Thread: Betsy, my 67 s2a build.

Ok the good news....there isn't any. I pulled the rest of the engine apart starting with the camshaft. Well no3 inlet and no4 exhaust lobes and rollers are stuffed. Worn thru the hardening. No3 inlet roller was particularily bad. Thats the least of my problems. I took of the sump and found these thrust bearings in there, pic 1. This explains the 2.85mm end float. Its supposed to be 0.004 to 0.006th 😯.

So i continued disassembly and found this, the middle crank cap, pic2 😕.

So continuing on i removed the rear main seal caps and rear crank cap. Marked and undid the conrod caps. Removed the front cap and removed the crank. The crank has been reground. Mains are 010 under. Big ends are 040 under😯. I haven't removed the pistons and i probably won't. The engine block is totally buggered. The crank has ground itself into the block, pic3.

The crankshaft has ground itself away also, with the rear thrust bearing surface totally worn away on the crankshaft, see pic4. More than 1.0mm of material is missing from the crank thrust surface going by the other side of the crank, see pic5. So the crank is stuffed. Beyond reclaiming, as is the engine block.

I need my happy pills back. How depressing. And the motor ran so sweet and quietly. No sign at all of the problems i've found. It sux. Gotta find another motor now.

Hmmmm...that's why they fit holden motors.

Cheers Rod

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Damn, thats a bugger Rod.
I hope you can find another motor for to fit. Are they hard or easy to find,,, I'm guessing pretty hard

Many years ago I had a Falcon motor with similar wear. I just had the thrust face cleaned up on the crank and hand made packing pieces to support the new thrust segments away from the block face out of suitable sheet steel. That motor ran well for years like that.

Hmmm that sucks. As they say, ignorance is bliss!

I know very little about motors, but if it was running sweetly with all those problems, like bee utey suggests, could you not fit oversized bearings ground to suit, with a new(er) cam and crank?

I spoke to a friend of mine who used to recondition engines for years and he said it was basicly scrap. The crank especially as the big ends are maxed out at 40th under and need regrinding again and also the thrust surface could be repaired but the cost would be way too much. The block could be machined and a thicker thrust bearing could be made but again cost is very high. If it was a one of a kind motor very rare etc then id get it fixed but its not. Id like to do a 200tdi conversion but thats out of budget too unless someone wants to donate one (complete) to me. In the end its still a 50yr old land rover that will never be worth what ive spent on her so far...

Cheers Rod

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Originally Posted by 67hardtop

...
Hmmmm...that's why they fit holden motors.

Cheers Rod

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Hard luck Rod, I am sure you will find a better engine somewhere; if you lived closer to me you could have one of mine.

Don't be too hard on Rover, these are very good engines when they are looked after and will last much longer than a red-motor. I can't for the life of me think what caused wear like that, unless someone sabotaged it with abrasive!

Advertise in the Markets and someone will have one. I agree with your cobber; it is not worth keeping,

Cheers Charlie

Yeah, look around for a complete runner in known good condition - they are out there. Put a wanted ad up in the markets section and maybe a PM to the Ho Hars to see if they have one?

Even finding a complete vehicle for sale cheap that's only good for parts with a rusted chassis, etc may yield a decent engine. It's not hard to get one running in situ to check it - take your carby, fuel pump, battery and some fresh fuel and maybe a container of cheap oil and that's about all you'll need to get one running that's been sitting for yonks to see what it runs like.

All the best.

Considering how much wear it has, it is incredible that it was running so sweet. They are a well built, tough little donk.
You should pick one up, they are about.


Cheers, Mick.