Timini77's DG reseal

[silverbullet]

Thats it. I have a machine workshop, its not a motor garage so I don't/can't do fitting, the council won't allow it and I have no space to securely store vehicles.
Core engine only, no exhaust, no fuel system, no alternator i.e. as light as possible. Clean rags in inlet ports. Drained of coolant and oil. Leave filter on and preferably remove the dipstick & plug the hole (basically don't give dirt a chance to get in the engine) or protect it from potential damage somehow.
Engines MUST be degreased thoroughly top to bottom or I have to charge the time. Mire and filth = mechanical failure!
I don't really want to tangle with non-suffix B early engines like DF or early DG, just my preference.

PS the basic re-seal should have taken about 6 hours, it took over 8 in this case. Pulling the flywheel, clutch swap and helicoiling was the rest.

[itchyfeet]

would you consider doing just crank case rebuilds?

for example I have an engine stripped of heads, pistons and Barrels that I was going to split and renew bearings.

I'm sure there are others who can do heads but have no experience if splitting the case and measuring cranks accurately and would happily give that to a professional to do.

[CovKid]

Here here

[silverbullet]

Could do... The bottom end uses up around £400 in parts for bearings, tappets, rod bolts, piston rings, oil pump etc at last count (subject to the Euro as ever) Add on a crank grind as required, new camshaft etc.
I wont recycle anything that is remotely suspect, so if the top seal grooves in the barrels are pitted then they get binned. Pistons rarely show any appreciable wear as is known, but at high mileages they do get a bit of a ripple at the top and the ring tension will be falling off anyway.

Obviously any guarantee on a short engine build will be limited because I have no control over a customer's individual working conditions, assembly practices or the state of the heads that are being fitted.

[itchyfeet]

Interesting

[silverbullet]

...and don't forget connecting rod rework as required

[silverbullet]

One last bit of advice.
Before thinking of sending an engine *anywhere* do yourself a favour and spend 10 mins doing the following:
Pop the rocker covers, undo the two M8 nuts and remove the rocker gear. Then reach for your sliding T-bar and sockets and slacken all the headbolts.
They always need a firm shove and go with a sharp crack which can be a bit alarming, but if they will stand being undone then at least they will have enough integrity to be removed even if badly pitted.
If the head studs are going to wring off, its best to find out at the start, not after you have paid for shipping a pallet and can't see whats happened.

[itchyfeet]

Yeh good advice.
Apply pressure to the t bar and release, then apply more pressure and release, continue this, if when you apply pressure and release, the tbar is 'springy' and moves much then the nut is siezed and you are twisting the stud
stop or it will break.
then go for the blow torch and tap with hammer to see if you can loosen it.
You can also try tightening it to break the rust, but dont twist the stud too much or it will snap.

[silverbullet]

Also good advice to heat up your nuts with a blowlamp before trying to loosen them off.

[itchyfeet]

I have seen what look like perfectly good studs snap (no sign of rust reduction or previous cracks) because the nut is rusted on.
I wonder what could be done to help prevent the nuts rusting on when reassembling?
any form of sealant will affect the strain on the stud to achieve the same torque because it will lubricate the thread but I wonder if a little dirco would be the lesser of the two evils?

I know the correct antifreeze should in theory do it but I doubt it after time or if the engine gets stored out of a vehicle without antifreeze for any period.

I have always cleaned nuts with a tap and the studs with a brush so at least they run smooth but not used sealant.

stainless steel nuts perhaps?

[ghost123uk]

DG reseal

So Ian...is this a service you are going to be offering

I can do them

well done about time somebody did this

Interesting

Not kidding

[silverbullet]

Stainless nuts won't help because its not actually high tensile material and it will only promote galvanic corrosion. Good coolant and new plated head nuts are the way to do it but I would lightly grease the threads.
The studs are 12.9 tensile designated so there isn't much that is stronger without going super exotic on the material.
I have also removed studs that anyone else would consider perfectly good to re-use but I know are on the way out because they look minutely "pickled" in just one spot, so they are already in the way to failure.

[ghost123uk]

You’ve got to admire the proper attention to detail approach here

[itchyfeet]

new plated head nuts are the way to do it.

Yes good call, not so expensive really for piece of mind, never bought new.

Did you fit new nuts to Timini77's engine?

I wont recycle anything that is remotely suspect.

[silverbullet]

No need on Tims engine, simply tapped them out and refitted. It was down to a price and was only a reseal, not a full-house rebuild.

I must qualify my statements more carefully in the future...