Not really a hateful 8 ...
It was more like one apathetic and one stubborn and 6 who just needed to be told what to do.
The OCPOTI* gave me LOTS of good advice about why the motor was stuck. Some of it I was even able to follow. pistons are rusted to the cylinder walls, why not check the rod bearings, and that timing chain looks rusty.
Mid-week, Other_Doug dropped by to look at the machine. I told him I was having trouble removing the crank bolt - and so he asked if he could borrow my breaker bar, put it on the bolt and threw his shoulder at it like he was doing the shot put. It turned right out.
That seemed to ignite a flurry of activity - and so while the engine still world not turn, we removed a bunch of rod caps. Other_Doug asked me if I had a stick. I gave him the "Pistonator" and my favorite rubber mallet. He promptly put the Pistonator aside and tapped on the unbolted connecting rods with the handle of the rubber mallet - tink tink tink tink tink - and the piston dropped down out what is the top of the engine (it was upside down).
We did 2 more in quick succession. Then we took a big screwdriver and rolled the engine using the stand arms as leverage and putting the blade into the ring gear / flywheel. It still would not move at the crank bolt, but it was actually not that hard with the screwdriver technique on the flywheel. Really all we were trying to do was to get the crank shaft out of the way enough that it wasn't pinching the rod against the block.
When we got to number 7, the process got a bit harder. That one was harder to whack - as it was coming free a 2 inch piece of ring flew onto the floor. I am not sure if I broke it when I moved the engine the first time or when I was beating it out this time, but the cylinder wall looks and feels fine so I am pretty sure it did not happen while it was running (37 years ago).
The last piston was number 4 was a real bugger. We gave up on the tink tink tink, and got a section of 2x4 and a proper hammer. The 2x4 gave a better contact with the rod. I would say it was 'hard', but the OCPOTI* talked about pistons coming out in pieces and needing to use 5lb or 10lb sledges - so I think I got off pretty fortunate.
I know they have plenty of carbon on them, but the skirts are pretty clean and the rods / pins / etc move easily. I think a good cleaning and new rings and we are ready to go back in. I do need to hone and measure the cylinders first.
One funny thing happened in the process. After everything was out and I was organizing my prizes I discovered I was missing 2 of the rod bolts. I looked everywhere. I cleaned up even. Other_Doug said "look inside the piston". Of course that was where one of them was hiding. After I had moved and removed that piston 6 times - there it was clinging to the inside.
For the other one I was pretty sure it was in the engine. It was certainly not on the floor, not in my trash can, and I really didn't want to think about looking in my oil pan (gag) = so I kept staring inside the engine with a flashlight.
- I slowly turned the crank and then I cradle rocked the engine on the stand. TINK
- More staring - a little more turning - a more violent cradle rocking. TINK
- Everything was smooth and easy - nothing was binding.
- More staring - incremental turning - cradle rocking ... no sound. Did I imagine it?
I rotated the engine so one cylinder bank was facing down and I spun the flywheel like I was on The Price is Right. About half way through my 4th spin -- PATOOEY ... TINK that rod bolt came flying onto the floor.
I never did see it in there. I probably should have waited 2 more days so I could really get a good resurection metaphor going - like when Jonah was rebuilding Ammitai's chariot motor. I was happy to have closure on this chapter.
Next comes pulling the damper / balancer - then I can yank the crank and the cam. Yee haw.
*Old Car People of the Internet - pronounced Oc-Potty ... like you have made a counsel chamber out of eight toilets in a ring
Great progress! Seems you have a very sound engine with little wear and actual 50k miles on it. Like an explorer of old, you are probably the first one to look into this engine you have.
ReplyDeleteIt really does look like a relatively 'easy' 50K miles on it. The crank is clean (probably needs a little 0000 steel wool) and the cam is a nice shape (not pointy or groovey or scarred). I would hazard to say that I *could* put the rod bearings right back in - if I had any idea which ones went where. I won't, but I could.
DeleteNeed to borrow a puller from OReilly to get the damper/balancer out of the way.
One thought after reading through this is that you're going to need to put additives in your gasoline, unless you aim to replace your valve seats?! That thing was made to run on leaded gasoline, which acted as a lubricant to the seats...
ReplyDeleteThe OCPOTI are really diverse on this subject. The ones with actual experience come in 3 camps: a) just use pump gas b) replace seats with stainless c) consistently apply ZINC additive when you fill with gas. In terms of lubrication & wear, camp (b) doesn't make any intuitive sense to me. Knowing myself, I am sure I will pick a spot in camp (a).
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DeleteIf you don't replace them during the rebuild, or use additive, you'll definitely have to replace them and/or your valves at some point down the road, depending on how long you keep & drive it.
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