Fred's Engine Swap Diary

[Fred]

Welded up the sump last Saturday! And tonight I radiused the valve pockets in the pistons. So it's now ready to go back together. Slowly but surely.

[Fred]

3 hours into the head tonight. Surface carefully cleaned and dead smooth once again. Bungs removed from oil galleries for cleaning tomorrow. Bungs cleaned ready to reinstall tomorrow. Just need to wash the head and blow it dry and oil various bits of it, and solvent others to keep them oil-free. Progress is slow, because I'm losing 15-20 hours a day at the moment. Hopefully soon I can recover those hours and make more progress. Likely the engine reinstall will be finished by then, though.

[Fred]

Several hours tonight (~3-~8:30 minus 1 for dinner) into cleaning and greasing and oiling and so on of the head. Now bolted down hard onto the block! Progress indeed. Keen to get a sump on it ASAP and pump some oil around the journals with a starter motor. Here's a pic for ya:

https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8134428672

I love Amsoil products. This grease is wonderful stuff. As is their oil which is coating the bores.

Fred.

[Fred]

45 minute high-intensity session last night could have been something else, but that only takes about 5 minutes

Run outside, pull out water blaster, grinder, blow torch, protection, fluids in cans, air compressor, extension lead, hoses etc
Wire wheel the old silicone off of the sump flange
Get the water blaster running
Blast the living shit out of the inside of the sump, especially under the top plate
Hold it up to dry it shake and stir, etc
Pour alcohol into it, shake and stir, etc
Tip alcohol back out into bottle with minor water content (e95? lol)
Heat and blow flames at the sump until all alcohol had evaporated or burned away
Spray light oil onto all except the flange, smoldered due to general heat
Store upside down on top of block/head combo with cloth over the top and bung finger tight
Put all tools away properly

Phew! Head inside for dinner and wash hands. Not bad

Fred.

[Fred]

Approximately 4 hours last night working on the engine. Sump didn't fit, so had to swap the main journal braces for the modded ones from 2007. Got that done and the pickup tube installed. Also pulled the oil filter tube out and installed the longer one needed for OEM oil cooler use. Will probably put the sump on tonight and get some oil flowing through its veins. Then it's time to pull the old block out and get the clutch setup off of it. Or do I have to install without the sump? I can't remember. Pic of work done: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 3722189824

[Fred]

Did about another 4 hours on the engine yesterday. Drilled and notched the sump flange for the two larger bolts. Test fitted with all fasteners. Cleaned all fasteners. Primed dry oil pump. Zinc primed sump outer surface. Inspected rear main, seems OK. Wiped flanges clean with solvent. Siliconed sump flange. Fitted sump to block. Torqued down all fasteners. Poured some oil into the head.

[Fred]

[Fred]

So, I've been trying to buy an engine crane on the cheap and have failed twice now. Next week I will succeed. No other progress to report.

[Fred]

I now have a two tonne engine crane that requires assembly. And a pair of sweet brake calipers. Call that two hours total.

[Fred]

Engine crane built, but it can't be used with most cars as it has about 190mm of height and although you might have that in the middle if jacked up a bit, you likely won't out to the sides due to suspension arms hanging down etc.

SO, tomorrow I shall be modifying mine to have about 30mm of ground clearance and 80mm less ride height. With these mods I should be able to use it with the ute, and other lower vehicles in future

I might also move the one wheel from my 3 wheeled engine stand, and move the two from the crane onto that, making it four wheels and more stable. Or not. We'll see.

2 hours tonight, more tomorrow for sure. Keen to get the old block out and start swapping parts around...

Fred.