Dodge D15T

[Pete Ashby]

With the pickup under the hoist in the garage it was an easy job to lift the engine and pallet, drive the pickup out of the way then lower away onto a pallet truck.

that's what's going on here

And here

Enough of of all this moving and shifting it was time to get the tools out and start the strip down, the manifolds have been removed previously.   To avoid distortion just crack all the fixings studs and or bolts,  different manufactures use various combinations of studs and or bolts. 

Start in the middle and work outwards left and right in turn then go back and repeat the process  until all fixings are slack and can be removed. 

Sounds easy but can be a real pain as the extremes of heat generated by the exhaust  can alter the structure of the steel in the stud or bolt and increases  corrosion all this adds up to the potential for snapped studs and rounded off bolt heads.  Your only friend here is the micro butane torch and or the plumbers freeze spray and easing fluid of choice I use WD40.   Having said all that I ended up snapping two studs and having to drill another one out of the manifold....... it happens.

First off was the head dodge do not use studs all the head fixings are long shank bolts and they all came out without breaking off in the block.    Result !! and a good start. Undoing the bolts or studs on a head you use the tightening  sequence from the manual in reverse.  Like the manifold removal just crack all the fixings first then go back around several times until they are free and likewise heat and cold and taking your time are your friends here.

To physically remove the head some large versions have lifting points so a hoist can be used, most don't,  do  not try driving a screwdriver or any other form of pry bar between the mating surfaces this will damage both the head and the block mating surfaces possibly beyond repair. 

Try putting the plugs back in and if it turns over turn the engine over using a socket on the starter dog the compression may free the head if not out with the easing fluid and take your time in extreme cases a number of soft wood wedges can be used tapped in between the mating surfaces but this is a last resort as even this can cause damage.

Here's the top face the head is face down on a clean length of scaffold plank, not on the concrete floor.  For storage and transport before any remedial work it will have a sheet of ply fixed to the matting surface to keep it flat and supported safe from damage.

The block side nothing too drastic here, no sign of a blown head gasket  or water leaks it will be cleaned up and taken to the machine shop for a light skim and to check for true.

More to follow

Pete

 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Pete Ashby
added more explanation as requested

[67burwood]

Is the engine stuck or turning?

[Pete Ashby]

With the head off the valves were now accessible and removed, it helps if all adjusters are backed right off.   before you try to remove a valve it must be fully closed onto the seat you do this by turning the crankshaft with a socket on the starter dog this in turn turns the cam so that each valve in turn fully closes and can be removed,  if you don't do this you will bend the valve stem. 

There is a special side valve engine valve spring cotter removal tool,  the originals are not always easy to find and are expensive my son picked on up recently but it was not cheap. Some of the modern reproductions can be of questionable quality.

I don't own  one, I have always managed with a good quality Sykes-Pickavant over head valve tool with careful adjustment of the bottom jaws it does the job. I place a thin piece of strip wood over the head of the valve and compress onto that it prevents damaging the head of the valve and stops the tool from slipping around.

On this engine the cotters were a bit sticky and a little shy to let go of the spring retainers as a result of standing without oil for so long.  A bit of warming from the hot air gun and a dose of WD40 overnight did the trick. None of the valves were stuck in the guides and the stems were clean as a whistle there appears to be no appreciable rock in the guides and neither the valves or the seats in the block appear burnt.

 

The next few posts on this blog will be a bit photo heavy with a bit of accompanying text as I'm going to show the strip down in stages.  I've noticed on a number of vintage forums that there are new people coming along who don't yet have the experience or confidence to work on these older engine styles. 

 So if this is useful to anyone who has not done this sort of work before so much the better,  most side valve engines of this era are very similar it's just the size and the hanging on bits that are mark specific. For those of you who are accomplished engine builders you may want to skim through the next few posts and just look at the photos or feel free to add your two penny worth if you think it would be helpful and constructive,  sometimes there is more than one way to skin a cat.  As I keep saying I'm not a professionally trained motor engineer,  my skill set lies elsewhere, but I've done a few of these engines over the years.  

Here are the valves  stuck through a reference card as you want to put the same valve back in the same guide that it came from.   Each valve will be removed individually, cleaned, inspected then the stems and guides will be measured against the spec for the engine.

