I know it looks dodgy but my patented spare parts filing system works best for me!



I even found that wayward third bearing cap for the engine (though it is a bit too big for the filing system)



I still haven't found the new crankshaft rear seal - but - it was time to check the new crankshaft

Put the new bearing shells in the bottom of the engine with a bit of assembly oil



Placed the new crankshaft carefully on the shells and turned it so there weren't any lubrication holes in the way for the bearing caps



Mmmmmm plastigauge



(For those that don't know - bits of plastic that get squashed)



Don't use whole lengths if you don't have to - I cut each strip into three to get the results shown below

This (rather expensive) kit (from Frosts) has two types of grease that don't like to mix. Spread one on the journal and the other on the shell in the cap

Place bits of plastigauge on the shells so they don't fall in the lubrication gap or any lubrication holes!



Carefully fit the caps (making sure the plastigauge doesn't fall off)

Tighten the caps by hand and a bit tighter with a ratchet and then torque to spec



Do not turn the crank - you'll bugger up the plastigauge

Remove the caps and see that you've squashed the plastigauge (and you can never use it again boo hoo)



Use supplied gauge to see the measurement

It takes a bit of time to realise squashed flat and "big" is actually small

(think about it!)



Scrape off the plastigauge when done with your finger nail.

The clearance between the new shells and the new crank are unsurprisingly in spec - so that's good.

######

Next check - crankshaft end float

Thrust washers fit around the middle journal



Use a bit of grease / oil to hold them in place (but not too much you don't want to "pad it out" too much" - you want to measure the clearance in that direction)



Using assembly oil on the new shells



Fit end caps and tighten by hand

Spin the crank to make sure it moves before tightening!



After re-torquing the end caps - make sure the crank will turn again

(if the crank is stuck you need to work out why)

Attaching a magnetic stand and DTI on on the end of the block you can push the crank along the longitudinal axis to measure the end float

(again - new crank and new thrust washers gave the correct result - still good to know)

I hope you'll all be glad to know that the cleaning is STILL not done!

(What fun)





(Sorry only had the dog and bone with me today so the picture quality is a bit blurry again - thinking about it may be I should clean the lens...)

After much in-depth soul searching and a fair amount of procrastination and then cocking about finding UNF bolts that are long enough I decided not to use the flywheel housing for attaching the engine to engine stand.

Several people have reported that it is strong enough and all is good (and just think about the forces involved when it is fitted to the vehicle etc etc): But I've done a "Robin the Brave" and decided not to use it this way. The thickness of the aluminium casting is only about 12mm - I don't feel lucky enough to leave the engine hanging on that.



I needed 3 inch long UNF bolts to fit my engine stand adapter to the back of the block.

I've got it positioned at the upper and lower points and there's loads of room to fit the real seal (I hope)

For those that may not have attached an engine to a stand before - always fit the adapter to the engine first and then lift the engine to the stand. I've seen people trying to do it the other way round before and it is pure comedy.





With crank fitted I managed to lift it into place with out the help of the engine crane.

Quite a surprisingly light engine (as it turns out) - perhaps the hanging on the aluminium flywheel casting isn't so dodgy after all? Anyway it won't be done that way by me - and it will get heavier as I add stuff to it...

Well Happy Christmas every one

I thought I'd share a pre-Christmas cock up I made when I was in a bit of a rush. Not Land Rover related but rather amusing (I think).

Cutting doors to fit the new workspace =>



Guess who cut an old door in two and then fitted the hinges and the castor wheel to the wrong bit? (Luckily I still have the builders' fences behind! Hopefully I didn't cut the thing to the wrong length as well - doesn't look too hopeful in the picture does it? Ho hum - oh well - It'll all come good I'm sure...)

Well I'm sure you're all really interested in those blinking doors! They have kind of reached a stage where they are kinda better than before but still in a state of temporary-ness that will probably be about as far as they'll get. I need to crack on with the Land Rover and not get side tracked with other crap.

The plan was to put in some windows or wire so I can see out - at the moment the upper parts have got the temporary sheeting...

