Mike_Mac

Well, I managed to get the first part of the second engine strip down edited and published (keep up at the back! 😞

The heads have just had new guides installed and given a very light skim, but there's still a long wait before the Head Bolts arrive (ETA 22 Jul) so I'm looking to fill the time with something productive - we'll see!

(bit annoyed with the audio quality on this one - the lapel mic sound took ages to get even remotely workable - may need to look at that! The video quality was down to incorrect camera settings... 😊 )

So having refurbished the front brake calipers. I then moved on to the rears. The epic that turned into and the final results can be seen here:

Well, the shop has found the exhaust guides on the cylinder in questions are worn, with the other six ok, but a bit worn too.

I've decided, therefore, to take the other head off (minimal additional work) and get them to do all 16 exhaust valve guides and just lightly lap in the intake valves (the intake guides are fine). With the added cylinder heat of LPG, I would expect higher wear rate, even with a valve-saver system in place, so this just future-proofs things, as the exhaust valves will bear the brunt.

Annoyingly, while the guides will be delivered by next Wednesday, the head bolts will only get her in early July, so even though this will take me a couple of days to zip up (maybe three depending on how much the valve clearances are affected) it'll be over a month before it's done. I've really noticed extended parts ETAs during COVID - it was the same last time!

In the meantime, I'm catching up on some of the work I completed ages ago - hence the latest video covers the refurb of the front calipers, and the one on doing the rears (epic rust) will follow soon after:

So, the head had to come off so I could get a look at it. It was a lot easier second time around and I had the intake manifold off in less than 15 minutes!! There were quite a few other lessons-learned applied this time, too, such as draining the coolant from the block, not the rad (and capture it in an old coolant bottle, so I can re-use it). Annoyingly, though, one of the head bolt washers slipped off the magnet and went down an oil gallery (True Star Wars trench run levels of accuracy there!). I have a super-slim magnet on the way and it that doesn't work I'll need to drop the sump... which is annoying as it's bone dry, but not the end of the world.

This was all because I couldn't use my valve spring compressor on the LHS head when fitted - the angle of the banks was too steep. RHS looks more promising though, but i'll need to use compressed air to hold the valves in place, as feeding string into the cylinder to compress the valves did not work. Not sure if air pressure will be enough, so if it is valve stem seals, the RHS may still need to come off too. I'm 90% of the way there, though, so it's not a biggie.

Once off, I got stuck in and the valve spring compression tool I bought has been spot on (Lisle 36050) and the head will be shuttled to the same shop that did the Intake Manifold Time Serts tomorrow to have a look and see what they say. To me the guides seem fine, all the valves have the same degree of wiggle and the seals seemed on there tight too, although the exhaust valves on the suspect cylinder looked slightly rough at the edges...

We'll see, but if I find the guides are worn, I'll whip the other head off and get the lot done. I still suspect stem seals, though.

2 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Did the workshop that replaced the 2 bent valves not replace the valve guides and seats at the same time?

At around £10.00 each it would have added just £40.00 on the bill but saved you all this hassle yet again.

I don’t disagree (especially about the hassle 😄 ).

I asked them to inspect, replace what was needed and set the clearances. They inspected them and reckoned they were fine - I’m not a machinist so went with what was said. The leak down test I did recently was spot on so the seats are ok, but the symptoms do suggest either a guide or seal isn’t happy!

in all fairness It may not be that but if it is it’ll be quite frustrating!

I’ll be having a look at that cylinder tomorrow (rain today) and will see what turns up...

Well, i'm back where I started. Ten months ago (roughly) I was contemplating taking the heads off because I'd bent two valves on #3 cylinder on the LHS head.

Today, when stripping down the heads ready to replace the (I suspect) poor-quality valve stem seals (a bit of an epic in itself), I find that #3's spark plug is wet with oil. All the others are fine (maybe a bit lean, but that's probably the effect of LPG). The piston was also wet - the others were bone dry. The other head was spot on - all plugs identical and dry cylinders.

Either one of the valve-stem seals on #3 is faulty or damaged (chances of that?) or I've got a valve guide issue, in the cylinder that's just had two new intake valves installed...

Too much of a coincidence I suspect, so I'll still have a look at the seals and, while everything's out the way, the guide.

I suspect, though, that the LHS head is coming off and going back to the original workshop to have a look at it. 

Small mercy is that this is the easier head to take off, and there's some brackets I missed putting back on last time, as they have to be installed before the head is fitted, so I can sort that out at the same time, but I am properly threadbare at the though of another head-off task on the same engine, this time not due to anything I've done (other than as the ultimate root-cause, I suppose!).

