Continuing with the next stage which is sorting out all the bits needed for rebuilding
I spent the weekend carefully cleaning and measuring all the engine components to see what needed replacing due to wear or damage. Takes a while as the key dimensions on every component need to be checked.
then need to check my stock of spares to see what I had versus whats need, here is my stock of thrust bearings behind it you will see the gauge I use to check the spring loads versus length
The outcome was not to bad and as you can see form the list below that given shipping costs to Australia it is cost effective to try to order what you may need in advance for future builds !
# The crank No3 rod journal had about 5 thou wear and the crank is off to my local crank specialist ( Crankshaft Rebuilders) for a regrind to 20 thou under on the Rod journals and a polish on the mains. The crank is a converted Datson L16 steel forging and this ends up with 10 thou undersize to get the standard stroke when first machined so next size is 20 thou undersize on the journals. I had a spare set of std mains and 20 thou under Rod bearings so right for crank bearings and I have plenty of spare thrust bearings !
# The No.3 Carillo Rod big end has distorted slightly due to overheating and is not usable so ordered 5 rods as i had no spares from Tony Ingram at Lotus7.com who is a great source of racing engine parts in the US.
# Pistons and block are all OK and can go back together without issues
# The No. 4 inlet cam follower was distorted due to the sleeve wear I have some spares but of different pad thickness so ordered 9 more from Tony Ingram of the 140 thou pad who supplied the current ones in the engine. All the other followers were perfect.
# The head has gone to my local head specialist ( HSD, Head Stud Developments) to have the sleeve in No. 4 inlet valve bore replaced and honed to standard factory tolerances. He will also hardness test the removed worn sleeve to see if that explains why it wore so quickly. The rest of the head was fine with no wear or damage on seats, guides or the other 7 follower sleeves.
# All the springs were fine and within original tolerances on load versus compression length
# The valve spring seat in No.4 inlet had been damaged but I have plenty of spares of these in various thicknesses to get the right spring seat load on assembly
# The valve tip, collet groove, titanium retainer and collets on the No 4 inlet had some damage from the follower rocking in the worn bore. So new ones of these have also been order from Tony Ingram. I got 9 so I have a spare set for my next race engine build also. Also ordered spare set of inlet and exhaust valves as he now sells one piece forged stainless valves with a black nitrided surface finish and i wanted to see what they looked like for
# Going through the rest of what was needed. I ordered a race inlet valve to replace the damaged one as the others in this engine were also from QED and some gaskets and other bits and pieces such as the lock washers on the layshaft that I was running low on stock of and another set of race springs from them. I use the QED red race springs often as these best suit the typical competition engine builds I do in combination with the Tony Ingram titanium retainers and I had no spares of these left. I have spare sets of race springs from all the suppliers and they all have slightly different characteristics in terms of install height and spring rate but I find the QED ones most flexible in their application so I end up using these the most.
So having stressed my credit card I will now finish cleaning everything over the next few weeks while waiting for the parts to arrive and for the machining work to be done. I will go through the engine bay looking for issues as plenty of room with the engine out and I need to check for cracks from racing stresses around engine mounts and roll bar mounts. I will remove the gear box so I can check the prop shaft U/J as I have not had this out since I rebuilt the car in 1980! I also need to have the gear box out so I can get the jammed and rounded off fill plug out. I also have a set of adjustable front wishbones to fit if I run out of other things to do and then I can use my new electronic camber and caster gauge to do the front setup .. nothing like new toys to play with and never any shortage of work to do to keep an old race car on the track and reliable
I will continue when the the parts arrive and the rebuild begins
cheers
Rohan