half of them are outside, when it's time to close the whole place is full. one of my friends who works there is good on the english wheel and can make full fenders from scratch, getting parts is not difficult, it's a business so everything comes in from the US.
So...update...and I think I found a problem! today was the day to seat all those valves, it went well and i'm happy with the result, pouring brake cleaner on top of it and putting my fingers on top of the valves there's no liquid escaping...happy days! cleaned the surfaces as well with some rubber pad I borrowed that they use at the workshop for the heads, worked a treat too.. However, I found some cavities with this grey gunk inside? surely this is not supposed to be there, but theres soooo much of it! one of them is clear, so I figured out these are probably the oil ways that take the oil to the rockers? (mine is a 69 so doesn't oil through the pushrods) am I right? I'm guessing I should clean it up? but damn it's difficult to get it all out, squirting brake cleaner into the hole it makes this white liquid come out, messy as hell... haven't cleaned it much more as ran out of time, they are all blocked on both heads, except for one. and here's the grey gunk and what is blocking.. on this photo I squirted brake cleaner in there and that's it, won't go through... it's blocked!
Almost midnight here, about to hit the bed.... but if anyone reads this, so that I'm 100% sure, those blocked cavities I have there, they should be open correct? I plan on cleaning it tomorrow and unblock it, but who knows... maybe this is blocked for some reason? there's so much gun in there, right up to the face that maybe was done on porpose for some reason unknown to me? would just like to confirm so I don't mess something up. i think the engine block also had this gunk, i remember seeing this grey stuff. or maybe was always on the heads when cleaning it up.. dammit, can't remember for sure. thanks! JP
Hi, thanks for the reply. those 2 in the middle are indeed blind holes, but the other on the ends have a passage to an oil way (?) on the other side, on the head surface. It looked more like sealant than crude, very sticky stuff.... I managed to clean it out. the strange thing is, the heads have 2 holes, at each end, each hole goes to a hole just next to the bolt at both ends of the head. I cleaned it, had to get a small drill to pull all the gunk out, then loads and loads of brake cleaner and air line and it's perfectly clean now. If I get the air like on the hole at the head surface, the air gets to the other end no problem. The thing is... only 2 were blocked... could this be previous owner doing to stop oil going through there? to maybe increase oil pressure? not so much oil at the top on the rockers? just speculating.. not a clue! the ones blocked were, on the right head the hole closer to the front of the engine, on the left head the hole closer to the rear of the engine. Anyone has any idea what's that gunk/sealant is all about? But here's some photos.. this is the blocked hole that hole goes to the this one here i'm pointing at. there's 2 per head, at each end. had to get a drill bit to pull most of it out Once cleaned was time to assemble the heads.
68-69 heads oil rockers using that oil passage though the rocker shafts. be sure to clean the block passages too. not needed if you use 70 and later lifters with hollow push rods. Dan
Hi Dan, yes I learnt that from my other thread on here, thanks to all that contributed to it. so that's why I found strange these passages being completely blocked, like someone actually done it on purpose. When I started taking everything apart there only 1 pushrod that was hollow and also had a later lifter... so puzzled why someone blocked these passages. I need to get down to the workshop and make sure the block passages are also clean, which know i'm doubting myself about it. The history of my engine is unknown but from taking it apart I found some stuff that leads me to believe that at some point the timing gears broke - as I found loads of plastic bits in the oil pickup, at that time it might have bent one pushrod, and therefore why out of all of them there was only 1 hollow - maybe the person doing it didn't know what they were doing or only had that available.
I had hoped to show the tool I designed to remove cap at end of rocker shaft. But I keep forgetting to retrieve it from farm. The grey stuff you are seeing as a tendency to collect in the shafts since they are hollow. Basically it is a bulkhead or platform that connects to rocker shaft at last hold down bolt. Encircling the hole and forming a base where a modified guillotine clamp can be brought to beatagainst it and lift cap off without damage.
More progress... been down the workshop today after work to clean the block surfaces and also investigate if the holes on the block, that matched the holes on the head that were full of sealant, were blocked or not. If you look at the photo below, I thought holes number 4 and 1 were the ones that were full of sealant on the head.. but now I'm not sure and might be wrong. On the block, holes 1 and 2 are naturally blocked, there's no hole there. So not a real problem if these matched the blocked holes on the head, but why do that? why fill the head with sealant?? and if the holes blocked on the head were 4 and 1 that would be impossible as in that case the right side would have had no oil getting to the rocker shafts.... But I cleaned the whole block and also made sure oil ways were all clear and cleaned. and found these numbers on my block... assembly day is getting near!! also bought this:
If you are going to run your engine without enduring long term storage, the grease should be avoided.. It would block oil flow if anything. BTW, I didn't believe that you really went back and honed your bores until they cleaned up near the top of the ring travel area and your pictures confirm it. Have a nice day.
But shouldn't I add this assembly grease because of when its cam break in time? I did go back and honed it again, pulling the tool out more than I was doing before, it cleaned the rings a bit more than what they were previously, but some areas didn't seem to make much difference, while in others cleaned pretty well. you can see on the first photo that the bores on the left side are cleaner than the ones on the right.
