Engine Rebuilding

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Real cars have hydraulics
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I reckon this must be one of the best youtubes channels I've ever listened too. There doesn't seem to be much this guy doesn't know (or hasn't already tried). He's a real "car guy" ...



his latest engine build video.... forget the fact its an old american v8 .... he's covering basics that go for "all" engines. His carby videos are fantastic. I've never understood how all the crap around automatics chokes works and what it does.... he explains it in such simple terms.

seeya
Shane L.
 
Another good channel is Peter Anderson. Australian and a former motor mechanic and electronics technician, he teaches automotive etc at a high school in Ringwood. Nice, clear explanations, no grandstanding and works on cars we can all relate to. Met him in person a while ago and the standard of his workmanship and attention to detail is terrific.
 
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at the other end of the market, i've just had success using how-to-video from 'Bodgit and Leggitt Garage', absent any knowledge being forthcoming here ... they apparently touch on CXs, too
 
Thanks Shane

Americans ARE different. He wants to replace a 318ci V8 with a 360ci unit so it still be economical to run about town...
 
Thanks Shane

Americans ARE different. He wants to replace a 318ci V8 with a 360ci unit so it still be economical to run about town...

Sounds reasonable to me... :) The late (sadly) Dick Lang used Land-Rovers in his 'desert treck' business in the early 1970s in SA and started by replacing the Rover 6 with Holden engines, improving economy. It got even better, I was told, when he changed to V8s. Just operating in a more efficient part of the rev/power range I guess. For slow work on tracks, a friend of ours got better fuel economy from his 1200 cc Corolla than our 956 cc R8, although the R8 was better cruising at 90-100 kph. Interesting.

Thanks for the link Shane, Peter etc.
 
Thanks Shane

Americans ARE different. He wants to replace a 318ci V8 with a 360ci unit so it still be economical to run about town...

But then listen to his explanation "This is the shitiest intake manifold ever produced, it'll be perfect, lets use it". Then the explanation why. You need to remember this is a petrol heads idea of an economical daily driver that is also fun (could you imagine a petrol head driving a hi-undi I30 'cos its cheaper).

when he explains his reasoning behind everything, you thing "yeah, thats right. it makes sense". Eg: Him running all the old specific model of car. He only needs "one set" of parts. no headers, or fancy exhausts, so one starter fits all his cars etc.

Watch his video on lifters.... he must be tearing his hair out in frustration.

seeya
Shane L.
 
Sounds reasonable to me... :) The late (sadly) Dick Lang used Land-Rovers in his 'desert treck' business in the early 1970s in SA and started by replacing the Rover 6 with Holden engines, improving economy. It got even better, I was told, when he changed to V8s. Just operating in a more efficient part of the rev/power range I guess. For slow work on tracks, a friend of ours got better fuel economy from his 1200 cc Corolla than our 956 cc R8, although the R8 was better cruising at 90-100 kph. Interesting.

Thanks for the link Shane, Peter etc.

Impossible.... how could a rover v8 get better fuel economy than *any* other motor :roflmao: :roflmao: There is a 460 sitting in my shed that I keep eyeing off as a better way of improving the fuel economy in the shitbox here ..... well it sure couldn't be any worse!
 
Impossible.... how could a rover v8 get better fuel economy than *any* other motor :roflmao: :roflmao: There is a 460 sitting in my shed that I keep eyeing off as a better way of improving the fuel economy in the shitbox here ..... well it sure couldn't be any worse!

Well, not exactly. Not sure he used the Rover V8 or a small Chev come to think of it. But I can imagine getting better fuel economy with a more appropriate engine not worked as hard as a smaller one that was underpowered for the job (especially that old Land-Rover 6 with an SU). Anyway, it's just what I was told at the time by a friend who worked as a Desert Treck driver for a while.
 
Land-Rover 6 has heaps of low-end torque but is very thirsty. I find my Stage 1 V8 is less thirsty than the 4 cylinder Series II I used to have, and has way more power.

Roger
 
Land-Rover 6 has heaps of low-end torque but is very thirsty. I find my Stage 1 V8 is less thirsty than the 4 cylinder Series II I used to have, and has way more power.

Roger

It does make sense. I guess there is levels of horrendous fuel consumption. I don't know how these vehicles covered deserts etc ... when in sand your 80litre fuel tank probably only gets you 50kms :roflmao: (constant wide open throttle/low range)

There is a reason modern deisels have pretty much replaced large petrol motors :)

Its interesting he is also complaining about the quality if parts these days. The last motor he rebuilt has literally worn the surface of the lifter through within a few hundred kms. Flat tappet lifters are now a thing of history, so the quality of the reproduction parts is appalling now (due to limited demand).



how can we keep old cars running when the quality of replacement parts is so incredibly poor.
 
I think he says it has 200miles on it ..... :eek:

Was there oil in the engine? Was it clean on assembly? Good grief. :eek: Looks as if it was rotating evenly at least. :roflmao:

Mind you, I have heard of Renault engines (R8 Gordini and 16TS) damaging cams and cam followers quite quickly after rebuilds. Frans' method is to run-in new cam followers by running at 4,000 rpm immediately on startup and for some time (I can't remember how many minutes, but it was quite a few...). I think it was Louis Renault said "It is brutal but it works." He was referring to his Type A gearbox mind you, and he was right....
 
