80V6 Engine Rebuild

[S2central.net]

196 - up to a bigger hole and larger 'easyout'
195 - busted tap wrench trying to turn that thing out (bummer)
197 - then had to backdrill the remains of tool out of the hole

All this time spent with only broken tools, a handful of swarf and zero progress is a real PITA so I gave up for a while.

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Attention turned to the block as I was keen to try the honing stones. Hard to see the improvement here in these pics. But a few minutes with the hand drill and the bores were nicely deglazed

185 - before
186 - after

Pics attached this time !

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Next up the oil pump...

191 - outer view before any disassembly... Pulley just sat there for picture purposes

192 - There are actually three different sizes of bolt that attach it to the block so I had to make a note of it

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193 - inner side of oil pump with screws removed from cover plate... Half expecting to see inside a fairly tired looking old pump. Needed a nice tight fitting screwdriver to get these out... was expecting to need an impact driver.

193 - but inside seems OK actually with everything smooth and no play apparent in the gears. Hopefully a clean up, pre-lube and rebuild will save lots of money here.

Note to self that I haven't checked / changed the pressure regulator but should just need a clean up of any old oil residue.

[S2central.net]

Avid followers of this enthralling thread may remember that I broke one of the dowels (spring pin really) in the block that secures the head. I had to carefully drill that out to make way for a new one.

Turns out the factory pins are 6.25mm but I bought a mixed kit of dowels in 2-4-6-8mm sizes. From memory I used one about 20mm long but as expected was not nice and snug in the block.

I broke out the JBweld and used that as the suitable goo to prevent it from moving around in the hole. Seems sweet enough.

[S2central.net]

So getting up to date with last night... the renewed energy and confidence game me the boost to be brave enough and drill out the remains of all those pesky EM studs.

Actually, I forgot a bit... I bought a set of stud extractors from Frosts - Sealey branded for 25quid approx - even though I am skeptical of these 'wonder tools' - I 'd heard from a couple of sources they were well worth trying on studs that are long enough to get a grip on.

One of the studs on one EM was more or less in tact... so on with the 8mm Sealey extractor and a big schwing bar... piece of cake - practically floated out of the hole.

This gave me a good hole for examination. I discover that I have the right sized M8 x 1.25 sized tap available to fit this thread.

So I bravely moved up to a 7mm drill bit and set to removing the remains of all other five studs. Tricky enough by hand at an angle I must say. Blunted two bits in the process but it was a rampant success as I was able to clean up the threads with the M8 x 1.25 tap and that made me smile (for once).

Pic attached is very quick before / after comparison of the two EMs as I started to decoke one set to cleaning up the mating face as well - careful filing required as it was a little pitted here and there.

Dunno if I can bothered smoothing / porting the EM for this machine but I might do a bit just for practise - and it only costs time (mostly).

Might also need to get the EMs sandblasted before I paint them - tis hard to thoroughly degrease them otherwise. A pot of POR15 'black velvet' awaits them after that.

[macspring]

Paul,

I'm following the thread anyway.

Kind regards.

[S2central.net]

Yeah it's exciting huh....

[gunman]

One thing's for sure Paul, It's getting more care and attention now than I would have ever been able to give it.

Great to see the work getting done and the car being done to a standard where it will be about for years yet.

Good man yerself.

[S2central.net]

The next few posts are testament to the power of POR15 products. I used their 'marine clean' degreaser for the 1st time recently and the results are simply staggering. Other products are cheaper, but nothing I have used is better.

331 - about ready for final degrease with marine clean

334 - view of upper oil gallery afterwards - hosed off and dried

336 - view from crankcase side - amazing what that shifted

Next step was application of POR15 'metal ready' on the exterior surfaces before application of paint to the block.

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Only bummer with 'metal ready' is you have to wash off excess and then dry it all off again - not too bad with help from an airline.

339 - one coat of POR15 engine paint... I'd prefer a satin finish but it goes on great

340 - view from the side

342 - view from the top

So happy the engine is starting to look like something now. Has taken bleeding ages to get this far. I did get some runs over the gasket surfaces but a razor soon disappeared them after the paint was dry. I left it a good couple of days as temp is so low here.

These photos are actually 2 weeks old but this is first I've had chance to upload them.

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192 & 193 - pics of oil pump. Internals have had a couple of goes with other degreasers but leave that orribly unsatisfying yucky yellow brown tinge of oil staining.

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Then a quick bath with marine clean - what a difference... 344 in particular shows how clean it is internally now. I have all the internal bits safe in a ziplock bag.

I stripped the pump down and found nothing wrong. Will just renew seals and the temp sensor.

I gave it a quick coat of aluminium paint to protect it from the elements... Just hand brushed on - not perfect when viewed up close.

[S2central.net]

348 - something new and shiny bolted onto block... very sexy or what

350 - loving how clean that crankcase is now... think I am cleaning OCD now

352 - state of one the filthy pistons - being cleaned by a really stinky stuff called 'carbon cleaner' - available from FROSTs - have spent a fortune with them recently. Have had that stuff soaking for a couple of nights - its like a jelly substance so hangs on rather well.

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Getting up to date now - just about...

162 - quick reminder of rank the heads looked on disassembly

164 - alternative view

166 - have been soaking for weeks in a conconction of various chemical... they removed most of the really heavy grime but with lots of effort required. I had hoped to get these into an industrial degreasing machine but thats another story