Its not that I haven't done anything, its just that, well, I haven't actually finished anything!
Having got the diff. and the gearbox done, thoughts naturally turned to the engine.
As you can see, its in a bit of a crappy state, however, I was assured when I bought the car, that the engine had been rebuilt (come on, he was a nice guy and I believed him OK?). It might look a bit crappy, but closer inspection suggests that the carbs might have been rebuilt.
No, really look its got new gaskets and the linkages look like they were repainted
Anyway, I knew it was at least going to need stripping to the point I could confirm whether or not it had been rebuilt. And I had to paint it so, off we go. Ancillaries (well most) stripped:
Now, was good excuse to buy two pieces of kit I have always fancied. An engine stand and an engine crane. Sad, yes, maybe but you try working on a bloody great Cross flow lump without them! Flywheel came off pretty easily and surprisingly cleaned up really well with a grinder mounted twisted wire brush. These things are the dogs. They really shift rust!
So, armed with two new toys, I managed to get the engine onto the stand (don't ask, believe me, there IS and easy way, it just took me about half an hour to find it).
So I put the brush to work cleaning the outside of the engine block before dismantling it.
Comes up well.
This picture also shows that the engine has new core plugs; another reason to believe that it was rebuilt.
Here is another later picture showing how well the casting comes up with the wire brush
So, great, the block cleans up well. But rewind a moment. Taking the head off I got a bit of a surprise. The bores were nicely honed and unused, but, the waterways were filled with flaking rust and as soon as I pulled the head off, all the rust in the head fell out into the bores. Bugger.
So I was satisfied that the engine had been rebuilt, but I was going to have to strip it anyway!
Anyway, I pulled out the pistons and cleaned everything up. I gave the waterways a good poke out. Then I painted the block with one coat of POR-15 and two coats of black engine enamel and put new core plugs in.
So there we are:
I painted up the front and rear oil seal carriers and replaced the oil seals, just in case. Then I put the bottom end all back together with new water pump. I even got the ancillaries powder coated and replaced them, along with a new(ish) fan. But, and here is the really embarrassing bit, when I stood back and looked at it..............
I didn't like the colour.
Yes, well, its not that it doesn't go with the curtains or anything, its just that, well, I really didn't want to open my bonnet and have everything under there black.
So there I am. Bottom end cleaned and painted, ready to clean up and paint the head and I am bloody well going to take all the paint off and do it again in Light Admiralty Grey. Anyway, I was beginning to worry that I hadn't stripped it right down, checked the oil ways and everything and verified what cam was used (yes, that looked brand new too).
So Christmas holidays, I have a pot of Light Admiralty Grey sitting in my kitchen, staying warm. I have a new compressor in the garage waiting to be tried out and I am just waiting for the POR-15 grey to turn up so I can get on with it.
Just to finish on a positive note, here are the nicely powder coated ancillaries
Happy Christmas
