Most liked posts in thread: 998 Automatic Engine Rebuild

I took the weekend off to rest up a bit, today I sat the engine in the shipping crate to make sure it would fit - and it does - perfectly! In the first pic you can see the base I built to support the engine so it wouldn't flop over like it did when he sent it to me. Now I have to figure out how to strap it down so it won't move in shipment and damage anything.





I will have to leave the intake and exhaust off, but I wanted to make sure the radiator and valve cover wouldn't hit the top of the crate and they do clear, no problem.

EDIT: turns out the intake and exhaust will fit after all, so I will be able to ship them installed. I also turned it 45* so that it's square to the box and it fits that way even better than the way I have it in the pics. Now I'm working out how to strap it down to the base so it won't shift - I was planning to screw some blocks down to keep it from sliding, but I figure I'll also need some straps or brackets to keep it from toppling. It probably won't tip over, but I don't want to take the chance so I'll build some sort of strapping......

 

The engine wasn't in bad shape, standard bearings, cam was not damaged, tho we'll replace it with a more agressive one. I'll put the parts order together this weekend and get it turned in. The MiniSpares offices are running very understaffed so it might take a couple of weeks to get the parts....once they're here I'll send the block and head off for machine work.

 

Parts have been showing at last......

I got the first bunch of stuff back from the powdercoaters, and the forged rocker arms and guides made it from England, so I ran those down to the machine shop. The block has been bored but now I'm waiting for it to come back from being surfaced and boiled out.





Also got all the hardware cleaned up and organized...

 

Cylinder head came back today, a few days earlier than I thought it would. Next I need the block....I ran a tap into every threaded hole, even the spark plug holes. Now I need to clean it up and tape it off to get ready for paint.

 

Looks like my assumptions were correct, I did have to drill new holes in the mounts as it sits a little higher than a regular manual transmission engine does as the mounts are about 1/2 wider on an automatic subframe. No real matter as I just drilled 4 new holes and bolted it down. The engine steady will be a different matter tho, I will have to rework the engine end of the steady mount since I usually bolt onto the slave cylinder boss - and there is none......going to be an interesting challenge to figure this mount out.

I wound up taking the intake and exhaust header back off - I managed to get it in the engine stand with them on, but could not get them out again without scratching things, so I removed them.




Next up once I've got the engine stand mounts figured out, I'll pop it into the shipping box and see what I need to do there to secure it for the trip home. Then I can build all that stuff at once and have it ready to go.

 

Well, I got the right rear seal - YAY - and all the other parts came in too. the block and head have been sent off to be cleaned, bored, valve job etc.

So I've been puzzling how to clean up this very nasty gearbox - even tho I have new fluid in the parts washer, it gets dirty pretty quickly, and I didn't want to wash any grit into the transmission - I didn't want to wind up taking it any further apart. There are some seals and o-rings in there that don't come with any of the MiniSpares gasket sets so I didn't want to have to go searching the world for them....especially if it turns out they're NLA. Plus disassembly and re-assembly require some special tools I don't have and would have to make - all of which is unnecessary since we're not going to change the final drive. With an automatic, cleanliness is paramount.



So, after kicking it around a while I came up with a plan - I put the trans in the tank up on a couple of blocks of wood and set it up so most of the liquid run off didn't go inside. I then spent about three to four hours scrubbing the thing down with small wire brushes, scotch pads and small screwdrivers to get into the cracks and crevices.



Then once it was done I took it back out of the parts washer and cleaned the tank thoroughly, even to the point of wiping it out with clean shop towels to make sure I got all the grit out. Once that was done I put it back in the tank, sitting up on the studs on one end. I then poured out about half a gallon of clean solvent that I got from TSC into a bucket and using a basting squirter I rinsed it all down inside and out till everything looked as clean as possible.



It was a ton of work, but I think it came good in the end. Now I can go ahead and put it back together while I wait for the engine machine work to be done. The head work is going to be held up a while as NO one had valve guides except Somerford - I also wanted to put the good forged 1.13 rockers in it and they also were the only ones who had any. So, I managed to get an order for about $150 worth of parts and shipping together in the end.

 

I have been hung up on one problem on re-assembling the transmission - I took the forward clutch out so I could see about the final drive, then found out we couldn't get a better final drive ratio for it and try as I might I could NOT get it back together. There are a series of clutches inside the drum that all have to line up for it to fit down over the drive gears, and even tho I had it in and out of there a thousand times I could not get it into place. One of my non-gearhead buddies was over today and asked if he could try it - I was only too happy to let someone else have a go at it - it took him half an hour but by george somehow he got it to drop into place! Result!

So now I can go ahead and reassemble and reseal the trans and get a coat of primer on it.....there are some challenges still ahead as according to the book there is a special fixture required to line up some parts to reassemble the other end - and I don't have said fixture, so I'm just gonna hafta wing it! Could be "interesting"....

 

I was thinking out in the backyard would be the right place....

The paint place said an N95 mask and outdoors would be fine, just don't get your face down in the spray.....