Right back to business.

Water pump rebuild.

Pain in the bottom.

Taking it to bits is easy









And putting it back together isn't rocket science =>













You have to make sure the driving flange bit is at the correct distance for the pulley



And then on the other side there's a limit for the gap between the vanes of the pump and the casing



All looked OK

The problem was with the seal that isn't shown being fitted in the pictures above - this goes between the vanes and the casing - on the shaft of course...

Problem with the water pump continued.

Once assembled the pump was really stiff to turn. Like so stiff there was no way a V belt was going to do anything other than skid and burn.

So I ordered a new kit and took the freshly assembled pump to bits again.



This is the seal for the first attempt =>



TIGHT on the shaft!

New kit =>



Seal is very loose on the shaft =>



There's a clearance of about 4mm.

I'm not yet 100% sure if this is right but it seems a bit of a more likely solution to the problem of the non spinning water pump shaft.

I'm gonna start a new thread about this to try and find out which parts are correct.

Just in case folks reading here haven't seen the other thread I started asking about the water pump seals the thread for that is =>

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/water-pump-seals.309733/#post-3897720

I just want to check if others have noticed a large clearance between shaft and seal before.

The sprung seal surface does rub up against the impeller which I suppose will provide sufficient sealing...

...but I just wanna check before I bang it all together again

I've never taken a water pump apart, but that clearance doesn't look right to me.

boguing said:

I've never taken a water pump apart, but that clearance doesn't look right to me.

Click to expand...

Well it is a big gap but on the other hand if the gap isn't there then I know the shaft doesn't turn so easily.

I think I'll make a few more pictures showing how I think it should be sealing. I could bung a load of old fashioned water pump grease behind the seal for good measure too...

Got to take something to bits today.

(Always a good feeling)

I grabbed one of the seat cushions so I get myself geared up for some sewing. Turned out to the a seat back for the front seats. Turns out not to be exactly what I was expecting. The other seats look like they are of a wood and foam construction. This one turned out to have a steel core...



These seats are held in place with leather straps (which exmoor trim seem to sell)



I'm not sure of the original colour (just yet) - might have been black. But there's a bit of rubber mixed in there too





Once you've got the leather straps off there's a bit of hardboard





This bit of hardboard might be a real pain in the arse to replicate. The covering of the board isn't a fabric vinyl, but the effect is a little bit elephant grey...

(That's homework #1 come out of this exercise - just when I thought I'd got this all sussed with the elephant grey fabric...)

There are then little clips =>





These clips hold the seat cover in place onto the metal frame / plate / core =>



There's some sort of cardboard (?) padding used under the seat cover so the clips clamp it all in position.



I then cut the stitches of one of the corners to wriggle the old cover off the seat back





The foam edges of the cushion have a bit of reinforcement band glued on their outer edges



Cover all the way off ready for measurements



Upper edge of the cushion has a different sort of foam



The cushion was glued onto the steel frame / core / base / plate (but due to rust came off quite easily)



And here's the steel plate core =>



(Bit of a bugger having found a steel bit really - far too cold to be derusting and painting - expect extra delays)

Right another bit of the front seats.

This time the centre front base.

This is the seat that made me think the other bases were made with wooden frames - this might not be the case (!). It looks like the two outer seat bases also have a metal frame / plate core...

...anyway this centre one has a chipboard wooden core. It shouldn't be too difficult to make a new one though it is a bit more complicated than it first seems.



The chipboard is surprisingly thin.

It isn't so surprising that this base has snapped in two.



Four nice galvanised corner pieces



Edges of the fabric are simply folded over and nailed in position for most of this base =>



...there are some staples too though (where nails have been used for most of it)...



The staples and the nails are nailed / stapled into a half round "gutter" shape that has been routed into the chipboard (making the edges even thinner - this could be fun!)



A bit brutal - can't be bothered to try and pull out rusty nails and staples with pliers - prised the cover out of the gutter



With cover removed =>



The same "edge treatment" to these foam cushions has been used here too: The three sides of the cushions use a stiffer multi-coloured foam which has been glued to the softer centre foam. All of this has been glued onto the chipboard and it is pretty well stuck on it. I've left it as is for now...

