Alright, I have now awoken from the mess that was last night, and before I leave for work I will give up my advice.

Again, thanks for the tag John!

Back before I shimmed my injectors, I looked into rebuilding my injectors myself and chose to forego it. When looking at the kit you bought, it raised some eyebrows - For one I believe it needs to have a bit more hardware in the kit myself.

For the kit to be complete (IMO) it needs the following added to it:

• Extra armature plate shims
  The shims can be easily lost or damaged, having just eight of each can put you in a bind if one you need meets an unfortunate end.
• Solenoid spacer shims
  You are bumping the armature plate up higher toward the solenoid, thusly causing the armature plate to get closer to the magnets in it. The issue with this is that your upper seat wears along with your lower seat. When you bump your plates' lower clearance up, you run the risk of the plate hitting the solenoid or sticking to it if they contact each other due to the plate getting closer to the solenoid when the poppet is actuated.
• Extra feeler gauges (.001"-.004", preferably in .0005" increments)
  IMO anyone selling a rebuild or shim kit should include these to, as 406 says, "Take the guess work out of shimming." The issue I have with them only including one .002" feeler gauge is that you can't have a definite clearance number - you still guess when all you have is one indefinite measurement to go off of. For instance, the plate could have .0028" of clearance, so you throw a .002" shim to bump it up - now you have a plate clearance out of spec by almost a whole thou. That is why I made sure to have a .004" feeler when I shimmed mine to ensure my plates were at spec (This could also be my machinist self being over-precise).
• Extra armature plate screws
  I say this due to the fact that when I shimmed my injectors, one broke inside my poppet valve. I spent about four hours or so (IIRC) to machine a tool down to fit within the poppet and extract my broken screw.
• Loctite (Blue)
  I assume it comes with this for the plate screws, but if not you will need some. Just run a small bead along the bottom of the screw so that you don't run the risk of them backing out or loosening up, causing excessive clearance and possible injector damage.
  
• Instructions
  I assume it comes with these, but all the page states is there are many YouTube videos out there to help you.
  

I don't mean to sound like I am raining on your parade, but these are just some concerns my initial looking over of the kit causes. If I had the time to really sit down and study the inner-workings of the injectors back when I initially did my shimming, I might have attempted it. For now I leave it to the pros that flow test them after rebuilding to ensure they perform relatively well to each other still.

I will see if I can dig up the leftover hardware I had from when I shimmed mine, and if you would like I can send it to you so long as it has the extra shims still in good shape.

Also, if you have any other questions or need some help while you're in there, don't hesitate to PM me. I work nights but can help while on lunch at work or once I get off. Also, be sure to take lots of pictures - we love pictures here!

 

Can someone please send a rep to Charlie, I am in jail and cannot.

Great advice and food for thought there Charlie.

 

I got him for you.

 

Me too, he earned it.

 

Charlie,
Thank you very much I appreciate the input and offer for help if needed. (I am not shy about asking either.)
The feeler gauges are not a problem for me. I spent years in an Aerospace related machine shop and kept all my measuring equipment.
The extra shims may be a legitimate concern but I won't know until I get into it.
Loctite I have both blue and red.
For instructions I downloaded Riffraff's injector removal and installation. Also, watched a number of different videos and read a lot of articles on here before even ordering the kit.
If I see anything suspicious or puzzling I will post it here and get answers rather than take a guess.

 

Pulled the driver's side injectors tonight anticipating delivery of my rebuild kit tomorrow.

#8 looked pretty good:




#6 Also not too bad just a little dirty on the tip:


#4 Had a slight tear in the o-ring:


#2 is the injector that failed the buzz test when cold. It also had what looks like and old seal attached.



Pulled at it a bit:



Seriously considering pulling the 42 pin harness and giving it a thorough look over. That will also give me a chance to clean things up a bit.

 

Looks like you are pressing on with this at the right time. There are a lot of us watching from the shadows on how this goes. I am pretty confident I don't have the skill or knowledge to accomplish a rebuild myself, but I sure do like to read about it and dissect the pictures that go along with it.

Best of luck to you Jim.

 

I thought I would clean up the #2 cup a bit just to make sure there wasn't any more parts of an old seal laying in there.
Still have more cleaning to do. I place a small piece of folded up shop towel in the very bottom to prevent any excess debris falling into the cylinder.

 

What are you using to clean the cups in regard to solutions and brushes/scrubbing tools? Are you planning to do a coolant pressure/leak test before installing the rebuilt injectors?

 

That was pretty much wiping it out with a towel and then a small piece of Scotchbrite.
I used the light Gray which is about 800 -1000 grit.

I haven't had any issues with this engine like oil in the pipes or coolant, or excessive oil usage so not overly worried about the cups. That being said, I did squeeze the coolant hose to apply pressure while looking into the cup.

Today will be more cleaning on that side and then removing the passengers side valve cover and injectors. Mail usually doesn't get here until late afternoon. Really counting on the parts showing up.

 

Subscribing

 

I've found that a couple of blue shop towels- not torn apart- makes a nice sized cover for the open valve cover area on each head.

I am also careful about keeping things clean.

Some tips you may or may not already know.

1. Before installing your injectors, dip them in oil for a few mins. I cut the top off an empty oil jug and fill it part way so I can hold the injector in there and swish it around gently. You can see the air bubbles come out. My buddy hangs them, but he does lots of injectors (not close to here or he'd be drafted, LOL) so he has a regular rig for it.

2. Be sure to lube the orings quite well, just before installing the injectors- if you haven't soaked them. I bring that cut jug with me and only have a very short distance to pull the injector out of the jug and then get it into the hole. I hold a shop rag under it to keep from spilling oil everywhere.

3. After installing your injectors, remove the glowplugs from all cylinders that had them removed and use a long breaker bar on the engine main pulley to crank it just a little and slowly to evacuate all the oil, fuel, whatever, from the cylinders. Make sure the open valve cover area is covered with something, it can squirt a solid 15-20 FEET! A helper is nice to watch everything up top, be sure she is wearing a face mask.

4. At each step and especially right before inserting your injector, make sure the copper washer is still on the nozzle.


Others probably have more tips. How many injectors have you changed/installed so far?

 

Thanks for the tips.

I have just started this project so I will continue to post as I disassemble and rebuild the injectors.

There seems to be some differing on whether to remove the oil plugs from the heads. Riffraff recommends removing the aft injector first to allow the majority of drainage into the back cylinders and then evacuating with suction through the glow plug holes.
One of the videos I watched said it wasn't necessary to remove the plugs. Any thoughts on this?

 

I don't remove the plugs. I just assume fluids will get into the cylinders and rotate the engine with the glow plugs out to evacuate them and avoid a hydrolock.

Even if you do remove the plugs, there isn't any guarantee you can avoid fluids or suction them all out. Some do and take that chance and have been okay, I don't.

Of course spraying fluids out of the GP holes can make more mess to clean up around the motor area, but it's worth it to me for the peace of mind and I finish the job by cleaning the whole top of the motor with simple green anyways (except alternator, keep it dry)

I think removing the plugs could help with a "quick swap" where one is removed and a replacement is inserted right away. But when they stay out for a little bit...

Others likely have other opinions, this is just how I do it

 

Copper washer ridge up toward the injector or down toward the engine?