Karrier Bantam Fun
- Thread starter colinthefox
- Start date
I think he lost it a long time ago, a bit like the rest of us
I'm starting to lose it a bit now. Read on.
So the small ends came back from the machine shop all nice and snug.
Pistons were built up with the new small ends. They were warmed up in the Aga bottom oven to make the gudgeon pins easier to install.
Those are still the old big end shells until I get to bolt up the big ends.
Rings gaps were all checked and found OK. (4 thou per inch of bore)
[edit]Sorry, forgot to include this picture [/edit]
Then I made a new ring compression tool out of a bit of scrap ally sheet and tapped in the pisttons.
The engine gets rotated after fitting each piston, but with the big ends just nipped up. So I was a bit disappointed to find a tight spot after putting no.1 piston in. Damn
. Looking up under the piston the con rod was off to one side. Out with the piston. No fault found. Put back in other way round. Same problem. Eventually found a badly installed multi part piston ring, so corrected that and thankfully the tigh spot disappeared and the con rod was now central. All good then......................well er no actually.
Next job was to check the liner and piston projection above the deck of the block with a dial gauge. As you can see with the gauge zeroed on the block surface, this piston stuck out by 9thou, and the others were similar, when they are supposed to be no higher than flush.
Now this is what happens when the piston sticks out by about 5 thou
It's the old no.1 piston (a replacement at some time) You can see the pitting where the surface has been contacting the head and has brought up a forged ridge around the valve ports and pre-combustion chamber. Nasty stuff!
That's why the small ends had to be renewed.So the rebuild appears to be running into the sand at this point.
Of course I could just get the pistons topped, and that's probably what will happen in the end, but I got on to the supplier again, and it appears that he pistons are all about 10 thou too tall from the gudgeon pin to the top surface (it's called the compression height). Diesel pistons used to be supplied in two types: "Untopped", which means they have to be meqsured, then machined to finished height, or "Pretopped" which means they are made to a shorter height which is safe for all installations. These were supposed to be Pretopped, as no-one supplies untopped any more.
So I now have to wait to find out if they are pretopped and incorrectly machined, or incorrectly supplied, or untopped. Either way they will all have to come out again, be stripped and machined or replaced.
I'm already a week behind with this job, and it's not looking good for getting anything done this week. Christmas is coming fast.
Oh, and while on he subject, may I wish everyone a very happy Christmas
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what a nightmare Colin. Some would have just trusted and built. Lucky you're so meticulous
get the router out
Hey, good idea Panky! But one slip and....................................
I used to do that, but then moved on to diesels, and just had to up my game.
Ok.
The pistons came back from the machine shop all topped of at the correct height. The technical data for these has them the correct height, but these were made incorrectly 15thou higher for some reason. I wonder how many have been fitted so far? Glad I'm pedantic!
Good news though, the new engine mounts turned up Tuesday, and I only ordered them on Monday. That's brilliant.
Er............. no actually. Right shape, much harder grade of rubber than I ordered.
Still it's pretty remarkable that I can still get the original pattern. Trelleborg have carried them over from the old Metalastic catalogue so they are still available.
Anyway, on with the build....................
New (topped) pistons in and exactly the right height now.
Bottom end all torqued up and oil pump fitted.
The old pump's fine so I'm re-using it.
Next job was fitting the sump.
There's lots of fiddly gasketty bits to get right. Don't want any leaks here.
Then fit the vacuum pump, injector pump, flywheel and clutch, and the engine's ready to fit.
Jeez! that flywheel's heavy.
So I chase up the hoses which I ordered a week ago. Sorry, three items out of stock in black. (even though the website said "in stock for immediate delivery".) So now I will have technicolour hoses. Pimp my ride.
Slowly the project grinds on.
Correct engine mounts turned up today. I can't fault the service. I only ordered the first lot Monday.
Technicolor hoses turned up too. That's everything I need, I think, but now we have tthe family here, so can't do owt till Monday.
The pistons came back from the machine shop all topped of at the correct height. The technical data for these has them the correct height, but these were made incorrectly 15thou higher for some reason. I wonder how many have been fitted so far? Glad I'm pedantic!
Good news though, the new engine mounts turned up Tuesday, and I only ordered them on Monday. That's brilliant.
Er............. no actually. Right shape, much harder grade of rubber than I ordered.
Still it's pretty remarkable that I can still get the original pattern. Trelleborg have carried them over from the old Metalastic catalogue so they are still available.
Anyway, on with the build....................
New (topped) pistons in and exactly the right height now.
Bottom end all torqued up and oil pump fitted.
The old pump's fine so I'm re-using it.
Next job was fitting the sump.
There's lots of fiddly gasketty bits to get right. Don't want any leaks here.
Then fit the vacuum pump, injector pump, flywheel and clutch, and the engine's ready to fit.
Jeez! that flywheel's heavy.
So I chase up the hoses which I ordered a week ago. Sorry, three items out of stock in black. (even though the website said "in stock for immediate delivery".) So now I will have technicolour hoses. Pimp my ride.
Slowly the project grinds on.
Correct engine mounts turned up today. I can't fault the service. I only ordered the first lot Monday.
Technicolor hoses turned up too. That's everything I need, I think, but now we have tthe family here, so can't do owt till Monday.
