1976 series 3 rebuild

Okay, now for an update on everything.

The heater matrix was given a coat of silver and blown through with the air compressor (doing this to get rid of the dirt between the fins should help it to work a bit better)



Originally this did have some foam insulation type stuff around it so I cut some new from a roll of blue foam we have and wrapped it round.



This was then slotted back into the housing, which had been painted gloss black



And finally the housing was screwed back together with the self tappers and then the paint was touched up



Then it was back to the engine as we wanted to take the timing belt cover off, we originally thought it would have a chain but discovered it was actually a belt (would have found that out by looking in the book but ah well )



The water pump was taken off first, unfortunately the two lower most bolts sheared, one sheared and one had its threads stripped.



We tried a stud extractor but that made it shear even closer to the casting






Next the bolts around the timing cover were removed, these were placed on a matt in the order they were taken off as they are different lengths so it would save faffing about later trying to find the right size bolts





After the cover was taken off, the bolts were put back in the right place so we didn't lose them and then inside the timing cover and the cover plate itself was cleaned with some horrible smelling "cleaner", still debating whether its actually degreaser or someone's just had a pee in the bottle, whatever it was it seemed to work More to follow...

We left the engine work for a while and went to work on a tub, the area where the tub bolts to the brackets on the crossmember were corroded and it was decided to weld a new plate of aluminium in. We cut the old metal out and prepped it for welding and we got Stuart Cramp from Stuart Marine to do the welding
Stuart Marine engineering services

The old metal cut out


The new plate cut to fit the width of the hole


The welding of the tub








There was also a large crack in the rear wing behind the wheel arch which was also welded and a section of the floor was also welded in.

I then set about undersealing the tub, we put about 2 coats of underseal on, the first was thinned and brushed on to get it everywhere (thats why there are light patches)



That was then left to dry and I went to look at the exhaust. The original plan was to get a stainless exhaust but we decided to look at the old one and if it was good to use that (Save some money )I put it on my dad's folding step thing and took the brackets off and wire brushed the exhaust, finding no holes at all, it is very good

The only problem we found was that the bit of metal clamping the exhaust to the bracket had snapped on one of them so a new one was made out of some metal strip and bent to same radius as the original, 2 holes were then drilled in it to allow it to be bolted to the bracket.



We had some high temperature silver paint which is also the stuff used on the manifold and I set the exhaust up across 2 trestles and set about spraying the exhaust sections, looks quite good I think





As you can see from the above picture, we also started to run the new brake lines, we've done the back axle but we've run out of clips which are now on order. THe exhaust back section is also now back on, looks like new







And the horn bracket was also cleaned up. For masking up electrical connectors (on this they are the flat rectangular type) I don't use masking tape but put a spare spade connector on which prevents any paint getting on the contacts. you can see them in the picture (the brassy looking things)




We had to push the landy outside so we could get sand and cement in as my Dad's building a new deck outside the kitchen and wants it concreted

And now for todays work, the cylinder head

The head was washed off with paraffin to get all of the grinding paste and dirt out of it and the first job was to do the hot plugs. We weren't able to get the roller pins out as they were solid so they were reused.

Grease was smeared around the plug to help hold it securely in the head.



It was then placed on the head, locating the recess in line with the roller pin



It was then tapped in with a rubber mallet until almost flush and then gently tapped with a hammer and a brass drift until flush with the rest of the head. We don't have a dti so this was done by feel (you can feel with your fingers if its flush or not but a DTI would be more accurate) and it should be within the tolerance specified in the book





The valve components were then washed in paraffin (one at a time so as not to get things mixed up, this is important with valves) and then the valves were replaced, starting with No. 1 at the front (the thermostat end of the head)



The valve was pushed through and then the oil seal was put in place. In the head gasket set there is a pack of 8 oil seals and they are of two different types, one type has a spring in the groove and a smooth exterior, these are for the inlet valves only. The other type is just a plain groove with 4 little rib type things along the outside and these are for the exhaust valves. These will push down the valve and will sit in a groove so they can't come out again.



I don't have any pictures of this next bit so will have to try and explain, the spring and the collet retainer plate (this will only fit on one end of the spring so it will fit properly) were then slid over the valve stem. A valve spring compressor was then used, keeping it central to the valve, the spring was compressed enough to be able to put the collets on correctly. When the collets are both on, release the spring compressor but very slowly so you don't get your fingers stuck. The collets should now be in place preventing the spring and the plate from coming up the valve. Next you can gently tap the plate holding the collets to help bed them in.

