Missing Oil Slinger & Refit

[EwanG]

In my last post on 30th June, I had removed the cylinder head in my quest to try and start the car for the first time (she was turning over but not starting). I purchased the car in April 2023 and when registering her as SORN I discovered that she has been off the road since around 1980. I suspect the engine has been turned over regularly since then and I also found an old receipt from 1980 for the regrinding of the Crankshaft for a "princely sum" of £21.74! This amounts to most of the history I know of the car.

The head is now off to a machine shop for some maintenance (some valves were sticking and valve train generally needing some attention). Will use the opportunity to make some minor upgrades to the head.

In the meantime I proceeded to remove the engine and then the gearbox with a view to renewing all gaskets and seals, water pump, clutch etc... (down another giant rabbit hole ). It took a significant amount of time to remove the front timing case cover as the water pump o'ring carrier and impellor were stuck fast to the back plate. I was constantly on this forum to learn from other's experiences which along with buckets of perseverance, heat, levers, more heat, and eventually some brute force to remove both front and back covers. The o-ring carrier was still well and truly 'welded' to the back cover and the impellor came out in pieces. I guess 43 years of storage doesn't help, but the resources on this forum certainly did...

Anyway, long story short, with the water pump kit now successfully instalIed I am now ready to refit. After fitting the rear cover, all of my reading resources were suggesting that I needed to "refit the Oil Slinger". Up until now, I'm not sure that I had ever heard of an oil slinger let alone have any recollection of removing. After a quick rummage through my labelled zip bags, and looking back at all my photos, it would appear that it was not fitted in the first place. I have now ordered a new one and taken the opportunity to order new jackshaft locktab at the same time (just awaiting delivery).

My simple question is, does the slinger just slip onto the end of the Crank Sprocket prior to the front cover being refitted? Is it just a compression fit? Are there any particular fitting tips? It's probably so obvious that I can't find any detailed references anywhere but taking the "measure twice" approach as I am not in any hurry to remove these covers again anytime soon

PS - if anyone out there knows any history of CTW 26G, please let me know!

[rgh0]

The oil slinger is fitted between the sprocket and crankpully. It needs to be fitted before the front cover is assembled. It is then clamped in place by the front pulley when it is fitted after the assembly of the chain cover / water pump. It is sometimes missing as people forget to fit it before fitting the front cover and dont want to disassemble to fit it when they miss it.

cheers
Rohan

[EwanG]

Thanks Rohan, makes perfect sense (I can easily imagine that sinking feeling when refitting your engine and gearbox and discovering an extra bag of parts sitting on the bench ). Cheers...

[512BB]

It is possible to fit the slinger two ways round. There is the correct way, and the wrong way. 40 odd years ago, on my first twin cam engine rebuild, indeed, my first engine rebuild, I fitted it the wrong way round, but noticed before final bolting up of the front cover. Learnt from that mistake.

I hope you have fitted new locktabs to both the jackshaft securing U plate and sprocket.

All the best,

Leslie

[EwanG]

Thanks Leslie. I hadn't thought to do the Thrust U plate locktab too but will add that to the list!

From the pictures, I was assuming that the wider diameter end of the oil slinger faces away from the block but I can't actually find any good pictures of it in situ - is that correct?

Cheers,
Ewan

[types26/36]

Here is a picture with the slinger in place.

[EwanG]

Thanks Brian - perfect!

[Doog]

I was the owner of CTW 26G from 1980 till 2022.

I purchased the car as a non-runner in 1980. It was in a sorry state, broken diff driveshaft, leaking non factory fabric sunroof, interior panels damp and warped, water saturated carpet, crazed bodywork, veneer cracked and missing from dash etc etc. Tyres were oversized wider low profile which was fouling the body work

It was intended as a donor for a mk1 Mexico to bring it up to twin-cam spec. However this fell thro’ due to the purchase of an RS2000 Nobody locally was interested in a +2 restoration project so I decided to see if I could make it roadworthy and presentable.
The broken driveshaft was replaced along with bearings, new doughnuts, and bearings to the rear struts. New bushes to the A frames, new bearings, mounts and inserts to the rear struts. The handbrake callipers were missing so a fabrication was made as a make do temp setup. New hydraulic seals and pistons fitted to rear callipers, and new brake discs.

Front wishbones were badly worn and replaced with tubular top and bottom. Chassis was corroded at the front suspension uprights and a bit of welding was carried out. Front brake, clutch and master cylinder seals were renewed, as well as all the flexible and rigid brake pipes.
Some drive pegs were missing and on close inspection the steel wheel peg holes were noticeably elongated. So stepped drive pegs were manufactured from ½” bar(?) and the peg holes increased accordingly +1/8” I think. Front shocks were renewed (I think)

The pedal box had way too much play, so (I can’t remember exactly) a new shaft was made and the pedal pivots were drilled and bushed.
All the interior panels were scrapped due to extensive warping and refabricated in hardboard and vinyl. The dash was removed and the remainder of the cracked walnut veneer was removed and a new walnut veneer glued and clamped to the existing ply backing. I purchased walnut veneer it should have been burr walnut.

The electric windows didn’t open or close. The motors were fine it was current that was lacking to power them. So a direct supply from the fuse box was taken to the motor via a relay which was operated by the window switches. A new fuse box was fitted with a few more connections than the original 2 fuse setup

The sunroof was removed and the massive hole infilled with plastic laminate sheet former and filler.

The crazed paint was removed and the bodywork sanded and primed.

New plugs, points, distributor, dynamo were fitted. The carbs were overhauled, an oil change and it was good to go.
The engine was regularly run so when it looked like it was nearing what I would loosely describe as roadworthy. New tyres were fitted and it was taken to a disused industrial estate and given a test drive. The engine was not pulling the way I expected and subsequently I discovered was internally in need of some TLC. The radiator was leaking so I had it repaired but unfortunately a few of the fins were too far gone for repair without a complete rebuild so as a temporary measure an electric fan was cobbled together to cope with the reduced capacity of the radiator.

At this point a new job, house and family came along and due time constraints the Elan project was abandoned.

The receipt you have is not for the twin cam crank but for a Ford 1600 crossflow engine. It was potentially to be used for Elan engine with shorter con rods but that never happened.

Hope this info has been of some use.

Doog

[EwanG]

Hi Doog,
Many thanks for your message. It is really great to know where CTW 26G had been for 42 of the last 43 years. I purchased her with zero history around 1 year ago but despite still being a project car I could tell that a lot of painstaking TLC had been provided over since 1980. As you know, the tyres are brand new (despite being almost 20 years old now). She's back in Scotland now too...

I absolutely love this car and although I have committed a few hundred hours of effort already (and spent a fair bit too), I have barely scratched the surface. A true labour of love. My original estimate was a 3-year sympathetic restoration but that clock is ticking fast. My initial plan was to get the engine running cleanly and while that has taken a lot longer than planned I am hopefully getting close now. With engine and gearbox ready to get dropped back in.

Thanks again for the post. Is it ok if I PM you via this forum in the future to learn a little bit more? There may be some items on my to do list that you have already ticked off in the past. If you are ever over in Peebles on a sunnier day feel free to drop in for a visit.

Ewan

[Doog]

PM via this forum is fine