Engine Rebuild Videos

Discussion in 'Classic Mini' started by Minidave, Sep 7, 2021.

  1. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    I'm starting a series of videos showing how I rebuild a Mini or Sprite A series engine.....

    Here's the first installment......

    I don't know if I'll go all the way thru, but you all can let me know if I'm giving too much detail or not enough. I just set the camera up in one place - if I need to show close ups of something, let me know.


     
  2. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    I'm going to try and be thorough, and I don't want to bore people but I'm sure there will be tiny details that I'll miss describing. Things that seem obvious to me may not be so obvious to the first timer - so if something doesn't seem right, or if it seems like I skipped a bit, ask and I'll do my best to explain further.

    One thing I can't stress enough is to use the correct puller to remove the flywheel - the best one you can buy is the one John sells on Guessworks. It's a little spendy but it will work, and to me that's worth a lot - not wasting time using an incorrect puller or damaging parts with the wrong tool or process. I don't have that puller, mine seems to do the job for me, but I also use an impact wrench - tightening the puller with a breaker bar may not give the same quick results.

    http://guessworks.co.uk/Shop/Parts/display.htm?id=501

    I've read countless accounts of guys having to use heat, banging on the flywheel thru the starter hole and so on to get one off - if you're going to do it just buy and use the right tool, save a ton of grief and frustration.
     
  3. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    OK, here's part two, where I remove the oil pump, cam and lifters, pistons/rods and crank.

     
  4. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    I got home early this morning and watched half of the first one as I eat lunch. I think it's great so far. I like the advice you gave about using baggies if its your first time. I cant wait to finish the first one and move on to the second one.
    I couldn't think but how nice it was to watch a Master Craftsmen.
     
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  5. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    Appreciate the kind words, I hope it's not too boring or not informative enough.
     
  6. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    I love this! Not as much fun as Binky, but very informative :)
     
  7. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    I know, I'm not as entertaining as those two, nor do I have an editing team to help with the filmography. In fact, my son pointed out to me that a couple of clips in the first video were out of order!

    Next installment on it's way a bit later.....
     
  8. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    Part 3, where we talk about cylinder heads and valves....

     
  9. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    OK, not a video, but just some pics. I spent a lot of time cleaning the block and pistons up - that doesn't make for good video so I didn't bother....

    I'm on the horns of a dilemma right now. I thought maybe I would just freshen this engine up - new consumables like bearings, oil pump, timing chain and rings. Give it a light hone to clean up the cylinders and build it back a little better than stock - after all it ran really well - it just smoked, leaked and had worn synchros and a noisy bearing in the gearbox, all fixable with a minimum outlay of parts. I already have a cam, lifters, and rings in stock that I would like to use up but......

    After cleaning up the pistons I found one is damaged - I'm going to talk to the machinist before I do anything more with it. It's possible the block is worn or tapered too far and will require boring oversize. I'm almost certain the crank will need to be turned, although I also have a std crank that does not need anything.

    IMG_20210913_122545R.jpg

    IMG_20210913_122608R.jpg

    So - if I'm going to bore it anyway......normally I would just go 40 over, leaving one more overbore to 60 if needed. OTOH, this would be a chance to go crazy and build a 1380 - when you do that the block is no longer useful once it wears out - you're done. But, do I really care?

    Also, the plan for this car is to get it running nicely and sell it on, so I can build my hot rod motor for my rear engine project. That one could be the 1380 plus turbo that I've been thinking about. I already have the spare block, crank, rods and head to build that engine.....and if I go crazy I might even put a 5 speed in it and make the ultimate highway cruiser - all of which would suggest just build this one into a nice driver and send it on. OTOH, I might keep it for a while.....

    See the problem? can't make up my mind.....

    A couple of pics of the exhaust ports "before", I'll have after pics later. Also, block and pistons cleaned up....

    IMG_20210912_141739R.jpg

    IMG_20210912_141742R.jpg

    IMG_20210912_141744R.jpg

    IMG_20210913_115504R.jpg
     
  10. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    #10 Minidave, Sep 16, 2021
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2021
    Today I disassembled the gearbox for overhaul.....it was leaking from every seal and gasket, it had a crunchy second gear synchro and a noisy bearing somewhere.

     
  11. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    Love this stuff!
     
  12. 00Mini

    00Mini Well-Known Member

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    One has to have a lot of experience to make it look as smooth and easy as Dave does.
     
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  13. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    Today I spent all day cleaning parts, I swear I spend more time doing that the the disassembly and re-assembly combined! The worst part is scraping off all the old gasket material, sometimes it is REALLY glued on there! And.........I'm still not done! I still have to do all the nuts and bolts and fasteners, plus paint any small bits, plus weld up that broken bracket, plus....plus....plus.....