Yes I know its convention to start No1 from the left,  but I'm left handed and can wright backwards OK ?

 

Next job,  remove the bottom pulley using the drawing holes and bolts with a hydraulic puller.  The hand crank dog and nut will need to be removed on most but not all types of engine.   You need to know what type you have.  A few dogs are integral with the pulley and a harmonic balancer, trying to undo the dog will result in wrecking the balancer and or the crankshaft . Either way a little warmth from the heat gun and or your freeze spray won't go amiss, an impact gun is a useful tool here.

Keep the torch away you don't want excessive heat travelling down the crankshaft and damaging the first main bearing just behind the timing chain.

Then the timing chain cover cam sprocket and timing chain can be removed .  No dramas here and on first look very little wear,  Dodge do not use an automatic timing chain tensioner so the chain and sprockets need to be up to spec or it'll rattle like an old tin can.

Front view

 

Side view showing the oil slinger still in place on the crankshaft 

more to follow

Pete

Edited September 26, 2021 by Pete Ashby
added a little more detail as requested

[Pete Ashby]

1 hour ago, 67burwood said:

Is the engine stuck or turning?

It's free fortunately,  while awaiting  it's turn in the workshop about once a year I poured a drop of oil down the pug holes turned it over on the handle a couple of time then replaced the the plugs so I knew it would be free.  I have had the engine running after a fashion about ten years ago.

Pete  

[Pete Ashby]

The cam shaft sprocket and timing chain has been removed in these two photos leaving the engine front mounting plate behind. The Canadian Chrysler Dodge long block engine has a different front engine mounting arrangement compared to US manufactured 214 short block engine, the Chrysler engine mounts directly to the front frame cross member with two bolts and coil springs.

  The mounting plate is held in place by a couple of bolts, the countersunk machine screw that can be seen at the front and two small dowel pins. 

The way I tackle counter sunk machine screws is first to apply heat using the hot air gun, then one short sharp rap with a hammer and punch the right size for the screw head.  Then an impact driver with a screwdriver bade that is the right width and length for the screw slot.  Lean into it hard and press the trigger just a squirt on tighten then quickly switch to undo if it moves stop.  Repeat the heating then give it anther squirt with the impact on tighten then another longer burst on undo and it should spin out.   If not you may need to use a spot heat micro butane torch that plumbers seem to like to set fire to houses with,  give it some beans but the key is not to mash the head or unfortunately your next tool of choice will be the drill bit and electric drill with much anguish and gnashing  of teeth.

Front view that's the end of the cam shaft with the three holes that take the drive sprocket the pipe to the right of it is important it's the main oil feed for the timing gear it needs to be removed very carefully. On rebuild it must go back exactly in the same position or the timing chain will not be properly lubricated, Dodge have a pipe some other makes have a small spout both do the same job.

At the top of the block you can see the main water channel to the left and if you look closely you may see something just inside the top of the aperture, this is the distribution tube that squirts water at the under side of valve seats and is a feature common to all Dodge engines more about that nest of vipers another time.  To the right the round hole for the water pump  along with the three fixing holes for the pump body.

Photos:

front view

 

Side view note where the oil pipe is pointing and how it is formed it can easily get bent out of shape..

more to follow

Pete

[Pete Ashby]

Time to have a look at the top surface of the block, piston crowns and a cursory look at the cylinder bores,  these will need further examination once the pistons have been removed.

Although this photo looks like the block face is badly corroded it is in fact a gasket paste  applied on assembly in this photo the valves have not yet been removed from the block. 

The piston crowns look OK although very cruddy but with no visible damage or anything nasty stuck into them. The bores show a little light surface corrosion that will hone out but no scoring or surface damage,  importantly there are no ridges at the top of the bores which if present would indicates advanced wear.  Preliminary measurement suggest the bores are at standard so good news all round.

 

the block was now lifted and a clean scaff plank cut to size placed on the pallet with a cloth over the plank to protect the block face. 

The whole unit was then turned over using the crane in a series of lifts adjusting the strops on each lift the whole block was turned upside down and put down onto the scaff plank and pallet. Working on these engines needs some form of lifting gear an engine crane would be sufficient manual handling is not a safe option,  I have the bad back to prove it after a misspent youth with A series engines in minis.  

