Top overhaul (pt III)

continue from part II... with the some help and a special tool, valve seal were snapped into place, valve spring were compressed and retainer was locked in place... apply lubricant generously all over the camshaft before u slit it in...

double check the engine bay... rewire and retuck those messy hoses and wirings...

1mm metal head gasket were used... copper spray were sprayed generously to the front and back of the head gasket to ensure even seal all across the head gasket... this is the most vital part of the head assembly...

a friend of mine who works at proton service center overlook my head assembly process... he even smuggled proton torque wrench so i could get my cylinder head torqued down properly...

there were a few steps (which i could hardly recall) in torquing the head down... starts from a relatively lesser torque, only to move on to the specific required torque... this allows the head to pre-sits evenly on each corner before proceeding to further tightening all of them...

after the cylinder head were torqued down, the intake manifold were next in place... i sandwich 2 normal paper gasket in between the teflon gasket to ensure no vacuum leakage... PTFE (or teflon) intake manifold gasket were made popular because it reduces heat soak on the intake manifold... teflon melting point is way above 200 deg Celsius... it acts as a good heat insulator to prevent heat from the cylinder head transferred to the intake manifold... cooler intake means denser air, which means more horsepower...

thermostat were also replaced with lower temperature rating ones from SARD... normal ones were rated at 82degC while this is at much lower 71degC...

there were not many photos after this as my hands were dirty and oily... its basically bolting on back parts and connecting the wires accordingly... a little wire tuck was done and cam cover studs were replaced with visually pleasing stainless steel allen key bolts... thick mineral engine oil were first poured in for the first 1000km run... thicker oil allows better lubrication on rotating parts because most of the old oil dried up 1 month since the top overhaul project started... initial start up was a little hard as we cranked the engine until battery flat... got the battery charged up at nearby workshop and resume cranking the next day... eventually it fires up... after the 1000km engine seasoning, the oil were drained and new TOTAL 10w40 fully synthetic were poured in... tappet were re-adjusted and everything ran smoothly afterwards...