Top overhaul (pt. I)

this is probably my most ambitious DIY by far... top overhaul done at home... i'll break it down part by part as it took me ridiculously 1-2 month time to complete... i could not progress much daily as i only able to work on the car at night after work and during the weekends... with limited appropriate tools and knowledge, i dived into it... well, u'll never learn until u get your hands dirty right??...

first stage... stripping... remove all cables, wires, belts, pulleys, cam cover, rocker arm, camshaft, distributor, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, etc... it may sound easy but true to say that it will never will when u get your hands on it... in fact there are some steps and procedure to follow, in which i didn't... among all, is u must remove the water pipe before loosening the head studs... if the water is not drained out from the water jacket, it will get into the combustion chamber when u loosen the cylinder head...



u will also need good quality tools to remove the head stud... u don't want your tools to flex and break apart when removing the head studs... i damaged most of the head studs because i was stupid enough to use the wrong box socket... great relief with the help of expert in hand, i manage to get all damaged head stud out safely... it is important to have all damaged head studs replaced with original ones... original studs are built in a way if it snaps during tightening, it snaps at the center of the rod... in this way u will still able to get the cylinder head out and the broken studs out...

after the cylinder head is removed, it is washed thoroughly with petrol and chemical... all carbon cake "baked" over the years were scrubbed off... i took my time to clean the external of the block and gearbox from oil stain and dirt with strong chemical... it is important that after cleaning the piston and combustion chamber, u coat it with a layer of WD40 to prevent the sleeve from rusting away... spray generously all around the combustion chamber when the piston is at bottom dead center... rotate the crank and do the same for the rest of the chambers...



to be continued...

Achilles 123

Achilles 123... Was once used as official tyre for the MME endurance race in Sepang... tread wear rated at 200 with traction and temperature rated at A respectively...



i bought this pair for Rm240 each prior to the Dato Sagor track day held earlier this year... on the up side, the grip and traction is very good for normal street use... its cheap and cheerful compare with other UHP tyres that have similar performance level... but on the down side, it is ridiculously noisy especially cruising at 80kmh above... the tyre roar is somewhat similar to those military 4x4... grip level also reduce when it overheats, which is weird for a semi slick tyre... i've got to test the tyres out on heavy downpour... surprisingly it isn't as bad as people say it will... on standstill water at reasonable speed, it does not hydroplane much....

all in all, 123 performance in dry is hugely dependent on the tread pattern and huge chunk of shoulder block... rubber compound is no where near semi slick level... when the temperature gets too hot, u will lose traction... on wet, it is reasonably good... if u can live past the tyre roar, it is a cheap and cheerful UHP tyre...