Got the short block out this past week. Everything looks pretty good. Oil clearance good. Crank is smooth and in specs. #2 piston was worn down .020" and that explains the piston slap. All cylinders are in spec even after honing. The other 5 pistons are still in spec.

so just a couple of questions.

How important is it to have the block decked. I measured it with a straight edge. Most of it I could NOT get a .0015" feeler gauge under. But at only one point, between two cylinders, I measure .003"

I guess my concern is that the heads have been decked and if I deck the block will I run into height problems. Will the MLS gaskets make up the distance.

Anybody know the min. height for the heads?

Some things I'm not sure about doing are:

Should I have the block decked?
Should i spend the money and replace all six pistons?
Should I get the crank polished and replace all bearings?

I'm leaning toward LCEngineer MLS gasket set.

thanks guys . . . I'm excited to start putting this back together

Badbob

 

The block really should be flat. It doesn't sound like a lot, but would you trust a .003" warp on the head? If not, why trust it on the block. It will weaken the head gasket seal in that area.

Whether decking the block becomes an issue with the head, compression ratios and such would depend on how much was taken off the block. There are shims that can be used in some circumstances to compensate for this.

The 3VZE is a non-interference engine so valves hitting the pistons aren't normally a problem except with extreme surfacing and decking or high-lift cams.