Opinions are like, you know what?

[Neil Harvey]

I have received a couple of questions over the last few days asking about my opinion on what and how things should be done.

We are all entitled to our own opinions but not our own facts.

In this business, there is one fact that cannot be disputed. However the engine is built, if it does not fail anyway it was built, it is not an issue.

Two questions in particular I have been asked are about connecting rod reconditioning and valve spring set up.

The Rod questions had two questions. The rod bolt reuse and why did our rods after BE repair show the parting line when others done by other places showed no parting line. Simple answer, we apply a small chamfer to the edges on both the beam and cap. This is so that when the bearing shell is fitted, you remove the chances of dragging material off the backside of the shell. It gives the shell a relief to slide against. The BE size is still on size. To get really techy here, the parting line ID of the shell is bigger than the vertical dimension.

The bolt thing is something I hear about often. Replacing bolts after long use is always a good thing. The question asked was about new bolts. The question came about when sending the rods for repair. Should the new bolts be sent as well. The answer is yes.

Before fitting the new bolts they should be length measured. I believe in the seating torque number and then an angle used to stretch the bolt. Others may just use a torque value. Again, if the rod bolt does not fail, either way is ok. The bolts need to be fitted before any recon work is done. As long as the bolt returns to its original upstretched length, it can be re stretched as many times as required before final assembly. Counting how many times in the recon work including the final engine assembly, the bolt could be stretched as many as 3-4 times. If the bolt does not return to its original length, discard and refit another new bolt. Something else had gone wrong so look into this before you destroy another bolt.

The other question was about setting up the valve springs. The "book" tells a dimension of installed height. This is based on the fact that many places have no way of measuring the pressures, only the height. Assembled with height setup only has given years of service to many engines without any issue. So this is a way that will not fail. However, not all springs are the same. How we set springs up is all about having the same seat pressures. This often requires different amounts of shimming added. We do this so the engine "turns" against similar forces. If we can gain 1/2 HP doing this, we can add this 1/2 HP to the other 1/2 HP and maybe gain back some HP we lose just turning the engine over.

This is all about how you approach the build. Our ethos is about performance, not just a standard rebuild. Performance does not mean we are always trying to gain 100 HP for example. Its about gaining back some of the performance lost from friction and other parasitic losses. If we can supply an engine with the most efficiency, we have done the customer a good service.

But the same engine rebuilt "stock" without looking into these specific areas will give you exactly the same reliability. It comes down to the level of detail the rebuilder wishes to include.

Right or wrong should be measured in failure or success. The rest is opinion.

[Billthebuilder]

Are you looking for a trophy? Most on this site know you do good work and are very knowledgeable

[Neil Harvey]

Not at all. My trophy cabinet is full and cannot hold any more bent Rods, Burnt Pistons, broken Springs and bent Valves. Is that what you meant?

Those that do this work know we are the last to get a trophy and the first to be blamed.

I get calls every day from those building their own engines asking questions. Often its asking if the person helping is doing it right. Its often misunderstood that there are many ways to build these engines. We all have our own ways. That does not mean we are right and others are wrong.

Just trying to get the mystery out of building these engines.

[brighton911]

I vote a trophy for Neil being so generous with his objective & precise advise. Thanks to his contributions over the years, Pelican people following have benefited a great deal. Thank you Neil !

[PeteKz]

Agree 100%. Thank you Neil.

[Jeff Alton]

Neil,

Another great post.

Cheers

[chrismorse]

I very much appreciate Neil's taking the interest and time to convey years of high level experience to help us understand some of the "dynamics" and material properties affecting the bits and parts that we hope will propell us to victory.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but he has been there and done it.
I have been banging on cars for almost 60 years and i have finally come to appreciate the worth of my "elders"

PS, my recent E320 Benz head gasket repair was successfull, but my "74" 2,8 twin plug has yet to start - Learn as you go.

Thanks, Neil,
chris

[Neil Harvey]

That is very kind. Thank you!!!!.

[Arewa]

Such a great post