines.
Given that to redo the valve covers is a major job I think I will just wait now and see if all stays well.
My personal recomendation to any and all who have a 6.2/6.5 that is tired or has lost a head gasket or?? "yank the sucker out and rip it down" These engines are well worth putting some $$$ in. The one exception would be if its lost all oil or water and been thrashed badly.
My engine was one that had been taken good care of by its previous owner and it showed well in what I found.
247K on an all original unit right down to the radiator hoses (with the squeez clamps)
Thanks again troops
Many smiles and a zillion miles
Robyn
The new heads from Clearwater Cyl head seem to be working fine and all in all there have been zero problems since the initial fireup last wed.
The power is good and the cold start is wonderful ( barely turns and its going)
We are going to finish this tank of fuel and then run a milage check on it the next fillup and see what we get.
Looks like the cost was in the $2000 range for the parts and such and well I guess I have to do this one for free since its the family car.
My hats off to the friendly folks at Loren Berg Chevy in Newberg Oregon for helping with many of the GM only parts. Their parts manager busted his butt on several ocasions to get me the stuff I wanted.
I replaced several wiring harnesses and the 94 is out at the fringe of availability on some things so he had to look around for some items.
Also getting all the original manifold bolts took some time too, as they had to come from all over the country 1 here 2 there and so on.
A big thanks to those here who offered advice.
With any amount of good luck this old Burb can give us another 100K or so.
A note in passing, I have built many engines in my life but this is the first 6.2/6.5 and the overall scenario was pretty much the same old stuff. I will offer this, use the goop in a tube on the valve covers and not the gaskets that come in the kits. The pan gasket set was fine. There simply is not enough bolts in the valve covers to work well with gaskets. I had one small oils leak on the left valve cover and it was right at one of the large bulges along the lower edge where there is little support. I got lucky and used a 1 inch round bar and stuck it down on the area and tapped the bar with a large ball peen hammer smartly. The leak stopped and I washed the area off with brakeclean and smeared high temp silicone all along the lower edge against the head and the cover margin. there does not seem to be any more issue there but if I was doing it over I would use the goop instead.
I grew up in a time when gaskets were the gold standard and goop was a quicky (backYard) way.
Some nice cast aluminum covers would be sweet but I dont know of any for these engines.
Given that to redo the valve covers is a major job I think I will just wait now and see if all stays well.
My personal recomendation to any and all who have a 6.2/6.5 that is tired or has lost a head gasket or?? "yank the sucker out and rip it down" These engines are well worth putting some $$$ in. The one exception would be if its lost all oil or water and been thrashed badly.
My engine was one that had been taken good care of by its previous owner and it showed well in what I found.
247K on an all original unit right down to the radiator hoses (with the squeez clamps)
Thanks again troops
Many smiles and a zillion miles
Robyn