    IMG_20210917_184918R.jpg

    IMG_20210917_184948R.jpg

    IMG_20210917_184951R.jpg

    I also got the main shaft torn down far enough to get the second gear synchro out figure out why it was crunching in second gear, but you'll have to wait till my next video for the answer - stay tuned!

    IMG_20210917_185010R.jpg

    I got all my parts ordered last night, and then remembered 4 more things I needed as I lay in bed, so got up early this am and sent an email off to Spares to see if they can add it to my order. I didn't get any reply today so either they didn't or it will delay my order some more. Shazbot!

    Tonight's video is a shorty.....

     
  14. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    Rebuilding an engine and/or a transmission is not just taking the old bits out and putting new bits in (unless you're Edd China) but also endless hours of cleaning parts, painting steel parts so they don't rust and corrode, running a tap into every threaded hole, chamfering said holes and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.....

    You also discover where work was done previously, and in a lot of cases - how poorly it was done. You also find more worn or broken parts to either fix or replace as I did with the exhaust bracket....I'll weld that up later. I'll want to fit it on the trans first so I can tack it together in the right orientation.

    I also found that this transmission had not one, not two, but THREE seals for the shift shaft! It also looks like they used a pickaxe to dig the old ones out and didn't bother to clean up the mess that made before fitting the five (three sir!) three seals back in. So I took a file to it to knock down the big burrs, nothing I can do about the digs in the metal, but I doubt it will leak from there anyway - I'll use a light coating of sealer just in case.

    IMG_20210918_110538R.jpg

    Speaking of sealer - if you don't know the correct way to use RTV, DON'T USE the damn stuff!

    I have spent hours wire brushing the stuff out of the threads on the bolts, digging it out of the bottom of blind holes and cleaning it out of the threads in said holes. It also forms a nice little ring around the shaft of the bolt which sticks in the hole and is a mother to get out again! Bottom line, it's a royal PITA. Plus the way it was done on this engine it was still leaking!

    The original gaskets have a sort of sealer impregnated in the paper/cardboard, so you really don't need to add additional sealer. When they're old like these they can be a mother to scrape off too. More hours......

    Lastly, the steady bush on the trans that the shift steady bolts into was completely perished, the rubber was just jelly, so I had to change that as well. you have to be careful removing and re-installing one of these you can't just beat on it or you might break the casting for the diff. Since this one was just mush I pulled the inner part out then took a hacksaw blade and split the casing so I could drive it out. I also had to clean up the bore that it fits into so that I could tap it back in again.

    IMG_20210918_111608R.jpg

    IMG_20210918_111513R.jpg

    So, all the parts are cleaned and ready for re-assembly. Parts are on the way from Spares and they did manage to add the extra parts I forgot, so maybe a week before I can start putting it back together. Once the parts get here I'll need to run the pistons and valves over to their respective machine shops, and it will be a week or more before they're done with the engine components so I'll build the trans while I'm waiting on them.

    More as it happens.....
     
  15. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    Got the last few bits cleaned and ready, so I cleaned, primed and painted the case.

    Trying to decide if I might like a color for the engine other than red or black.....I was wondering what it might look like in a light silvery green like they used on the big Healy's and MGC's?

    IMG_20210918_134636R.jpg

    IMG_20210918_134644R.jpg
     
  16. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    The head is already down at the machine shop, tho they are waiting on valves and guides from me.....in the meantime I forgot to post a pic of how the head turned out - I don't have any good pics of the combustion chambers but here's how the ports looked when I was done......

    I also did quite a bit down in the ports them selves to smooth the flow and remove bumps and such. I was limited a bit by the length of the shafts on my carbide burrs, there were some areas I couldn't reach as well as I wanted, but I figure anything I did is an improvement. I have a head for another engine here that was done by Keith Calver and I used it for my model.

    Before and after.

    IMG_20210912_141739R.jpg

    IMG_20210915_114820R.jpg
     
  17. 00Mini

    00Mini Well-Known Member

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    Quite the difference.
     
  18. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    I'm hoping it makes a noticeable difference.....we'll see. I'm making so many changes (bigger bores, higher compression, different cam, new electronic dizzy, taller final drive) that it may not be quantifiable.
     
  19. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    You know what the first thing that comes to mind when I see your posts Dave...............

    What were those engineers thinking when they designed some of this stuff :Jawdrop:
     
  20. 00Mini

    00Mini Well-Known Member

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    Funny but true.
     

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