2 door VAE 306H

Let us all know what you are up to with your current restoration project. Get that Minor on the road!
Forum rules
By using this site, you agree to our rules. Please see: Terms of Use
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

The combustion chamber and porting work on the heads is all done.
rps20210527_081223.jpg
rps20210527_081223.jpg (160.74 KiB) Viewed 12463 times
rps20210527_081426.jpg
rps20210527_081426.jpg (140.61 KiB) Viewed 12463 times
The combustion chambers come out at 24cc each which works out at 9:1 static, with a fairly tame cam this should work fine.

Just need to grind the valves in (the engine machinist did do it when he fitted/cut the new seats but we have stainless exhaust and new guides on the inlet now) and assemble it all now.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

For the last couple of weeks I have been rebuilding our conservatory, now we have windows, doors and a roof I can take a break here and there to play. So I have begun re-assembling the minor engine. Flushed all the oil galleries out with brake cleaner then begun assembly. Firstly fitted the oil slinger, used the rear main cap to line it up.
rps20210609_194300.jpg
rps20210609_194300.jpg (125.88 KiB) Viewed 12413 times
Then fitted the mains lubed with engine oil.
rps20210609_194329.jpg
rps20210609_194329.jpg (146.66 KiB) Viewed 12413 times
Followed by the crank, thrusts and caps. Threads and bolts were washed in brake cleaner then fitted with loctite.
rps20210609_194348.jpg
rps20210609_194348.jpg (150.63 KiB) Viewed 12413 times
Pistons were then fitted to rods, one gudgen pin was a bit tight on the rod but a light going over with wet and dry freed it up.
rps20210609_194417.jpg
rps20210609_194417.jpg (158.65 KiB) Viewed 12413 times
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Compressed rings.
rps20210609_194445.jpg
rps20210609_194445.jpg (141.5 KiB) Viewed 12413 times
Tapped all the pistons in torqued the big ends up with loctite and no tabs as per the mains.

All turns nicely, next up is the front cover, need to countersink the 2 bolts to clear the duplex chain first though.
rps20210609_194530.jpg
rps20210609_194530.jpg (121.86 KiB) Viewed 12413 times
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Before work I measured the camshaft endfloat, came out as .07mm or 2.7 thou, spec seems to be 3 - 7 thou and I would rather be towards the upper end of this (certainly don't want it below), looks like I need to machine a bit off the sprocket.
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

To increase the clearance/end float - machine off the face indicated in the photo below as required.
Cam gear 2.JPG
Cam gear 2.JPG (1.6 MiB) Viewed 12395 times
Last edited by philthehill on Thu Jun 10, 2021 9:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

Attaching a photo has again taken a turn for the worse. :cry:
Attachments
Cam gear 2.JPG
Cam gear 2.JPG (1.6 MiB) Viewed 12395 times

kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

All the photo's seem to have gone belly up!

I assume you are referring to the shoulder on the sprocket the front of the triangular plate abuts to, it was my plan to mount it on the lathe and skim a little off there.
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

Still no good on the photo front.
To increase the clearance take a slight skim off the main rubbing face not the front face of the boss.
Cam gear 2.JPG
Cam gear 2.JPG (1.6 MiB) Viewed 12363 times

kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Yes that's what I was thinking, hopefullyget a chance to go round my parents and put it on the lathe tomorrow.
I'm doing bits as I can before and after work (one advantage of working from home) so I've now fitted the oil pump.
rps20210611_202153.jpg
rps20210611_202153.jpg (134.31 KiB) Viewed 12329 times
Coutersunk the front plate screws.
rps20210611_202221.jpg
rps20210611_202221.jpg (107.43 KiB) Viewed 12329 times
Also Fitted the oil filter housing, fuel pump blanking plate and ball type relief valvebut can't fit 3 core plugs, the dizzy and oil feed pipe with it on the stand though.

Today I looked at fitting the backplate, got the original out and noticed this.
rps20210611_202338.jpg
rps20210611_202338.jpg (167.03 KiB) Viewed 12329 times
So I got the spare one out but the dowel was corroded in the top, decided to knock it out and this hapened.
rps20210611_202311.jpg
rps20210611_202311.jpg (123.43 KiB) Viewed 12329 times
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

I was amazed to find it is made of cast iron, not suprised they crack!

A pain but it doesen't really affect it's function so I progressed to fit it then found a bigger problem, it wouln't fit over the oil pump, laying over the original.
rps20210611_202426.jpg
rps20210611_202426.jpg (193.92 KiB) Viewed 12329 times
rps20210611_202525.jpg
rps20210611_202525.jpg (162.24 KiB) Viewed 12329 times
All the other holes line up but the oil pump one is about 5mm different, I guess it may fit over a standard pump but it would barely be clamped on the gasket.

So in the end I refitted the cracked one (oil pump hole is a perfect match for the block) the crack isn't going to get any worse and we will be changing it with the mazda gearbox eventually anyway (that one is steel too).