I hope that makes sense to you?

Anyway here's the head with the valves done





Glowplugs and the injectors were next to go back on, the glowplugs were given a clean and then put in the head and torqued up to 18 lb/ft (the book says between 11 and 22 lb/ft is correct.

The injectors were then cleaned with a paintbrush and parrafin, (away from the nozzle and the hole fuel enters to stop any damage occuring) to get rid of the carbon and old oil that was baked on a couple of them.

Before fitting an injector, a copper washer must be fitted to the bottom of the injector housing tube. The old one may still be in there so be sure to take it out. If its tight, you need to get a screwdriver and tap the washer with a hammer, this will eventually buckle it enough to allow it to be removed. Only 1 was stuck like this on our head and this is how we removed it. The rest came out with the injectors.



To help allow the washer to be located centrally you can put it on a screwdriver and put the screwdriver down the injector hole and slide the washer down it.



The injector can then be put on, ensuring it seats correctly (if it doesn't it either means it isn't sitting correctly on the copper washer or it is just tight on the threads, in which you can lightly tap it down.





The head complete except the rocker shaft



And the rocker shaft placed temporarily on the head, this will be tomorrows job along with measuring the bores.

ideally hot spots should be proud by a thou or 2,did you fit both washers in injector holes

jamesmartin said:

ideally hot spots should be proud by a thou or 2,did you fit both washers in injector holes

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Yeah the book said it could be proud by a small amount or recessed a small amount, I shall have to find the numbers again. Just as a matter of curiosity now, how do you manage to get the roller pins out? Is there a special tool?

There was only one washer in there when the injectors came out (the copper one) unless they just didn't come out as they were that tight. Is one of them not a copper washer but a normal one? If thats the case then there are definitely 2 washers in there definitley I'm sure thinking about it as the bottom looked a different metal (looked like another washer down there)

not everything in some books is exact truth ,they should be slightly proud as thats what holds them tight ,gasket has provision for them,new ones shrink so flush-ish but not below will be ok with used ones ,theres no special tool apart from small mole grips etc or carbide drill bit

jamesmartin said:

not everything in some books is exact truth ,they should be slightly proud as thats what holds them tight ,gasket has provision for them,new ones shrink so flush-ish but not below will be ok with used ones ,theres no special tool apart from small mole grips etc or carbide drill bit

Click to expand...

I see, yes that does make sense

looks like your making a clean and professional job of it

Thanks James Should be nice when its finished I hope

So today the first job was to check the bore size. We used some internal callipers and then measured the distance with a digital vernier. Doing this we found the bores to be standard size with next to no wear in them at all.



The piston rings were then checked to see what the gap was like. To do this a piston ring was put in the bore and using feeler gauges we found the gaps to be about 1.5mm far bigger than any of the specs given in all of the books we have (about 3 times bigger than it should) so new rings will be bought on monday from L & R in Bryngwran.

The next item on the agenda was the 2 broken studs at the bottom of where the water pump goes. To get at these, it was decided to take the whole front of the engine off. We did try drilling a stud out but the drill wouldn't touch it and there was too much stud to drill out anyway.



The 2 nuts on the idler wheel bracket were slackened allowing the tensioner to move. The belt can now be removed.





The camshaft pulley was then taken off.



Its worth noting that each of the shafts has a woodruff key holding the pulley in place, in the case of the crankshaft, it has 2.





The injector pump pulley wouldn't come off using a pry-bar so we had to make a puller. I found a disk of steel in the workshop / shed that was big enough. The distance between the holes was measured and then marked on the disk. The holes were then centrepunched, drilled through with a pilot drill and then drilled to the final clearance hole size for the bolts



It worked quite well





The crankshaft was next removed using a pair of pullers (the ones with a pair of legs and a thread running down the middle. This picture shows where the 2 keys sit





The oil seal was leaking here and will be replaced.

Next was to get the injector pump off, this little connector on top of the pump was removed, the outer sleeve is tapped forward until you can lift it off the pump. Before taking the pump off we scribed a line on it and the casting on the front of the engine so we can put it back in line properly as it came off.



The bolts and nuts were then removed using a 13mm spanner





With the pump off we could now start to remove the casting at the front of the engine, this required use of prybars, a large mallet, a fox wedge and a wallpaper scraper to try and get it to move.