Posh people who do this a lot have an engine stand,  they just turn a handle and round the whole thing goes.   I have to do it the hard way with the Morris crane and strops bit at a time  having said that you still have to get the lump on and off the stand and back into the truck so you do need some form of lifting tackle.

Anyway so now it looks like this

Left side

 

Right side,  with the valve chest open the cam followers and valve springs are still in place here as I haven't withdrawn the cam shaft yet but the valves are all removed.

 

more to follow

Pete

 

[Pete Ashby]

Moving to the rear of the block it was time to remove the clutch assembly so the flywheel bottom cover and dust shield was first removed 

Point of interest here is the British army rebuild  Odeneal paint ( duck egg blue to you and me) on the flywheel cover the item found on the engine with it on.

With this particular model the clutch and flywheel assemblies have to be removed before the bell housing can be removed so the clutch assembly was next to come off. 

Here is the clutch assembly on the back of the flywheel you can see the fixing bolts around the rim, the rust is only atmospheric corrosion and will clean up easily.

Just as with everything else under tension just crack all the bolts around the holding flange on the pressure plate working across the diagonal each time to avoid distortion then repeat until free. To access all the bolts the crank will need to be turned  by replacing the hand starter dog nut at the front and using a socket to turn the crank.

The assembly is not drastically heavy but there are a lot of sharp cast edges around and not much room so the hoist makes easy work of it and supports the clutch assembly while the last bolts are removed.

That's what's going on here note the friction plate is coming out as well as it was stuck to the pressure plate

Front view

 

Rear view

As an aside, the pot on the side contains the pressure plate bolts it will have the lid put on and labeled up then stored away for cleaning and checking prior to reassembly.   I keep all manner of tins, pots and snappy polythene bags for this reason those a Black Sharpie pen for writing on the contents are your best mates here.

 

I include this photo as it's a good example of how I now use a simple graphics pack to make notes on disassembly photos I still use the old fashion way of note book and pencil as well.  You think you'll remember because it's obvious......... I can guarantee you wont't after a couple of years...... and the manuals very often are not that detailed. 

 

A light tap with a block of wood and hammer from the rear and the friction plate came away easily

And here is the pressure plate,  there's some scoring on the face, odd because the flywheel face is in much better condition but close examination will be for another day.

more to follow

Pete

 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Pete Ashby
another random photo removed

[Pete Ashby]

With the clutch assemble out of the way the flywheel bolts fixing it to the end of the crankshaft flange were now visible. Those nice clever Dodge Brothers used special studs with a machined flat on the head that locks into the flywheel so you only have to undo the nuts on the other side there are no dowel pins or tapered bolts on this engine. To access the nuts the sump has to come off.

Once again crack all the bolts working diagonally first then go around again then remove.  Just as with the head if it's stuck don't go wedging a screwdriver into the flange use a block of wood a tap gently to try to brake the seal.

Sump removed and you can see the nuts holding the flywheel onto the crank rear flange again just crack each nut in turn moving diagonally around the flange turning the crank to gain access.

 

Here's the rear view you can see the machined flats on the studs, the flywheel  face for the clutch friction plate and the gearbox pilot bushing for input shaft all will need to be checked out for spec and condition. The shiny thing lurking in the front of the bell housing is the clutch release bearing I couldn't get the return spring off so waited until the bell housing was removed to do this.

 

The crane makes easy work of lifting out the flywheel,  this is a heavy piece of kit with lots of lovely sharp starter ring gear teeth just waiting to trap your fingers in the bottom of the bell housing

Last job was to cover up the block with a clean dust sheet it wouldn't go amiss to lay the sump back on if it was going to be left for any time in this condition.

That pretty much brings this project up to date,  I'll update with progress in a week or so's time.

Pete

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Pete Ashby
stray photo removed

[67burwood]

15 hours ago, Pete Ashby said:

The next few posts on this blog will be a bit photo heavy with a bit of accompanying text as I'm going to show the strip down in stages.  I've noticed on a number of vintage forums that there are new people coming along who don't yet have the experience or confidence to work on these older engine styles. 

