> I can't remember if this was in the orginal post, but very important to drain
>the oil from the transmission. Otherwise it starts coming out the rear seal
>as soon as you tip the engine.
Joseph,
This is not an issue with 2000's five speed's, but with the 1600 four speed:
A neat trick is to "plug" the rear of the transmission. This can be done
with the front part of an old drivesahft, or by using a large SOCKET, and
putting some duct tape over the 1/2" drive opening.
Even when draining the transmission, so tranny fluid will still drip out
the tail shaft opening. I *hate* transmission fluid in my hair, so the
socket trick works nicely.
ENGINE TILTER. Check out http://www.eastwoodco.com for a picture of
one. Makes like so much easier to tilt the engine/transmission to clear
the front of the roadster, and then level back out. Being the cheap
person I am, I made my own. Much heavier, with double safety features.
I used used-but-good rear axle bearings from the roadster, and 1"
steel bars. Lathe and milling machine work). So for 10 hours work,
and $6 of material I have a pretty nice engine tilter.
OIL PAN on the engine: I've never pulled it too pull the engine. I would
keep it on the engine. Keeps oil from dripping all over, and the engine
clean (especially after a rebuild).
OTHER HINTS:
After I have the block "hot tanked" by the machine shop, and all the maching
operations done:
Put it on an engine stand.
Roll it out onto the driveway.
Big bucket of TSP (phospate cleaner), heavy rubber gloves, scrub brush.
BIG CAN of WD-40. (Yes, I do buy it in the gallon jugs, and use a spray bottle).
Hose the engine down,
Scrub like made.
Use WD-40 on the machined surfaces to prevent rust spots.
Air dry everything. GOGGLES PLEASE. As the air nozzle goes across the
threaded holes... watch out.
Once spotlessly clean, pull a large garbage bag over everything.
This is also a great time to spray a light PRIMER on the cast surfaces,
let it dry for a few days. Follow up with your engine paint (I like
GM corporate blue. I think Les Cannady has the correct paint color).
THREADED HOLES: I will use a pick and shop vac to clean every little hole.
Amazing the amount of trash that gets in there (rust, metal shavings, etc).
Run a thread chaser down into the the engine bolt holes (even "metric
engines" have 7/16-14 tpi threaded head bolt holes). Then I use a counter
sink to clean up the top of the bolt holes. Makes treading easier, and
eliminates raised threads.
Cheers,
Tom Walter
Austin, TX.
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