Hi folks, I'm going to be doing the above in the near future and I can't find much reference material on the process. Both Haynes and Bentley are a bit choccy teapot for the uninitiated (me). I have the engine (type 1 1600) out, no oil in it, partially stripped etc. I have the stock replacement tubes and seals - not the spring-loaded variety. I assume I have to slacken off the cylinder head (after removing rocker arm and the rods obvs) to give myself enough space to insert the new ones? Is that right? Do I get all the tubes set then torque the head onto them once I'm happy they're located properly? Do I have to stretch the concertina on the tubes to fit? Any advice on best methods for achieving this? Also, while I'm here, thread lock on the flywheel glad nut? Yay or nay? Coming soon: painfully obvious questions about fitting a replacement dizzy. Cheers
Yes to all of the above. Rocker shafts off. The heads have to be pulled back (or taken off). Give the concertinas a bit of a stretch. Use the pushrods to guide them on. Smear of sealant like Curil T or similar if you feel like it. Gland nut doesn’t need thread lock. If it’s torqued up properly, it’s not going to come off. Worth checking your crank end float while you’re at it.
Despite your protestations Haynes** will give you a good basic intro . Just look on it as lumps of metal , they really are very basic engines . (**Not the East Grinstead taxi driver renowned for his flowing locks...) Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
Cheers guys. Yeah, end float. I need a dial reader thingy for that don't I. I'll come back at ya if YouTube fails me. Have good weekend.
Just get stuck in, fella. Follow your nose. Pretty obvious how it all goes together. You’ll need a torque wrench to do the heads up.
You do need the heads pulled back so far they are effectively off. Might as well have a look at them, the piston crowns, the barrel wear... Lap the valves? In doing so you are almost certain to disturb the seal between the barrel and case. Then the question is "Do I feel lucky?" If not (or you're sensible) get a cheap ring compressor, pull off the barrels and reseal as you reassemble it all with the pushrod tubes. While the barrels are off you can... Replace the piston rings. See what state the camshaft and followers are in and also without splitting the case, replace the big end shells in about an hour which could be safer with those nice sealing valves, heads, cylinders and new rings. If you really get into it, your engine has probably been rebuilt before. I wonder what the compression ratio is? Push rod tube seals?
And make sure that if some idiot has used sealant on the pushrod tube seals (usually unnecessary) then you must clean off all hardened/cured sealant from where the seals sit in the head and the engine block, as little lumps of sealant hold open paths around their sides for oil to creep past. I would recommend a smear of engine oil on the seals, and give the pushrod tubes a little twist as you start the final torquing up to make sure they are fully central in their holes. Starting with new or old pushrod tubes stretched to the correct length, the seals out of the more expensive engine seals pack and a smear of oil, I have never had a leak. The only time I had a problem was when one of the rectangular air deflectors (should be there) clipped on the cylinder head studs above the pushrod tubes between the cylinders vibrated its way through the top of the pushrod tube, leaving a tiny hole.
Also, don't stretch the tubes beyond their correct length and in case nobody has said, use the white seals, the red are trash.
On that last note, leave the distributor in place as you work, you can easily damage a brass gear on the crank by turning the engine with no distributor fitted.
... And while you're at it, as @snotty and @zedders have said, you might as well solve Fermat's Last Theorem and achieve world peace...
Sounds horrendous to be honest! But achievable too. I’ll see how I get on. Was rather hoping to disturb as little as possible!
Got one of them torque multiplier thingies. Came off a treat - once I got the right size socket on it
Take it one step at a time, see how you get on. As above, really the heads need to come off, so might as well have a nose around while you're at it. It is pretty straightforward once you're stuck in. Honest. Top tip, as you'll have the rockers off and pushrods out: rotate the engine to TDC on no 1 compression stroke, so you know where you are.
Ha, indeed. I used to have a recurring nightmare as a kid about being unable to tie a knot in a short length of really thick rope - I couldn’t get the ends to interlock as it was too rigid. My only way out of the frustration was to not attempt it and ignore the ‘task’. My default is to expect disaster at every moment. It’ll be fine though
