Better get a move on

Having committed to Jason that I am going to try and take the estate on the RBRR next year I had better get a move on with the project. A few of you know I have had the flu followed by a chest infection so I haven't felt well enough to do much recently, plus I don't think that grinding dust will be very good for me at present, so I decided to proceed with the engine. I took the heads off it a few weeks ago, so a full strip down commenced. Once the cams were out it was apparent that there were a few seized valves as you can see from the cam buckets in this picture.

Once the valve was removed the reason became apparent in the corrosion which filled the entire intake area.

With a similar problem on the other head

Anyway, got them fully stripped, core plugs removed etc, so off to the machine shop for a light surface grind and a good clean in a chemical bath. Valve seats look ok, and probably just need a light grind with paste. All the cam bearings were good so thats a bonus.

On to the block and piston removal, turned it over to get the sump off, and another FF modification became apparent, they have grinded away the edge of the sump pan and the bolts - these were fun to remove!

 

Crank still won't rotate, but some big ends are undone and the pistons hammered out. To get at the other bolts I cut the end of a 13mm socket, and welded it to a 8mm bar, which I could then use to get at the remaining big end nuts, and then remove all the pistons

 

Here are the pistons, not a pretty sight, the rings are all stuck in them, and some are very tight on the little ends. There's an interesting water mark on the flywheel too.

 

Biggest upset of the day - the state of the bearings, standard size VP, but absolutely wrecked due to lack of oil changes, the shells here should look silver like the thrusts, below, but all the top coating has been worn off in all the shells on every bearing, with some traces of debris - simply down to no oil changes and a blocked filter, what a shame as I had managed to source some NOS VP bearings in std size, but the crank does now need a grind if it is to last. The state of the crud in the oil pan is witness to the lack of maintenance, 10mm of jelly like oil at the bottom.

 

 Anyway these bits are now ready for the machine shop, the block isn't, because even the water pump is seized (its an early 6 vane type), and I need to remove that and the jackshaft before everything is ready for the machine shop. The little end bearings look OK, so I shall simply fit new big end nuts and bolts. The crank will be ground and tuftrided, and I will have it all balanced. The shaft on the front pulleys needs a seal saver fitting (its basically a sleeve fitted where the oil seal rubs). Pistons, I will probably go to plus 20 size.

 

I reckon that little lot will be about a grand, and it will be ready in 4 weeks or so, so I can then build it once, check the piston heights, and then probably strip it again to have the block faces corrected to the piston heights. I might port the heads a little too, as there are some very nasty lumps in the ports where stag heads have the valve inserts fitted.

I also have a pile more parts that now need to go to the powder coaters, so a few visits to make in the next couple of days