Strange engine noise = engine rebuild!!

[ian.mcdougall]

I found the correct tappet spanners @ www.whitworthspanners.com/ along with sets of whitworth spanners and sockets as well also have for sale other old tools for cars tappets can be done insitu but is easier if you suspend yourself from roof of garage
Ian

[alanworland]

It's a lot easier setting the tappets with the engine on the bench, however! when you check them after a couple of hundred miles of running try not to lean on the radiator while gaining access - I broke my top rad fixing by doing this!
Or do as Ian says and suspend yourself from the roof!

[alanworland]

David, out of interest, when you took the valves out what was their condition? any signs of the dreaded valve seat recession?

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

No the valves seemed fine, other than some carbon and a bit of pitting. All except one cleaned up nicely, it was burnt right accross the valve face. Just by chance there was a single one on ebay that I got for £2.00 posted and all!!

That all said Ive only done about 1000 miles using miller lead replacement and prior to that it was laid up since the 1973.

Hoping for a dry morning tomorrow to get the engine back in as the poor old cars been sitting outside at Dads house since the breakdown

[alanworland]

I believe modern fuels burn cleaner so they should stay coke free for longer! Good luck with the installation! (make sure the clutch is aligned correctly)

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I got it in with only one shower of rain, so pretty sucessful! The top engine bolts are very awkard to refit, you can only get about a 1/4 of a turn each time. Still have the dizzy and carb to refit and of course some oil.

Hopefully will get back at it on Sunday as Im off to Ayr on Saturday with The Boys Brigade. Anyone got earplugs........

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I refitted the dizzy and other bits on Monday, turned it over on the starter until full oil pressure came up, then once I put the ignition on the battery didnt have enough power to start it! I put it on charge overnight and went back to it again on Tuesday. Battery back in and some movement of the dizzy and I got it to fire, further adjustment and it started!!! RESULT

Then it started to put out lots of white smoke which initially concerned me. After a couple of phone calls I decided I wouldnt worry to much and took it for a spin. Going really well, ticking over nicely but still serious clouds of smoke. In all it took about 5 miles for this to disappear. So I have now completed about 60 miles today and its pulling so well, a huge difference from before.

Happy days

[alanworland]

Well done! It's really satisfying running up a 'new' engine and yes it can smoke for some time. Keep the engine loads light and let it run in gently - no labouring. Oil change after 500 miles?

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Yes agreed, Im keeping it below 35mph and no labouring. I think a new batterys needed now as well. Went out this am to go to the dentist and it was deed again!! Cant complain as its the one that came in it so its had longs peroids of sitting around not being used. Thats another job for tomorrow, after the travellers delivered.

Who said it was mad to have 4 minors, or was it you have to mad to have 4 minors

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

So far completed about 240 miles, MOT is booked for tomorrow so fingers crossed. It is using a fair bit of oil still but Im told thats normal until the rings get well bedded in.

[mike.perry]

Best of luck with the MOT. Mine was booked 2 hours before it was due to leave for last years National Rally after an extensive restoration. It passed.
It has just passed its MOT again this morning.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Excellent news, mine passed as well!! The guy who was testing told me he owns a 105e Anglia that hes restoring. He managed to spend 35minutes hoking and poking all over the car, generally your in and out in about 15, main thing is it PASSED!!

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I took the sidevalve out for a run yesterday, its now done about 650 miles since the rebuild and going very well!! Oil consumption is down to virtually nil now. My brother wasnt impressed at the speed, though he did say you get plenty of time to look around the countryside

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I did an oil change oday, I have been meaning to do it for ages. It had done over 1000 miles since the rebuild. Running nice , but still a bit too hard on petrol for my liking.

[mike.perry]

Done about 650 miles on my rebuilt engine, easy to check as I have a trip meter which I zeroed at the start. Decided to rebuild my ex WD engine as the car engine was already at full stretch. Up to 50mph but I still have some adjustments to do to get the best out of it.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I know this is now a very old thread! Nothing too drastic to report this time and about 3000 miles or so since the rebuild. The MM is going better than ever, the timing slipped a while back and was struggling to do 15mph......... A friend reset it and on the way home from his house it was making 50mph!! Also much easier on petrol now and while still using some oil I think its an acceptable level.

I had the MM out today and when slowing down in traffic it kept wanting to cut out. Turned out it was nice and simple to cure, the air silencer had worked loose of its housing and was altering the mixture when slowing the revs were off.

[smithskids]

Hello, a good tip for removing cylinder head studs is to heat them up first with a gas lamp, let them cool off and apply release oil. Reheat again 1/2 hour later then try to extract them a few small taps with a small hammer helps also.2 good steel nuts locked up on each other are better than stilsons or footprints, they damage the plain part of the cylinder head stud. If it does snap, file it off flat with the top of the block, get a piece of steel 1ins wide and drill three holes in it just smaller than the stud size covering three stud holes , one of them to line up with the broken stud, use a new cylinder head gasket to mark off the holes and make the flat bar at least 8--10 mm thick and long enough to cover three holes of your choice.Use the same drill that you drilled out the holes in the flat bar,bolt the bar down tight using spacers and head nuts or use 10mm setscrews, just spot the drill in the hole of the broken stud until the centre shows (about 1 or 2mm deep.Change drills to a 5 mm one and drill down to the bottom of the hole. next drill size should be just smaller than the tapping size for the stud. tapping size for M10x1.5 is 8.5mm. so drill8mm slowly down and keep it square, next go for the tapping drill and look out for signs of a snake of steel coming out, retap the hole and put a new stud in. Always use a jig it holds the drill in the correct place and stops it wandering in to the block, I have replaced quite a few this way over the years.
Hope this helps.

[mike.perry]

I have been a bit concerned about the engine sometimes firing up on 3 cylinders for a couple of seconds before the 4th came in. No obvious loss in compression with a starting handle check but performance was not what I would expect from a tuned engine. I had a look at the plugs and no 3 was a wet gungy mess. So it looks like a head off job next week and whilst I am at it I will try to find the noise like a loose tappet which disappears when the engine is hot. I have already checked the tappets, not my favorite job, and they were all on the tight side.

[MarkyB]

Check the valves carefully on number 3, it sounds like one isn't sealing.
When the engine starts the compression can get high enough for the cylinder to fire.