Resuscitation of my Festiva

[shadetree]

Is the coolant level dropping ?
Is the oil level dropping ?
I have done stem seals with head on before , pull the cams and fill cyl full of nylon rope , roll eng till it locks and pull seals with over head spring compressor . Not bad really !

[db2u]

Well sounds like at least you tracked down the source of your white smoke, hopefully the valve stem seals will help the plug fouling.

[Aaronbrook37]

Got the cylinder head off just now. Looks like the head gasket may have had a minor breach between two cylinders, but it's hard to tell in this light/weather. Valve stem seals going in shortly once it gets above freezing again haha.

[Rocketman]

I still have the spring compressor tool I built last year, if you have a rough time maybe I could lend it out?

[Aaronbrook37]

Wow that's a real beauty! I bet the Miata guys would go crazy for one of those. Fortunately, I've got access to a couple of different valve spring compressors.

[jawbraeka]

Just a quick question, when removing and Installing the camshafts, is it better to loosen each cam bracket bit by bit? I will presume yes as my idea is that if I don't, I could bend the cams... Just need confirmation .

[Aaronbrook37]

So the head gasket, manifold gaskets, and valve stem seals are all buttoned up. Compression's pretty much the same as before, but a wee bit stronger across the board likely due to OCD valve lapping and tap and die work everywhere. She's still smoking though to some degree... just unbelievable. I'm told that my consistent compression numbers aren't low enough for the rings to cause this much smoke, but I'm beginning to wonder just how much more I'm going to have to spend to get this car running properly again. The only thing I have yet to replace or look at other than the rings (which aren't even all that bad) is the turbo, which I'm going to have a friend rebuild for me while I tackle the fuel injector seals, o-rings, and cleanliness. Here's hoping that will clear things up.