It's amazing you can still get the mounts - a miracle you can specify a different shore
There's terrible trouble with Minor engine mounts, the new ones are as hard as wood and transmit vibration and noise into the car, people have resorted to drilling holes through them in an attempt to soften them up
There's terrible trouble with Minor engine mounts, the new ones are as hard as wood and transmit vibration and noise into the car, people have resorted to drilling holes through them in an attempt to soften them up
It's amazing you can still get the mounts - a miracle you can specify a different shore
There's terrible trouble with Minor engine mounts, the new ones are as hard as wood
I thought it was a miracle too! The front mount isn't available though, but I can redrill the brackets for a standard product if I need one.
There must be a standard sandwich mount that the bracketry could be adapted to take, something like these http://www.avindustrialproducts.co.uk/?gclid=CLystbOh99ACFUE_Gwodv4EA1A perhaps. They do custom designs too. There's probably enough demand to justify that.
Well the family went off to the beach today, but sadly there was no room for me in the car, so I had to stay home and work on the truck.
No piccies, but I got the engine back in and the gearbox and loads of stuff all bolted up. It's great working with fasteners that have the threads all cleaned up and waxoiled.
Those engine mounts compressed exactly the right amount under load. There's an overload washer top and bottom and they sit half way between.
Played with trainset this evening.
there was no room for me in the car, so I had to stay home and work on the truck.No piccies, but I got the engine back in and the gearbox and loads of stuff all bolted up. It's great working with fasteners that have the threads all cleaned up and waxoiled.
Those engine mounts compressed exactly the right amount under load. There's an overload washer top and bottom and they sit half way between.
Played with trainset this evening
.Shiny new engine in place (no head yet).
Got the head back on with all the ancillaries.
and the other side
Refit the cab, put the grille back on with nice new number plates, and it's ready for the road. And not before time either.
The headlamp trims are left off till I adjust the beams.
It's a pleasure to drive now. Much less vibration and the slapping noises have disappeared. I can reverse it too without the gearbox threatening to come up through the floor. Now to put a few miles on it so I can retorque the head.
I've put seat belts in for the first time, as I've always felt vulnerable without them. The cab wasn't designed with seat belt mounts in mind, so I've had to cut and shut some holes underneath to slip in the reinforcing plates.
The plan now is to take the grille off again soon to redesign the bottom radiator hose which is less than satisfactory as it is. I failed this time, as I came up against the same obstacles as the original "designers". I'll put a new edge trim on the grille section (the existing edging is some PVC sheath stripped off some house wiring cable!) Then a few new brake pipes, some welding on the load body, and a good clean underneath.
Got the head back on with all the ancillaries.
and the other side
Refit the cab, put the grille back on with nice new number plates, and it's ready for the road. And not before time either.
The headlamp trims are left off till I adjust the beams.
It's a pleasure to drive now. Much less vibration and the slapping noises have disappeared. I can reverse it too without the gearbox threatening to come up through the floor. Now to put a few miles on it so I can retorque the head.
I've put seat belts in for the first time, as I've always felt vulnerable without them. The cab wasn't designed with seat belt mounts in mind, so I've had to cut and shut some holes underneath to slip in the reinforcing plates.
The plan now is to take the grille off again soon to redesign the bottom radiator hose which is less than satisfactory as it is. I failed this time, as I came up against the same obstacles as the original "designers". I'll put a new edge trim on the grille section (the existing edging is some PVC sheath stripped off some house wiring cable!) Then a few new brake pipes, some welding on the load body, and a good clean underneath.
blinking lovely
Thanks Panky and Jim. Yes, I had fallen a bit out of love with this beast, but might just rediscover the joys of cruising in my old truck.
The drip trays were dry as a bone today, except for one drop of oil from the breather. I have to modify the breather pipe to get the bottom hose right, so I'll reroute it and set up a catch tank for whatever comes out. For 45 years all that gunge has been sprayed on the engine and chassis.
Thanks Talbot.
I drove a fifty mile round trip to Weston Super Mare yesterday to build up some confidence. One of the hoses blew off late in the journey and I lost a load of coolant. It's never too late to foul up a decent job, but I was lucky and it doesn't seem to have done any damage to the engine. Annoying though to have sticky antifreeze sprayed over everything. Because of annoying little leaks, I normally smear inside the ends of hoses with a smidge of silicone to help seal the joints, but in this case it was a mistake because the cast iron spigot was slightly tapered the wrong way, and tightening the clip forced the hose off the spigot. From now on my rule of thumb is modified to read "Use sealant, but only on spigots with a retaining ridge." Still learning lots!
I drove a fifty mile round trip to Weston Super Mare yesterday to build up some confidence. One of the hoses blew off late in the journey and I lost a load of coolant. It's never too late to foul up a decent job, but I was lucky and it doesn't seem to have done any damage to the engine. Annoying though to have sticky antifreeze sprayed over everything. Because of annoying little leaks, I normally smear inside the ends of hoses with a smidge of silicone to help seal the joints, but in this case it was a mistake because the cast iron spigot was slightly tapered the wrong way, and tightening the clip forced the hose off the spigot. From now on my rule of thumb is modified to read "Use sealant, but only on spigots with a retaining ridge."
Still learning lots!