Good to see someone taking the time to pass their knowledge on, very impressed, keep up the good work 👍

[Pete Ashby]

29 minutes ago, 67burwood said:

Good to see someone taking the time to pass their knowledge on, very impressed, keep up the good work 👍

Thank you for the comment,  but I must stress I do not regard myself as a skilled professional.  If  these various blogs help and or encourages just one person to have a go it's achieved some small thing.

The Historic vehicle media, club rooms and show beer tents are full of commentators noting the lack of young people  attracted into restoration and collecting of any shape or form.  It's noticeable at shows now that the average age is well above 40  and rising for a large proportion of owners,  there are a number of factors that contribute to this which don't need rehashing here. 

I've spent over 49 years of my life outside of my professional career and large sums of money doing what I do.   I was taught by men who are now longer alive.  I have in my collection auto engineering books that are now over 80 years old detailing methods and techniques that have not been taught for over 50 years.   I'm 64,  many of my life long friends and associates in this game who also took time and trouble to teach me are older than me some by a good  margin (you know who you are). 

If we don't start to pass on what little we know then I fear our vehicles will slowly disperse back into the scrapyards from which they originally came.  For our collective effort and for what the vehicles represent it has to be worth more than that. 

The alternative is we sit in our little huddles in the show beer tents and our dark dingy sheds complaining about our various ills and pills struggling with the decision to have that second pint or not if we don't want to be up twice in the middle of night.  Then when we can't climb into the cabs any more it'll be off to the crusher with them because nobody cares anymore in this bright new electric era.  We are under threat from the vision of a brave clean new world the fewer we become the easier target we make.

Phew!!  that's all a bit heavy for a Sunday morning sorry chaps must be the pain meds for the bad back,  I'm off to the workshop to measure some big ends.

Pete

[XS650]

I don't think there is much anyone can do really as it is the mortal coil, classic vehicle interest will continue  but it is almost always the older generation that are into classic vehicles and as the elderly  people  (and vehicles) fall off the perch more 40 plus people will come through but they will be  (mainly) interested in the vehicles of their youth or near.

Has any classic vehicle club of any time had a large amount of twenty something members.

Hence there is not a great deal of interest  now in flat tanker bikes or pre 1930 trucks and cars  but massive interest in 1970's, 80's and even 90's vehicles.

Always exceptions of course , my mate born late 1970s has massive interest in 1950s bikes.

Craig

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by XS650

[Pete Ashby]

6 hours ago, XS650 said:

Has any classic vehicle club of any time had a large amount of twenty something members.

Craig

 

Back in the very early 1970's when the MVCG was formed there were a number of us in the 18 to 30 age group who were active members and owners of vehicles. 

One of the driving forces why Military Vehicle collecting become popular was the fact that a lot of the veteran/vintage vehicles had moved out of our price range.  However the WW2 kit had been pensioned off into the scrap yards during the proceeding 10 years.  My first jeep was £200 with an MoT,  even so it still took a number of years to pay back my Father the money I borrowed to purchase it . 

There was a good cross section of ages in the club from WW2 vets in there 50's down to long haired Herbert's like me at 16. Good times with life long friendships made and petrol around 40p per/gallon but then I was only earning £4.50 a week.

Pete

[jpsmit]

I find this a fascinating conversation. Pete I genuinely appreciate your comments about the next generation. My car is insured with Hagerty and their research indicates there is considerable interest in classic cars

https://journal.classiccars.com/2020/10/11/millennials-and-zs-eager-to-enter-collector-car-community/

Another forum that I frequant is constantly talking about how useless the next generation is - rarely directly - but jokes about noses in phones / not leaving home/ playing video games/ being snowflakes etc (except of course their own kids) - Let me CLEARLY state that I have never encountered even a hint of that here on this forum! But what frustrates me is the complete apparant inability to comprehend that if you want people to stay you should treat them nicely and speak of them nicely - even if they aren't there.

I can imagine that Military vehicles might be a harder sell to the next generation than other vehicles due to size - rarity and general difficulty of daily use of things like tanks. That said even there, I find people (including and especially young people) are genuinely interested and excited by big things that move - not all of course but neither is our generation all excited (ask my wife ☺️ )  

I have watched a number of enthusiasts die over the past few years and their parts ended up in a skip because no one else knew what they were. If here is a time for a legacy, this is certainly it.

