Make sure you spray a bit of WD40 after the big de-grease, brake cleaner really does strip all the oil off and unplated steel parts will get rusty very quickly...
silverbullet wrote:Make sure you spray a bit of WD40 after the big de-grease, brake cleaner really does strip all the oil off and unplated steel parts will get rusty very quickly...
Yep - all done. Thought it best to give it a protective coat of something - may be a while before it all goes back together!
Was thinking of investing in a secondhand dishwasher to use as a parts cleaner - seen a few threads where people have used them to good effect to clean engine parts
Cleaning cleaning cleaning........all I seem to have been doing is cleaning........(which is cheap and has given me the opportunity to save up a few pennies for the rebuild)
Engine case halves have had the initial outside crud removed. Have concentrated on the insides of one of the halves.....getting there.
One of the cylinder heads cleaned up - valves removed and cleaned, new exhaust studs and all threads re-tapped - will be overhauling these properly at the appropriate time. Parked for now.
Pistons - cleaned 3 of the 4. I found under the crud on piston number 3 that someone has scratched some identification marks on the crown so this has obviously been apart before. Only found scratches on piston 3 though......
Feels like I've broken the back of the crud now which is good. Just need to get my cranksshaft off to the engine builder to get the journals checked out for size so I can start buying some bearings!
You have done a grand job of that case half and those shiny pistons. I have got one half of the case I had from you in a container of bio soap powder and water at present to try and soften some of the crud!!! Even the jet wash wouldn't touch it. The MV pistons have come clean but not shiny!!! I am trying to decide what colour to do the engine!! I reckon Blue for the case and silver or black for the heads.
123-jn Autohomes Komet 2.1 DJ AUTO 1989 (closed loop LPG pierburg 2E3)
- Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi
123-jn wrote:You have done a grand job of that case half and those shiny pistons. I have got one half of the case I had from you in a container of bio soap powder and water at present to try and soften some of the crud!!! Even the jet wash wouldn't touch it. The MV pistons have come clean but not shiny!!! I am trying to decide what colour to do the engine!! I reckon Blue for the case and silver or black for the heads.
Haha, cheers - I've made good use of soap impregnated wire wool pads from Wilko (about a quid for a pack of 15 I think). The wirewool is fine enough not to damage the ally surface but aggressive enough to shift the stubborn carbon deposits. Been using a brass bristled brush in a drill to get into the nooks and crannys of the case internals....again - soft enough not to damage anything. Plenty of Gunk and a stiff brush shifted all the external crud quite effectively. Might attack the outsides with drill mounted wire brush too prior to paint.
As for case colour......I'm sticking with silver I think.
Good to meet you last weekend Jon - looking forward to hearing how your rebuild progresses
Once I've got everything clean I will start taking some pics to post as I start rebuilding. I have decided to replace the valve guides and the exhaust valves on the heads and need to look into tapping the case for another oil pressure sender. I reckon I can get away with standard rings and main and big end bearings. I have a new camshaft from vw heritage and will need new cam bearings. I need to assess the follower bores to see if they are still ok for a new set of followers or whether I will have to machine them and insert sleeves.
123-jn Autohomes Komet 2.1 DJ AUTO 1989 (closed loop LPG pierburg 2E3)
- Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi
123-jn wrote:Once I've got everything clean I will start taking some pics to post as I start rebuilding. I have decided to replace the valve guides and the exhaust valves on the heads and need to look into tapping the case for another oil pressure sender. I reckon I can get away with standard rings and main and big end bearings. I have a new camshaft from vw heritage and will need new cam bearings. I need to assess the follower bores to see if they are still ok for a new set of followers or whether I will have to machine them and insert sleeves.
Hmmm......follower bores - hadn't considered that they might need work. Is it hard to measure these and ascertain whether they need work?
Took a break from engine stuff and cleaned the last of the green algae gunge off the roof and gave the old girl a quick machine polish to get a layer of protection on the paintwork in readiness for the crap winter weather. Be nice to actually get to use it before it rots away
she looks shiny and lovely!! Just that rear left side really and pop the screen out at some stage to repair the holey bits under there. The tappet bores are usually ok. I use an old pair of calipers to check that they are not oval or tapered but as long as it's only a smidge they are ok. If they are very scored or oval you can get them machined and inserts fitted. This 1.9 case seems to be ok just a slight bit of wear on the tappet bores on cylinder 1 the rest seem sound as a pound. Perhaps the oil pressure over in the far corner was a bit suspect. I will be fitting a 30mm Shadek pump to try to maximise the pressure and will have my usual 16 row cooler to try to stop the oil getting too hot and thin. It's a filthy job all this cleaning old mucky bits!!!! 2nd case half next and the crankshaft.
123-jn Autohomes Komet 2.1 DJ AUTO 1989 (closed loop LPG pierburg 2E3)
- Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi
I would hold off on the 30mm pump. Stuffing more oil into the engine that way will just overwork the pump and give you higher oil temperatures.
10cent warned me off the 30mm unless you need the extra capacity for piston oil squirters or a turbo.
He told me that the 26mm pump, modifying the pressure releif return and a good oil cooler kit will give you rock solid oil pressures.
40psi whatever the weather iirc
I was advised when I fitted my oil cooler that with 2 metre runs to the cooler The 30mm pump would be recommended . I am running a 26mm at present which is fine in this weather but as the oil goes over 90 degrees the pressure can drop to 20 PSI or less at tickover. It still does a reasonable 40-60 higher up the rev range. (The engine is rebuilt) Does this mean my pump is doing a good job? Will it continue to do so as the engine wears?
123-jn Autohomes Komet 2.1 DJ AUTO 1989 (closed loop LPG pierburg 2E3)
- Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi
2 metre hose runs to the cooler? My fan assisted thermostatic rear mounted cooler uses about 2.8m. Most front mounted coolers use nearly 9m.
I am merely passing on what Chris Corkins advised me.
A rebuilt engine should really have more than 20 psi at hot idle, but wbx bearings do run generous main bearing clearances which I suspect may be part of the bigger problem.
Were the rods refurbed/resized or replaced in the rebuild?
Rods were checked for size and deemed perfect, new rod bolts and bearings fitted both ends. Crank was also bang on for size. In fact the crank rods and liners were all in amazing condition. Pistons showed no signs of wear either. The machine shop that measured it said it was all well within spec for standard bearings. I know that Mart and I are both building up 2.1 engines at present so we need to make sure we do the right things especially with the oil system. Mine will be a Low comp MV, I believe Mart is building a DJ. I see your cooler is fan cooled where as mine is placed in the airstream from the Torque convertor. That might be an improvement for mine together with perhaps a slightly larger cooler. I run a Mocal 80 degrees stat.
123-jn Autohomes Komet 2.1 DJ AUTO 1989 (closed loop LPG pierburg 2E3)
- Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi
