Some more on the subject of engine rebuilding. For the beginner, I
reccommend the $15 Book, Weekend Mechanics Guide to Engine Rebuilding,
available from Classic Motorbooks, and many bookstores. Includes
dis & reassembly, inspection, testing, and basic machining info.
To add to Scott's list on tools, unless you are taking your engine to
a machine shop to do everything, you will quickly find out about engine
tools. A couple, you can beg, borrow, or rent, but if you are going
to do more than one engine, you should think about buying:
-Torque Wrench. Mandatory for reassembly.
-Valve Spring compressor. There are some different styles
for different heads. Many British cars respond well to
the large C-clamp/vice grip style.
-Valve lapping tool and lapping compound. They sell suction-cup
jobs, on sticks to use by hand, or reciprocating hand crank
do-wackys. The theory is that you stick the cup to the valve face,
put lapping compound on the valve/seat surfaces, put the valve in
it's guide, and work it back and forth to match the surfaces.
After being frustrated with suction cups falling off the valves,
I have started using either and old hand crank drill, or one of
the reciprocating tools, and putting one end of a 3-4 piece of
rubber tubing over the stem of the installed valve, the other
on over a shaft in the drill or valve tool, and doing the
deed from below. No slip, and a lot faster.
-Ring Compressor- Clamps the rings into the piston groves
so you can get them back into the cylinder.
-Gasket scrapers (Razor on a stick, and a screwdriver.
-Some kind of parts wash tank and toothbrush. An old steel
cassorole pan with a cover works well to keep solvent from
evaporating. (Kero, fuel oil, etc. Gunk has a good additive
which lets you wash off with water, and improves the cleaning
qualities of kerosene) [that's paraffin, in English-speak)
You *will* buy plasti-gage, the thin spaggetti stuff which you set into
the bearing, torque together, and then take it apart. You then measure
the amount of squish to find the bearing clearence.
Other things you may need:
-Ridge reamer
-cylinder hone
-Measuring tools, to figure out what size the parts are now.
6" dial calipers
T-Guages (telescoping inside measure tool, for bores)
Micrometers
Dividers
-pully or damper pullers.
-Wire wheel, for cleaning parts. It's important to clean
up the grunge, not just for future operation, but so you
can see the state of all current parts. I have a bench wheel for
many parts, but a 11000 RPM 4" grinder with a knotted wire
brush, mounted in a vice, makes short work of deposits on
valves. (Or your fingers, be careful)
-first aid kit.
There are, of course a lot more that it may be nice to have, but you
can get by without.
-piston ring expander
-Oil seal pullers/presses
-Dial bore guage
-Indexing Wheel (for custom valve timing)
-and on up to a full engine shop.
________________________________________________________
Roger Garnett (garnett@BATCOMPUTER.TN.CORNELL.EDU)
The South Lansing Centre For Wayward Sports Cars
"All donations of stray, orphaned, odd, neglected, etc.
sports cars and bits in need of a good home accepted."
"The drop off bin is right there- behind the barn..."
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