 

 

 

[David Herbert]

Regarding 'modern youth', I can't remember where, but there is a rant in the Bible about how useless young people are, so this is not a new idea. Also we should remember that we were all 'the youth of today' once.

David

[XS650]

It is just after the bible page where young people are saying how useless old people are with new technology!

BTW Pete this is  a superb  and skilful restoration .

 

Craig

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by XS650

[Dodgey 63]

Pete, could i just say thank you so much for this absolutely cracking step by step insight of your project.

It truly is incredible, and your explanations of the how`s, whys and do`s and don`ts take me back to when my Grandad and Dad were around, thank you.

I am looking forward to all the next stages, very impressive.

" boy got skills" as my Grandad used to say.

Bruce.  

[Pete Ashby]

13 hours ago, Dodgey 63 said:

Pete, could i just say thank you so much for this absolutely cracking step by step insight of your project.

It truly is incredible, and your explanations of the how`s, whys and do`s and don`ts take me back to when my Grandad and Dad were around, thank you.

I am looking forward to all the next stages, very impressive.

" boy got skills" as my Grandad used to say.

Bruce.  

Thank you Bruce I'm  pleased your'e finding it interesting. 

Where I live it's a bit of a cultural desert with regard to MV collecting so I find keeping the blogs running and updated is a useful spur to meet my self imposed targets for the various projects. It's a digital media version of your mates calling into the workshop for a brew and a chat about the latest progress I suppose.

Pete 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

So after a slight diversion with some chit chat about vintage vehicle restoration in general it's back to the engine strip down, the last photo I posted showed the flywheel being removed.

I don't like having a lot of bits lying around the workshop floor, two reasons really,   first I will invariably trip over them, second and arguably the more important, small things will get lost and machined surfaces will attract dirt and corrosion and present problems down the line.

So I started off by looking at the flywheel:

Here I'm using a fine cut triangular file of the correct size to fit the pitch of the teeth to just remove any burs on starter ring gear teeth, I'm not filing the teeth,  just any burs on the leading edges caused by the starter pinion (dog) trying to engage while the engine was still turning.

The flywheel is just lightly pinched in the vice just enough to prevent it slipping out,  to tight and there is a possible risk of distortion, note the wood packing front and back to prevent the jaws damaging the machined surface a pair of jaw protectors would be better.

This work will reduce the chance of the starter  motor pinion getting jammed in ring gear.  It also provides an opportunity to clean and check the condition of each tooth on the ring gear. Very often an engine will favor to stop in one quadrant of  flywheel due to fictional forces in the rest of the components of the engine and this can lead to increased ware on that section of ring gear here there was a little more ware in one section but not enough to worry about. I have on occasion removed and turned a ring gear where a replacement couldn't be sourced but it requires more space to explain than I want to take up here.

Next step was to clean the flywheel up I use spray-gun cleaner for this as it cuts through the baked on crud nicely but petrol or commercially available de-greaser will do the job just as well.

Once cleaned the machined clutch plate face is checked over for scoring, burning, flaking or cracking then the rear of the  fly wheel is examined for cracks around the crank flange mounting holes. All good so the clutch pressure plate threaded holes were cleaned out with an appropriate tap.

Various tools used to carry out the above work.

 

To finish off the ring gear and clutch plate face had some clean engine oil wiped over them to keep the rust at bay and wrapped up and stored away.

more to follow

Pete  

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by Pete Ashby
missing word

[Pete Ashby]

Attention now turns to the big ends.  When starting out on a rebuild I like to get an idea of the general mechanical condition of an engine before it's completely stripped down, information gained at this stage will impact on decisions made later regarding the degree of machining and the amount of replacement parts required during the rebuild. 

So here I'm looking at each big end bearing in turn at this stage I can only see half the bearing surface of both the crank and the bearing but it gives a good indication of the overall condition.

First up check to see if the the big end caps have been marked either with factory stamps or punched dots to represent which cylinder they come from (No1 is at the front of the engine). If there are no marks use a sharp center punch and make your own on the side face of the rod and cap while it is still in place and torqued up, don't overdo the punching, on smaller engines you can damage the cap and or rod but paint will not do it will come off during cleaning or machining. 

