1 October 2006
Another month, they are rolling in aren't they?
Been doing some digging around on head tin gaskets. Apparently getting compression near to 10.5:1 may induce detonation (with this design of head), adding this to the mix of possible sealing problems, lowering valve to piston clearances, I think I am going to go the easier less problematical and less risk route of composite gaskets. Could always keep the tin gasket route up my sleeve for tuning, along with roller rockets, supercharging etc. Well I have to leave something in reserve for when I get bored don;t I?
I ordered a load of bits over the last few days; ARP studs for head, DJE special light and balanced flywheel, rocker assemblies, baffled and trap door sump, miscellaneous bolts and cam lube, etc. Should have all my bits by this Friday. I think I have spent all my Birthday money plus some.
8 October 2006
Session 109 - Rocker assemblies
Well progress is slow, waiting for mail order items to arrive, gathering more part s... Anyway all my bits I ordered last week have arrived now. Thought I'd assemble my rocker assemblies and cylinder heads studs for a trial fit.
The heads are not bolted down yet as I need to calculate the valve to piston clearances once I have changed the camshaft over and re-timed. Here's a photo of my engine with the heads completed and located in their rightful places!
Another from front aspect
My son and I went to a motor museum this weekend and I spotted a land rover engine, to me it looks like a late GEMs type, in fact pretty certain with the inlet manifold design and the flywheel position sensor. I thought I would take a photo as aspiration as what me engine will look like when complete, well mine will not have the cut-outs of course!
Not too far away am I?
As I probably mentioned elsewhere I am intending on use ARP studs/bolts wherever I need to purchase bolts. Here's a photo of the cylinder head studs and flywheel bolts, if you need the product codes you can lift them off the packets.
Also when using ARP studs/bolts ensure that you get hold of the ARP recommended thread sealer and assembly lubricant. The assembly lubricant is moly based and can be used as a general engine assembly lube. This is what you are looking for below. I have two tubes of each, from left to right, assembly lube and reverse side and likewise for the thread sealer:
Also received my flywheel from DJE, this is 8.4Kg or 18.5lbs which I have checked. This flywheel is not the lightest you can get but good quality item made from billet steel rather than standard cast. It is not a good idea to use lightened cast as it has been machined down and due to the properties of cast weakens the flywheel and raises the chances of it braking. What happens when cast breaks? Due to its lack of elasticity it shatters and basically it explodes and will rip it ways through the bell housing and everything else, kind of like shrapnel, ouch! Always go for steel or aluminum, it is safer as well as lighter.
You will notice from the photo that my flywheel not only has the six bolts holes but also another offset hole, this is to locate the flywheel in an exact position with a dowel that is inserted in the end of my crank. All gems engine management range rovers/rover/landrover engines use a position sensor on the flywheel to detect detonation and make tweaks to the timing. I will not be using this sensor as I will be using a different engine management system which I can change the 3D ignition map myself. Most of the aftermarket systems reads the crank position by way of a timing wheel attached to the crank at the pulley end, i.e. front of the engine. It is more accurate this way also.
Photo of DJE lightened steel flywheel, clutch side:
The surface of the flywheel isn't dirty that is a protective film to stop corrosion.
I almost forgot I have also taken delivery of my baffled and trap door sump from Ebay. Now this was an absolute bargain at just £144. I worked out who produced this sump as it is a unique and very well designed, JE Developments and they charge in excess of £405 plus Vat. This sump has only be fitted prior to an engine being installed and it was found that it did not clear a cross member. This sump is provides extra ground clearance overall but the rear section is a little lower than the original rover item, I guess so that the capacity is the same. The rover item is much lower at the back, i.e. the traditional sump shape. For the uninitiated this sump design reduces oil surge under heavy braking, acceleration and cornering, not usually a problem with a road car but with the capability of the car I am building and the odd track day a real possibility. The ideal is a dry sump system and if I the car was going to be a pure track car then a necessity but this sump is probably the next best thing at a fraction of the cost.
Photo of sump, actually not mine, but taken from another site, but it is identical.
You can see the central compartment this is where the oil pick up goes and the idea is to keep the oil in this central part as best as is possible but you need to keep the pan to a certain capacity to hold enough oil. The trap door and baffles is an attempt to keep the oil supply to the oil pickup as consistent as possible, i.e. do not want the oil pickup to start taking up air, this would starve the engine of oil.
Further photos showing the trap doors on the sides, this is so when concerning it only allows oil to return to the central area and not stick to the sides of the sump. Simple concept but well designed and thought out.
