stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,926
Club RR Member Number: 174
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As a comparison my mates 100e engine with an aquaplane head, few small mods to the block, twin carbs and a full stainless steel exhaust made 42bhp at the rear wheels. Another mate has a similar engine but with mods to the head and some other bits and made 50bhp at the rear wheels.
The 3 speed box is the thing that stops em going fast, the gap between 2nd and 3rd is horrendous.
Matt
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On with the build... First task is to get the old head studs out. I would have to hammer the head back on because they are rusted and bent and I don't want that so I'm going to replace them with shiny new straight items. I was a bit worried about shifting them but the oldest trick in the book worked on all of them so I was happy. Basically wind a nut on the thread, hold it with a spanner and crank another nut onto it really tight. Then 99% of the time you can undo the whole thing with the bottom nut: To get the nut back off is a matter of mole grips round the stud and undo the nut: Luckily it was only the last one that was REALLY tight and mangled up: Now I want to take the valves out. I had to buy a slim valve spring compressor to do this because the springs are incredibly small in this engine and my old one wouldn't go in. Normally what you've got is a retainers at the end of the valve with a pair of tapered collets that hold it on the end of the valve. You compress the spring and the two collets pop out and you can withdraw the spring. It's a bit different on this engine because the end of the valve is tapered itself and the retainer has a slot cut out of one side and you have to pull it out with pliers. It's fiddle and requires a bit of brute force: You have to jam the compressor between the bottom two coils of the valve spring: Then grab the retainer with a pair of needle nose pliers: Then pull the valve up like the top picture and get a hold of the spring with pliers and yank it out: The valve then doesn't just come out because it's tapered at the end so it won't fit through the valve guide. This took a bit of head scratching but the valve guide is in two pieces and is pressed into place. One has to drift it out with a special tool, or in my case a clubhammer and a couple of screwdrivers. This is what it looks like when out: I spotted a flow improvement opportunity here. Take a look at this very poor photo and you can see the top of the valve guide protrudes right into the port, semi blocking it up: Well I'm not having that, so it's going on the lathe and it's coming off. There's still plenty of length on it to support the valve so that's free extra flow to me. Lining up the valve springs I spot a little inconsistency: Apart from the fact that they are about as strong as radio controlled car springs they are all different lengths so I will replace them all for uprated items. There is no way the standard items will be able to cope with increased revs, these ones are destined for a pair of spring loaded shoes or something. One major annoyance is that this engine has solid cam tappets and you can't adjust the valve tolerances. To reduce the gap you have to grind the valve seats to make the valve drop down a bit and to increase the gap you have to get the end of the valve stem ground back. This means that as it stands I can't use my high lift cam because I will need different length valves and the process of getting them to the right ground length isn't something I can do at home, which goes against the aim of this project. Luckily Small Ford Spares do aftermarket ajustable tappets which is a lifesaver, by no means cheap, but it means I can use the cam afterall! Phew! After a quick cleanup I can see that the surface of the block is good, the valve seats are all in good condition despite being used with unleaded fuel and the pistons are in good condition. There was hardly any carbon in there at all and the bores are in very good condition. All good news. Final job was to flip it upside down and strip the block bare. Took the sump off, removed the flywheel and timing cover and started scraping all the old gaskets off. I'll be taking the cam, crank and pistons out next so they don't get contaminated with grinding paste or any of the muck when I start relieving the bore edges, then it's out with the power tools to do the fun bit. Mwahahahahah!!!!!
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Last Edit: Jul 19, 2007 11:07:39 GMT by Deleted
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Last Edit: Jul 13, 2007 9:45:52 GMT by Robinxr4i
Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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Shortcut
Posted a lot
I won't be there when you cross the road, so always use the Green Cross Code.
Posts: 3,037
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Lining up the valve springs I spot a little inconsistency: All together class, can you spell "within specified tolerances"?
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This space available to rent. Reach literally dozens of people. Cheap rates!
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tigran
Club Retro Rides Member
In rust we trust. Amen.
