Just ordered an endoscope off ebay thanks, pretty cheap item. Removed all plugs and rockers and push rods, nothing untoward, hardly any wear, rocker arms and spring spacers all intact and tight and push rods dead straight and valve heads are there and springs and cups, no obvious broken springs . I agree the engine will be coming out, but I thought it would be fun to poke the mini endoscope down the plug holes. That ticking sound the engine had for a while could well have been a broken piston ring, All plugs are clean and not oiled and the engine has never smoked. Clearly something catastrophic has happened to lock up the engine and the broken piston idea may well be the outcome., My neighbour suggested piston failure and he thought little end/ gudgeon pin fail or movement. I haven't removed the oil strainer, so maybe I will see some metal in there. I will do that this afternoon. Re taking the engine out, as I'm on my own and a bit bored today, are there items like tin ware I could be taking off and maybe the stock exhaust. Sort of clear the decks a bit pre preparation.
Disconnect the battery and take off the wiring loom. There’s not much of it. Peel the foam back and take off the large rear tinware piece.
Take off the lower tin, it's impossible with the engine on the floor. Taking all the exhaust off will make it lighter and you'll have to do so to get the heads off. Disconnect wiring. Disconnect fuel. Disconnect acc cable, that one's annoying if you forget! Getting all that done is half the job in the bag.
Just a reminder, it's all too easy to forget the wires to the starter as you don't see them from the engine bay. I know I did, last time
I must have been doing something wrong on my Bug then... It was 3 summers ago, so perhaps my memory has finally gone
Can’t think why you would need to take the starter off, as it’s attached to the bellhousing. You probably are going barmy, like the rest of us
Thank you all for your helpful responses. Spoke to my neighbour and he will help with removing the engine. I have done some of the removal stuff this afternoon. Looking forward to tomorrow. Decided the engine will be moved into the garage with the mgb and the van will stay on the driveway. Its a sensible plan as although the van will keep the b in the garage, I won't be using it until later in the summer. Some drink and a nice lady would be nice.
A black and decker workmate is the perfect compact workbench if you have one kicking around ?? Alternatively there`ll be one for sale close by on ebay / facebook - probably ...
Ah, that's it, my engine came out to fix the gearbox, I bet that was when the wire that got forgotten caused problems, when I took the box out.
A workmate will hold an engine just fine. You may want to degrease it and strip off what you can (tinware) while it's on the floor. Get someone to help you lift it though, they are quite heavy Oh, and a few chunks of strategically placed wood will help make it more stable