Gotta keep going then. Strongly recommend 100% cleanup in that area. If you enlarge it to the point that the pistons are out of spec too loose, that's a better problem to deal with than leaving an edge for the ring to ride. Sorry if my tone seems harsh, thought you were BS'ing. Is that one a moly based lube? They do have several types in the same looking package. The white grease stuff is probably not suitable for cams. Might want to double check that.
I have no need to bullshit anyone here, you guys have helped me loads, so I won't keep anything secret as that can lead to a unwanted problem. Believe me, I have ridden the hell out of that honing tool to try clean it up completely. It's wayyyy better than what was, but I don't think it will get any better no matter how much I'll be on it. I did try my best, almost feel like it needs a scotch pad rubbing on it, but I won't do that. errmmm not sure if it's moly based. I'll investigate. I'm quite worried (and I'm not even anywhere near that) with the start up. I was reading and watching some videos the other day about cam break in, and running the first 20min and things that can go wrong... and that scares me. So I'll get a recommended assembly lube, or at least one for the cam/lifters and then use this one in not so crucial parts? I reckon it's a good one, at least it cost £20! but maybe not suitable for the cam. I'll have to look through my other thread as I remember someone putting a photo on there on what assembly lube to use.
Right, so I have had a read online regarding assembly lubes etc. Once the engine is all put together, it will probably take about 3 to 4 weeks till fire it up, so, with that in mind: Can I use the assembly lube I bought for bearings and shells? as it's a white grease? and then buy a different one for the cam lobes and tappets? from what I read online this seems to be alright, but as always, I would like to hear your advice. I have also read that if using this white grease, then the oil filter should be changed after initial startup, which I can do easily, and even change oil filter every 100 miles or 200 miles or whatever necessary. Oil and filter changes is one of those things I do regularly, as that's the blood of an engine, on my bikes I change it all every 1000 miles. sometimes less than that. thanks JP
You can use the white lithium grease for the bearings, yes. Most people don't really use it anymore because there are better things out there but theres nothing wrong with it. I avoid using the liquid break in lubes as even over night they run off the surfaces defeating the purpose. I've used moly/graphite lube (grey in color) with great success. Use whatever lube comes with the cam (if any) for the cam. As for the bearings, you can use that grease. It won't hurt anything. Just put a thin film, don't goop it on. And make sure you prime the oil pump somehow (i used a drill and a deep well socket with a washer hammered into it and a 12" extension attached to the oil pump gear shaft through the timing cover hole) before you start it for the first time. Gotta get oil to the top end on both sides so you know its all good. And of course to see how much pressure you have. Don't forget the two little plugs on either side of the front cam journal in the block. Some people tap the holes and put pipe plugs in there, I've never had a cup push out on me as I stake mine in there.
Ah yes good point! I will check inside the cam box, haven't even opened that yet. OK, i'm very clear now on what grease to use for each application - shells vs cam and lifters. Also very clear on the procedure and oil / filter changes. Spoke with a few people here in the UK who have put engines together and they use this stuff for the cam lobes and lifters, so if there's no grease in the cam box I might go for this as it's local and easy to get my hands on. thank you very much, once again for advice and feedback. I feel like I should send a crate of beer to each of you that has and keeps helping me through this journey. Also been reading a bit about the oil to use, and a local company over here can provide these oils, and I have seen them mentioned throughout the internet in different discussions, so you guys reckon I'll be fine with the advice they give on here regarding what to use?
Just assemble the bearings with oil. I wonder how engines survive a couple of overnights when the engine oil drains or sits? The graphite looks wise if others have good luck. So, what I think is happening with the honing is a couple of things. One thing noted is that there is clean up where gravity holds better contact to the bores. It also appears that the drill is torquing the hone away from one side, idk...just a guess. I'm guessing that those could be issues with that type of honing, depending on how stiff it fits based on working diameter. I bet if you countered those actions you'd clean the bores up. I'm not accepting a well worded "I tried". Sorry if I'm a bit obsessive, just trying to help you avoid imminent pitfalls. If not, I guess you might find out how long it lasts if you get to rebuild it again.
Yes I think it's probably something to do with that type of honing. the brush does fit snug in the bores, but for that top bit it almost feels like I would need something with a bit more pressure on it to fully clean. I understand where you are coming from, and believe me, I'm very meticulous on certain things and like to get them done perfectly or to the best of my abilities. I have to say though, it looks worse on the photos than what actually is. On the photos it looks like its a complete solid brown line, but in fact the line already has fine scratches from the hone. I don't understand (and I'm not being awkward here) how that dirty brown line can affect anything? as the rings don't get to it? from my limited mechanical knowledge, I'm guessing that brown line is there from when the explosion happens when the piston is at the top, so that area of the bore is exposed and gets hit by the explosion, therefore my assumption as to why the new rings won't get to even touch it. but I think we had this discussion on the other thread? please feel free to PM instead of us discussing this on here, as I would really like to learn more on it. if not for now, for the future. thanks. thanks Mr Sony. trying to visualise this bit here, I'll have to look on the block to see what you mean. Do you mean I have to plug some holes in order to build up the oil pressure but then remove said plugs once oil pressure is achieved?
