The Joys of this game...

[rorym]

Was getting ready for a sprint meet here Thursday...started the car...took a while...ran rough...then tried again..ran crap...then wouldnt start..to cut a long story short...when it was steam cleaned to come to OZ..might have had some moisture get in the tappet cover...onto the valve stems...appears No.3 exhaust hung down...piston wacked it...popped the rocker arm...which sheared the crank keyway...and spun the engine 180 degrees out...timed it statically...both No.1 and 4 are at the bottom of their stroke...should be at the top!...Anyway...will pull the seat..and tank to get at the keyway...see if thats what it is..cam is fine..key is still intact as is the cam belt..no missing teeth..then will pull the head for a clean up...Hope I dont need to pull the engine..it only has 1.5 hours on it...Gotta love this game Huh?
R

[Rick Kirchner]

It looks like you have a Van Diemen.

Believe me, pulling the engine is the easy way to work on the front. I built a pulling device that clears all the roll bar stuff and balances the engine. Did the same for the bellhousing back.

With an overhead chain hoist, I can now pull the motor in 1.5hr and put it back in 2.5 hr.

I did a lot of hose and cable engineering to make that possible as well, but it's worth it.

[rorym]

Yeah 88 Model Rick...
R

[Steve Demeter]

This might sound really dumb:

When # 1 is at TDC and the rotor is pointing to #1, where is the cam?

Once I got an engine back from the builder and it would not start to save my life.

Popped and banged a lot.

Timing when checked statically was fine, except #4 was at TDC of the compression stroke ( or about 38 deg before) instead of number 1. It took a bit of time to figure that out.

Distributor was put in 180 deg out.

Was in a major panic for about an hour til we figured it out.

[Fred Michael]

Yeah, What Steve said.
Done that to myself once.

[Rick Kirchner]

Ditto.....

[rorym]

Trouble is it was running fine b4...hasnt been touched before this hiccup..
R

[Modo]

You clean guys make me laugh!! Yea, water is no good in and around an engine without compressed air N' WD40 follow up and of course not near electrics.......likewise for a block dipper earlier this year, sounds neat and appropriate....gets it back and doesn't know where the plugs go!!.....I prefer the ole Aussie way, mum's tub and a garden hose and soap, your own disassembly, welding wire or coathangers and bits of rag or proper brushes for galleys, compressed air and WD40/oil follow up......believe it or not, was in top notch local engine builders shop and saw a block gettn' the wash although in purpose built tub, not mum's!!

PS the old Gunk story, kid with first car is reeeally gonna take care of it, Gunk's and squirts, car doesn't start, dad sez, "if it ain't broke don't fix it!!"

[rorym]

Ahh...It was US Customs?...They are the clean guys...
R

[Modo]

Just a tongue and cheek thing I threw out there........good to be clean if u don't bugger anything up......backyard mechanic I am, there is always a risk.......by the way, there is a correct way to Gunk-away.....plastic around distributer et. al. but at 17 or 18 and new car guy, it may not play in. Course, water into the valve cover is a new one!!

[rorym]

Excellent news, the No.4 exhaust was sitting down...tapped the piston....the crank pulley just jumped the belt...Bottom end is fine..WooHoo! Was expecting a hole in the piston..no marks at all..need a top end rebuild with bigger compression, cam kit,bigger inlets etc...faster now...was going to do it any way. The class I am running allows it here...so will look at fitting the 40DFAV or a side draught 45 DCOE...more fun to be had..happy chappy now.

R.

[rorym]

All explained..pressure crack test shows a hairline in the head in No.4...into the bin it goes...now need another one...anyone throwing an Alloy head away?..Lol!
R