12 year olds rebuild

[lat 64]

Ebben,
Call your grandfather and tell him to buy a small digital camera instead, to document the teardown of the engine. This will be a great help.

Here's a shot of my setup while I took the engine apart. I used the same bench to put it back together. the block itself is not too heavy. You can lift yourself I'm sure.
It just gets heavy when you start adding all the clean shiny bits that you've worked on.

Cheers,

Russ

P.S.
I should add this is a great time to establish for Ebben and others the chronilogical order of handling the block during assembly.
I have go do dishes but i'll post a list of how it goes tomorrow,
ruz

[UsailIbail!]

We took a few pictures...

[UsailIbail!]

Does anyone know what the little spring in the middle picture is, I think my dad ruined it. Does anyone know what the condition of the cylinders is?

Thank you everybody for all your help... this is lots of fun!

Ebben

[UsailIbail!]

I pulled all of the head studs, do they usually snap off? They came off great, the ends are corroded, but we can re-tap the block threads.

Ebben

[UsailIbail!]

This is a quick picture of the gearbox, it looks pretty clean...

Ebben

[ndutton]

Does anyone know what the little spring in the middle picture is?

Looks like a helicoil to me, or the remnants of one. It's a thread restoration device.

[lat 64]

Salvage guys

Ebben,
Yea, that "spring thing" coming out of the stud hole is most likely a Helicoil.
Helicoil is a brand of thread repair device. The last person to have your engine apart had to fix some damaged threads in the stud hole. you will have to buy a new thread insert and install it or have a machine shop do this.
Your engine looks to be not too rusted—definitely worth a dollar!

I'm sure your dad meant well, but your gonna have to keep an eye on him when he tries to "help" next time.

Your engine block is cast iron, this is softer than the steel used in bolts and studs.
The threads in cast iron sometimes crumble like a graham cracker when a mechanic tightens the bolts too much. This why its important to NOT over-torque bolts and stud nuts.

Russ

[UsailIbail!]

Can anyone help me understand what exactly happens when the lower end seizes?

[hanleyclifford]

Seizing can occur as a result of overheating or corrosion, in your case corrosion. It isn't that any particular component in the engine cannot be made to move by itself; it's just that when all the pieces are rusted even a little it all adds up to the engine not being able to be turned at all, even with much force on the hand crank. As I look at the pictures of your engine in the shop I'm hoping you have some Mystery Oil or something like it soaking in those cylinders. It would be nice if the engine could be freed up "from the top" but if not you may have to take the crank out first and work on the pistons from the bottom.

[hanleyclifford]

Here is a suggestion. Feel the valve lifters and determine which valves are closed; then go ahead and remove those valves - it's a good bet you will clear enough block deck space to set the engine on it's head using wooden blocks. Be sure to have a system to ID each valve and lifter as you remove them.

[UsailIbail!]

It has been soaking in Mystery Oil all month, we're going to try to pull out the valves as soon as we can. We're going to try and take the transmission case off today.

[Dave Neptune]

WOW and impressed

Jay & Ebben, what a deal you found. I bought an E35-MkII myself with a frozen A-4. Actually your A-4 looks better than mine did and it was filled with salt water more than once.
Are you sure the crank is frozen in place? It is not likely that it is. It is probably the rings rusted to the cylinder walls.
I managed to knock my pistons free in the bores and the engine has now been running flawlessly for the last 26 years, so there is deffinately hope.

There is much guidence and advise here on this forum and it is pretty much all good. Especially the CAMERA idea.

I managed to get the valves out before I tried to get the pistons loose by driving them out from the botton with a fabricated wooden dowell epoxied to a piecs of steel and had no problem. I used a block of wood on top of the pistons and a dead blow type hammer to knock the pistons loose in the bore.

Ebben, you are a kid after my own heart as I was tinkering on engines and such at my grandfathers car lot when I was your age. It wil be a great experience for you and if you stay in boating and that experience will be something that will make the boating experience all the better. The more you understand the systems the safer you are!

Forget the engine stand, an A-4 won't mount on one

Good luck with your project boat.
Dave Neptune

[sastanley]

That motor looks great. Ebben, nice work young man....keep at it. Your wood rack looks good too.

Carry on and make us A-4 enthusiasts proud!

[UsailIbail!]

We finally got the valves out. Thanks for all the help everybody! We are going to take the oil pan off tonight or tomorrow night. We're going to order all of our new parts from Moyer. We hope the pistons are usable. I will be pulling out the crank sunday. I could use some help if anybody has some thoughts...

Ebben

[UsailIbail!]

Boat Naming Contest

I need a new name for my boat...

Attach your answer to a rebuildable BRASS zenith updraft carbeurator and send it to Naming Contest c/o E Whitehair 1173 New Boston Rd. Norwich, Vt. 05055

A picture of the boat is attached.