On this photo as well as the first one you can see sort of channels running down at a run off angle, this is so oil returning back to the sump past the crank is directed down to the oil pickup even under hard cornering, otherwise the oil could stick on the baffle. The small oil is for the oil dip stick.
All in all a very nice design and I would have been as pleased as I am now if I had paid a lot more for it. You can occasionally pick up bargains on Ebay, keep checking.
The original Rover sump looks like this (Courtesy of Rimmer Brothers, again)
12 October 2006
Inlet Manifold
Received my inlet manifold back today from acid dipping. It has come up a treat. I do think I mentioned this purchase from Ebay. This was a bargain at £10 plus P & P. It was a little dirty and now it has come back nice and clean and gleaming. Can also see that the ports have been opened a little bit and flowed/smoothed inside the ports. I have taken a template of my inlet ports on my Stage III heads and compared to the inlet ports on the manifold side and luck would have it that they match pretty well. It would have been a shame to have the ports in the inlet manifold restrict the flow to the heads! If however the inlet ports were oversized on the inlet manifold this would be worse than being undersized as this would cause turbulence in the ports, due to the direction of the gas. The reverse is true on the exhaust side, i.e. it is better to oversized ports on the header side, the other way causes the wrong type of turbulence.
Here's a a photo of the said inlet manifold
Again, courtesy of Rimmers, the technical drawing:
13 October 2006
Not really worthy of an entry but this has some useful advice for others so I thought I make the effort. Okay when changing a camshaft you have to re-time the engine, i.e. the relationship of the camshaft angle to the crankshaft angle. So first job is attaching a timing wheel in such a way that proves accurate an a short engine which has no crank pulley attached, etc. This is not is easy as you would think.
This is what you need, 1) crankshaft pulley bolt, 2) crankshaft pulley washer (a very thick washer), 3) I used a copper bush with an ID of 16mm and 12mm deep, 4) a standard flat washer again 16mm ID, 5) a 3/8*1" UNF bolt, 6) a 3/8" washer, 7) A timing disc, 8) 16mm drill bit, 9) a 15/16" socket, 10) a breaker bar, 10) some coat hanger wire, 11) wire cutters, 12) bull nose pliers.
I think that covers it. Drill a 16mm hole in the timing disc making sure it is absolutely central, I used a pillar drill to achieve this. Taking the crank pulley washer first place the timing disc on top with writing facing up then place the standard 16mm washer then the 16mm bush and insert the crank bolt through and assemble onto the end of the crank. Now use the wire cutters cut the coat hanger and using the bull nose pliers bend around the 3/8" bolt as tight as you can. Now insert bolt into one of the timing cover bolt holes, with the washer between the wire and the front of the engine. Bend the wire so that it forms a pointer onto the timing disc and have the wire just skimming the surface so to facilitate accurate reading. You can now ascertain TDC and then adjust the pointer or the disc so that it points to TDC on the disc.
This took me about 15minutes to do. Here's a picture as always! Note TDC on the disc does not have to point upward. I am confident that this provides enough accuracy down to the smallest graduation on the disc which is 1 degree, so good enough.
15 October 2006
Session 111 - Ascertaining true top dead centre
I am going to warn you now, you need some patience for this! Top Dead Centre or T.D.C as it is known is where the piston is at its topmost position within the cylinder bore. This is the reference point for all timing on an engine so it is absolutely critical. On an assembled engine this is normally indicated on the damper or crankshaft pulley wheel with a white mark and a point which is attached to the block. No such luxury when assembling an engine, well not quite true, the timing wheels on the crank and the camshaft have marks which if you line up, camshaft at 6 o'clock and crankshaft at 12 o'clock then this indicates T.D.C of the power stroke. However owing to the distance apart and thickness of the marks you could be several degrees out! Note the crank makes two revolutions for each camshaft revolution, basic principle of 4 stroke engines. Anyway, with the cylinder head off you need to setup a Dial Gauge Indicator or better known as a DTI so that it measures from the middle of the piston crown. If the block is steel you can attach with a magnetic base, problem is my engine is aluminum! As I have inserted ARP studs then I used the shaft of one of this to attach an arm which the DTI can then be attached to the end of. Doesn't matter how you do it as long as the gauge does not move and you can repeat tests and get the same measurement!
Below is a photograph of my setup, takes a little time to think about the best approach with the equipment/tools you have at you disposal but once you have figured it out you can do time and time again.