 

The block came back today from the machine shop, so now I need to do a lot of clean up and tape off to get ready to paint all the bits....

The header will be done at the ceramic coaters tomorrow, and I still have a few bits left up at the powdercoater's to pick up, then I can get fully stuck into putting it all together after the paint cures out for a week or so.

I'm also thinking about getting one of those pop up tent things so I can have some shade while I'm painting in the back yard.

 

Making progress, and then stalled out again......got the head assembled, but I still haven't found a place that can hone the bushings out in the forged rocker arms I bought - might have to do it myself.

Also found that while they removed the old pistons, the machine shop forgot to install the new ones (press in wrist pins - requiring a special fixture) so I ran them back over today and they will be done by Friday.

I got the head mostly assembled and all the little bits cleaned and painted, so once the parts come back from the machine shop I should be able to press on with the build.

 

Picked up the pistons today, and a friend gave me the name of a shop that he thought could ream the bushings in the rocker arms for me.

I drove the 20 miles out there today and dropped off the rockers, guy said he'd try and have them ready by tomorrow. This is a really old school machine shop owned by a really old and old school guy. He said he used to have 27 people working for him and now has one - he sang the same old song about not being able to get good help, young guys just aren't reliable and don't have good work ethic and he can't trust their work and so on.......

We exchanged war stories for about half an hour then I left - we'll see if he comes thru for me tomorrow.....I would like to use his shop as he says he can do crank grinds as well as bore blocks and do the hardened seats too - but I question whether he can get things done in a timely manner. He said his crankshaft guy was down to two days a week as that's as long as his knee would let him work - he's scheduled for a replacement as soon as the doctors go back to doing elective surgery again.

Same story I hear all over town - old guys barely keeping the doors open, buried in work they can't get out the door and no help.

 

Thanks Dave.

I picked up the rocker arms this morning, the guy called at 9 am to let me know they were done! That's the last piece of the puzzle on the 998 automatic, now I just need to get down to assembly.

We talked a little more about doing some work for me but he said he'd rather see me take it to some of the other shops in town as he just doesn't think he can get my stuff done in a timely manner. I didn't disagree with his assessment, as I walked thru his shop I saw stuff piled up everywhere - he pointed to an old Nash engine that had already been there 2 years waiting for a rebuild. I thanked him thoroughly for the quick service and headed over to the local Brit parts place to pick up a few bits for other jobs and headed home.

 

He came this afternoon and picked up the block and says he'll have it back to me on Monday

 

Got a little more done tonight.....

 

I made pretty significant progress today, it's mostly buttoned up, next job is to mount it to the transmission.....once I'm there I'm stuck till I get the new primary gear.

Head is on and torqued, valves have their preliminary adjustments. I do need to pop the top off the carb and clean it, it seems dirty inside, the dome probably has some dust or grit in it, and I need to change the needle to the right one for this cam, header and carb.

Edit: Yes I nipped up that hose clamp after I noticed it in the pic....

 

Got bored sitting around after my little hospital adventure (hard to believe it's only been a week!) so I bolted the engine to the transmission.....still have a few ends and odds to bolt up, new primary gear is supposed to be here Friday.

 

The new gear showed up today, so I got it cleaned up and installed on the crank and measured the clearance - it's spot on.



Then I covered the splines so they wouldn't damage the new seal and slid the rear cover on and bolted it all up....note where the dipstick is located.....there also is a nut at the bottom that I need to torque but I haven't figured out how to hold the shaft while I do that. Working on that idea.....I haven't even found a torque spec for it yet but it's either the same as that on the manual or just "gutenteit"!



Next up the torque converter goes on, but first I need to clean up and locktite the three bolts I took out so I could use the puller to get it off the crank taper.





Then I need to clean up and paint the starter and alternator, then install the dizzy and set the timing. With all that done it will be ready to fill the oil and see if I can crank up oil pressure. Before I do that I'm going to set it in the crate and evaluate where I need to put blocking to keep it from shifting in transit. I may build some simple braces out of EMT to keep it from toppling too.....

IF it fits in my engine stand, then next I'll see if it will run.......more as it happens!

 

And away she goes, back to beantown......

 

Popped the head off today just to take a quick look......

 

No, bids came in ridiculously high, looking at other ideas now.....

Got the engine completely stripped, got everything micc'd so I can order parts tomorrow. Had a heck of a time finding a rear main seal for this engine, apparently the automatics are different - I found ONE, in Connecticut of all places and they claim it is on the way to me now. Price was right too - MiniMania wanted $35 for theirs (out of stock) plus shipping, 7Enterprises only $19, but also out of stock - this place (Sports and Classics.com) it was $4.95 plus the same in shipping.....correct part number and description too.

All the other parts are fairly available, but the supplier is working on reduced hours and reduced staff, so it may take a while to get the stuff. My local Brit place doesn't stock anything for a 998, let alone an automatic as this engine was never used in anything but a MIni or Mini derivative.