Remove Spindle?

[mike7a10]

Hi gang. I am just about to the point I can take my engine in to be machined. 3 quick questions:

1. Should the spindle be removed for the idler gear? If so, how does it come out?

2. There is a bearing inside the camshaft "holes". Should that bearing come out and if so how is it removed?

3. Should the oil pressure bolt and assembly be removed? It is in tight!

Thanks in advance everyone. Please see inserted photo for reference below.

Mike
S/V Plan Sea

[sastanley]

Mike..
#3 - there is a little spring and either a needle or ball assembly inside the oil pressure adjusting bolt assembly. I would definitely remove that and if I had the extra cash, I would pony up for the more stable needle style if you don't have it & 'dress' the area with the fancy Moyer tool. Apparently, it helps stabilize wandering oil pressure. If I was going thru all this trouble that would be on top of my list.

Can't help with the others, I have no experience with them.

Cheers!
Shawn

[Marian Claire]

# 1. I do not think I removed that part during my rebuild. We checked it for wear but that was it.
#3 What Shawn said. If it is hard to turn or stuck it will be a lot easier to deal with on the bench than on the boat. It should turn smoothly after the lock nut is loosened. Good Luck Dan S/V Marian Claire

[lat 64]

If you have machine work done, it will be full of grit or metal shavings and all the oil passages should be washed out with HOT water or solvent. I would remove as many plugs as I could. Take lots of pictures—it really helps for reassembly.
If the block gets a dunking in a hot tank then the babbet cam bearings will get ruined too; find out first if the machine shop is planning to do this. They may have a way to save them. It looks like your block needs cleaning for sure anyway.

In addition to ruining the cam bearings, a machine shop-style hot caustic tank cleaning will take off the paint that is inside the block. When I rebuilt my engine I did not want this to happen so I cleaned it myself.
I cleaned my block at home by first scrubbing it with solvent everywhere. Then I put it in a old fashioned wash tub with HOT HOT (did I say hot?)water and dish soap.
If you do this you have to dry the block off very fast and spray something like WD-40 on the cylinders and anywhere you don't want it to get rusty. It will begin to rust in about two minutes—not exaggerating.

A gun cleaning brush might be good for the oil passages. There is lots of sludge in there. Blow lots and lots of air through the passages. A lot of bad stuff will come flying out and splatter all over you and your shop. The bolt holes will hide lots of puky junk too. metal chips from the original machining when the engine was made can still be in them. Use eye protection if you blow these out.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but the engine should go back together clean.

Cheers,
Russ

[mike7a10]

Thanks guys!

I appreciate the info. Sounds like the cam bearings will get ruined if the block is hot tanked. I am planning on doing that as the water jacket has 34 years of crud built up throughout the engine.

So does the cam bearing need to be pressed out or can it be tapped out along the edges? I saw that the replacement bearings need to bored out after installation...that is a hassle!

I may clean the block myself as suggested.

I will consider replacing the oil pressure regulator as suggested also!

Thanks again everyone.

Mike

[lat 64]

Mike, I think some shops have solvent based parts washers now. What ever is safe for an aluminum block or head should be safe for babbet bearings. Ask around. A good machine shop that works on an oddball motor now and then should understand that the customer wants to save some cam bearings.
If this were a chevy v-8 I'd say get new ones, but if they are still good why ruin the old ones.
Gotta go now the in-laws just arrived.

Happy thanksgiving,

Russ

[Don Moyer]

Mike,

If your cam bearings are in good enough condition to reuse, have the machine shop drive them out prior to whatever cleaning operation they use, and then have them drive them back in (in the same locations) afterward. But, be sure to have the shop do it instead of trying to remove them yourself. Machine shops have cam bearing drivers that remove and reinstall bearings without damaging them.

Don

[mike7a10]

Thanks Don!

Thanks Don. As always I really appreciate your advice.

Mike
S/V Plan Sea