I've spent the last week or so (little bits at a time) tearing down the
engine that will ultimately power my project car (I decided not to waste
the effort on the gold car at this time), and it's finally all apart.
Pep Boys saved me once again with the removal of the crankshaft pulley
nut, and again, didn't charge me. I just took the block and the socket
over, backed my car in a stall, opened the hatch, handed them the
socket, and watched as they loosened it up. They gave me the usual "we
might break your crank" disclaimer. The air compressor-driven tool had
a bit of trouble, but after about 15-20 seconds finally broke it free.
The mechanic was happy to do something out of the ordinary I think,
because he talked for about 15 minutes afterward about cars and air
compressors and Craftsman tools, etc. I went home and did the rest of
the disassembly in the back of my CR-V.
The motor has definitely been rebuilt before. Somebody had etched
really nice lines in the crankshaft sprocket, camshaft sprocket, and
front plate for timing alignment. Now to find out if they did any
boring of the cylinders or grinding of the crank... All the bolts were
too tight, some of the main bearing cap bolts required a LOT of force to
break them free, and all the bolts were torqued differently, requiring
noticeably various amounts of torque to loosen them.
Just for fun, I posted a few new Mavica pictures (indoor Mavica photos
turn out darkish, but they are instantly "developed," so I can't
complain): http://www.midgetweb.com/motor.asp
Adrian
'75 Midget project coming together
'75 Midget waiting to be taken apart
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