On reassembly the right cap must go back on the right rod and the numbers or punch marks must coincide to ensure the cap is the correct way round.

You can see here these are factory stamps for No5 big end.

Just crack  the each cap nut in turn then go back and forth until they are free do not fully undo one side then the other or distortion of the cap may result. Take note of any shims that may have been fitted between the cap faces and rod this is a standard feature on Chevrolet 216 cu in engines for example. 

OK so here's No5 cap just sitting on top of the vice for the photo it's not in it.  Overall there's nothing too terrible here the stripe just above the oil hole is where the crank pin oil passage runs 

 

Next some close inspection is called for, I'm looking for scoring, flaking, burning or surface cracking of the shell bearing here.  All of which will indicate various forms of ware or failure and can tell you a lot about the operational history of the engine and what ills that may await you elsewhere.

That's what's going on here, on close inspection I found  tiny steel particles embedded in the white metal shell surface this may indicate poor oil filtration and or maintenance issues in terms of oil change frequency. 

 

With the cap off one half of the crank pin can be examined for scoring, burning (which will show up as a blue discoloration) caused by oil film failure. Nothing untoward here, just a slight mark where the crank has sat for a number of years that I rubbed off with my finger nail. 

 

Now to get a feel for the ware between the shell bearing and the crank pin and I'm using Plastigauge to measure the clearance.   This is not a definitive measurement  but it gives a pretty good indication of whats been going on.  Final measurements will be taken using  micrometer, dial gauge  and vernier when all the components have been fully dissembled.  If you have not come across Pastigauge before google it,  also a very useful aid during reassembly to ensure correct clearance between bearing and crank both for big ends and main bearings (more about those another time).

 

A piece of Plastigauge (that's the thing like a piece of wire in the photo above, it's actually a sort of plastic)  is cut to lay across the width of the bearing surface and placed on the crank pin, the cap is replaced and the nuts tightened in sequence back and forth in turn finishing with a torque wrench to set the specified (see your manual) torque on the cap. 

Now the cap is removed again following the same undoing procedure the Plastigauge will have been squashed out like this (arrow)

 

Using the gauge supplied the gap between the white metal shell bearing and the crank pin can be determined  You can see here that this is 0.002". As a rough guide acceptable clearance on shell bearings is given as follows:

0.00075" to 0.0010" per inch of shaft diameter

So for a 2" diameter shaft the range would be 0.0015" to 0.0020" so for this particular engine it looks hopeful but the crank pin will be measured accurately when it's removed to confirm that no under size machining has taken place.

 

Last job was to remove the Plastigauge squish with my thumb nail (never use steel tools on machined bearing surfaces)

apply a squirt of clean engine oil to the crank pin and shell bearing, put the cap back on repeat the tightening sequence as before and mark the cap with chalk so I know which one I've done and move onto the next rod.

In the next update in a couple of weeks time I'll be able to give an update on all the big ends and the main bearing caps and journals too that will enable an assessment of what will be required in terms of work and expenditure on the bottom end of the engine.

Pete

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by Pete Ashby

[67burwood]

Never seen plastigauge before, simple but affective. 

[Pete Ashby]

13 hours ago, 67burwood said:

Never seen plastigauge before, simple but affective. 

It is very simple, not expensive and particularly useful when rebuilding to check correct clearance.

[Pete Ashby]

Time for another installment.  In the last post I was looking at the big end bearing and cap on number 5 rod and checking the crank clearance with Plastigauge I continued for the other 5 bearings which all gave the same result +- a thou and no horrors found on the crank pins either so that was a reassuring start.

The next thing  to check while everything was in  place was the main bearings and caps,  again I used the plastigauge to get an idea of the condition with regards to ware. Nothing too concerning here again all four were within a thou or so of each other.

When I was looking at big end bearing caps I mentioned they must go back in the same orientation and on same rod that they were removed from,  this is even more important with main bearing caps.

During factory assembly the main  caps are fitted to a bare block without bearing shells and then line bored. The crank now will sit dead true to that particular block in that given orientation of the caps at the time of machining.  If for any reason different main caps were to be fitted to a block then the line boring process has to be repeated to ensure correct aliment and clearance.

