Home
Diary
Background
About Us
Schedule
Archive
Feedback
Links
| |
Engine
Assembly
I
have spent most of the time working on the engine and gearbox and this
turned into a story of substandard new parts and perfecting the art of removing
broken studs. A wealth of engine data is available on Barney Gaylord's
website at mgaguru.com
Camshaft
|
|
In the last
update I mentioned that the camshaft was damaged from the pounding it
had taken from the number two cylinder valves slowly freezing up. You
can clearly see this pitting on the lobe in the photo. It has gone
through the case hardened surface layer into the softer metal
underneath. The
|
|
|
In this photo I am trying to
show how the lobes of the cam have also been worn. If you compare it to
a new camshaft the difference wear is very apparent as the lobes are
more 'pointed'. I have replaced it with a new camshaft that was
surprisingly cheap in comparison to attempting to have the old one
renovated. |
|
|
This is the new camshaft. I
attempted to remove the tacho drive gear from the old camshaft but
failed miserably and after comparing the cost of a second hand gear
wheel to the cost of having a machine shop do it for me I opted for the
latter.
The circlip that was used on the old gear wheel was found to be
broken |
E ngine Block
The block was sent to a machine shop for pressure testing and for a rebore
that had to be +60 thou and top surface skim
|
|
First
job on its return was to remove a broken tacho drive unit stud. The left
picture shows the pilot hole I drilled and the right is the broken stud
cleanly removed. I used a stud extractor that basically starts off as a
drill running and biting in an anti clockwise direction. It did it
without having to drill itself into the broken stud. |
|
|
|
The picture on left is the rear crank bearing area of
the block and shows tell tale signs that the crank had at some time in
the past been running on worn crank bearings . You can see that the
crank has heated up the block and that the return scrollwork on the
crank has marked the block as well. Luckily the wear on the crank itself
was minimal and the oil return scroll work is continuous and appears to
be ok.
|
|
|
This picture is looking at the underside of the newly
rebored block. As you can see a chunk of the lower edge of one cylinder
is missing. It is an old wound that was caused in the past that has had no
apparent affect on the engine working. Its amazing how much punishment
these engines take
|
|
|
Here is the block ready to receive for reassembly. You
can see the new camshaft bearings.
|
Crankshaft
The crankshaft was reground and balanced with the flywheel/timing gear and
clutch assembly fitted. The flywheel had a new starter ring fitted and was
skimmed as well. The crank was crack tested after being reground to make
sure that it had no hidden defects
|
|
Here I am illustrating the remains of the old spigot
bearing that I have removed from the flywheel end of the crankshaft. I
tried all the suggested methods of getting it out i.e. packing it with
grease and a close fitting rod etc etc to no avail and ended up getting
it out in 5 minute by carefully picking at it with a small screwdriver
and a hammer. I am fitting a 5 speed gearbox and this requires a
different spigot bearing fitted
|
Clutch
Assembly
|
|
On the left is the clutch assembly. After
cleaning and inspection I found that one of the white springs had
somehow been displaced off its raised bottom locating pedestal. It was
an easy fix using a screwdriver to lever it back in place. The unit was
a replacement one that still had its id number clearly painted on it.
The clutch face shown was score free and in good condition
|
|
|
The clutch release plate on the other side
of the assembly was heavily scored showing that there had been metal to
metal contact with an obviously very worn clutch pedal carbon release
bearing at some time in its past. The wear was so bad that machining was
out of the question. I eventually sourced a new one in the US. Fitting
it is very easy.
|
Engine Block Assembly
I have not gone
into great detail on the reassembly of the engine as it is well documented in
available manuals
|
|
On the left we have the reground crank
going into the machined block and the end and central bearing caps
fitted. I used assembly lube throughout which is basically a sticky
engine oil so that the initial start up has lubrication until the engine
oil is circulating
|
|
|
On the left we have the
pistons fitted. At this stage I had moved the engine to ground level as
I did not have a bench capable of taking the weight. Remember
cleanliness is all important. One iron filing in a bearing can ruin your
day. Always fit and remove pistons from the top of the engine and make
sure you stagger the piston ring gaps round the piston. Use plenty of
oil when fitting the pistons using the piston ring compressor
|
|
|
On the left
the cork strip seals fitted to the end caps before fitting the flywheel
end plate and then new camshaft is fitted |
|
|
|
I then flipped it over, gave it a coat of
paint and fitted the newly skimmed flywheel first with the new spigot
bush fitted. Remember to fold up the locking tabs and then. Make
sure you fit it in the same location that it was balanced in.
