Found Object

[Errol62]

Last time I did that was half way between Pt Augusta and Iron Knob.


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[old-blu]

  Hi Rob. I have original large  fibre timing gears. Also a new steel set if you are thinking of using those. Kevin.

[ardiesse]

Kevin,

Thanks for the offer.  The FE-FC club has alloy gears, and I probably have an old fibre gear I can use.  Maybe.  It would be good to have the project mobile until I strip it down.

Curiously, I have a newly rebuilt motor sitting on a stand at home.  Swap, or repair the present motor?  Either way, it'll be an engine-out job.

Clay,

There must be something about the Eyre Peninsula.  My last broken timing gear was at Port Lincoln.

Rob

[my8thholden]

Hi Rob ..Sorry to hear of your timing gear going ..I would like to know when you pull it down what you believe the cause was ,also what size main jet did you fit in carby ,I put a .051 in mine ,and have been running it on test rig off and on for months now ,and have come to the conclusion it using a lot of fuel.plenty black soot in exhaust pipe ..Vern

[my8thholden]

Got the Ba15d LED lights in amber ,work really well in rear tail light assembly ,in lower clear lense , off the car ,should be good on final assembly ..Vern .

[ardiesse]

Who's feeling a little embarrassed?

I had confidently diagnosed a broken timing gear, and since today seemed like a good day for an engine-out, I pulled the motor and gearbox out and set it up on the test stand.  Removed the harmonic balancer (more on that later), popped the timing cover off, and . . . all gear teeth present in their correct locations.

OK. So what's going on?  I turned the motor over (b.f.screwdriver in the uni-joint holes in spare driveshaft yoke, top gear) and it tended to bind in some places, and made some occasional clunking sounds in valve-train-land.  Water in cylinder bores?

Removed spark plugs and turned the motor over.  Still tended to bind; but no water came out the plug holes.  What's happening under the rocker cover?  Six bent pushrods, that's what.  Strangely, all six for the inlet valves.  OK, then . . .

I removed the rocker gear and straightened six pushrods, replaced the rocker gear and turned the motor over.  It tended to bind, and made a clunking sound in valve-train-land.  That's not good.  So I pulled the rocker gear off again and discovered that I'd bent one of my laboriously straightened pushrods, which I then straightened.  Again.

"Stupid is when you do the same thing over again expecting a different result."
Thinks: bent pushrods are usually caused by stuck valves.  I got a brass drift and a hammer, and went down the order tapping on the valve stems.  All exhaust valves free.  All inlet valves stuck, except number 1.

The cylinder head's off now, sitting on its side on the bench with kero in the inlet ports.  The inlet valves have gummed up shut.  I kid you not.  This is what happens when you start a car with >10-year-old fuel from the tank: most of the petrol has evaporated, leaving a soup of sludge and crap in the tank, which travels through the fuel system and ends up in the inlet tract.  The engine gets nice and warm, and the lighter fractions in the sludge evaporate, leaving a pretty effective adhesive to glue the inlet valves shut.  And the reason why number 1 inlet valve is still free is that it's uphill, and doesn't get bathed in sludge like the others.

Another patient admitted to the grey motor hospital . . .

Oh - the harmonic balancer.  It's one of the aftermarket ones.  I wondered why it came off with hardly any resistance.  Most of the hub stayed on the crankshaft.  It looks like it'd been speedy-sleeved (don't know whether all the aftermarket ones are), and it fractured.  A few blows with b.f.h. and chisel right above the keyway (being careful not to slip with the b.f.h. and moosh the camshaft gear teeth) and I could lever the remains of the hub off with a couple of screwdrivers.  This motor is going to get a reconditioned original-style balancer.

Maybe, on reflection, it was a good idea to do an engine-out.

Rob

[Errol62]

Gee, no rest for the wicked Rob.


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[my8thholden]

By the way Rob ,was that fuel E10 ?..I cleaned a generator carby that was glug from old E10 fuel with Citrus Paint Stripper ,it came up a treat ..

[ardiesse]

Vern,

The last fuel I put in the tank was regular unleaded. I don't think E10 is to blame.
Until I pull the car apart, I'll be running the engine from a mower fuel tank direct into the fuel pump.

Rob

[59wagon]

Hi Rob, fun, fun, fun hey?

....... I pulled the motor and gearbox out and set it up on the test stand.

Do you have any pic's or ideas for a grey motor test stand?  I've been thinking of building one and have a few ideas, but any advice would be helpful.

Cheers, John

[ardiesse]

John,

Take a look at the thread "The Black Art of Cooling Grey Motors".  I took a couple of photos of an engine in the test stand.  I made it from galvanised steel angle from Bunnings and three axle stands.  The only thing that's a little tricky is setting up the brackets for the transmission mounts - the motor and gearbox slope down at the rear, which means that the brackets aren't horizontal; and the stands don't face fore-and-aft, but are slightly rotated.

Rob

[59wagon]

Thanks Rob

[ardiesse]

. . . and I found that kerosene hardly budges the gummy residue.  WD-40 is better, but still very slow.  The best, I found, was acrylic lacquer thinners.
I've cleaned the inlet valves, the guides and the inlet ports.
Is there a head-gasket-removing solvent available?  It takes quite some effort with a chisel to remove the remains of the head gasket.

Rob

[my8thholden]

Strip it disc in an angle grinder ..go carefully and keep it nearly flat ...removed remains of gasket today on an International engine ,works well ..Vern

[ardiesse]

Good idea.  Didn't think of that.  It would probably be a good move to put a rag over the camshaft side of the cylinder block so I don't get gasket dust in the sump.

[my8thholden]

Yes Rob ,the dust is not wanted ,definitely protect against it ,at oil and water access areas..I was thinking about your sticky inlet valves ,its usually oil coming down the valve stem that builds up with heat and carbon ,and contributed to by worn guides and valve stem seal failure ..its odd that residue from burning old petrol finds its way "UP" the valve stem and guide and bends 5 or so push rods at the one time ,while the plugs keep firing  ..or even made its way thru the carby ,old fuel standing in a vehicle that builds up sludge would be right through the fuel system..I would be looking for " murphy " also ,that unexpected finding ..cheers Vern ..

[ardiesse]

Vern,

The car had been parked facing downhill in the drive before I picked it up, and I think the fuel level in the tank was higher than the float bowl.  It's just possible that, if the needle and seat didn't seal perfectly, fuel might seep down into the inlet manifold and evaporate, leaving the gummy residue.  The fuel bowl in the carburettor was liberally coated in varnish inside.  And the amount of crap that came out of the tank when I drained it had to be seen to be believed.  To be on the safe side, I might have to pour some lacquer thinners into the cylinder bores, no. 6 particularly, just in case the rings are in a mood to stick in the grooves.

Rob

[my8thholden]

Hi Rob ..Sounds like a lot of unusual sludge ,shame ,bugger,In theory a car with a full tank of fuel parked on a hill should remain that way ..freeing up piston rings ,HMMMM ! if it were I ,and the amount of sludge you know is there ,and your fearfull its also in the rings ,I would sump off ,and take pistons out ..100% piece of mind ..guess work removed ..all the best Vern .

[ardiesse]

I replaced the busted aftermarket harmonic balancer with a fair-to-good original, and made a discovery - the cylinder block's cracked.  I wondered why there was a rusty stain on the crankcase behind the generator.  Now I know.  I'll reassemble the motor so it goes, and then pressure-test the cooling system to confirm.

There are times when having spare motors is of advantage.  This is one of them.

Rob

[Errol62]

I got rid of an L series recently. Darn, you could have had it.


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