I dropped Sarah's (TR-4A) sump last night. Much to my shock and
amazement, the bottom end of the engine isn't screwed up at all (modulo
the "make-a-gasket" sump gasket). The torques were a little low (85
lb-ft is a LOT), but the big ends even had nice locking tabs on them.
(Took me a while to recognize them as such -- kept wondering why the
socket didn't fit. Gotta get a better light.) The only odd thing was
that one of the sump bolts has a head that's closer to 13mm than 1/2,
and isn't a 3/8NC thread. Drill/retap from days gone by?
Looks like the rear oil seal is pretty leaky -- that'll have to wait.
The new front oil seal on the timing cover seems to be dripping a bit,
and my fuel pump seems to be dripping a little gas. Sigh. The
transmission is covered with a fine mist of oil. I wonder where that
could all be from? Certainly not the sump gasket :-)
The goals of the afternoon/evening were: measure the crank journals,
check the bearings, install the new oil pump, install the new sump
gasket, install the spin-on filter adapter.
The rod bearings seem to be passable, but worn. I saw a streak of
copper on one, so I'm going to install a new set. The journals seem to
be original sizes -- I only measured #1 and #4, but they're 2.087 and
2.088 (the shop manuals and Haynes must have misprints, because these
numbers are bigger than the manufactured range. Haynes is clearly a
misprint, since it says the range is 2.0861 - 2.086). The jaws of my
caliper aren't long enough to measure the mains journal in place, so
I'm going to leave it alone. I wasn't really looking forward to getting
the front seal/mount out with the engine in place, anyway.
New oil pump went in without a hitch, though my arms were getting tired
by then (gotta get a better jack so I can raise the car higher).
Getting the sump back on was a bitch (see above about tired arms). The
spin-on adapter was in place. Put on the filter, fill, crank a bit with
the switch off. Hmm. The oil pressure gauge doesn't work unless the
switch is on (I think). Pull of the coil center wire. The connector
stays in the coild (!&^%@&#$). Switch on. Crank. Pressure starts coming
up. Fix the connector (it's now 8:30pm, dark, and I'm ready to be
done...), start. Check for leaks. We got leaks. Shut off. The filter
isn't on tight enough. Tighten, crank. The adapter isn't on tight
enough either. Enough.
I should know better: the last time I screwed with the oil filter head
I pumped a couple of quarts of oil on the ground because the o-ring
wasn't seated right. I'll be glad when the adapter is on right and
done... of course, I'll have to pull it off when I install the oil cooler :-)
All in all, not bad for five hours. I'm curious to see how much the new
pump (it's a "clearanced" pump from Ken Gillanders) helps the pressure
when the oil is hot. New bearings will certainly help, as will
switching to 20w50, as will the oil cooler, but I believe in changing
one variable at a time.
chris
P.S. For people who already have oil coolers (like all you MGB owners),
what do you do about the oil in the cooler when it's time to change the
oil? Do coolers have a drain, or do you have to remove it and dump?
Oh, and while I'm talking oil coolers, are stainless steel braided
hoses worth the extra $30 or so? Why or why not?
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