Thread: My 88" Series 3

Moved on to the timing cover today, the crank seal retainer had been torn off at some stage leaving the rivets behind:


,


They'll all have to come out as they are only really sealing with the paint, they are all sitting proud on the inside of the cover:





The parts book show small screws hold in the seal retainer, but these don't look like they can be used in place of the rivets, the screw diameter is the same as the rivet hole diameter. Not sure if I am going to try and find some replacement rivets, or thread the holes and use small screws.

All the threads in the head got chased with various sized taps, quite a time consuming job, but judging by the amount of rubbish it removes, well worth it.





The top left manifold thread has been stripped at some stage, so that will need to be "helicoiled". This is a bugger because I was hoping to fit the head today, but I don't want to do this around the rest of the engine while it is being built. Last thing I need is some stray metal getting inside!





Another job that needed doing on the head was fitting the screw in core plug. The first thread had been peened over at some stage making it impossible to thread the new plug in. So some very careful die grinding was in order to tidy up the first thread.





And, core plug in :





I knew the exhaust manifold needed some work, it certainly looks to be in a sorry state!





It got a quick sand blast, more to make handling less messy than anything! The exhaust tube flange revealed a trifecta of sadness, one stripped thread, one broken stud, and one siezed stud!





On closer inspection there is a crack either side of the stripped threaded hole, so I'm on the lookout for a replacement manifold. I'm a bit undecided on whether to fit extractors or not, so any info from the community on that front would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Originally Posted by chazza

Given that the rest of the engine looks so beautiful and you are doing such a good job; I say yes, put the new sprockets in with a new chain. The valve timing and distributor timing, are fairly important after all!

Cheers Charlie

You're right Charlie I need to resist the urge to be impatient with getting the engine back together. I've found a cam wheel for a 2.5 petrol that should be a compatible part. I'm going to confirm with Turners tomorrow when I call about the cam.

Cheers,

Hi Tim.
I got hold of the oil seal mud shield from these Guys.
John Richards Surplus Ex-Military and General Surplus
As mine was missing.
Drilled and used self tappers to secure.
Now the seal can be replaced from the outside, with out removing Timing Cover.

whitehillbilly

Good to see you back into it Tim.

I wasn't confident enough to reassemble the engine myself, so I had the re-builders do it $$$$$$$.

I only hope they were as fastidious as you.


Peter.

Well, new cam wheel is on it's way, and I picked up a helicoil set for the stripped manifold thread, so hopefully I'll get the head on this weekend. Also spoke to Turners about the cam run out and am happy with the advice given.

Cheers,

All I can say is WOW!!!!!
Great to see more reports.
ENJOY
Andrew

Hi Tim,

Great to see the engine going together, its a job i need to gather some courage to do some time in the near future. I've just bought a replacement front crank oil seal. It seems that the original factory fit was to use rivets. However a later engineering directive came out advising service agents to drill out the rivets when changing the seal and fit with self tapping screws rover part no.AB606021L. This mod allowed the seal to be changed with only the removal of the radiator, prior to that the front panel, radiator and water pump all had to come off. Apparently the mud shield also served as a clamp to ensure the seal went in flush to the housing.

cheers Iancrank001.jpg

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the explanation, I have the screws but the hole size for the rivets is too big for the screws. At the moment I'm planning to tap them to something like 4BA, (or 4mm if I really have no other option), and use machine screws.

Cheers,