Reassembling a B6!

[Safety Guy]

I'm about ready to begin reassembly of my '94 B6. I pick up the head today at 1pm and I think I now have all or most of the parts, mainly gaskets and seals.

One gasket I couldn't get was the one to the oil pump pickup tube. It's a little simple looking gasket and no one has it! Rockauto called me this morning to say it was backordered, though they didn't know when they'd get any in!

So at AZ I asked about "gasket material." I know folks can make their own, and I'm going to be one of them!

Based on the thickness and appearance of the little gasket chip I took in, I was shown two Felpro gasket rolls: one was rubberfiber and the other, which I bought, was "Karropak." The size of the roll: 12" by 36" by 1/32" thick.

I'll use my craft knife to carefully cut out a duplicate of my oil pickup tube base and do a couple up.

Questions:

1. Any better ideas? I think this will work fine, but I'm open to other suggestions.

2. Other gaskets: This would appear to be a relatively low cost way of making your own TB and other gaskets. What other gaskets would be appropriate for store bought gasket roll materials (Karropak and others)? It appears that some Mazda B series engine gaskets are "order only" and may become more scarce in the years ahead. Also, I can't recall which, but one of the little gaskets I ordered was like ten bucks or more! I see some $$$ saving potential in my gasket-making future...

Comments?

Karl

[sketchman]

Perhaps procure a hollow punch set if you'll be making lots of them. Would make perfect bolt holes and even small "flow holes" worlds easier than a hobby knife.

[Safety Guy]

Good idea!

Karl

[Safety Guy]

My main bearing support plate is on! My oil pickup tube is on with my homemade gasket.

I'm ready to put on the oil pan, but I've run into a "conflict of instructions" involving the rubber end gaskets (those half moon rubber thingies). The Chilton's 323/Protege/MX3/etc. manual says to "apply silicone sealer to new rubber end gaskets and press them into place on the engine."

The instructions that came with the FelPro gaskets say NOT to use silicone on the rubber end gaskets: "Do not apply RTV over the rubber end seals as it may cause seal to slip out of position."

If it makes any difference, my engine is on a stand upside down, so the end seals seem to sit okay in position, and I will be lowering the oil pan onto them.

What would you all do?

Karl

[GenevaDirt]

I would use a little rtv....especially since you can watch it all go together. I know that the Festy pan is a PITA and if the B6 is anything like it...whatever helps, use.

[Safety Guy]

Thanks Willie. I'm thinking I'll use some RTV under the ends of the rubber gasket and maybe smear some very lightly over the hump area. There was some gasket seal I had to clean off from the pan and block parts so whoever did it last used RTV. So shall I.

Karl

[Safety Guy]

My B6 is coming together nicely, I think. Installed WP, both front seals, oil pan (after removing crank seal I had left inside!), head, and now working on getting the front end including timing belt on.

Here's a pic:



And another showing front with crank pulley:



Note the white mark on the top of the crank pulley. I think I had made this to align with the large "pointer" on the lower timing cover (not the separate scale, but the thin pointer thingie). I marked it when the cam gear was at TDC.

Question: I believe this means piston #1 is at TDC and I should install distributor now and make sure the rotor is pointing to Cylinder #1 position. Am I correct?

If so, I'll take off the crank pulley and slip on the new timing belt and begin installing the crank pulley and lower timing cover, etc.

Thanks,

Karl

[Safety Guy]

Another question:

Should I be able to turn the cam sprocket by hand? Mine won't turn when I put both hands on it. Should I oil up the cam and lobes, etc? (I had my head cleaned & decked at a shop so it has no lube on it now.)

I'm using Aqua's B3 distributor. It ran the B3 well and my B6 disty has one cap screw broken off in the housing. I can drop it off at a machine shop to have them get it out. (Might require a drill press and tiny HQ drill bit to do. I doubt I can do it with my hand drill.) I know this disty works, so one less variable in case of "no start."

I just now tried to put the rubber gasket in the valve cover. It won't go around the hole ferrules. I brought it inside with me to let it warm up. Maybe the cold (~30 degrees) has hardened the rubber? I tried two different companies! B3 and B6 VC gaskets should be the same, right? (I replaced Twin's B3 VC gasket in early fall with no trouble, so this problem is weird.)

Any comments are welcome!

Karl

[Safety Guy]

I think I know what my VC gasket problem is. Yes, the rubber gasket says it is for both Ford 1.3 and Mazda 1.6, but it's for the OLDER B6. I believe the two shared the same head and VC design and most measurements. So that's why it's not fitting (but almost fitting) on my 1994 Mazda 1.6 engine. So I need the correct part. I'll see if I have one, but I may need to order it. In the meantime, I'll fish the old one out of the trash to use to cushion my VC as it serves as an "engine dust cover" while I assemble everything else.

I figure I'll have to lube up my cam and valve stuff. Tomorrow I'll install a new oil filter and pour some oil all over my valvetrain. I'll pay particular attention to the lobes of the cam. Maybe I'll be able to get some movement out of it.

I think I'll update my build thread now and link to this thread so anyone who is a relative (or rank!) beginner can see my trials and tribulations as I proceed.

One thing I definitely need to do is to sort my parts as they come in. With such similar engines as the B3 and B6 (and at least two variants of the B6), and later on when I get my B8, I need to keep the different parts in order so I don't mix them up!

Karl

[Festiva Time]

You need a wrench on the cam bolt to turn the camshaft. It will turn a little easy than become harder, as each cam lobe starts pushing on each valve/springs. You should pour 30W oil over the cams and other moving components, The same thing should of been done on the crankshaft and underside of the piston.

[blkfordsedan]

I always apply a generous amount of camshaft break-in lube on all the lobes and then a mixture of oil & Lubriplate 105 motor assembly lube.
Probably an overkill and not necessary since your cam is used, but you don't want to start it up dry.

Your motor looks good. I need to get my B6 tore down, cleaned and install all new gaskets as well. It was a real grease ball, but its supposed to "run like new" so I don't plan on pulling the head off. I just want to swap the oil pan, valve cover and water pump from my B3 onto it. If it runs good, I'll port another head and install my FMS cam and then swap the head over in the spring.

[iceracerdude]

Resist turning the cam with the head on the engine till you've got the timing belt on and the oil pan on. The springs will fight you for starters, and even try to push the oil from the hla's, also there's a little jumping as the cam transitions. Once that's done, pour your 1st quart of oil all over the entire valve train slowly, springs, cams, cam bearings, rockers etc. After the vc is on, then you can add the rest of the oil through the fill hole.
When you go to put the vc on, put a little rtv in the groove of the vc before you put the rubber vc gasket in place. Then make sure that top edge of the head is bone dry, I like to dry it off with a little brake cleaner on a rag just before vc placement.This is how you get a perfect leak proof vc.
And yeah, a really nice hole puncher from the office supply store is the way to go when making gaskets. Not only can you make perfect bolt holes, you can use it as a nibbler on the other larger holes once you've "roughed them in" so to speak. Try to get a hole puncher with the longest throat or "reach", that distance from the hinge to the punch area.

[Safety Guy]

Good ideas. Thanks again, folks!

I picked up a newer B6 VC gasket just now and will be doing this today.

Karl