6 replies to this topic

[Lloydc]

Recently began stripping the engine for a good clean up following the Haynes manual(replacing gaskets, re-spraying head/block etc) and found underneath the head and the head itself to have alot of stubborn carbon deposits and pitting.

 

This engine is from a 1980 Austin Mini 1000. The engine turns by hand on the fan without too much resistance however makes an odd scrape noise and meets resistance when 1 and 4 reach TDC

 

See attached photos for an idea of the condition.

 

My question is this:

Is it worth persevering with this engine any further? I've noticed the 998 is reasonably cheap to buy, so this may be an option if it's not looking good, hence my plea for help off you experienced folk!

 

 Block.jpg   90.25K   43 downloads  Head.jpg   88.62K   32 downloads

 

Many thanks!

 

Chris

[KernowCooper]

Have you scrapped all the carbon off the piston crowns? if you have I suspect some has got between the piston to bore and the rings are slightly hitting the ridge in the bore, what mileage has the engine covered ? and can you rock the pistons in the bores at TDC? If its done lots of miles and you have removed all the carbon in the bores/pistons its most likely if high mileage going to burn a bit of oil now and smoke a bit.

 

How bad was it before you started ?

[Lloydc]

As of yet I haven't touched the pistons. The pistons are tight in the bore with no rocking, it's only done 38k but looks in a right old state. I haven't had the engine running at all since I bought it, but due to it being sat for 7 ish years doing nothing I figured the best move would be to clean it all up.

[CHUNKY365]

All looks perfectly healthy and normal. The scraping noise you hear is probably the rings doing their job and scraping down the bores whilst it is dry.

Spray plenty of WD40 onto the top of the pistols and turn it over a few times to see if the scraping noise eases.

But yeah that engine and head look fine to go again.

[KernowCooper]

in that case then if you've not decarbonised the pistons it appears the engine was not burning lots of oil they look clean for the mileage.

[Lloydc]

Awesome! Thanks very much for the replies. Will give her a lick of paint, a new gasket and aim to get it running again.

 

Cheers

Chris

[coopdog]

looks perfect for a turbo :L