Vorsicht

Some of you may recall I did a top-end rebuild and on start-up heard strange sounds from the engine. This story was chronicled under the heading Strange Sound from rebuilt engine post. Go read it if you have time for 479+ posts. The culprit was identified as missing rod bearings and resulting metal fragments circulating in the oil system necessitating a total teardown and bottom end rebuild. This thread will cover the bottom end & top end rebuild starting from bottom end teardown. I hope to cover the following in this thread:

1. Overhaul of the oil cooling system.
2. Complete cleaning of any area of the engine that has seen oil.
3. Rebuild of the bottom end including all new bearings, case cleaning, oil pump clearing, new intermediate shaft sprockets, new (used) crankshaft, case sealing with Wrightwood Racing Viton sealing kit and appropriate gaskets, sealants, etc..
4. New timing chains and camshaft sprockets, plus one new chain rail which I found cracked.
5. All new (used) pistons, cylinders & rods. I'll be re-using my ARP rod bolts from the top end. Also will be re-using rings (more about that later).
6. Crankcase mating surfaces shaved and re-bore back to standard.
7. Other stuff as it comes up.

If anyone has questions, concerns, or wants clarifications or wants a particular photo of something just ask. I'll try to accommodate any and all requests. Let the re-build begin.....

Vorsicht

Here are some pics tearing down the bottom. The second pic shows two 14mm 12 sided sockets which are required to get the thru-bolts out. The last picture shows a thru-bolt hiding above the left timing chain.

Vorsicht

1. Here is a pic of the last 2 thru-bolts which I found hiding under the oil filter console.
2. Case splitting open.
3. One side of case.
4. Other side of case showing crankshaft, oil pump and timing chains.
5. Damage from con rods running loose without bearings.

Vorsicht

Fretting is seen on the case mating surfaces. Fretting occurs when 2 mating surfaces meet under pressure and slight movement or vibration. The black seen in the pictures is oxide which resulted from the fretting. This material acts as an abrasive further weakening the metal and ultimately resulting in tiny cracks.

e3photo

Peter,

I was sorry to hear of your problems,but you seem to have everything sorted. I have had issues as well since we last spoke, and I will be "playing along" with you.
I had a circlip come loose,which put me in the same boat as you. I have sent my case and other parts to Steve. I will be following you closely.


Emerald

Mike J

Sorry that you had a failure - you should start another thread with some pictures -it would be good to separately document what happened - is that a wrist pin circlip you are talking about?

Any
Cheers,

Mike

e3photo

Hey Mike,

Yeah, it was a wrist pin circlip. It did a number,but the up side is Precious will have a shiny new engine.

earossi

Emerald,

So sorry to hear about your motor damage. You may recall that we discussed using Steve for the critical parts refurbishments, which I ended up doing. My life got complicated during the process and I ended up shelving the motor rebuild for about four months until just now. I'll be putting the motor back together over the next several weeks.

I would like to hear more about the wrist pin circlip that failed. Did you install new clips; and, if so, was the failure due to a clip breaking, or did a clip just not get installed correctly? Since I'll be installing new clips, any thing that I can learn from your experience would be appreciated.

Regards,

Ernie

earossi

Though I can feel your pain on having to tear the motor down a second time, there are a lot of us who will benefit from you attention to detail and documentation.

I am doing a total rebuild as well, and am now ready to start the assembly process having completed all the parts refurbishments or replacements necessary.

I will be tracking your progress with great interest.

e3photo

Ernie,

I remember our conversation.Steve does great work. I should have a beautiful new engine when I am done. Imagine,three engine rebuilds at the same time. I guess misery loves company. I used new circlips on my build. I am not sure if I didn't have one seated completely,or if I damaged it while installing. I can bet you though, I will carefully inspect all the new cir clips after they are installed. Got to keep moving forward. Maybe the threee of us will get together when we are done.


Emerald

trophy

Make that 4 rebuilds at the moment.....

Vorsicht

Each one of us should have a separate thread so we can compare and contrast and urge each other on!

e3photo

Sounds like a great idea. I have just sent everything out,so it will be a few weeks before I start mine. Tried to load a picture,but got an error message,so I will have to get that sorted before I start my thread. Decided to take advantage of the down time to replace all the rear control arms......seems that is the only thing I hadn't replaced.

I'll be watching your build.


Emerald

trophy

I have everything ordered, or underway now. just waiting on the following pieces, then assembly will begin.

Pistons and Cylinders
CAMS
Cam towers from Ollies
Head Studs from Supertec.

Everything else is at home ready to go.

Would be great to get all the cars together after the builds but it looks like we are spread across NA....

e3photo

Hey Trophy.... are you building a stock 3.6, or modified?