SOHC Victim's Sympathy Group Therapy!

[Dark 007]

Originally Posted by Smmy15643

the way to keep a car running that long in my opinion has always been simply dont beat the hell out of it and do regular oil changes, especially if your tight on money

Good maintenance is easy to say & do, but the SPI engine tends to drop a valve seat no matter what, right


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[drlenger]

Yes....it is a ticking time bomb, with random fuse length, in other words you just don't know how long it will last.....read threads throughout this forum, you will see some that have lasted up to 200K, while others have gone at only 80K, mine had 135.....if yours is running good, and you can afford it......change the head now.....it is much easier than what I am going through.

[drlenger]

Hey Ranger_Mclaren, thanks for the compliment, it just didn't seem right to just drop in a dirty rusty engine, so I tricked it up a little bit, the valve cover looked really rough so I just krinkle painted it, then sanded off the lettering.....kind of like an old 289 Shelby cover.....I will post more pictures as I go......quite frankly the engine will look better than the rest of the car, although it is in really good shape for a 2003, it is dark metallic blue, alloy wheels, and a 4 Door, but it is the car of a 16 year old girl.....it has a Hello Kitty seat cover LOL

[drlenger]

Here it is.....all done and running perfect!

[Dark 007]

Congrats! Man, on your exceptional job. Looks like new.


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[TheGlassMaker]

Originally Posted by drunkyoda

i did my whole dohc motor swap for about 1400.. just saying... only had 60k on it.

I've got a grand in mine as of now.

Originally Posted by drlenger

Hey Ranger_Mclaren, thanks for the compliment, it just didn't seem right to just drop in a dirty rusty engine, so I tricked it up a little bit, the valve cover looked really rough so I just krinkle painted it, then sanded off the lettering.....kind of like an old 289 Shelby cover.....I will post more pictures as I go......quite frankly the engine will look better than the rest of the car, although it is in really good shape for a 2003, it is dark metallic blue, alloy wheels, and a 4 Door, but it is the car of a 16 year old girl.....it has a Hello Kitty seat cover LOL

Hey no problem. Mine finally let go two weeks ago, I'm in the process of doing the zetec swap. I just could rebuild mine or find a spi below $2300. I got a complete zetec and everything to do the swap for $500.

[Dark 007]

Originally Posted by ranger_mclaren

Mine finally let go two weeks ago, I'm in the process of doing the zetec swap. I just could rebuild mine or find a spi below $2300. I got a complete zetec and everything to do the swap for $500.

Damn. Did you post about the unfortunate news How many miles did your SPI had


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[TheGlassMaker]

Yea in my build thread. (The car you love to hate....build thread) I was at 160k.

[TheGlassMaker]

My mechanic swears it is the bottom end that went and not the valve seat. But I pulled the #4 plug and it was destroyed andwas covered in oil. Once I get the spi out ill crack it open to see what really happend.

[drlenger]

I hear you Ranger on the Zetec swap, but I just didn't want to mess with a changeover, this car is my daughters, not a race car.....just reliable transportation.....I have a 2000 with the Zetec that is my son's.... it is much faster, but a little temperamental, refuses to idle smoothly, although I know it is bullet proof, can't say I am that impressed.....and I can tell you this .....the SOHC SP has to be checked to see if it is really running.....it purrrrrrrrrrrs.....and now that the head issue is repaired all should be good