Ok, I’ve been reading the chilton and haynes manuals on how to install new pistons and they do everything with the block removed from the car. Is there a way to swap pistons without removing the block? It might be easier to do so but I’m just curious.
You can swap them out with the block in the car. Just have to take the head and oil pan off.
you sure can.
[assuming head is already off, and crank pulley, tranny, clutch and flywheel have been removed]
remove oil pan, pickup, windage tray. loosen the connecting rod bolts (slowly, or else you could bind/warp a bearing journal. that’s bad.). remove the lower parts of the connecting rods, preferably one at a time, and if you have lots of ziploc baggies nearby it’ll help. place each in a separate baggie, marking which cylinder it was from (wear properties and all that fun stuff–just trust me, labelling = good). if the top of the cylinder bores aren’t scored, you can remove the pistons through the top (it’s a tad easier). For now I’ll go over that: using a WOODEN hammer handle, gently push the connecting rod up from the bottom of the engine through the top of the block–you may need to give it a little tap tap taperoo (this is where a friend comes in handy; offer a sandwich or a beverage or 3 for his/her time and basic assistance). take them to a machine shop so they can press out the old wrist pins, and install the new pistons. Shouldn’t cost more than 20-25 bucks for the set to remove old pistons and install the new ones. And YES, you HAVE to take it in. they need to be pressed out.
will i be able to clean out the cylinder as my manual suggests using this method? I’m gonna have to double check if the shop has the correct tool. But they have everything else so i wouldn’t be surprised.
Check this out, I think you will find this very helpful.
good reference, thank you