Posts: 6,444
Club RR Member Number: 142
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Ooops! Have you tried getting a warranty repair from Ford? And chuck the WD40 away - you want Plusgas, you do What he said ^ plus gas is the future! p.s. great stuff johnny! Excellent to see soeone sticking with the old skool option of tuning a hopeless lump old engine.
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1964 Rover P5 i6 1987 BMW 525e - The Rusty Streak 1992 Micra K10 2001 BMW E46 316i 2002 BMW E46 330Ci 2013 BMW F31 320d 2018 BMW G31 530d
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,537
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Jul 13, 2007 10:09:47 GMT
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I reckon you should just lop a couple of coils off each spring to stiffen them up a bit Oh, and I suspect a "computer fan supercharger" would be about right.
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,926
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Jul 13, 2007 10:30:59 GMT
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I doubt a turbocharger would work very well with the 3 speed. By the time you'd changed gear from 2nd to 3rd all the boost would be gone lol
Matt
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Jul 13, 2007 10:34:00 GMT
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Yeah and I doubt it makes enough oil pressure lol
What do you mean lop some meat off the pistons to lower the compression? It's only 6:1 as stock ;D
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Jul 13, 2007 10:39:03 GMT
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What do you mean lop some meat off the pistons to lower the compression? It's only 6:1 as stock ;D 6:1 thats aweful Anyway it was jsut a silly idea, I thought I would throw into the mix ;D
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Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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Jul 13, 2007 15:56:41 GMT
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Anyway it was just a silly idea, I thought I would throw into the mix ;D Heh no probs. Should have it up around 8.5:1 once it's machined down. Plenty for a sidevalve apparently, but I'm very tempted to break some rules
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Jul 13, 2007 19:46:32 GMT
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Finished stripping the engine. Took the cam, crank, oil pump and pistons out now so it's a bare block. Tomorrows job is to get some Gunk and give it a damn good clean all over then I can do that grinding. I think I might give it a paint after all, for the sake of a fiver in paint while it's out in bits... So when you take a cam out and you haven't got a manual it's a good idea to take a note what way round it goes in. The easiest way to do this is to turn it so the no.1 piston is at top dead centre (TDC) on its firing stroke and make a mark with some white paint, or in my case some Tippex which I stole back when I was working at Marconi. That was a long time ago but I still steal things: It's also a good idea to mark your pistons so they go back in the right bores, this saves you having to re-balance the engine but more importantly the bottom ends go back on the right crank journals. So make sure you also keep the big end shells round the right way and with the correct conrod: With a bit of luck over the weekend I'll also get to take a grinder to the block and relieve it where I deem fit, then next week I just have to order some bits and get it assembled Edit: by the way I don't read The Mail, it was in the recycling bin downstairs and I needed a paper to soak up any excess oil...
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Last Edit: Jul 19, 2007 11:08:51 GMT by Deleted
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,926
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Jul 13, 2007 19:51:08 GMT
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Good progress. I think the 8.5:1 is just because they're so inefficient you'd need race fuel to go higher lol
Matt
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Jul 14, 2007 18:54:34 GMT
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Jumped straight in at the deep end this afternoon and got on with the relieving around the bores. Popped the headgasket in place and secured with a couple of head studs: This is so I can mark around the edges so I know where to grind and where not to as the chamber in the head is reasonably tight around the area: Scratched my marks in with the tip of a chisel and removed the gasket and I was left with this on each of the bores: Took the bulk of the meat off with a grinding disc on the angle grinder which made pretty light work of it and was left with this lovely rough edge to clean up with a half-round hand file: Which left me with this lovely smoothed run into the bore rather than a sharp step. I gave it a quick lick over with some 400-grit wet and dry just to take the file marks out and all was done: It's a bit difficult to see in the photos but it's about 5mm down from its original position and will let the piston suck in quite bit more as the sidevalve design is quite flawed. Then I gave it a good old wire brush, a clean down with Gunk followed by water, washing up liquid and a rinse, same with the sump which was lined with slime. Went against my normal rules and fired on a coat or two of fire engine red, won't get much time tomorrow but I will be able to sneak in a few extra coats of paint
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Last Edit: Jul 19, 2007 17:50:03 GMT by Deleted
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klunk
Part of things
1949 Rover P3 V8
Posts: 371
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Jul 14, 2007 21:49:21 GMT
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Looking good.....Full Marks, will your head be ready on Tuesday? See you then.
