Impromptu Overhaul

[GregH]

Has anyone heard of a shop wanting to replace the valve lifters/tappets just as a matter of fact?
Is this one of those things that since it's a rebuild best to just replace things?

[Dave Neptune]

Unless the lifters are damaged don't touch. The lifters wear to match the cam and should only run on the "cam lobe" it was installed in. They are now a matched set in any engine!

The cam and lifters are NEVER replaced separately by any mechanic worth his/her salt!!!

Note, I am now very skeptical of your shop choice and there knowledge.

I would suggest that once you get the taper info you find another shop to check the bores for necessity of a fresh bore. These are a slow turning low compression engine which is far more forgiving to bore tolerances.

Dave Neptune

[GregH]

items are at the border, soon to be here...

Once folks have all their parts and are ready to start re-assembly, roughly how long do people find it takes them. I am not asking about getting the engine to actually run at this point as I realize there could be many more factors that could come into play for that step.

[ronstory]

With all the parts clean painted and ready to go it took me about 15 hours to put it together. That said, I plastigauge'd all the bearings and make sure stuff was on the 'right' size of spec as I assembled.

The good news is that my shop did a great job, everything was in spec and only real issue was the learning curve on using the ring compressor on that small of a piston and installing/setting staggering the rings. The 'instructions' that rings come wrapping are generic and IMO unclear. Also, assembling reversing gear tested my memory and I'm thankful for the pics on this forum.

You can see my 'puzzle' build on the forum. The last long post is few things that were 'Ah-ha' moments for me. Also, the cheap pen caps worked really well as connection rod stud bolt retainer/protectors/guides. ;^)

Good luck, take your time and resist the urge to use the hammer.

[Mo]

I rebuilt a toyota 22R engine 30 odd years back. That was a learning curve then too. I did it in a hobby shop and there was a good mechanic there. He told me 180 degrees for the gaps from the one below it. He also said, I remember this so clearly, that sometimes they move a bit anyway and he thought it was more from bore honing as opposed to vibration. That is basic mechanic stuff, sort of like take the sticky part off a band-aid if you want it to work. We all start somewhere and someone has to know what's going on. Sound like you have a good grip on it at the moment. Good Luck.

Edit: I was in med school then in the military. Was finishing up on a Friday and had a 900 mile drive to halifax over the weekend. I finished the engine on the Wednesday night and put a couple hundred easy miles on the Thursday evening. Friday afternoon loaded the Toyota 4x4 pickup with my gear and hit the hwy. Drove easy first few hours and hauled in frequently to check oil. After that I drove it harder...checked oil again. At that point it didn't drop on the stick so I dropped the hammer and got on with it. It never burned a drop of oil between oil changes for the next 5 years I owned it. I didn't know much about engines when I did that, was in med school at the time as well so had a lot on the go. It's a wonder I did it right.

[GregH]

Getting the shop to drill and tap the 3/4" NPT on the transmission case. The description on the tech tip is 5.6" from the rear face of aft housing - would that be parallel to the oil pan face or parallel to the cover plate for the transmission?

Any one have a sketch from face on that I can share with the shop?



NB: In case any on is confused from earlier today- I edited out a pic and question asked due to them being out in left field.

[jcwright]

Hello Greg.

Here is a link to a file with a photo and measurements of an A4 that may be helpful:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wBURh1Iv7sl-OuiJDp1Y2-sVyKbSMINf/view?usp=sharing

I've marked the known distance from the centers of the mounting holes and extrapolated what the "5.6" appears to refer to. Others who have made this modification hopefully will correct me if I'm wrong.

Best regards,

jack.

[GregH]

Alrighty, getting my block back from the shop in 2 weeks!

I was informed today (sorry no pic yet) that when they were decking (is that the right term?) the block, they discovered a small crack on either side of a water jacket flow hole. They did the stitching of it and say it will be fine. I only came across this stitching thing about a month ago on here. This stitching will prevent any water seeping through the crack?

Though we don't use sealant with the head gasket, should I spread some along the length of the crack anyways?

[Surcouf]

Alrighty, getting my block back from the shop in 2 weeks!

I was informed today (sorry no pic yet) that when they were decking (is that the right term?) the block, they discovered a small crack on either side of a water jacket flow hole. They did the stitching of it and say it will be fine. I only came across this stitching thing about a month ago on here. This stitching will prevent any water seeping through the crack?

Though we don't use sealant with the head gasket, should I spread some along the length of the crack anyways?

if it is the stitching that was discussed a couples times on other threads in the past 2 years, there is in fact no more crack: they basically drill the whole crack out and fill the holes with these "special screws". Supposed to be leak-proof...

See previous thread with discussion on technique on Launchpad McQ engine

https://www.moyermarineforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10561&highlight=stitching&page=4

amazing video here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq0wfU4ZaKk

[ronstory]

Those cracks at the water passages are common on flat head engines. When I discovered those on my engine, the machine shop didn't miss a beat with lively commentary, "Those cracks are superficial, don't worry about it since you are gonna use sealant on the studs, unless you are dumb... and you don't *look* dumb."

... but the best quote was "If this was a Ford flathead, those types of cracks have a factory part number".

[GregH]

Those cracks at the water passages are common on flat head engines. When I discovered those on my engine, the machine shop didn't miss a beat with lively commentary, "Those cracks are superficial, don't worry about it since you are gonna use sealant on the studs, unless you are dumb... and you don't *look* dumb."

... but the best quote was "If this was a Ford flathead, those types of cracks have a factory part number".

HA!

Those are great soundbites!

[GregH]

if it is the stitching that was discussed a couples times on other threads in the past 2 years, there is in fact no more crack: they basically drill the whole crack out and fill the holes with these "special screws". Supposed to be leak-proof...

See previous thread with discussion on technique on Launchpad McQ engine

https://www.moyermarineforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10561&highlight=stitching&page=4

amazing video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq0wfU4ZaKk

Yep, those are the discussions I was referring to. Always learnin!

[GregH]

Installing the new pistons today and keeping things as aligned possible. When the manual says that once all 4 pistons are installed, though difficult, one should be able to hand crank them.

Just how difficult is difficult? And is the manual also meaning cranking with the tool on the flywheel?

[ronstory]

Greg--

You should be able to grab the crank and rotate the assembly by hand. There will be resistance getting it moving but one it's moving it should feel smooth.

Just grab one the connecting rod journals and give it spin.

[GregH]

The rebuild has been going on bit here bit there.. you know - life. That ol thing.

Put the head and the thermostat cover back on last evening. Went to start the initial snugging down of the nuts and discovered that my socket won't fit over the nuts on the thermostat cover due to not enough space between nut and cover!

Are there thinner walled sockets? or how am I able to properly torque these two nuts down?