Camshaft Housing

Starting to look like an engine again now that the camshafts have been installed.

Cylinder Heads

I got the heads back from the machinist and they look great! Makes me want to send him the cam boxes too as they look really horrid in comparison now.

Interestingly enough while installing the head gasket from the engine gasket set I got (branded "Guarnitauto"), I noticed that one water hole in the block does not exist on the cylinder head. The head gasket seals the hole in the block too so I suppose that was how it was meant to be for the 1608cc.

Before installing the head I got to try out my new dial gauge to set TDC. Which on something like this 4-cylinder is completely unnecessary. I could probably "feel" TDC by moving the crank by hand and be within 2 degrees.

I also needed to torque down the auxiliary shaft pulley. Which was a bit tricky since I couldn't find anything to hold the aux shaft. I had an old oil pump I thought I could use by jamming the gears but I was worried it would strip the teeth in the drive gear/bush. Eventually I reverted to just using some bailing wire through the two timing holes. This was sufficient to get the 58lbs needed for the pulley.

And here's a tip for replacing the water pump, replace the bolts too! I snapped one in the block but I was lucky that I had cleaned the threads first so it came out very easily. There are 4 m6-1.0 bolts. Two 25mm and two 45mm.

Pistons Installed

Lots of cleaning, oiling, more cleaning and more oiling. The pink stuff is Redline assembly lube.

Painting the Block

Got the engine block back from the machinist after he cleaned it up, honed the bores and replaced a couple of freeze plug (not sure why he didn't replace all of them). I used a wire wheel with an electric drill and knocked off the loose rust and then washed the block with light soapy water. I then used some wax & grease remover in preparation for paint but noticed that I was still getting rust dust from the block once it had dried so I did another cycle of wash and prep.

I used Duplicolor Engine Primer (DE1612) and then used Cast Coat Iron (DE1651). This is a decent alternative to the original colour which is a dark machine grey. Some of its faded remnants can still be seen in the photo below. I kept colour coating it until I ran out of paint. Which ended up being around 5 coats.

 

I will let it cure over night and then begin washing the block again in preparation for reassembly.

Bottom End

The discolouration on the crank webs are due to heat treating done to the crankshaft for hardening.

Main bearings look like they're done. Connecting rod bearings look perfect. Bores look OK.

Engine with Transmission Removal

I needed to replace the clutch and there were a lot of oil leaks so I decided to pull the engine and spruce it up a little.

I followed the instructions in the Haynes manual mostly but I also removed the alternator and intake manifold for extra visibility.

I used the factory lifting eye on the passenger's side cam cover and I used one of the intake manifold studs on the other side. I know some people like to use a cylinder head bolt but that just sounds ridiculous to me. If it were a rare Ferrari V12, would you remove a cylinder head bolt just to remove/install the engine in the car? No. So why should it be any different for any other car.

I didn't remove the shifter extension housing. I used the 1 ton setting on my 2 ton crane and used a leveler. I had the front of the car on the ground and the rear of the car raised slightly using axle stands.

Was a pretty easy job overall. Felt almost like cheating compared to some of the other cars I've worked on.

 

Lots of clean up to look forward too :)

Removing Shifter Lever Extension

The trick to this is not to try and pull up on the lever while wedging the clips closed. Instead, put a small screw driver between two of the ears and pull the clip down while holding the lever.