In short check to see and make a note of any identifying marks on the main caps and corresponding block face before you take anything apart. .

Mine didn't have any marks so out with the punch, the photo shows main bearing cap No 2 I've rubbed chalk into the punch marks so they show up clearly for the photo, two dots on the cap and 2 dots on the corresponding block face for the No2 position so you end up with caps and block faces punched 1 (always from the front of the engine) to 4 in this case as it's a 4 bearing main crank.

The story was very much the same as the big ends,  the main journals were in pretty good clean condition, the bearing shells showed the same problems as the big ends in terms of a poor lubrication schedule and or filtration 

The photo below is close up is of N0 2 main bearing cap and shell.

The red circles highlight some of the more obvious embedded steel particles in the softer bearing Babbit material.  The blue highlighted areas show  surface deterioration of the bearing face. 

The steel particles are a result of  normal ware from other engine components and should have been filtered out by the oil filter which either was not working or had become clogged as a result of infrequent oil change.  Some particle contamination is to be expected on high mileage engines but this looks like the sky at night under a magnifying glass  

The net result of this  is as the softer bearing surface wares down the hard steel embedded in it projects more and more cutting through the oil film and acting like teeth on a file on the crank journal so this is what causes the scoring often seen,  in this case it's been caught just in time.

  

Now the it was a case of removing all the big end caps once again and all the main bearing caps and getting ready to lift out the crankshaft.

Last photo for this section is the the four main caps complete with half shell bearings still in place

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

The big end bearing caps are removed,  the main bearings have been removed replaced, checked with plastigauge as described in the previous post and now they are ready to be removed and stored away.

This photo shows the big end crank journals 1 to 6 in red and the main bearings, front, two intermediates and rear

( or 1 to 4 ) in green,  the the front of the engine is shown by the white arrow

 

 

Here the main caps have been removed and the crank is ready for lifting , (the block has been turned around since the previous photo). Pistons, rods, cam shaft and lifters are still in place at this stage.

 

The crank is a heavy piece of kit so the crane and a soft strop are used to lift it clear.  The rods and pistons are still in place and the main bearing shells in the block are now visible along with the cam shaft. 

 

For now the crank was stored to one side awaiting detailed inspection and measurement.  Note it's stood vertically on the flywheel boss.  It's good practice to store cranks and cam shafts like this to prevent the weight causing possible distortion. The journals have been greased to prevent corrosion and wrapped in rag to keep grit and dust at bay.  It's secured to the heater with a ratchet strap (don't worry it's not used it's just convenient as it's attached to the wall so it can't fall over) 

Pete

 

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by Pete Ashby
photo in the wrong place

[Pete Ashby]

With the crank lifted clear the main bearing half shells could be removed from the block and stored away for reference when ordering replacements.

Next up was removal of the pistons and con rods.

Before I attempted that I checked the very top of the cylinder bores to see if there was a ware ridge present in any of them there wasn't which was good news on several fronts.

  If there had been a ridge trying to remove pistons out of the top of the block will be a problem as the rings will catch the ridge on the way out this can cause terminal damage to the piston ring belts if force is applied. 

Two options here the lesser of the evils is to take the piston out bottom if that's possible and it depends on the design of the block as to whether the rods will clear the main bearing castings. The other more drastic option is to remove the ridge carefully by grinding and or honing,  probably a job left for the machine shop if you don't have the kit to do this as the bores will need need machining over size any way  if that much ware is present.

Before removing the rods and pistons check the orientation of the rod relative to the cam shaft and write it down somewhere it's vital you know which way round they go.  Use the factory stamp number or punch marks ( mentioned when I was looking at big end bearings and caps in a previous post) look at the marks on the rod half of the big end as your reference to the location of the cam shaft more about this in a minute. 

Next check if your piston crowns are marked up with the number of the cylinder they are in. They may have either F or an arrow stamped on the edge facing towards the front of the engine and the corresponding bore number . If not ( on this engine they were not marked) do it now with a sharp scriber. Pistons must go back on the same rod in the same orientation and the same bore facing in the same direction that they came out of during rebuild,  if not it will be tears at bed time and a hole in the bank balance.