Also fitted the flywheel and clutch and started lapping the valves in, If I can get the sprocket done tomorrow I hope to wrap up the bottom end.
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

Cracking between the oil pump aperture and the crankshaft aperture is a common fault with the 'A' Series and more so on the 1275cc engine rear engine plate Pt No: AEG552.
The 1098cc rear engine plate Pt No: 12G275 is less prone to cracking but it can still happen.
The 1098cc & 1275cc oil pump apertures are not aligned in the rear engine plates. The plates cannot be easily interchanged.
You do need to fit the 12G275 rear engine plate to a 1098cc block and a AEG552 rear engine plate to a 1275cc block.

kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Turned a little off the sproket today.
rps20210612_195137.jpg
rps20210612_195137.jpg (126.85 KiB) Viewed 12292 times
Then tried it.

Fully rearwards at zero.
rps20210612_195213.jpg
rps20210612_195213.jpg (170.13 KiB) Viewed 12292 times
Fully forwards 0.15 mm.
rps20210612_195239.jpg
rps20210612_195239.jpg (178.71 KiB) Viewed 12292 times
So 6 thou float, so within spec.

Hopefully timing chain etc tomorrow.


The plate I started out with for the mx5 box conversoion was a marina one(gerabox bolt pattern and starter position), that is steel and the holes all line up with the 1098 engine, did they do a 1100 marina?
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

BL did make a 1098cc engine for the Marina with a prefix of 10V.
The rear engine plate Pt No: 22G1693 was fitted to the Marina 1098cc and Marina 1275cc 12V engine.

kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Further progress.

Timing chain fitted,
rps20210613_213114.jpg
rps20210613_213114.jpg (155.44 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
Tdc cheched.
rps20210614_204223.jpg
rps20210614_204223.jpg (150.39 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
Marked on flywheel so I know where tdc is when I check the cam timing.
rps20210614_204250.jpg
rps20210614_204250.jpg (141.23 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
Turns out the marks on the mini pulley are not far out either.
rps20210614_204323.jpg
rps20210614_204323.jpg (143.04 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Fitted the head studs and water pump
rps20210614_153638.jpg
rps20210614_153638.jpg (167.1 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
.

Then fimished off the head, last of the valves lapped in.
rps20210614_153454.jpg
rps20210614_153454.jpg (173.7 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
Valves fitted.
rps20210614_153527.jpg
rps20210614_153527.jpg (155.74 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
New exhaust valves /seats mean the exhausts sit a bit lower.
rps20210614_153602.jpg
rps20210614_153602.jpg (98.08 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
But I don't think this will be an issue, I will check the springs don't go coil bound later.

After sealing and fitting the bypass tube I dropped the head on.
rps20210614_153658.jpg
rps20210614_153658.jpg (155.09 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
Last edited by kevin s on Mon Jun 14, 2021 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

rps20210614_203614.jpg
rps20210614_203614.jpg (170.51 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
Fitted the followers with cam lube, push rods and rocker shaft, then torqued all the head bolts to 40lbft.

Still need to set the valve clearances, and check the valve timing, at the moment the sump and front cover are on loosely until I have done this.

Then for future referance I tried the twin carbs on, obviously something is going to have to change with the bresther.
rps20210614_203723.jpg
rps20210614_203723.jpg (131.94 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
We have this but I'm not really happy venting to atmosphere.
rps20210614_203744.jpg
rps20210614_203744.jpg (161.47 KiB) Viewed 12248 times
.

I think the best option may be one of the aftermarket ones which goes in the fuel pump hole or a remote tank


Only a couple of issues, gasket sets don't include o rings for the side cover centre bolts, copper washers for the oil filter pipe or the rubber grommets for the rocker cover, I have found some O rings , will anneal the old copper washers and for now use secondhand rocker cover grommets.
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

This is what you need to clear the manifold:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293048425169 ... SwIBJaeOnc

kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Went for plan C taking a pie cut out of the one we have and re-welding it, probably pretty much re-creating the one Phil linked to.
rps20210615_133120.jpg
rps20210615_133120.jpg (113.55 KiB) Viewed 12211 times
rps20210615_133148.jpg
rps20210615_133148.jpg (121.79 KiB) Viewed 12211 times
It didn't really need doing at the moment as we are initialy using the original carb but I thought it would be easier to sort out with it on the stand.
Last edited by kevin s on Tue Jun 15, 2021 5:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Pretty much finished the engine now, this morning I checked the valve timing, protractor on crank, pointer made out a bit of garden wire set to zero degrees and dial gauge on no1 inlet valve.
rps20210615_163745.jpg
rps20210615_163745.jpg (135.63 KiB) Viewed 12201 times
Did 3 measurements and they all came out with peak lift around 251-252 degrees. Cam timing is supposed to be 109 ATDC so that is pretty much spot on (360-109).
rps20210615_163716.jpg
rps20210615_163716.jpg (157.32 KiB) Viewed 12201 times
With that I fitted the front cover and sump.
rps20210615_163916.jpg
rps20210615_163916.jpg (156.66 KiB) Viewed 12201 times
Need to wait for the paint to arrive then there is just the crank pulley and distributor coil plugs and oil pipes covered by the stand to do. As it's going in from underneath the carb and manifold will go on when it's in the car.
Last edited by kevin s on Tue Jun 15, 2021 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

"Going in from underneath" - are you sure that you can fit the engine from underneath. The front engine plate is wider than the distance between the chassis legs.

Post Reply