Mind you, I have heard of Renault engines (R8 Gordini and 16TS) damaging cams and cam followers quite quickly after rebuilds.

It is important when rebuilding an engine to always replace cam followers in their previous/original bores [they are not to be mixed & matched].
The cam & followers do not like their mated wear patterns being interfered with & doing so will cause immediate accelerated wear on assembly!

Also after using run in 'mineral' oil [meant for that purpose with high zinc content] after about 1000km I would recommend on these older engines using Shell Rimula 15W40 in OZ or Rotella 15W40 in the US as these oils are higher in zinc & phosphorus.
These higher detergent oils are good in either diesel or petrol engines of some vintage & rebuilt.

Do not replace current oil type with these Shell oils in a tired old engine, under any circumstances.
 
Mind you, I have heard of Renault engines (R8 Gordini and 16TS) damaging cams and cam followers quite quickly after rebuilds.

It is important when rebuilding an engine to always replace cam followers in their previous/original bores [they are not to be mixed & matched].
The cam & followers do not like their mated wear patterns being interfered with & doing so will cause immediate accelerated wear on assembly!

Also after using run in 'mineral' oil [meant for that purpose with high zinc content] after about 1000km I would recommend on these older engines using Shell Rimula 15W40 in OZ or Rotella 15W40 in the US as these oils are higher in zinc & phosphorus.
These higher detergent oils are good in either diesel or petrol engines of some vintage & rebuilt.

Do not replace current oil type with these Shell oils in a tired old engine, under any circumstances.
May I ask a couple of questions then, please?

1. What is the best way forward if you have a handful of cam followers that are mixed up?
2. How do you recommend running in a reground camshaft and refaced followers?
3. How do you rate the "High Zinc" Penrite mineral oils.

Just curious - always looking for opinions from those who know more than I do.

Thanks.
 
1. Replace the cam followers if available & not too expensive.
Cam followers used to be re-ground with a slight radius [& some cams were not flat but slightly angled] so that the followers were supposed to actually continually rotate.
Most didn't turn after a while [poorer quality oils & infrequent oil changes] & that is when the cam & followers irretrievably mate to one another.
One engine [& most are similar] that suffered from trying to mix & match followers was the flat 4 VW.
I had one customer come in with less than 2000 miles on a rebuild, someone else did, that needed a full re-build with new cam & followers.
2. With proper engine run in oil as recommended usually 30 weight mineral with appropriate additives including heavy zinc dosage.
3. Not known. Suggest call their tech folk.

I have used/recommended Rotella in rebuilt customer engines [after run in] since the 70's until the last one a Willys L134 in 2017. Never a problem.
 
Thanks for your views - I do appreciate your taking the trouble . I was curious about what you'd say. As usual the "if available" issue tends to emerge with cam followers! I'm sure you are right about the "didn't turn after a while" comment, especially with older cars that came second or third in priority and had owners not exactly flash with cash and care. I've been using Penrite for many years now and, for probably 15-20 years before that, Shell Helix, so the R8 has been fine since my last rebuild in 1988. Must have got it roughly right I guess, for a geologist! Lots of changes is my rule.
 
1. Replace the cam followers if available & not too expensive.
Cam followers used to be re-ground with a slight radius [& some cams were not flat but slightly angled] so that the followers were supposed to actually continually rotate.
Most didn't turn after a while [poorer quality oils & infrequent oil changes] & that is when the cam & followers irretrievably mate to one another.
One engine [& most are similar] that suffered from trying to mix & match followers was the flat 4 VW.
I had one customer come in with less than 2000 miles on a rebuild, someone else did, that needed a full re-build with new cam & followers.
2. With proper engine run in oil as recommended usually 30 weight mineral with appropriate additives including heavy zinc dosage.
3. Not known. Suggest call their tech folk.

I have used/recommended Rotella in rebuilt customer engines [after run in] since the 70's until the last one a Willys L134 in 2017. Never a problem.
Hi :)
Just a comment from back in the days of working on Renault engines. The cam followers from new were not radius ground. We always had them radius ground before fitting them on a new rebuild on the recommendation of the cam grinder. He advised we did it to all followers for good life any time they were out. We also did bore out the block holes and fitted bigger cam followers too with the big lift cams, and again had the followers radius ground. I believe we used a running in paste supplied with the cams too.
It is true that cam followers were troublesome in the good ol' days and lots of V8's would wear some lobes down on a couple but not all cylinders till they did no work. The 8's ran so smoothly some people did not notice they were driving a six just sounded a bit 'funny' :confused: When you did a plug change some had obviously not been working for a long time.
Just for interest when doing the tappets on the early Holdens with the engine running some push rods rotated very fast and some slowly so there were big differences in the cam follower rotation even with 'normal' engines. I wonder what OH&S would make of doing that now.👿
Jaahn
 
Now that's interesting! I'd not heard of Renault followers being radius ground before. It's a challenge in WA as the great old camshaft business is closed.... There may be one going somewhere but I haven't found it yet. A company in Brisbane is recommended to me.

I remember watching someone adjust Holden tappets once. Good grief.....
 
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