My DTI measures in 10,000 of an inch, ideally you need one that measures in 1,000 of an inch. Okay this is an easy principle but is a little awkward to do, well it was with my super DTI gauge, because I was forced to use a measurement of 0.005". So you put the piston at TDC as nearest as you can, you then zero the gauge. T.D.C lasts for a few degrees, known as dwell, this is the length of time the piston stays at T.D.C, we are trying to working out true T.D.C which is at the centre of the dwell. I turned the crank over again to ensure that the maximum point the gauge reached was zero just to double check. Right now slowly turn the crank in a clockwise direction (or the usual engine direction, usually clockwise), always in one way, never turn backwards this can lead to inaccuracies as the timing chain slack is taken up. Pick a measurement in which to stop turning, I had to use 5 thou but advisable to use something like 20 thou. When you reach the indicated measurement stop, if you overshoot, do not turn back, go round again! Make sure you are measuring the same stroke, which at this point should be the induction stroke, if the piston is moving down from T. D.C. Note the degrees of the timing wheel, which would have been set to T.D.C before you started this! This will indicate several degrees A. T.D.C (after T.D.C).
Now continue turning the crank until you reach the indicated measurement again, this time this is B. T.D.C (before T.D.C). I repeat this process to ensure that the test was repeatable with the same results. Now calculate the mid point between the two degrees and adjust your pointer to this position. I turned the crank a complete revolution to T.D.C to check the DTI indicates zero. I then repeated the above test again, this time you should find that the A. T.D.C and B. T.D.C read the same value from the wheel, either side of T. D.C. Mine was close, between 2 and 3 degrees ATDC and between 3 and 4 degrees BTDC so within 0.5 of a degree. I shall probably try this again as I will not happy until it is spot on. I read in an engine builders book that all you have to do is take the two degrees and if they are different average them and move the pointer back to the average value, achieves the same result but easier to think about!
If you wish you can try and now calculate the dwell angle but rotation the crank again and stopping when the DTI reaches zero, note the degrees and then continue turning until the DTI starts to move off zero, note the degrees and calculate the duration in degrees. I found mine to be 3 degrees, I was expecting more!
Took me about 90 minutes to do this, no seriously it did!
Tip, if you turn the crank with a breaker bar not only is it easier to turn but the main reason is that you have to turn through a longer distance to turn the crank than you would with a shorter bar, this means better control and accuracy.
Professional engine builders use something called a stop bar which is bolted across no. 1 piston and has a bolt screwed through the centre and this act as a piston stop which provides an exact position down the bore without the need of a DTI. All that they do is then turn the crank clockwise moving the piston up the bore until it hits the stop, note the degrees then reverse back until it the pistons hits the stop and note the degrees, add together, divide by 2 and then move the pointer back to the calculated valve, remove the stop and turn the crank until timing wheel as at TDC, and there you have it. This is then done in minutes.
27 October 2006
Session 112 - Camshaft replacement
Today I started a job that I was not very much looking forward to. Removal of the standard camshaft and install the upgraded ultimate road cam. If you want to know more about this cam then please refer to my previous entries in the log. Why wasn't I looking forward to it, well as this is a push rod engine the cam is in the block, but then you probably knew that already. So this cam is in the block and the journals on the cam are obviously housed in bearings in the block, so when withdrawing the cam you have to do so absolutely steady handed and straight (the engine is about 10 degrees upward whilst on the stand!), if you are not careful then you can catch the bearings in the block with the cam lobes, erm , this would mean a specialist job to remove any damaged bearings inside the block, yep a complete strip down! So today I decided I must stop procrastinating and just get on with it. The cam bearing face on the front of the block is of course level so to withdraw you have to use a bolt. A tip here, I bought a 1.5 metre long M10 stud! This is a little too long but it is the standard size so I went with it! This makes the job much easier, photo of this follow. Took me about 1hour to do this, a job that would take much longer after the engine is installed, this is why I am upgrading this already.
Yes, looks ridiculous, but it does the job. Here you see that I have removed the timing gear and camshaft thrust plate and screwed the 1.5metre stud into the end of the camshaft. When the guy came out with this stud, my reaction was 'How much is that going to cost!?' '£1.50':
I carefully removed the cam and this is what the block looks like without it. If you click on the photos to see the high resolution version you will see the cam bearings inserted in the block. Do not want to damage these!
Close-up of camshaft bearings
Here's a photo of the old cam, you see a red band this indicates that this is the standard camshaft fitted to 4.6 V8, the 4.0V8 has an orange band. Of course if has the usual part number stamped into the casting also. I shall sell this on Ebay
Here's a photo of the new one in the foreground, can you spot the difference, apart from the lack of a red ring?
