Thursday 19th
Got some bits today. Head, sump and timing cover gaskets. I borrowed a torque wrench from a mate and I picked up a high mount brake light for the back. I also thought I got some yellow T-10 bulbs for the parkers, but I think they turned out to be amber
Might have time Friday night/Saturday morning to get stuck into it.
I had a bit of time Friday afternoon to clean off all the crud from the old gaskets.
Then Saturday morning I put on the new(er) timing chain and lined up all the timing marks. The hope was to get the timing cover bolted on and possibly the head.
I decided to do the bolts on the timing chain guide up a bit tighter this time so that they wouldn't fall out. Bottom bolt went on fine. Top one kept turning when I tightened it up, I figured I must have ruined the thread. I went to undo it, and the head of the bolt came off but the rest didnt (Grade 6 bolt too)
I think the bolt had bottomed out in the end of the thread. After my lousy attempt at removing it I gave up for the day and ended up borrowing a tap set. If I get time tomorrow I'll try to get the old thread back, or bore it up to the next size.
Then timing cover, head and sump on. One positive thing is that the big end bearing are still rock solid, so I've had good oil pressure
High mount brake light installed. Well stuck on with the double sided tape. Need to wire it up.
Workplace cleanliness is essential
I cranked out the tap set. I couldn't get the original thread back (6x1.0) so I bored it up to 8x1.25, which is the next common size up. It was pretty easy, just gotta be patient.
Kinda like this. Only more in focus. I had to shorten the bolt to fit, and I ran it through the other tap to clean up the thread. It all bolted up fine!
Timing chain back on
And now I've got the timing cover on. I'm attempting to tidy up the wiring a bit using conduit
I need some brake cleaner, gasket paper and electrical tape and a few hours in the shed...
Wednesday 25th I got the head back on
Two foes reunite
Sump got all gooped up
So today I pulled the engine down and was putting on the flywheel and clutch. It was 90nm to tighten the flywheel to the crank, and the engine section didnt have a torque for the clutch pressure plate. I think I used too many torques...
I crapped myself at this stage. Most of the bolt was still in the flywheel and it was late in the afternoon on a public holiday. So I had another flywheel, but it was for a 4 speed. I pulled it out and they were different. Different offset to the crank and 4 speed looked a bit smaller diameter. I had both flywheels off at this stage, thinking of a place to extract this bolt so I can bolt it all up. A moment of desperation provided a good thought...how about I try unwinding it by hand? It wasn't actually in tight, it came straight out! :mrgreen: (torque setting of 27nm was under "clutch", not "engine" btw)
Engine in. This was the first time I've left the gearbox in the car while putting in an engine. Normally I pull out both and allign the gearbox and engine on the ground. First attempt didn't work, the clutch wasn't aligned properly. I had the 4 speed lying on the ground nearby and I kept thinking
if only I could remove the input shaft to use to line up the clutch. Then I remembered that I could just use the whole gearbox to line it up :rolleyes: only took me 6 months to work that one out!
Not much to do now, just radiator, intake manifold, oil and water and connect a few wires. Hopefully smooth sailing from now on!
Friday 27th
Got the rest of the engine bolted up
It started up and was smokey and seemed to have a misfire
Hooked up the timing light, only flashes 3 then misses one
Also timing chain seems alot tighter than before. Old one had some slop to it, but this one is pretty tight. I don't know how to make it the right setting?