The head sat assembled for a week before fitting, so tappet contraction shouldn't be a problem. I did indeed turn the engine by the crank pulley two revolutions once assembled, nothing but wheezing and hissing with compression. How quickly should tappets self prime? I understand RAVE says not...

I've just been looking up tappets and I have read that they should be filled with oil before fitting. I wonder if it's possible that they have become empty while the head was taken apart. What would the procedure be for filling them again?

I inserted the locking pin before disassembly but it turned out to be locked in BDC #1, didn't know there were any holes other than TDC on the flywheel. So I put it in TDC before reassembly, using the dimple on FIP sprocket as a marker for correct revolution, as mentioned in RAVE. I can't say if...

Yes I had the locking pin in the flywheel with cyl 1 in TDC. I've been going over it in my head but I can't understand how I could have got any timing wrong. I put a 4.6mm wedge between camshaft locking tool and intake side of head when fitting sprocket, #1 was definitely TDC. I wonder if the...

Hi all, I have often visited this forum (google makes a habit of it too) but never had the opportunity to say anything until now. I'm in a bit of a pickle, I'm about to move house (next week!) and have had to replace the head gasket and skim the head on my 95 P38 with 200k miles after it...