When you get a new cam it is covered in a protective film like many parts the can corrode when exposed to the air. You have to use paraffin to remove off, but do not clean the black coating of the cam, this is a protective film which protects the cam for the first few minutes of operation to allow bedding in. This film helps retain the cam lube whilst running in. Coat the cam with the lube over all the lobes and journals. Later on need to use cam lube on the lifters also.
I made a purchase off Ebay, yes again, yes another bargain. Well actually not so sure, but it seemed reasonable. I think I shall have to get an 'Ebay' sponsor sticker to attach to my car when it is finished.The trumpet base that goes on top of the inlet manifold. The advantage with this unit is that the guy has had it dipped and also lowered all the trumpets by 35mm. Lowering of the trumpets is a job that I would have to had done due to under bonnet clearance issues with the Westfield. Not a hard job but time consuming and this cost me no more than a standard one I am sure. He also got the trumpets polished and the base is sprayed in aluminum paint so looks nice. I have just place on my inlet manifold and taken a photo, here, judge for yourselves.
Nice!!!
28 October 2006
Session 113 - Timing, timing, timing.
Just messing about in the garage today for a few hours. I trial attached the timing gear and chain. I say trial because I have not timed the camshaft in by way of the usual DTI method on inlet valve 1. I have assumed that the camshaft is ground so that the original timing marks on the gears would still align. The crank has a woodruff key in which to locate the bottom gear wheel, the camshaft has a slot in the end which locates the top gear. both gears have a mark over the tooth which should point at 6 and 12 o'clock's. Once I get my lifters I will of course double check that full lift of the cam is achieved at the right crank position, in this case 110 ATDC. I also checked what difference it makes when the timing is one tooth out, and it is completely obvious. The top cog, the camshaft gear which is twice the circumference of the crank cog, has 40 teeth, therefore each tooth is worth 9 degrees of camshaft motion, worth 18 degrees of crank, as ratio is 2:1. One would assume that there are 20 teeth on the crank gear.
Diagram of the timing marks follows:
I also made a piston stop out of a strap of aluminum, do not know if it fits perfectly yet as I need to get the head off. I used an old pair of heads to calculate the distance between the studs holes across piston 1.
I also checked the end float of the camshaft, it appears to be 4 thou which is within the normal tolerance. Here is a diagram demonstrating how to measure the camshaft end float on later Rover V8 engines that have no distributor gearing:.
29 October 2006
Went up to the MP06 show, it was fantastic. The show was like a top gear live with lots of fast cars and the usual comedy from Clarkson and May. Sad Hamster wasn't there but he is well on the road to recovery. There were lots of quips about Richard's mishap good job he has a sense of humor. The static display of cars both new and old was good. I took a picture of my son and three friendly chaps, any idea who these guys are!
My son had dropped some food on his tie and was subject to ridicule! I spoke to Ed China, guy on the right and conveyed how I feel for him doing all the hard work. Mike, guy on the left finds the wrecks and Ed does the hard graft and Mike comes back to see how he is getting on, usually with a set of alloys or other new part which he has worked very hard trying to find! Ed has got a Suit, he cannot afford one because he only earns about £20 per week working for Mike! If you haven't watched this duo in action got to Discovery Real time and look up Wheel Dealers, Deals on Wheels, Autotrader. The guy in the middle, holding my son's tie is Mark Evans, he is a vetinary surgeon by trade but took a career change into engineering, rebuilding cars (Westfield included), planes, boats, helicopters. They are all funny guys but I find Mark very down to earth and hilarious, look up some of his programs, A plane is Born, A sports car is Born, A car is born, the list goes on.
Yes, I would have liked my photo taken with them, but I feel silly doing that sort of thing, I'm a bloke! I had to nag and push my son forward, which gave me a good excuse to get a photo!
31 October 2006
I ordered some rocker covers from Ebay the other week and I picked these up from the royal mail sorting office today, wife, always out when I am waiting for toys to arrive! I only paid £35.00 for a pair of recondition rocker covers and that included black enamel finish, cork gaskets attached, screws, chrome max power breathers, oil cap and postage! They look brand new, very nice. I shall take a photo when they are on the engine. I also ordered some new bits, rhoads anti pump lifters and adjustable push rods and some miscellaneous bolts. More about these items when I install them. With this little lot should have the basic engine mechanics running, i.e. working pistons and valves, whoa!
My sump I purchased a few weeks ago is at the powder coaters being stripped and powder coated rather than just plain metal painted. Cannot wait to see this, should be quite nice and the powder coating also has nylon in the formula so should be quite resistant to oil, fuel, dirt, chip resistant. I shall soon have an engine in my garage that looks complete, even if it isn't!
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