Eventually:





The 2 sheared bolts




The longest one was tackled first, this was heated up using the gas torch



An 8mm stud extractor socket was used with a tommy bar to unscrew the bolt out of the casting







We couldn't use the stud extractor on the other one as there wasn't enough protruding out of the casting. The plan we came up with was to weld a nut on to the end of the thread and then use a spanner or socket to undo it.

The Arc welder was chosen for this because it was quicker to set up







Success

Piston rings, main bearings and thrust washers are on order from C & A in Bangor and we'll pick them up Monday. All being well the bulk of the work on the engine will be done by Tuesday evening so will do a proper update then

Right, time for an update (at last)

The first thing we did was to rotate the engine so the sump was on top. We had found the crankshaft to have a good deal of end float so whilst we're at it the main bearings might as well be checked, good job we did



The oil pump was taken off to give more room. There are 2 bolts with a tab washer on each holding this to the block. The tab washers are knocked out the way with a punch and the bolts undone. The mallet was used gently to persuade the pump to come off



With that out the way, it was time to undo the main bearing bolts. These were first cracked off using a socket on a large breaker with a pipe on the end for added leverage







With the bearing cap taken off, the crankshaft could be lifted out







The rearmost bearing is much thicker (widthways) than the other 4



Before putting the pistons back in the bores, it was decided to run a glaze buster in the bores. Before doing this the oil pipes in the block which point upwards (into the bore) were removed.



Here is where they sit. They will only go one way due to a locating peg



The glaze buster in the drill







The oil pipes could then be refitted and the bolts torqued up.



As there was endfloat, new thrust washers were bought. Here they are sat on the third bearing housing (looking from the front) A smear of grease on the side helps hold it in place. you can tell where they go because there is like a shelf either side of where the bearing goes for the washer pieces to sit on.





The new main bearing shells from C & A in Bangor (you can see the wider rearmost bearing shells)







Before lifting the crank back in, oil was squirted on the bearing faces. This is so that when the engine has its first start there is oil in the engine so it doesn't run dry.





The crank was cleaned and put back then the first 4 bearings were put back on.



The rearmost bearing shell housing has an oil seal either side which needed replacing (the L shaped bit on the side)





A bit of hylomar helps give a good seal and hold it in place



The bolts were then torqued up and then the oil pump was put back on (replacing the gasket as well when it was fitted)

Three pistons, minus the rings.



Each piston was then carefully cleaned using an old piston ring to clean out the ring grooves. The piston was placed carefully in the vise for putting the rings on. We found the bores to be oversize so piston rings that are 20 thou oversize are fitted



I haven't got any pictures of actually putting the rings on but will attempt to describe what we did. The rings were coated with oil to help lubricate them. The gap was opened up using a pair of piston ring pliers (like these http://www.machinemart.co.uk/images/library/product/large/04/040210428.jpg )

As the gap was opened, the ring was then slid down over the piston until it reached the right groove. The oil control ring was done first, this has a spring in it which makes it a bit fiddlier than the others to put on.

With the piston rings fitted, it was time to put them in the engine. Before doing this though a big end bearing shell was fitted to the end of the connecting rod and oiled up. The piston was oiled and put in the bore a short way and a piston slip (like this http://www.westcountryhardware.co.u...ab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/C/L/CL-1801257.jpg ) fitted over the piston until it covers the bottom ring. It is then tightened up to compress the ring, it has to be tight otherwise the piston won't go in.

Once the rings are compressed the piston can be knocked in, A lump hammer was used, knocking the top of the piston with the wooden handle, holding the metal hammer head in the hand. As the handle is wood, it won't damage anything as it is softer than the metal. The piston is knocked down until the bearing shell touches the crankshaft (which is oiled as well) then the other half of the bearing can be fitted. Its worth noting that the bearings will only fit one way. On each bearing shell, there is a little tab on one end and when the bearing shells meet, the sides with the tabs touch each other, e.g. the plain sides of the bearing are on the same side of the engine. (Hope that makes sense)





As we want to fit a brake servo, there a little thing above the oil pump which has blades in it which rotate and make up the air pressure for the servo (its hard to explain). Anyway, the plastic blades were removed before so we need to refit them.



They fit in the rectangular slots on this eccentric. they shouldn't be tight so when the engine runs and the eccentric rotates, they move out (sort of like the old ball type engine governors on old steam engines)



The whole housing was taken off so the gasket could be changed (it was weeping a bit of oil so might as well)



Here are the blades refitted



The cover was then put back on



The new head gasket was then fitted



and the head was put on







The plate which holds the fuel pump bracket was taken off to change the gasket as quite a bit of oil was coming out





Once that was done, it was time to look at the front of the engine again and to change the oil seals on the front plate.







