This afternoon I shot some etch primer, color and clear on the head. The weather is so warm that it cured out really quickly - by tonight I couldn't even make a finger nail imprint in it. Since the paint cured out so quickly I went ahead and assembled the head, installed all the new studs, new valves, springs, collets and keepers, as the later model lead free valves use the three ring keepers and the earlier small blocks valves use one. With the head done the last thing I did was paint the cast iron end cover black, and popped in the new pot joints, the old ones were pretty done. I also found a better set of block to transmission gaskets as the ones that came in the kit Nick supplied didn't fit very well. Tomorrow I'll mate the block to the transmission and carry on with the assembly.....
I have to say again.........love the work and thanks for sharing your work. I wish I was closer so I could get some close up and personal insights to your work. Stay well and keep up the great work!
Thanks Scott, and to everyone who reads my drivel! I'm waiting on parts so I've started another project so that I can keep things moving thru the shop. Once I'm thru the glut of work that piled up while I was out of commission I may get a good breather. Everyone wants their stuff built over the winter so that when the weather clears they can go drive - ME TOO! But that means things slow down in the summer, which is OK with me as I like to do some Mini events too - in fact I have one I'm trying to make at the end of April - to the Texas Hill country outside San Antonio.
I sent the carb off to Joe Curto on Long Island to have it rebuilt, Joe is the man when it comes to SU's and they did a terrific job on this HS4 for me. New needle and seat, new float, new jet and needle, all the hardware re-plated, throttle shaft re-bushed and all set up ready to run. Looks as good as new for about 1/2 the price of a new one.
Waiting on a bearing and circlip that didn't make it back from the transmission shop with the gearbox, other than that this one is ready for final assembly and to be loaded into the engine stand for start up. Goes in the hole right below the crank gear, and the intermediate gear that goes between the crank and trans rides in it.....
Ran into a snag....the first motion gear (bottom one) is not going into the right place, but stands proud of the case by about 1/8", so the rear cover won't go on properly. Nick and I have talked about it and I sent him this pic, he's scratching his head too. for now I'm stuck as I can't really go any further till I get the back cover on and torque converter in place so I can fill the crankcase and pump up oil pressure. Loyal readers will remember that the end of this shaft was broken off, so Nick had to supply us with a different reverse drum, but he claims they are all exactly the same and this is the original first motion gear, so it all should go together normally.
Ha! I dunno....seems like an irresistible force meeting unmovable object sorta deal.... Still waiting to hear back from Nick so I'm working on other projects, but I'll bet I'm going to wind up taking it apart again.....
"Wouldn't the BFH fix that right up?" Well, as it turns out - that's exactly what happened - tho maybe not like you were thinking. In fact, I probably could have done just like that but since I didn't know what was wrong I took it apart. After waiting for what seems like an endless time ( 6 weeks!) for the guy who built it to contact me with a solution I decided either I need to crate it up and ship it back to him ($600 shipping round trip and who knows how long to get it back) or take it apart and see if I can fix it. So I took it apart. First I had to remove the engine block off the transmission - not too big a task at this point as I wasn't very far along in the reassembly process - but a PITA anyway, since I hate to redo work already completed - but, needs must. Once the block was off I pulled this main gear assembly out of the box and spent a while looking at it trying to understand what was wrong. Finally, I saw it.....there was a gap where there shouldn't have been one, and it was just about the amount I needed to make the gears line up. But, I didn't know how all this went together - was it a press fit or did it somehow screw together. At this point I was able to reach Nick and he told me it was a slip fit but tight, so I set it up in my big vise, found an appropriately sized piece of aluminum round stock to use as a drift and hit it with my dead blow hammer. It popped right into place! That done the fun began as I now had to re-insert this assembly into the case, and the real fun part - slide 6 or 7 clutch discs over their mating gear - blindly. It took about 2 hours of fiddling and the help of a friend so I had an extra pair of hands to jiggle, bump and maneuver the assembly into place but we finally got it. Once that was done I could reunite the block with the transmission and restart the build. I got some things done, including getting the lower gear shimmed and installed correctly, then mounting the back of the case in and torqued up. Then installed the torque converter and set TDC. After that I put all the covers on and installed a few other bits and called it a night. More as it happens....
So, got some more done on the engine today, in between other jobs. Had to order some more bits from Spares today, but if everything gets here I should have it running by next weekend. Assuming I can find the missing parts in MY shop too......sheesh. I have no idea where this stuff goes......
And now.......for my next magical trick, I'll pump up the oil pressure without turning the engine over! How does he do it, you ask???? Simple. (Well, I hope so anyway!) Since this is an automatic, the torque converter and the oil filter are both empty - I can't prefill either as they sit sideways. Consequently, it takes a LOT of cranking both to get the pump primed and to fill both of those up before you can get pressure to the bearings and such. This isn't good for either the starter or the bearings. My plan is this - I'll set the pistons 1/2 way down the bores so the valves can't hit, remove the chain from the cam (the oil pump is driven off the back of the cam) and put my big ol 1/2 drill motor on the cam nut and spin that sucker till I feel the resistance of the oil pressure building, then I'll know the filter and torque converter are full. I'll top off the oil and close the front end up (after putting the chain back on of course) and it will be ready to start. Then I'll know it will have oil pressure the moment it starts and I won't have to wind the crap out of the starter motor getting oil pressure up. The only thing I don't know about this plan is whether oil will come gushing out of someplace on the front of the engine as the pressure builds - could be interesting..... More as it happens later today.....