My 404C resto begins!

I bought a new set of 0.3 mm oversized connecting rod bearings in case the other machine shop that now has the crankshaft for refinishing can keep it at the same size. The shop is very busy so it could be another month or more before I get the crankshaft back and can begin engine reassembly.
Glyco 0.3 mm rod bearings.jpeg
 
I bought a new set of 0.3 mm oversized connecting rod bearings in case the other machine shop that now has the crankshaft for refinishing can keep it at the same size. The shop is very busy so it could be another month or more before I get the crankshaft back and can begin engine reassembly.View attachment 201660
Big ends are easy, same as 504. Early 404 mains are difficult as the rear main is smaller than the 504/404 after 1970. How did you go with these?
 
Wow. I'd be properly pissed off about the crank scratches. I mean let alone you don't need to assemble the crank to know what shells you need, but dropping pistons in until they hit the crank?! Geez. What machine shop is that? Dodgy Bros Inc?
 
Protecting the journals when inserting the pistons is so basic. I cannot understand how this would've gone wrong. The apprentice?
 
Protecting the journals when inserting the pistons is so basic. I cannot understand how this would've gone wrong. The apprentice?
Hi. That is very frustrating. We used short lengths of tubing over the conrod bolts, to prevent this very thing. I am aware that many people use this tip, but seemingly not all. It is not good enought for an engine machine shop, sloppy workmanship.

Cheers.
 
I don't do anything special but do make sure the crank is lined up properly.
 
Very nice Mike. My brother Warwick reminded me today that you and I 'spoke' in 2005 when I was considering getting a 404C. I have jumped a few decades and just bought one of the last 406C's. Its number plates will be from dads 67 404. So its kind of a 404C ...ish :)
 
Tuesday I got the crankshaft back. The act of polishing it at the present 0.3 mm undersize was sufficient to eliminate the high burrs that scored the new bearings the other shop had put in. There are very small tiny divots in the journal surface left, but these will not be of significance going forward.

About the way the damage occurred, it's obvious that the other shop had inserted the pistons into the liners from above, whacking them in with a mallet and smacking the journal with the rod bolts. Rookie mistake, only they're not rookies. Factoid: 404 liners (probably many other Peugeots, and Renaults too) have a chamfer at the bases clearly intended to facilitate piston insertion from below. That's the correct way to do it.... Had it been done this way in the first place, the crank would have been fine.

I also neglected to get the first shop to install the new pilot bushing. So I had Chuck at Mid-Island Machine and Engine do that job. None of his standard pullers would get the old one out, but he thought the grease hydraulic-ing trick would get it out, but it didn't...so he threaded the bronze bush and then screwed a shaft in to pull it out. On the 404 at least, there is a grease seal at the end - Chuck said that American cars don't have that but it's a good idea....

Anyway.....

I was given a container of Clevite bearing shell grease to protect the crank bearings for initial assembly and startup. I was also advised to prime the oiling system with the engine in situ so the first start is not a brutal one. I'll rig up a manual pressure system through the oil pressure sending unit to do that.

Given the previous shop's inattention to detail, I'll also take the rocker system apart again to verify that the oil holes on the shafts are in the correct spots and put some assembly grease in there too.

I may being engine assembly soon but the braking system needs to be in working order before the engine goes back in.

Crank wrapped after washing:


Also got more brake parts, the latest of which arrived today. It's the brake proportioning valve, also NOS like the other one that I bought 15 years ago, but initial indications are that this one will be usable. At the very least, I can try all my new brake lines in these fittings to make sure the ends fit properly.


New - proper - fittings 3/8" 24 UNF of 11 mm from France and some more CuNiFer tubing in 3/16"
 
It's great to have an update, Mike. I know I'm raking over the coals but it is still very hard to understand how a professional business would make such an elementary mistake when installing pistons. Still, it must be good to finally see the end.
 
So are you saying on the 404 the pistons are to be inserted from underneath, then the crankshaft? Assuming all 4 pistons need to be inserted before the crankshaft is put into place.

Very careless of the previous shop...what a drama!
 
That seems to be the case. Anyway, the pistons can go in from below when the liners are out and then the liners inserted, with the crankshaft already in place.
 
Got this KF fuel filter sticker from a friend named Einar in Norway - it will go on the filter body. Originally those bodies were silver but I had painted mine black....so a repaint is called for!

I also got two replacement rod bearing shells from Dean Hunter to make the NOS 0.3 mm set whole again (two had been damaged by chattering against each other in an earlier shipment) so now I have two complete sets. I'll use the new set, not the NOS set, this time. Should begin work on some of these outstanding issues later this weekend.

Youngest daughter will be married in Prince George BC in September 2023 so the 404C has to be ready for that - it's the wedding car!
Purflux filter Sticker.jpeg
 
Today I cleaned the super sticky black residue that the shop in Victoria had smeared all over the liners and liners seals at the lower and upper ends. This required acetone and a lot of toothbrush work plus a scriber to get the thicker bits off. Once it was about 99% clean, I test fitted the liners without the seals to verify protrusion. All were more than 0 mm and less than 0.06 mm so it's good.

Now I'll have to clean out the block because it's been open for a few months, though covered, and then start reassembly. I'll try inserting the pistons from the underside of the liners, which have chamfer, once they too have been cleaned off.
Block 1.jpeg
Block 2.jpeg
 
Today I cleaned the super sticky black residue that the shop in Victoria had smeared all over the liners and liners seals at the lower and upper ends. This required acetone and a lot of toothbrush work plus a scriber to get the thicker bits off. Once it was about 99% clean, I test fitted the liners without the seals to verify protrusion. All were more than 0 mm and less than 0.06 mm so it's good.

Now I'll have to clean out the block because it's been open for a few months, though covered, and then start reassembly. I'll try inserting the pistons from the underside of the liners, which have chamfer, once they too have been cleaned off.
Nice work Mike.

Getting the liner protrusion right, is so important. You don't want to be pulling the head off again, because of a blown gasket.

Cheers,

Dan
 
Sorry Chaps, but I don't see the point in fitting the pistons from below. To fit them from above will better guide the pistons into the liners, the rings will then enter the liners correctly. This obviously with a ring compressor. The advice of fitting rubber hose or taping the con rod bolts makes sense.
 
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