2.7 Engine Rebuild (part 4)
Just a couple more steps to go before we can stuff it into the racecar.. I need to put in a new pilot bearing, attach the clutch and the bell housing.
The pilot bearing is one of those things you really wish you did when you had the chance. Because later, it's not fun trying to get to it. It was only $10, so what the hell.I didn't have the fancy tool for removing the pilot bearing, but a little backyard engineering came to the rescue. I took apart the bearing puller I did have, and it fit perfectly into the hole. And by camming it and smacking it with hammer while rotating, I was able to coax the bearing out.
Here's my nice new clutch attached to the flywheel. This was an unplanned ($$$) expense in the rebuild. While taking a good look at my current clutch I noticed that even though it had plenty of wear left - credit my smoooth clutching skillz - it was also dated 1993. Hmmm, seems a bit old. This is another case of where it would really suck if I was 800 miles from home, having dropped a huge amount, oh Hi Honey! - I meant an modest amount, on the race weekend and metal fatigue causes the clutch to die. I'm not doing a clutch in the paddock, so it's packing up and going home. So I ponied up the bucks for a new clutch. A few dollars now will save many down the road. At least that's my story
So Grasshopper, how can you tell when the engine is at TDC (Top Dead Center)?"
"Ah Master, there is an invisible mark on the flywheel. This is found in the back of the engine compartment that must be seen while lying atop the engine, while looking down through a tangle of wires and hoses, while peering through a tiny window upon the unseen wonders below. If you are truly "one with the car" you can see this mark with your eyes shut. But Master, I have not seen this "mark" and believe it is only a rumor told to children and the gullible."
Since I'm not a Zen master (and wear reading glasses also) I decided to help my future self. I painted a nice visible yellow stripe and marked the TDC mark. My future self thanked me yesterday.
Here's the aforementioned tiny window in the bellhousing. This is with the engine still out of the car so you don't get the full effect. But if it was in the car, I'd never be able to take a picture anyway. Too much stuff in the way. But you can see why my future self was giving me props for the yellow striping.
Here's another case of "while you're working on the car" ... Actually this was planned for the winter downtime. This was supposed to the "Major" winter time project - putting in a Limited Slip in the tranny. And not just any old limited slip, but a Guards Transmission race 80/50 LSD. Time to be bringing it to the big boys in 44Cup. Rebuilding the motor is cool and all, I'm learning lots about my car. But the Guards LSD ... Oh yeah, this I'm looking forward to on the track next year.
So the tranny got pulled and shipped off to a shop to put the Guards unit in.
While waiting for the clutch parts to show up, there was plenty more to be done before we can put the motor back in. Part of that included cleaning up the engine compartment from all that liquid smoke that escaped from the hole in the block. Many hours were spent scrubbing with mineral spirits. Also when we pulled the dead motor, we managed to snag the power steering return line (the steel line at the top of the cross-member) and pulled it out of its fitting. I had to cut off the fitting and reclamp it. We'll find out whether or not it leaks later..
Yeah, this brings back fond memories: pretzeled into contorted shapes, with various car bits poking me in private locations, inhaling toxic fumes while scrubbing away with my little toothbrush. You just can't buy fun like that in the store.
Before my engine let all the smoke out in the Summit race, it felt the need to distribute little metal bits throughout the oil cooling system in the car. Rather than attempting to clean my external oil cooler and maybe not getting all of those little bits out, I went and bought a new one. Hey, what's another $100? If you can't afford to get a home-equity loan to finance your hobby, you need to find another sport than racing. Don't blame me if we go into a recession in the coming months, I'm definitely doing my part to boost parts of the economy.
Finally, we're ready to go back on the horse that threw me. It's been a long 4 months to get to this point.
My partner in crime, Joel, is off making the world safe for something, probably visiting exotic places filled with sand, courtesty of his travel agent, the US Gov. So I had to put this puppy in by myself. I got pretty good at it, being I had to do it twice. The first time, I was all proud, admiring my work, the nice contrasting yellow against the bright red when I realized that I had forgotten to attach the headers. Doh!
Status Check: Here it's the end of February. The rebuilt motor is in the car, new clutch slave cylinder attached, all hoses and vacuum lines routed, fuel lines attached, electrical connections made, water, oil, fuel, power steering fluid and brake fluid all in the correct place. Gregg Wilson stopped by and helped me get the drive line attached. So, let's start her up.
After a minute or two of cranking with the DME and plugs pulled, my oil pressure came up. Yay!! first hurdle passed. The motor spins and can pump oil through all its little passages. Step 2: some spark. Now I'm holding my breath. Couple of cranks and it fires! Man does it sound like shit, backfiring like crazy. Quick turn it off! I'm sure my neighbors aren't appreciating the sound of a backfiring engine at 11pm. Especially not one with only the headers and no muffler attached. Time to call it a night and have beer.
The next day I do a little debugging and find that I swapped two of my plug wires and the speed sensors were too close to the ring gears, they were getting banged on. I pulled out the sensor and reset the clearance - another job just as much fun as detailing the engine compartment but without the enjoyable paint fumes. And after doing that, it doesn't start at all. Great.
Rumage thru the tools and find the multimeter. Hmm, seems one of the speed senors is bad according to Clarks Garage. So off to the internet and use my searching skills to score new overstock ones for $35 each. Sweet, but they won't be here until after the weekend. So, maybe I'll use this opportunity to put the tranny in... Nah, I'm gonna drink some Guiness and watch TiVo. Back next week.
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