Thread: Radiator replacement, etc

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Are the EL tanks plastic or alloy ? you will have trouble welding or soldering new mounts on if they are either.

Plastic tanks

Hi Guys,

Got the new Ford EL rad' today. Nice shiny new one in a nice new box included inside was the warranty and fittings for hoses as well as earth cables to go on too.

The rad' side tanks are indeed plastic but the brackets from left to right and everything else are all alloy and as we have welders here to suit, it wont be a problem since the welding areas are quite far from the plastic tanks on either side.

I will be taking pics this afternoon, comparing the original with the EL so you can all see where the fittings will come from off the old rad' and where they will be welded to on the EL.

I'll also take note of all the measurements since they might help some of you as well.

It all looks straight forward, I think all the current hoses will even fit to the new locations on the EL.

Wish me luck!

Cheers, Pete'

I have just initially posted up some pics on the start of the replacement radiator project.

You can check them out at http://www.comcen.com.au/~frontier/

I hope some of you will take a look and if you have any suggestions or things you would like to know as we do the install or want me to make note of, please let me know and I'll do my bext to help out.

I'll try and measure eveything, bear with me as I'm not an expert mechanic (or photographer for that matter).

Cheers, Pete'

For the bit i posted earlier about using hobies engine as a rolling example.

Ive got the preliminary info in my head atm as weve just finished up measuring the bores and pistons to check suitability for reuse and when he gets it all cleaned up (which hes done a good job on the pistons so far for someone with geek hands) I'll be taking pics.

So do you want the info in here or a new thread?

Hi Dave,

Either way you know I'll follow on what you're up to as I have a vested interest in knowing what you encounter since you are working on the same model with similar k's.

I'm happy to see it in this thread since the radiator project may be of interest to some at the same time.

Thanks for keeping me in the loop.

Cheers, Pete'

ok without pics for now...

HISTORY Hobies engine before I got my mits onto it has had some work done to it previously I dont think any internal work has been done but the heads have as have some of the welsh plugs, Externally the engine appeard well used with some slight telltaling of aluminium corrosions (the white dusty stuff) on some spots of the engine and vally cover.

Most of the inital strip down was done with out me there and was a case of get it ready to get the heads off..

STUFF I KNOW ABOUT ( I put my hands on it and removed it stuff)

Minor damge from heat was identified to the injector harness and there was some evidence of minor repair work.

Other than that the inital strip down to getting the heads off was uneventful aside from 3 damaged head bolt threads in the block for the drivers side rear most cylinder

The drivers side head was found to have a warp in it of about 1.6mm or so and neither head was correctly finished by whoever did the last rebuild. (hobies had this done by a proper workshop)

Initial removal and dissasembly of the engine was uneventful other than noting some minor discolouration of various internal workings that was mainly the burnt oil stuff that you almost always get in the rockercovers of rover v8's

Final dismemberment of the engine took place today at aproximately 1545 when the rear main bearing journal and seal were convinced to come free of the block. Measuring of the bores and pistons had already been done.


FIDNINGS

So far all the pistons and bores have been measured and checked for tolerance. All of them are within the specified range that they are ment to be within. That said the passangers side bank average out to be at 5/8th of their nominal wear tolerances where as the drivers side bank is on average more like 3/4 maybe even 7/8ths. The number 4 on the dirivers side while still in tolerance is within a poompteenth of being excessively worn. all bores show to a greater or lesser extent what I believe to be machine finished bore honing marks

Inital inpesction of the bearings in the big ends showed that on average there are no major problems with the internals of the engine as all (bar #1 on the passangers side) are evenly worn and have on average a 1/3-1/2 showing of copper on each half shell and the wear patterns are reasonabley evenly distributed on the primary thrust area and opposing side again equal across the face of the bearing. the exception to this is the #1 passangers side bearing, a partical of metal had managed to progress past the pump and was trapped in the bearing shell, it has gradually worn a ring around the bearing complete and made a very fine scoring on the crank itself

The crank mains show normal wear patterns and If a field rebuild was being completed rotating the bearing shells 180 degrees within the journals would provide a good bearing face to the thrust side of the crank.

The timing gear and timing chain while worn appear to be servicable at this stage The cam appears to be in servicable order with no obvious major damage to the lobes or bearings

The crank journals have not been checked for alignment as I dont have an accurate enough engineers edge (the work one was used as a welding support of all things and is warped and has weld dags on the true edge)

MY THOUGHTS THUS FAR
ignoring the cost of the heads and the beers to be owed this engine should be capable of 150,000Km+ if looked after and well serviced. The only parts so far that absolutely require replacement are crank mounted bearings, piston rings, all the seals and gaskets and the head bolts. The extra wear on the drivers side bores and pistons should be accountable to the additional heat + pressure loading on bores on that side of the vehicle from the failure of the head/block seal allwoing combustion gasses to interfere with the cooling and the progressive overheating of those cylinders. the effect is progressively worse the further back on the enging you go.

The crank is an unknown at this point but given the supporting evidence of the big eng and main journal bearings I do not suspect it will be out of tolerance. It Requires machining due to the scoring of the #1 passangers side big end wear issue.

I have also reccomended that he take the crank block and rods to the place that he is having the crank grind done at so that the bearins can be matched exactly as required.



ENDETH

that helpful to you?

Totally excellent Dave, I have kept a copy of what you have here to one side and will keep following how it goes and costs involved.

Prior to dismantling, did you know what the compressions were for each of the pistons?

I am thinking that since mine has not had a rebuild in it's history unlike Hobies, I would like to know your thoughts on costs of head work as I imagine that mine will need it?


Pete'

Excellent report - you must do this for a living

The cam must have been replaced at some time in the past though? Rover V8's generally need a new cam at around 120,000 KM's in my experience.