And finally, Wookie's 82 begins !

By Golly Wookie!! Thought the engine was already done, under a blanket somewhere. Luckily those J engine bits are fairly easy to find and not too pricey.

asphalt900 wrote:

By Golly Wookie!! Thought the engine was already done, under a blanket somewhere. Luckily those J engine bits are fairly easy to find and not too pricey.

Ha, no I changed the running order as the temp started dropping to get the paint done before the weather beat me until spring. I decided to get the intake and exhaust finished so once the motor is done (has thrown a couple of minor surprises !!) everything should be ready to "hit the button" and "head for the horizon" (hopefully)

I have pressed on today with pulling the motor down as far as I can (waiting for a couple of tools) generally it's not too bad but the ignition/timing side is a mess !!! the housing fell apart when I removed it and the seal was flipped. The whole thing was held together with more silicon than a Beverley Hills breast enhancement !!!! Also the bolt in the advancer is either wrong or there is a spacer missing, the centre bolt was locked down tight on it's shoulder but the 17mm nut behind it was flopping about loose with no pressure on it. None of this is a big deal as I already had a housing from a ZX1100 as I'm going fully digital with the ignition which should match the cams. Only other issue is the clutch pressure plate has lot's of cracks but I have found a replacement for cheap so onwards

Since my last post I have been quietly getting on with cleaning and gasket scraping in readiness for my blaster returning from vacation at the end of this week Good news is the crank is straight and generally in good condition, as is the transmission. In summary it appears nobody has ventured inside the cases so all is good in Wookie world. Outside of the cases is a different story, I have to assume that a PO only had a 1/2" drive socket set and arms like a shipbuilder :. Both 6mm threads in the top of the cylinder block were shagged and required helicoils. on the head 12 out of 24 cam-cover bolt holes needed coils as did 14 out of 16 cam cap bolt holes (the other 2 had been repaired previously. I did have a couple of issues initially with the coils, this was down to the pin on the tool in the old helicoil kit I had being too small, the coils were buckling on the way in. The pin on the tool was only 4mm, luckily I had some 5mm stainless rod and once I made a new tool the rest went in without issue.
I have to say I can understand why so many people strip the cam-cap bolts - on my engine at least the caps are 22mm thick which leaves 21mm of the stock 43mm bolt - the threads are recessed 10mm in the head (which now leaves 11mm) the stock "K" cams (which are the softest of all the "J" cams) have 8mm of lift- therefore when you initially start to pull the valve springs down you have at best 3mm of the bolt in a 45 year old thread !!!!!
my advice is "always use studs or clamps" unless you enjoy "thread repair" - In the pics the yellow dots are all the holes that required repair 
PS: the "blackening" is "smutting" from dipping the parts for too long in oven cleaner. It will however clean off when blasted (the same thing happened with my callipers when they were acid dipped before anodising)

I dropped my cases and a few other parts (trans cover etc) to the blasters Friday, will drop the head and block tomorrow. I have made "bungs" to keep the media out of the bucket bores and oil gallery's. Also cut some alloy tube to sit in place of the cam bearings and keep to grit out of the oil holes. Hoping to have the block back by Friday so it can go for boring ?



 

Hi Wookie,
I'm pretty sure you already know all this, but it might be interesting and important for other readers to know:
After sandblasting,( or other abrasive blastings), it is extremely important to flush ALL bores and oil channels with grease-dissolving agents (such as brake cleaner, warm water with dish soap), ideally even under pressure, and use small brushes!!!
I've seen too many engines "die" because there was still residual blasting media left somewhere inside... and the result was as if someone had poured a thimbleful of quartz sand into the engine.... So: thorough cleaning after blasting is essential!!   

MFP-Joe wrote:

Hi Wookie,
I'm pretty sure you already know all this, but it might be interesting and important for other readers to know:
After sandblasting,( or other abrasive blastings), it is extremely important to flush ALL bores and oil channels with grease-dissolving agents (such as brake cleaner, warm water with dish soap), ideally even under pressure, and use small brushes!!!
I've seen too many engines "die" because there was still residual blasting media left somewhere inside... and the result was as if someone had poured a thimbleful of quartz sand into the engine.... So: thorough cleaning after blasting is essential!!   

Good advice as always Joe, thank you. The bungs should minimise the contamination but I intend to remove the "plugs" in the head to thoroughly clean the passages. There is possibly drill swarf in there as I have done the mods recommended by Rob (zed1015) that is the rear corner stud passages through the block drilled out to 12mm and the four corners of the head drilled at 12mm to just past the oil gallery from the gasket face (20mm deep) this is because the stock passages reduce to around 10.5mm in the casting which is OK with stock studs which are around 8mm on the non-threaded section so 2.5mm of clearance for the oil to pass. The APE studs I am using are pretty much 10mm all the way down so restrict oil flow. By drilling through at 12mm you are back up to 2mm clearance for the oil to flow to the head.

My blaster has "played a blinder" again great work turned around in two days for more than reasonable money so block and head are off to the machine shop Thursday for boring and seat cutting (should be around a week)

I managed to get the head and block dropped off on Thursday to the machine shop (he said a week to 10 days, I'm hoping it's a week and I can pick them up before the holidays) so spent yesterday cleaning and masking then converting pack to "paint shop" ready for today. Cases are cerekoted so tomorrow I'll be converting again to "plating shop" to clean up the oil pan and crankcase bolts (and a few other bit's and bobs) Cerekote is good stuff but man does it stink like "rancid cat piss"   (starter cover will need some attention  )

Looking good! 

Looking Great Wookie!! Have you Cerakoted the cylinder and head yet? Those can be a pickle, getting the "black" into the bowels of the inner fins without over-coating the outer fins with globs of too much material. I'm Not a painter or have the equipment like you do but have done those blackened engines.  

The head and cylinder are out for machining (bore and seat cut) but I get what you mean. I think the cylinder will be ok but the head looks like it will be a challenge!!