Hopefully it won't take as long to sort this time...

Thanks Neil, and it's been very good news, luckily!  The company gave an immediate full refund (minus import charges - not sure what happens there, but it's absolutely not their issue) and when I asked how they wanted the bars sent back, they said to just keep them, as the cost to ship and import back would make it pointless...

So I cannot say fairer than that! Even if I have to suck up the import costs, that equates to a full set of F-Sport Sway Bars for about £130! I'll look to get them re-coated (properly) and then get on with fitting them. All-in, that'll be about £200!

First, though, I'll be doing the valve-stem seals next week and will be picking up a set of proper OE seals tomorrow, so that I never have to do that again!

That'll be the third time I've had the top end apart, luckily not the heads off this time and the intake manifold can stay on too, otherwise I think I'd be suffering a nervous breakdown...

(the intake may come off for other reasons next year, but only for very good ones that involve more power... 😉 )

I genuinely begin to wonder if it's just me this happens to! 

I'd ordered a set of genuine F-Sport Sway Bars from the USA for the GS. I was planning to install them at the same time as I re-did the Valve Stem Seals, as the 'new' ones are still leaking (that's going to be a whole other story in about a month's time).

They arrived today in the following state:

I'm absolutely NOT happy installing them with damaged powder-coating, and am also not happy patching or re-coating (they were bought as brand-new condition!) so they're going to go back (although I suspect that'll turn into a ball-ache!).

Beginning to wonder if this is just me this happens to so regularly! I'd say about two-thirds of the stuff I get online right now arrives with an issue!!

46 minutes ago, BarneyTT said:

Glad all the chaps are in good form, say hi when you next speak with them.

Never had a 450h just an LS400 and IS300 Sportcross.

"Interesting" hopefully equals fun😁 

Ah - must have been the LS, then (I was Lexus ignorant back then... 😄).

it’s been interesting, but not ‘fun’ for a while now, but that’ll change once I get stuck into the suspension and chassis!!

Will say hi for you!

16 minutes ago, BarneyTT said:

Hi Mike...............it's been a while! Hope you and the family are keeping well.

Not on the forum much these days but just stumbled across this thread whilst browsing, and an interesting one at that being a fellow GS430 owner for around six years now.

Will follow your progress with interest, some interesting plans by the sound of it, wishing you all the best with the journey/build.

Cracking Drive & Review video btw👍

Take care my old mate.

Great to hear from you Barney and glad your doing well 😄. Martin, Kev and Dunk are all in good form too!

I wasn’t tracking that you had a 430 - didn’t you have a 450h a long time back too? 

Thanks for the comments - it’s been an interesting journey so far, that’s for sure!!! 🙂

This better be the last time I post this... but I think It's Bl**dy well done!!

Video here, a little bitty, but I was, as usual, working at night and evening time so annoyingly didn't get the Intake Manifold work on camera, but the last cause of my P0171 lean running codes has been tracked down and sorted (this time, the cause wasn't something I'd done...).

Video here:

Looking forward to seeing what economy I get out of the big sod now - it certainly shifts a lot quicker now that's for sure!! Now I can start working on the backlog of planned work that's been on hold for almost a year now (and let my wallet recover a bit too!).

13 hours ago, Mihanicos said:

Congratulations! I always admire and respect dedicated work to the highest quality and precision by a true perfectionist. 

Such rare and devoted craftsmen like you are very very few left in this world.

Chris

Thanks Chris, much appreciated, although I'd say that I aim for perfection, but rarely achieve it, and would call myself an advanced-level tinkerer rather than a full craftsman :D.

I've been quiet for a while because I've been trouble-shooting a persistent P0171 (Lean on Bank 1) fault code. Having finally found the culprit, all I've got to say is:



... that LPG injector hose fittings in the manifold are NOT meant to be able to be pulled out with your fingers... 

( I hate having to solve problems caused by other people! Unlike the valves, I've never touched those - and others are loose too - cutting fine threads in an Aluminium Manifold is not a very good idea!)

One of the things that really bugged me with the GS was badly yellowed headlights - so while the bumper was off during the engine rebuild, I sanded, polished and ceramic coated them and the fog-lights - big difference!!

That’s ‘interesting’ to know... 😉

As said, it’s meant to be a daily driver, but I know what I’m like - may well look at it in the future! Not like there’s going to be cars like these soon anymore, so may as well enjoy them!

