L28: Teardown Complete

This past weekend was well spent.
Stripped down the L28 to it's bare ass.

From Z

After the valve cover came off, the next thing you have to do is to remove the timing gear. This way you can pull the chain off and remove the head from the block.

From Z

After the timing gear is off and the chain is loose, you can start slowly loosening the head bolts. These things were tight as a mofo and I had to use my jack handle as a cheater bar.

From Z

After removing the head bolts the basically lifts right off the block. No fuss whatsoever. Once I got the head off I was very glad I decided to do a refresh on this motor.

From Z

There was all kinds of loose dirt and lint and debris in the cylinders.

From Z

This valve has one of those helicopter seed things sticking out of it lol.

From Z

And I think this is hay.

From Z

Moving on, in order to remove the pistons, rods, and crankshaft you need to first remove the oil pan.

From Z

I used my impact wrench for this because there are like 1000 bolts and I'm ultra lazy.

Yuck.

From Z

There was some sort of metal stuff stuck in the oil sump too. More and more glad that I stripped it down.

From Z

After the oil pan comes off you can remove the timing cover.

From Z

Then you can pull the chain, the crank side timing gears and oil pump gear that are attached to the crankshaft.

From Z

Once all that is done, you will be able to turn the crankshaft as much as you want without binding up chains or affecting any other components. Then you can start un bolting the rods.

From Z

It is best to spin the shaft so that the piston you are unbolting is at top dead center. Then you push the rod through the rest of the block and minimize the chances of scratching the cylinder walls. Haynes recommends using a wooden hammer handle.

Pistons coming out.

From Z

Make absolutely sure you don't mix up any of the parts or their arrangements. All of the pistons are orientation specific and will be marked as to which way should be facing forward in the block.

From Z

After you get the pistons out you can remove the crankshaft bearing caps.

From Z

Make sure you keep these all aligned properly and together with their original pieces. The end caps are a pain in the balls. Just be patient and as gentle as you can.

From Z

Then just lift everything out!

From Z

Nasty.

From Z

Cleaned it up a bit. I was very happy to see that my cylinder walls were very clean and smooth. no scratches or anything so boring it won't be necessary. Just a nice hone and some new piston rings and journal bearings and I think we will be in business. There was very minimal wear on one or two of the bearings but since I have it apart it would be silly to cheap out on it.

From Z

Very educational experience. I don't think I broke anything too bad either.
I did notice that the PO had broken a couple of bolts off in in so those will have to be extracted and replaced.

If anyone has any tips or pointers or things I missed please let me know.

Aside from the beaten and half shredded Haynes manual that I got with the car, I am literally just figuring this out as I go.