A winter's tale

A seized engine is no good to anyone ( read ' problems, problems') so I psyched myself up for some heavy work.

Last time I had removed an engine on this car was twenty years ago and I used some chain lifting gear hung from an RSJ girder in the comfort of the garage. This was different as poor old 'ANA' was now stuck out in the open and try as I might I could not purchase a 'sky-hook' 
to help with lifting the engine out of the car.

'Pist 'n broke'......sorry cheap old joke. Viva 'ANA' engine before removal

An engine crane was the only answer to the alternative of selling 'ANA'  as a failed 'project' :(     Hiring one was considered but the engine removal was now very weather dependent and the U.K weather is almost guaranteed .......guaranteed to rain followed by more rain together with rain showers in between.  Hire charges at different times was much the same as buying one outright with the added hassle of collecting and returning to the hire base.

A trip to the local 'Machine-Mart' and I was the owner of a bright red hydraulic engine crane.  Unfortunately even the best engine crane will not undo the all the engine bearers/exhaust/gearbox bolts and seemingly endless bits needing removing before actually lifting the engine......wish I could watch day-time TV like some other  (sensible) retirees .........

Engine removal..........

After engine removal we decided on our next move.  A chance search on Ebay found a 'new' reconditioned re-bored engine block
 with new (oversized) pistons and crankshaft and even a new oil pump.  This seemed like a good way to go.  An examination of the old block seemed to indicate a jammed ring in one of the pistons so we replaced all the rings with new.  We had removed the main bearings for inspection and as they seemed O.K we put everything back and found that the engine would not move easily when one of the connecting rods was tightened to the correct torque on the shells....just below torque was O.K....everything moved.  Tightened to the correct torque and it seized solid.

As we had a 'new' block we decided to abandon the old one to puzzle over for another time and rebuild the engine based on the 'new' one.

Old 1256 Viva block.......abandoned for reconditioning at a later time

Old cylinder head..........about to be married up with a reconditioned block.

A small blower heater was installed in the garage as this was becoming a very cold winter up in t'north of England. Thick jumpers padded out my overalls as I rapidly became a cross between Michelin man and 'Wesley' from the old TV series 'Last of the Summer Wine.

We had manged to smash the (plastic) oil pic-up when moving the old block. This is a difficult part to replace so we were glad we had the new block complete with oil pipe and pic-up connected to a new oil pump. Everything went together O.K apart from putting on the timing chain assembly incorrectly. We realized our mistake after looking at the pictures in the 1970s 'Haynes Manual' more closely and a sort of mechanical 'spot the difference' competition began with the pictures differing from our clumsy effort.  

That sorted, we checked everything and made sure pistons, camshaft, etc was moving freely before fitting the cylinder head.  Head torqued down with with my newly acquired torque wrench and things began to progress.

I have naturally glossed over all the little problems we amateur grease monkeys had.  Problems like shearing a bolt on the fly-wheel after fitting a new clutch plate. I actually used the torque wrench on the small bolts and was just fitting the last one as my son Andrew shouted ....
"Careful ..not too much!......did you not here the click? " 
I had indeed heard the tell-tale 'click' from the torque wrench, but of course added a soupcon more 'Newton metres' of my own and 'snap' the small bolt sheared leaving the body flush in the hole.

"oh, bums...damn, damn and double damn !!"
 were just a few of my utterances.  

Andrew just shook is head and said
"I don,t believe you have just done that"

We both looked at the sheared bolt, shook our heads again as a tap on the window announced that 'tea' was ready. So like good British workers we left things as they were to ponder what to do next. Tomorrow was another day and  as night had fallen the garage was like an ice-box.

" Let's jack it in for to-day" I announced as I did not feel like giving battle with bolt extractors after 'tea'

In my experience removing a sheared bolt is always a tricky job. Drilling the bolt and using bolt extractors 
is better when rested, so off we went to clean-up for a welcome hot meal.

Following day we drilled the centre of the bolt and a small extractor was struggling to move it. Snapping the extractor is always a potential disaster waiting to happen - they are hardened steel and are impossible to drill-out. So we were being extra careful. It is possible to 'collapse' the walls of the bolt after drilling, but this assumes you are drilling dead-centre with a bench drill. No, this not 'Wheeler Dealers' on Discovery channel with a fully equipped workshop and unlimited funds...this is just me using my trusty hand-drill.

Andrew tried turning the end of a screwdriver in the drilled hole and the bolt started to move.....phew !

We decided to fit everything onto the engine, manifold; distributor; carburettor; fuel pump, etc.  They can be a fiddle to fit when the engine in the engine bay. So we will just have to be very careful that the lifting shackles do not damage anything when lifting the engine into the car 

Looking good...........but will it run????

Will it actually run ? We will have to see............



Like many Google 'blogspot' users I am having problems with the 'comments' form appearing.....if you have a suggestion to resolve this or just comment on the blog click on 'No comments' and the form will appear like magic !!..........clever huh?  :)