My 404C resto begins!

m8, that car is so beautiful and the job you are doing on it is off the scale

I've got an entry in our Lotto draw for tomorrow night, first prize is a measly 40 million AUD

if that comes up for me, I'll be slipping you a plain brown envelope so you can finish this off without a care in the world

BP
well, nobody won first division, so it's jackpotted to 60 million - the plain brown envelope could be even fatter....
 
Got the head back today, it's very smooth, in fact I had to move out of the direct reflection so you can see it properly.
refinished head 1.jpeg
 
Well the brakes need more attention and then the engine assembly....

The heatwave is over for now and we have 27-30 degrees rather than the 40°+ at the peak, which blew the socks off the former high record locally. Our house has an air/air heat pump so it functions as air conditioning. It's designed for a temperate climate though. So when it was 40.2°C outside, it peaked at 25°C inside. We stayed in!
 
Howdy Mike; I have relatives in Hinton (Alberta, nr Edmonton); I'm not in touch with them much. Would they have been affected by the unusual heatwave? I'm assuming so...

Loving your work as a lurker on this thread.
 
Howdy Mike; I have relatives in Hinton (Alberta, nr Edmonton); I'm not in touch with them much. Would they have been affected by the unusual heatwave? I'm assuming so...

Loving your work as a lurker on this thread.
Yes for sure. Nearby Jasper was cooking at over 40°C around then so Hinton would have been similarly hot, it not hotter.
 
The standard cooling system in my 1972 504 goes ok with air con running through South East Queensland (Australia) summers. I have an electric fan up front pushing air through the condenser and radiator, plus the original magnetic fan pulling air.

I have a bigger radiator sitting at home assuming that I would need it, but so far for the past three summers, the 504 radiator has done it's job keeping the 2 litre cool.

Now back on topic.....I had to put on a welding mask to view that head! Very shiny. Fingers crossed no more leaks.

Will you tighten down at the same torque as before? Are you using the same head studs again?
 
The head bolts were new. They will be re-used. The Reinz gasket takes 8.25 m.kg of torque versus a lower figure (7?) for the metal one.
 
The metal gaskets take 10.5-12 kg.m, typically 11. The Reinz gasket is in my opinion he only reliable one available for these engines.
Really? The factory manual says to go to 4 then 7 kg.m for the metal/asbestos! That's massively lower than your figure. So with the Reinz, the info I have says 8.25. But if it needs more, I'd be interested to know! Your rally experience is very useful here....
 
Have a search on this forum. I was asking the same questions re head bolt torque back when I replaced my head a few years ago.

I still go by foot/pounds - I did mine to 75 in the end. I cannot remember the brand of gasket that I used, was definitely not Reinz though.
 
Really? The factory manual says to go to 4 then 7 kg.m for the metal/asbestos! That's massively lower than your figure. So with the Reinz, the info I have says 8.25. But if it needs more, I'd be interested to know! Your rally experience is very useful here....
They were worried about cracking the asbestos, you don't have that issue now. The number for the Reinz is correct, I was going to 8.5-9 rather than 8.25
 
Well, the pause has been very good!

I've had a chance to look more closely than I did before at the preparation of the internal engine parts.

Basically, I need to pull the block out of the car again, put it on the stand, and whip put the pistons and rods....because I did not change the connecting rod bolts. I had read in a Peugeot service Bulletin many years ago that they were no longer recommending systematic replacement of rod bolts at engine reassembly because the rod bolts were knurled and mounting them in the rod would ever so slightly affect the position of the rod cap and therefore the bearing positioning, which is BAD. That is correct, but the bulletin was from 1973....and my car is from 1966.

In 1966 (and probably up to 1970+) the 404 rods did NOT have knurling in them, but rather tight smooth sleeves to fit them in the rod holes. So that Bulletin does not apply to an earlier 404. Further, the workshop manual for the 404 KF2 states that the bolts and washers have to be changed systematically after every dismantling. In other words, they are stretch bolts.

The good news is that I have a set of eight of them, new old stock, with new washers and nuts. The bad news is it means a fair bit of new work. But: better now than later!

In 1987 when I did a basic rebuild on another KF2 engine, I did not change the rod bolts IIRC but that was as I say a rather basic rebuild and even though it was driven hard for 100,000 more km and never seemed to have a problem, I'd rather do this engine 100% properly.

The eight top bolts in the photo are from a 404, NOS, and the bottom one is one of six (!) knurled ones I have from a later Peugeot engine, possibly a 504.
New Rod Bolts.jpeg
 
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