Daytona Valve Problems

I do not want to be rude, or come off smart, but if you really need to ask if you can simply replace one piston by itself without taking the motor apart, should you really be working on this calibre of car?

At the very least you have a damaged valve/cylinder head. If it were an old beater Ford I would take the one head off and fix it, make it run. But this is different. If the Ford blows up, you buy another junk motor for $200 and your back on the road. I assume you would like this original motor to stay with the car? I assume you would like to protect the cars value as some type of investment? Both heads should be removed and given complete valve service. If there is any question of piston or lower end wear or damage, the block should be stripped and repaired or serviced as necessary.

 

I haven't found it to be rocket science to work on this "calibre" of car, nor any necessity to replace parts that aren't broken or worn for a repair to be proper, just a lot more parts costing a lot more money. Go for it Tom-wish I could speak Daytona.

 

I have replaced pistons with the motor in the car. I have even replaced front pistons but that took some creativity. You do not mention which cylinder is in trouble. Those motors have a habit of transfering debris from cylinder to cylinder with common carbs so you may find some damage on the other bank.

I do not know how many miles or any other history of the motor but you may find it challenging these days to find one or two matching pistons for that motor if they are original. I may know of one new one laying around. Part of the reason they are hard to find OE pistons is we used them all up building high compression 308 motors years ago.

The motors are really tough and the chances of rod or crank/bearing damage are slim.


Good luck.

 

If I recall you have 2 choices on getting that bolt out. Remove bolts from the steering box cover and rotate it so the bolt will come out or remove the lower motor mount nut and lift the motor on that side a bit.

Its been a year or so since I have removed one so it is a little foggy but it is not a big deal.

Getting 11 out will not be a lot of fun. You might consider just pulling the motor, it is not hard on a Daytona and will give you a chance to tidy up the engine bay.

 

I know Al.

I am not surprised.

 

Tom,

Are you the guy that came with Rick Cole to the best of France and Italy show last year? If not Ric is in your area and should be a wealth of information as he has a Daytona also. If you do not know him PM me and i will give you his #.

Rob Garven

 

Buy a lottery ticket, quick! You could be the luckiest person on earth right now.

Dave

 

Dave speaks the truth..

Definately get rid of the old sodium valves, new sodium valves are made differently and may not even be required...

Rifledriver can that piston damage be repaired???
Looks like one new one is all he needs??

A LOTTO ticket is always a good idea if you own an Fcar.....LOL!

Mine are all parked, waiting on a WIN!

 

300x12???

SI and Ferrara just to name two can make you a whole hand full of valves for that thing for $300

 

IF you can find one new matching Daytona piston. Back in the early eighties when all those 308 oil burning motors were being rebuilt we were putting Daytona pistons in them to get a little more compression and as I understand it we pretty much wiped out the stocks of OE Daytona pistons.

 

I have (2) 330 heads and (5) 308 heads sitting on the shelf that require many hrs of welding and re-profiling to put back serviceable, not to mention the damage to the rest of the components.

No Need for sodium valves any longer. Metallurgy has come a long way since the 70's.

I have pulled apart numerous engines running pistons that looked far worse than yours with good compression numbers showing. You would be surprised how many folks drop odds and ends down the carbs and rev them until the object blows out the exhaust.

Call Tom S., he is bound to have a piston or 2 laying around. Pull one more virgin piston to get an accurate balance weight.

Dave

 

Piston damage looks pretty minor, actually, with only a bit of gouging on the face. Provided there's no interference with the valve, you could probably get away with just reusing the piston as is. Worst case, you could polish any lips that were raised on the piston surface to prevent valve interference. This would slightly change the piston weight, I wouldn't think enough to be an issue.

 

Wouldn't the edges cause hot spots that could cause pinging if you reuse the piston as is? How about knocking off the edges to minimize this?

That said, keeping it might be a good plan B if you can't find a matching piston.

Alberto

 

A whole set of pistons these days from CP is just not expensive enough to justify patching a motor in a good car.

 

That's these guys. http://www.ferrea.com/

No need to buy overpriced under performing parts that come in a yellow box with a dancing donkey on them.

 

No argument there!

The carbon showing in the head and on the piston crown is far too "damp" not to replace. Looks like the intake guides / seals might have a bit of an issue as well. The piston edges on the other cylinders looks like they have a good seal, you might get away with a simple freshen up (rings not pistons).

Your luck streak has paid in full, I personally wouldnt push it further. The repairs needed appear quite simple and straight forward. Any day when one can have a catostophic failure of that kind and come out like you did is a good day.

The value of driving the car with piece of mind far out weighs the alternative. Pull the engine and do it properly.

Dave

 

Shipping is usually in the 300-350 range, crated and on a pallet. BAX Global is the best I have ever found.
Think about down the road a bit. Cost now vs value to the car in the years to come. Heads are off, pan will be off..... Its the bearings and piston to liner clearance that we all hold our breath on!
At 34K miles the cam chain and water pump are a no brainer.

Dave

 

I always spell that name wrong. Good company though. They have made valves for me for everything up to and including F50.


Those guys at SI are beginning to grow on me too.