Ah! I know PPE but didn’t realise you could get their stuff un-assembled - I’ll read through the SC430 thread, thanks! 🙂

If I ever have to take the engine out again I’d consider it, and would definitely give you a shout, but just now it’ll probably just be a back-box - the 3-4K would be better spent on the Mustang which will be coming back from body and paint tomorrow ironically.

Ref Exeter Airport stay - I’m assuming you flew in, or were you in the 460?

2 hours ago, Neil E said:

I think you're entitled to moan a bit with the bad luck on the engine Mike, great job on sorting it. I would say your comments and assessments seem pretty well balanced and fair. Yes plenty of potential and I feel you know where you want to take it before setting out which is always a good thing. I said I wouldn't do headers as they are too expensive and difficult to do and then later took it on. Have you found anyone who claims to have fully tuned the 3UZ with a blower? 

I have a shiny blue aftermarket IS  F-sport rear ARB in the garage that I couldn't fit around the rear centre bracing support on the SC without a little extra modification so went with the ISF bar and drop links. When I get chance I will offer it up to the GS and let you know. Someone on clublexus will have the answer, I will do some research as the 460 does seem to have some unwanted extra rear sway. Oddly it's more noticeable at low speed. 

Thanks - I know where I want to take it, but it'll take a while to get there - with three projects on the go it's a constant stretch!!

Interested in how you sourced headers, though - aftermarket or custom? 

Ref GS with a blower - aside from the Tom's kit, which is super rare and stupid expensive, there's two I'm aware of - MrBattlelac (search it on YouTube) did his own and Speed Academy (again YouTube) is currently working on an LS430, with a blower and are well worth a watch).

Ref the ISF bar - interested in how you get on... Ref the extra rear sway, that may be because the coil-overs are not having to react as quickly, so are allowing more of the force to come through (if that makes sense) - I assume the GS's springs are progressive - the sway bars are therefore having to work slightly in isolation, with less assistance from the springs and therefore their lack of 'rate' shows up more.

Hope that makes sense?

2 hours ago, Neil E said:

I haven't checked but does an ISF rear anti-roll bar fit the GS? That's what I have on the back of the SC and it really made a difference in controlling the rate of lean.

Thanks Neil - I may come across as moaning about it, but I do that for every car 😄 - there’s a lot of potential in there...

Ref ISF bar, I’m not sure - I know a lot of the chassis is similar, but IIRC when I checked part numbers they were different - but that was the regular IS - will look into it, thanks.

The F-Sport bars fit, though, so I’ll plan to use them most likely.

Next Installment - After almost half a year off the road, it's time for a review of the car and what I plan to do with it...

1 hour ago, m4rkw said:

Another thing you have to watch out for is companies with really great products and really great reputations being bought out and then the new owner gouging as much profit as possible out of the reputation by cutting costs and quality. Perhaps this isn't so common in the UK and Europe but I frequently hear about that kind of thing happening in the US.

Unfortunately it's not just car parts these days, nearly everything is copied and counterfeited. Even buying direct from amazon isn't always safe, there are numerous reports of fake products making their way into their direct (not 3rd party) supply chains.

Spot on - I’m in the middle of a mustang restoration and Scott Drake (big in the US) is very much going that way!

2 minutes ago, Captain sly said:

Can anyone advise why I can't post pics? 

I think they need to be http/https links and then the forum will recognise them as images and load them.  Works for me, anyway!

Seriously impressive stuff!! Thanks for sharing...

Well the last installment of the my engine troubles has been completed! Luckily it's now working (albeit there's still a few little jobs to do, which will be covered in subsequent videos). Unfortunately, there's not too much footage of the actual removal and strip-down of the heads, as I was a little bit annoyed at that point and filming wasn't on my mind!

However, if anyone ever has to contemplate doing this themselves, or wants to pick my brains, then please feel free to drop me a message, as there's a lot of little Gotchas that aren't even in the Workshop Manual! If I had to do it again, I'd be fairly sanguine about it, but doing it for the first time was definitely 'interesting'.

Hope you enjoy, video is here:

22 hours ago, cruisermark said:

I think this video has been mentioned here before - I have stopped buying branded parts from ebay for this reason.

Best to pay a little more and by from dealer for piece of mind

Couldn’t agree more - been burned too many times with utter garbage from eBay and some of the other ‘low cost’ Auto parts websites.

I now go main dealer unless it’s a proven aftermarket alternative.

On 2/3/2021 at 4:58 PM, Steve said:

Roll on the summer and less deperessing short days!!!

There’s nothing like working by head torch under your car in the pitch black! 😄