If It Is Broken, Go Fix It

From my poor analytical observation, I think the engine is not in it's prime condition anymore. Nobody is keen enough to have a serious fuel drinker and oil burner car; it is a signal for some refreshments need to be done; top overhaul. Textbook says, 'top overhaul is meant the lapping of valves and the making of necessary repairs of those parts on the crankcase which are accessible without disassembling the crankcase. It includes the removal of cylinders, pistons, piston rings and valve gear for replacement or service'. The cam belt was retained since it just being used for ard 8000 km. The old clucth slipped whenever I push the car hard so a new clutch set is needed then. The condition under the valve cover is quite ok. Some oil residue and varnish indicates the previous owner seems to neglected the service routine quite a bit; stretching his oil change interval a bit too long. But it wasn't that bad as there was no indication for sludge.

The main bearings were good but the rings showed it's age, so I went for a new set of stock sized piston ring replacing the old one. The cylinder head is key to the performance of the internal combustion engine, it determines a major portion of the volumetric effeciency and compression ratio of the engine. So a leaky valves are a big no-no as they do not act as a 'sealer' as it supposed to due to carbon build up. Valve need to 'seat' on the port passage without any crap in between them. So valve grinding and seating was done. Throttle body was cleaned, inlet manifold was flushed with chemical to get rid of the harden oily junk inside, pcv valve inspected, cam tray chemically washed, all seals were replaced and new gaskets (head, intake/exhaust manifold, throttle body & valve cover).

I'm not a fan of thick motor oil but in this case, I opted to use ENEOS conventional 20W-50 motor oil for the break in period. Gearbox was fill with some 80W-90 Arrow 'whatever..' gear oil and coolant is a mix of water and Totoya Long Life Coolant. Oh, yea.. I manage to paint my cover rocker to matte black just to match with the plug cover.