The gasket was put on (with a good amount of hylomar blue on either gasket face to give a good seal) and the plate bolted back on



With that done, the woodruff keys, pulleys, belt tensioner and the new timing belt could go on. The old belt looked new but it was decided to get a new one anyway to be on the safe side, would be a shame to get it done and then have the old belt snap after a couple of miles.



The front cover and water pump were then put on, again with a good smear of hylomar on the gasket faces as was done with all gaskets on this engine)



The tappets were then adjusted using a feeler gauge to 10 thou. With the valve fully closed, a feeler gauge is place on the top of the valve as the screw on top of the rocker arm is tightened. When you can move the feeler gauge but still feel it drag a bit, the nut was then tightened up to lock the setting in place.



The rocker cover my Dad polished up was then put back on





Injector pipes were refitted (sorry for the bad light in this photo)



As were the manifolds which have been painted in VHT silver paint



The engine was again turned over so the sump gasket and sump were put back on



The fuel lift pump was leaking oil from underneath where the arm enters the block so it was decided to take it off and make a rubber diaphragm type thing between the gasket and the pump from a rubber glove to see if it will help minimise the oil leak

The thermostat was then rebuilt



A new o-ring was fitted as the old one was perished where the thermostat itself sits on the housing.







Gasket fitted, again with hylomar



The bottom half of the thermostat housing was fitted to the gasket



The other gasket for between the housing and the block



It was then bolted to the engine head. Before doing this, its worth putting quite a bit of copper grease all around the bolts as they are very fine threads and they are prone to shearing from what I've seen and read



The engine was then made ready to lift off the engine stand to do the back end using a chain on the hoist.







It was then put on the floor, made safe by putting wooden blocks under it to stop it from tipping. Once this was done the crankshaft oil seal in the flywheel/ clutch housing was replaced



This was then bolted to the engine and the bolts torqued up.
The flywheel was then put back on and the bolts torqued up to 105 lb/ft, took some effort!



After this the clutch was refitted. Unfortunately I haven't got a pic of the whole engine after the work we've done so far, will have to get one tomorrow

Right, done a few little jobs today, cleaned the drums up for the front as they had a load of thick paint over them. Yesterday we took the front brake cylinders off as they were seized solid with no chance of undoing the nuts so they were cut off with a grinder.

Today saw me giving the brake back plate and ends of the axle a coat of black paint and as the engine paint arrived in the post today I gave the engine a first coat. The paint we're using is Pontiac metallic light blue engine enamel from frosts. Also as the rear diff pinion seal was leaking, that was changed for a new one. Pictures to come tomorrow.

Right then, bump stops have been put back on, to stop any muck getting in and corroding everything a bit of rubber was masticked between the bump stop and the chassis.



Old against new bump stop, guess which is which



The new front brake cylinders were fitted and plumbed in as well







The engine was given another coat of paint

Still following this thread closely, so well written and documented, I have said it before, "ought to be made a sticky"

must take ages to organise the pics and do the posts

honolulujoe said:

Still following this thread closely, so well written and documented, I have said it before, "ought to be made a sticky"

must take ages to organise the pics and do the posts

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Thank you Its not too bad, I just write it up while photobucket takes ages to upload the photos, helps me to remember how we did things as well

Right time for another quick update, the wiring has been run through the chassis as well as spare feeds in case I want to add extra things in the future such as extra spotlights. Its been run through black conduit to keep it protected.







When we took the fuel tank off, there was a load of dirt that had accumulated behind it and onto the outrigger so to hopefully stop mud getting in we've filled the gap with neoprene rubber and black mastic











And finally we've been up till quarter to one in the morning painting the bulkhead with marine blue paint from paddocks using a brush and roller







Tomorrow hopefully the tub will be back on and the engine will be lifted back into the chassis

spot on, been an enjoyment to read , this brings back memories of my series2 restoration (link is below), keep up the good work, i ended up with about 300+ pictures of my step by step rebuild, have you been keeping an eye on the time its taken? sadly i didnt

90truckcab said:

spot on, been an enjoyment to read , this brings back memories of my series2 restoration (link is below), keep up the good work, i ended up with about 300+ pictures of my step by step rebuild, have you been keeping an eye on the time its taken? sadly i didnt

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Thanks Your threads such a good reference point and has given quite a few good ideas for things to do on ours We haven't really kept a log of the ours spent but we started around the 20th of November