Here's No 5 piston crown marked up

I'll show the next bit in detail, there are a number of things to check and mistakes can be costly in both time and for the wallet.

First up find some polythene tubing  that is a push fit onto the big end studs/bolts, cut the tubing to length

Push onto the studs to protect the threads and this will also protect your nice shinny smooth con rod journals when installing the rods and pistons back into the refurbished block during rebuild. If your particular engine has bolts rather than studs it also serves to keep everything paired up and helps when reassembling. 

 

Check that the oil squirt hole in the rod is clear this is fed from the oil way in the big end under full engine oil pressure.  The idea on most if not all side valves is it squirts oil at the cam shaft and the lower portion of the bore.  Jeep guys have endless issues with this as the TM was printed with the wrong information and nearly 80 years later it cause all sorts of confusion just go on any jeep forum and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway here it is,  I've marked it with chalk for the photo and stuck a wire through he hole to check it's clear 

More to follow

Pete

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by Pete Ashby

[Pete Ashby]

Bit of an editorial cock up in the last post  with the photos sorry about that chaps. 

Anyway back on track now,  so this post is all about Rings and Pins.

I prefer to take piston rings off while the rod is still connected as I find it easier to hold, some prefer to take the rod off first..... it's your call.

Look at the rings and record which one goes where and what they look like,  the top ring here for example has a ledge in it that faces towards the top of the piston

This is my way of removing piston rings without damaging either the ring or the piston there are other ways and tools that can be used. This method requires the rings to be free to rotate in the grooves.

First off gently ease the edge of the top ring out of the groove I use a very small screwdriver that I have ground down with a rounded edge to start things off. If you hold the piston from the back and squeeze the rings it will help to open up the gap a little. Use the MK1 finger to ease the ring up just a fraction out of the groove do not be tempted to leaver against the ring belt at any time during this operation or more tears and money could be the result after a ring belt breaks away.

Here it is just started

 

Now I slide a short piece of 15thou brass shim that I keep for this job between the piston and the ring. I have rounded off the corners and sanded the edges smooth so that it will not mark the piston surface.

 

 

Now carefully twist the ring round in the groove in the direction of the shim while keeping a gently upwards pressure on the free end the ring that is out the groove.  Move the shim each time to keep the free end of the ring moving upwards until it sits on top of the crown

Like this

 

 

Repeat the above actions as the the free end of the ring moves around the top of the crown don't be tempted to pull or twist the free end rings are very brittle and will snap if subjected to torsional force.

Like this

 

Success !!

 

 

Here's the top compression ring in this case it's marked "TOP" you can just see it on the right hand end some are marked and some aren't you need to read your manual and if new rings are fitted on rebuild take note of the blurb included in the packaging it's not always obvious.

 

Follow the same procedure for the other rings on the piston the oil control ring is easier as its a lot more flexible but take note of any supporting springs fitted above and below or  behind the front ring  the first four rings from the bottom in the photo below all go together in a pack and make up the bottom scrapper ring.  Different manufactures can have different designs that do the same job so it pays to know what you started with to begin with.

 

Now I  free the con rod from the piston.

first take out the snap rings that control the side movement of the wrist pin (gudgen pin)    don't be tempted to pry them out with a screw drive you may damage the piston use a pair of circlip pliers they'r cheap as chips (much cheaper and easier to find than a new piston) on the usual web site.

In this photo I've already removed the wrist pin and rod 

 

Now to remove the pin different manufactures have different tolerances on the pin to piston wall clearance you need to see how the pin comes out from your the manual. Dodge for example are a hand push fit at room temperature some have to be pressed out and yet more have to be removed fitted at specified elevated temperatures. It all depends on the manufacturer, the material the piston is made off and the way it's constructed........ all this adds up to don't just get a hammer and pound away at it.

Here's the pin free of the rod bush and ready to be pushed clear of the piston

  

 

And it ends up looking like this no tears, no snot and as yet no pain in the wallet

Next job bag and mark everything up a separate set for each piston and rod and start measuring and recording against the factory spec

  I'll cover that another time

That's all for now the wood burner is glowing and perhaps there's a pint in the offing who knows?.

Pete

Edited November 16, 2021 by Pete Ashby