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Jul 14, 2007 21:53:17 GMT
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This is the right stuff......proper inspiration, all credit to ya!
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,537
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Jul 14, 2007 21:55:55 GMT
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Great stuff Jon!
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Rob
Posted a lot
You know, for kids!
Posts: 2,515
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Jul 15, 2007 20:52:50 GMT
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Excellent stuff... really ace to see. I've never dabbled on the insides so this is ace to see... More internal shots on RR please PS: I'm building a Hot Rod BMX -I'll show you the results Johnny,,, i know you have a pedal bike fetish
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Jul 18, 2007 21:47:41 GMT
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Sooooooo my bandwidth got caned so all the old images are dead until the 28th ;D No worries because I can make like a gypsy and move in on someone else's land as such. Yeah I'm stealing some webspace temporarily... So here's what I've been up to. Got on the lathe on Tuesday night courtesy of a particularly generous bloke I know and turned down all the valve guides. Had to swap on the 4-jaw chuck to get a hold on them because they are in two halves but after a bit of setting up progress was good and I'm happy with the results. Before, after and, er whoops: Broke one of them so I'll have to pilfer one out the spare engine. Cast iron I think and it's like machining something between glass and china. I'll cut the remaining one by hand since it's not critical how square they are, I just want them recessed out the way. I also got my head back. Nice bit of work, bit expensive but NOOOOOOOO! he's taken too much out the chambers! Ah well I guess I didn't explain it to him properly. I asked him to cut the base of the chamber down flush and I think he took it a bit too literally and cut right into the slope in the end of the chamber: The bit between the two dark areas is supposed to be a nice smooth curve but now it's a deep step. Well I ummed and arrrrred about it quite a lot today but I think the only real solution is to add some metal back on. This is what the head looks like though, nice skim: So this metal-on mod. This is going to involve welding to cast iron which is brittle. I decided the best way to do this is to get the head hot and weld it hot so the concentrated heat buildup isn't as high as if the head were cold. This will reduce warpage and reduce the likely hood of it craking. So the SWMBO is out tonight which is a piece of luck because I'm banned from bringing car parts in the flat let so please no-one let her know I've been sticking them in the oven. 225 degrees for 30 minutes until smoking nicely, which it did and the flat smells like it's been on fire. Severly. In the meantime I stuck the thick wire in the MIG and ran a couple of test beads on a spare head. When I was happy with the results I ran up and grabbed the one out the oven, ran down with it in my welding gloves (choking on the smoke and yeah it was bloody hot!) and zapped in a couple of runs of weld to fill the gap: This is what I was left with after a quick wire brush. Once the head cooled down I thought I might un-shroud the sparkplug a bit. It sits right in the thread and is practically covered so I reckoned a good healthy chamfer would come in handy, get that flame front moving a bit quicker like: Then while I was working on the ports in the block I gave the head a few licks of paint, red again: Followed this with a rather nice shish kebab, chips and a few glasses of wine while I watched California Kid
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Good man on using the oven whilst beloved is out ;D I wouldn't have chamfered the spark plug hole though. When you put the plug in, it should be deep enough for the electrode to stick through nicely, with it chamfered aren't you going to have exposed plug threads which the heat will play havoc with? It'll also mean the end of the plug will be hot and might try to fire the mixture too soon You could use a shorter plug, but then it'll be even more shrouded by the chamfer than it was before IMHO Gareth
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Last Edit: Jul 19, 2007 7:03:31 GMT by garethj
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Yeah mixed throughts on that. I read on a flathead site that exposing the plug was a good thing but then shrouding it could be a good thing too. Ah well I guess I could always weld it back up ;D
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