|
|
|
Here the clutch assembly is bolted
on with the new clutch plate centralised and clamped between it and the
flywheel. Note the balancing marks left by the machine shop. Use a
clutch plate centralising tool to make sure that the gearbox
installation is trouble free.
|
|
|
Round to the front of the block the front
plate is bolted on together
with the camshaft thrust bearing plate. Note that when the cam gear wheel
was bolted up the cam shaft was locking
up. The bearing plate I was supplied with was over thick and needed
machining down to give the necessary clearance.
|
|
|
Here the timing gear is fitted linking the
crank to the camshaft. I renewed all gears as the cam shaft gear key way
was worn to the extent that it could be rotated 2 or 3 degrees by hand
without the camshaft turning. Remember to make sure that you get the
alignment marks to match up on the two pulleys as you fit them to get
the rough timing correct and to make sure that you get no valve clashes.
Be prepared to have the pulleys on and off a number of times. For a
trouble free future I recommend fitting a new timing chain and tensioner
|
|
|
On the left the front cover and crank
pulley is fitted. Remember to fit a new felt seal to the cover - a
challenge in its own right, and fit the pulley to the crank before
bolting up the cover to make sure its centralised.
|
|
|
On the left is the pressure relief valve
spring and poppet. The top is a new set compared to the old one below.
Again I suggest you change the spring and poppet
|
Gear
Box
|
|
Here we have the Ford type 9 five speed
gearbox assemble ready for fitting. It came reconditioned as part of the
kit containing the new bell housing. On the right you can see the
release arm and bearing installed. |
|
|
|
Here the unit is fitting into the chassis.
The rear mounting is supplied with the kit and requires you to drill 2
holes in each of two rails of the chassis. It was easy for me to do with
no floor boards or tunnel in place. If done from below you need to
safely raise the car to get the necessary working clearance. |
|
Engine
Installation
|
|
Here the engine is reunited to the chassis
and the new gearbox. |
|
|
|
Head fitting time was next. I had thought
that fitting new studs was the way to go but found that they would not
take the required torque and managed to break one, so it was off with
the everything again, out with the new ones and I put the old ones back
in. I then noticed that the old ones had 22 marked on the top of every
one, presumably indicating that they were high strength. They had
torqued up with no problems so be warned.
|
|
|
Eventually the head was put on, the
rockers, push rods and cam followers fitted. In the picture the
thermostat and cover are fitted together with the water pump. Regarding
the pump it is a steel bodied replacement . There are aluminium body
pumps around but the weight of a dynamo/alternator has been know to
break these so beware. The tacho drive has been rebushed and is fitted
|
|
|
Here is the engine with the exhaust
manifold and car inlet manifold and shield loosely fitted. More on this
area will follow. |
|
Other Items
I have also worked on a number of other items during the period
Heater
|
|
Here on the left the old matrix is water
tested again using mains pressure and on the right packed and installed
in the box |
|
|
|
On the left , the inlet valve is
reassembled and on the right the finished rebadged box. |
|
Clutch
Clevis Pin Wear & Repair
|
|
Here is the clutch arm showing the wear in the hole. On the right I have
welded up the hole and then redrilled a new hole. An easy fix to something
that happens to all the pedals
|
|
Rear
Brake Pads
|
|
Here I am just showing that I have refitted the anchor blocks and rear
brake pads at last. I gave up trying to find new anchor blocks that had
sheared off bolts. I ended up carefully drilling out the old studs and
fitting new ones made from cut off high strength bolts
|
|
Dipswitch
Bracket
|
|
The dip switch bracket had been robbed from my car at some time and I was
unable to source a new/second hand one, so using a picture of the correct
type and the bolt positions in the chassis I managed to fabricate a
replacement from scratch
|
|
General
|
|
On the left both seats now have refurbished rails fitted. On the right is
a voltmeter that I will be fitting to the car. It is a modern unit that
has an old style look. I replace the outer ring with one that matches the
other instruments and I also robbed the Smiths logo to cover the original
manufacturers one.
|
|
|