(Aside)

Progress with the engine rebuild has reached a watershed!

(drum roll)

I have found the new rear crankshaft seal!



Ye gads - I can continue...

I forgot to add this the other day. I have been asked (on the series 2 forum) to post up pictures of the elephant hide I found as a comparison with the original.





It is clear to see that the texture of the new and the colour is slightly different. This isn't an exact match. I understand that this is the same stuff that exmoor trim have (could be wrong as I've not actually done a comparison with their stuff yet). The original "hide" has less texture to it and a greater contrast between the two colours within the pattern. The troughs in the original pattern have a darker stain / ink / colour...

...it isn't mega fantastic - but it isn't mega ham shank - so I'm happy (enough) to use it as it will be about as close as I can get to the original (and as you can see my originals are a bit deed)...

Time to buy a throatless shear me thinks...



Cutting straight lines with a spinning wheel isn't so easy (!)

Engine stuff =>

Fitting the camshaft



(Assembly lube a go go)



The fitting gearing for the oil pump (and the injector pump) seems to be missing from the Green Book procedure - I assume you have to make sure the hole in bushing mates with the grub screw!



Not mega easy to do this - fiddle about with a torch to see the hole in the bushing before you fit the grub screw

(Trying to fit this with the engine in the vehicle would be a right royal pain in the bum)

Camshaft end play is set by these thick plates =>



To test you fit (with out the locking tabs)



Then fit the timing chain wheel

Here I'm using longer screws than the original one to get the timing chain wheel onto the end of the camshaft



From the picture above you can see the depth of the thread inside the end of the camshaft is about 3/4" - don't knacker the threads (in the end of the camshaft) by screwing the longer bolts too far into the camshaft

A selection of UNF bolts is handy =>



Here's the timing chain wheel slowly being drawn into place



Got there in the end...



...with the bolt fitted the next step is to measure the end float with a DTI (that's a clock gauge for the Americans)...

...unfortunately someone left his DTI back at the ranch so we'll have to wait for next time to see if the end float is good or not

Oh yeah - forgot to mention - top tip (more for myself who should have known better as I've done this more than a few times before)

DON'T LEAVE THAT BLINKING MASKING TAPE ON AN ENGINE BLOCK YOU ARE PAINTING FOR TOO LONG!

It takes ages to scrape it all off after it has fused itself on there!



And oh yeah #2 =>

I weighed the engine block today (as some people want to know how heavy these things are for engine swap data)

My three main bearing 2.25 litre diesel engine with the crank fitted weighs in at 100kg (according to my trusty bathroom scales)

The weight of my three main bearing diesel engine crank is 22 kg (also measured on my trusty bathroom scales - and no I didn't hoik the whole engine upstairs to the bathroom, the mountain went to Mahomet)

So bare block = 78 kg

More measurements will be made as I go along - I might even do a little excel tabulated bit of anal-ness if you want

Just came across this thread and i likes what i sees. Keep it up as we dont often see this level of intricacy.

mick the builder said:

Just came across this thread and i likes what i sees. Keep it up as we dont often see this level of intricacy.

Click to expand...

Will do.

If you (or any one else) wants something in particular "investigated" (has to be 1965 series 2a station wagon related {!}) please let me know - I do requests (small print: within reason)

Stretch said:

Will do.

If you (or any one else) wants something in particular "investigated" (has to be 1965 series 2a station wagon related {!}) please let me know - I do requests (small print: within reason)

Click to expand...

I cant remember ever hearing of some one taking apart a brand new master/slave cylinder just to see if its clean inside and has been put together properly!!

mick the builder said:

I cant remember ever hearing of some one taking apart a brand new master/slave cylinder just to see if its clean inside and has been put together properly!!

Click to expand...

It's surprising what you can find in new stuff sometimes, I stripped a brand new grease gun once to find it full of machining swarf from it's manufacture