7 replies to this topic

[Sam Biscuits]

Having finished my interior I'm having a think and starting to plan overhauling the engine bay.

 

I've very little experience with engines and rebuilds and have done some reading already but what I've read normally concerns increasing performance etc...

 

What I'm looking to do is restore my engine as close to factory standard as possible i.e. no change to performance, just increased reliability (upgraded parts where required) and to paint/powder for aesthetics.

 

What would be the general requirement to achieve this? My thinking is: 

 

- Replacement of perishable components e.g. gaskets, seals, o-rings, piston rings, bearings, water pump, belt

- Replace damaged components e.g. missing teeth on the gearbox.

- Vapour blasting as many components as possible e.g. all metal parts, gear box case, engine block, cylinder head, rocker cover, con rods, push rods, rockers, springs,  piston heads, cam & crank shafts. Is there anything that shouldn't be vapour blasted?

- Paint/powder gear box case, engine block, cylinder head, rocker cover.

 

I'm pretty confident with the rest of the engine bay, ancillary component parts, wiring, hoses etc... but would there be value in doing all the above to the engine and am I missing something obvious or planning on doing something wrong?

[nicklouse]

Things you have missed.

 

core plugs replace.

oil galleries clean out and replace plugs.

 

block will as a minimum need a hone. Might need bore so the will need an inspection before you buy anything.

crank might need a polish or a grind. See above.

head might need new guides. Which will mean seats need re cutting and new guides reaming. So it will need inspecting as above.

 

everything you dismantle needs to be replaced in the same place so mark/stamp pistons,rods,big end caps, main bearing caps. Valves,pushrods, cam followers. And if you strip the rocker assy down the rockers as well. And note where the pedestal with the oil way goes.

[Sam Biscuits]

Things you have missed.

 

core plugs replace.

oil galleries clean out and replace plugs.

 

block will as a minimum need a hone. Might need bore so the will need an inspection before you buy anything.

crank might need a polish or a grind. See above.

head might need new guides. Which will mean seats need re cutting and new guides reaming. So it will need inspecting as above.

 

everything you dismantle needs to be replaced in the same place so mark/stamp pistons,rods,big end caps, main bearing caps. Valves, pushrods, cam followers. And if you strip the rocker assy down the rockers as well. And note where the pedestal with the oil way goes.

 

Thanks. Yes I plan on making a detailed plan, labelling everything so everything goes back in the same place.

 

I'll add core plugs and oil galleries to the list of items to replace.

 

Guessing block honing/bore, crank grinding/polishing is akin to vapour blasting in that it removes deposits and resets component tolerances back to original?

 

Why would new guides mean having to re-cutting the seats? Would removal or particulates and deposits not mean the guides should fit?

[Steve220]

 

Things you have missed.

 

core plugs replace.

oil galleries clean out and replace plugs.

 

block will as a minimum need a hone. Might need bore so the will need an inspection before you buy anything.

crank might need a polish or a grind. See above.

head might need new guides. Which will mean seats need re cutting and new guides reaming. So it will need inspecting as above.

 

everything you dismantle needs to be replaced in the same place so mark/stamp pistons,rods,big end caps, main bearing caps. Valves, pushrods, cam followers. And if you strip the rocker assy down the rockers as well. And note where the pedestal with the oil way goes.

 

 

Why would new guides mean having to re-cutting the seats? Would removal or particulates and deposits not mean the guides should fit?

 

When you have new guides, the seats are cut to centralise the valve.

[nicklouse]

Sam it is the same reason you put everything back where it came from.

 

you change something it has to be made to fit correctly.

 

so first thing are the guides identical? highly unlikely so the hole in the guide will not be orientated exactly the same so the valve will not seal correctly.  The same with new guides they need reaming to size as the finished size can change as they are pressed home.

[ACDodd]

Erm you don’t decide what an engine needs before you have taken it apart. Inspection and measurement is used to determine what work is needed.

Ac

[timmy850]

Before you get too carried away with a full rebuild of the engine- what is the condition like now:
Does it leak oil
Does it blow smoke
Does it overheat
What are the compression figures like?
Do you have any problem with the current performance?
Does the gearbox stay in gear? Does it shift nicely?

If it was all functional and working exactly like it should, another good idea would be to keep it as it is and not mess around with it.

[Sam Biscuits]

Before you get too carried away with a full rebuild of the engine- what is the condition like now:
Does it leak oil
Does it blow smoke
Does it overheat
What are the compression figures like?
Do you have any problem with the current performance?
Does the gearbox stay in gear? Does it shift nicely?

If it was all functional and working exactly like it should, another good idea would be to keep it as it is and not mess around with it.

 

Don't know what the compression figures look like but no other major issues with the engine. The gear box definitely needs looked at, crunches 4th to 3rd and badly 3rd to 2nd. But if I want to powder the parts then it'll need disassembled anyway. Until it's stripped down I'll not know what condition it's in, but thought it a worthy project to clean it up and know it's in good condition.