Club 80-90 Forums

Hi Stu

Have you manually bled tappets before fitting?

I did that when I rebuilt my dg and fitted marco high lift rockers and it started and ran beautifully

Certainly did. Even though new. All bled. Which was probably overkill.
I even test fitted down engine block bore for smooth running. Then placed each in a small sealed container of oil with their respective positions marked on phial.
Too much time on my hands.

But that was a few months back.

Old photo

TwinTurbo wrote: ↑16 Aug 2025, 12:23 People will tell you different things, but for me racing a freshly built engine does not seem like a good idea and I am not sure what the theory is. 

I would do it your way.

Thanks for your reply.
I went to the Internet for answers. Mostly as l have written earlier.
One cut and paste
_______________________________
Procedure
Install the Camshaft.
Set the Valve Lash or Preload as recommended by the manufacturer.
Prime the Oiling System.
Set the Initial Ignition Timing.
For carbureted engines, make sure fuel bowls are full and any air is bled from the fuel lines.
Start the engine and immediately raise rpm to 3,000.
Vary rpm between 1,500 and 3,000 for the next 20-30 minutes.
Use a slow, steady acceleration/deceleration pattern.
Shut down the engine and let it cool.
Drain the oil and change the oil filter.
This removes any metal particles from the break-in process.
Refill the engine with break-in oil.
The initial break-in is now complete. After the next 500 miles of normal driving, change the oil and oil filter again.

Meanwhile, l decided to replace the radiator. The rad cowling was very rusty. So gave it a coating of rust inhibitor. Then sprayed with undercoat. And finally a top coat.

Look at the size of the old radiator. South Africa model?



Cowling cleaned up and sprayed.

Later rads are chunkier than the earlier ones if I recall right Stu.

The very old radiator is massive, and at least twenty years old. It has brace bar front and back too. Also is twice the weight of new upgrade!
I cleaned up the starter motor too. A label attached to it reads: Re-manufactured in South Africa.
Strange indeed!

And went the day well.

I added a bit of fuel directly into the carb. Wound in the idle screw. Ignition on with lights for battery, oil flashing, and coolant flashing for five seconds. It started immediately.

Using my strobe light l adjusted idle so it ran at 1900 rpm while l topped up coolant. Wow this is a smooth engine. No wobbles or hiccups. So lovely. Using a DG dissy on a 2.1 by the way.

I burped the coolant but notice the radiator not kicking in at it's normal temp gauge position. After fifteen minutes the radiator is still lukewarm. So l switched off and let the engine cool down.

Meanwhile l tested the fan switch. Both speeds working. I think l will buy a spare switch, just in case

Switched on ignition again. No oil light. Poor condition of twin connector the cause. PHEW! So will order another from B/W.

Dropped the oil. Twisted off the oil filter and replaced both. Will go for a drive tomorrow. Tonight l'm tidying workshop. Looks like a bomb has hit it!

Cool.

I have done  a number of engine swaps but no rebuild ( as such)  that momwent when it catches and runs is such a euporic moment for an amature, well done.. now just all the little sizzel to sort.


Rob

TwinTurbo wrote: ↑18 Aug 2025, 04:05 Cool.

I have done  a number of engine swaps but no rebuild ( as such)  that momwent when it catches and runs is such a euporic moment for an amature, well done.. now just all the little sizzel to sort.


Rob

Thanks. I'm m well chuffed

Still chasing snags with this rebuild. A mite testing, l will say!

I had a problem with the relocated oil switch not giving a signal. Did a bit of ad hoc wiring without success. Then suddenly it starting working and giving a flashing light at the dash, and light going out on start up. Hooray!



Then bleeding the coolant system is giving me nightmares. New bigger core radiator too. A fully rebuilt engine sitting at 1800 revs while l try getting the radiator to bleed and warm up is a very unsatisfactory situation, as James Bond would say.

Fan not coming in due to low rad temp. Then the pipe from carb choke to LPG system let loose.



Temperature gauge alarmingly high so switched off and let it cool down. During this cycle l checked the timing. Spot on at 10° BTDC.

Radiator still cold.



So l may have put a rogue thermostat in the new housing. Will change it tomorrow.

Lastly, on another used thermostat l have, what does this arrow denote?




Hopefully, some good news tomorrow. We are going camping on Thursday. It must be ready!

Points in direction of flow to rad?

just leave the stat out for now.

 

Dont think I ever paid attention to the arrow, just as long as the thermostat is the right way around, IE the spring facing down..The O ring should sit under the thermostat as well iirc.

Thanks for the replies.

TwinTurbo wrote: ↑19 Aug 2025, 20:05 just leave the stat out for now.
 

Good suggestion.
I have another known working thermostat from the 1.9 housing. Will swap it over. That will save me having to bleed cooling system twice.
Plus we are on hols tomorrow. I want this new engine running properly.

Stesaw wrote: ↑19 Aug 2025, 20:29 Dont think I ever paid attention to the arrow, just as long as the thermostat is the right way around, IE the spring facing down..The O ring should sit under the thermostat as well iirc.

Spring down and rubber up, is my way of remembering how it goes.

A bit late for the advice now but one thing I *always* do after doing any work on the coolant system is pressure test it all by blowing an airline up the nose of the dalek cap. Add pressure bit by bit til the cap burps off and then you can be sure that the valve in the cap is the weakest link.