3.3SS rebuild finally underway..........

[fred cook]

After 4-5 years of planning, picking others brains, buying parts and building a shop, my 3.3SS engine build is finally underway! I spent a couple of hours this afternoon disconnecting the shift coupler and removing "stuff" that won't be going back on the new engine like the heater blower motor, the distributor and plug wires and the MSD ignition box. Also pulled off the a/c compressor, but it will be put back on the new engine.

Interior with passenger seat removed to access the shift coupler


Engine compartment with bits removed


The new engine will use LN Engineering slip fit 100mm cylinders, Mahle 10.1:1 pistons,
964 cams, a very nice set of ported (slightly) Carrera twin plug heads that were refreshed by Xtreme Cylinder Heads in Florida and a direct fire iginition system. The pistons will connect up to a reconditioned set of rods done by Ollie's. For now, at least, the exhaust will be via SSIs and a two in/one out muffler. The intake chores will be handled by a large port CIS system. Of course the Dilivar studs will be replaced as will the old fiberglass top engine shroud.

I hope to have the engine out in the next couple of days which is when the real fun begins! Armed with Wayne's engine book and a potload of measuring tools, etc I have high hopes that this will be a fun learning experience and will result in a great street engine.

[fred cook]

Spent about two hours today putting the car up on jackstands and continuing to disconnect bits and pieces. Got everything in the engine compartment done except for the ground strap that goes from the block to the firewall. Underneath, disconnected the throttle and starter wires and removed the clutch operating levers. Will drain the oil and disconnect the oil lines over the weekend. Still have some misc wires, etc to remove. I have decided to do this in a civilized manner, work for a couple of hours and then let the body rest! Should have the engine and transaxle out in another hour or two.

[fred cook]

A couple more hours and the engine/transaxle are out of the car! The tranny separated from the engine without any trauma. After pulling the drivetrain, I found these things. First, the starter was not seated correctly and the top nut was loose, the backup light switch was damaged and I found one of the driveshaft bolts on the tranny end was loose. I had the syncros in the gearbox replaced about 4 years ago by a shop in the Atlanta area. The first time around, I did the R&R and the shop replace the gearbox parts. When I installed the "rebuilt" gearbox, I could not get it to go into 1st or 2nd gear. The shop agreed to redo the gearbox and to do the second R&R at their expense. They did the work, straightened out the gearbox issues and reassembled the car. I have not had any reason to go back into the drivetrain since then so I am glad that I finally pulled it back apart now. Some pictures.

The starter w/loose nut.


The broken backup light switch.


I apologize for the blurry cell phone pictures. Don't know why they turned out like that!

The next step will be to pressure wash the engine and transaxle, put the engine on the stand and start the teardown. More to come in a day or two!


This is why I don't like to let others work on my cars!

The engine out on it's jack.

[Lapkritis]

Any shots of the shop/car? Sounds like a lot of planning and effort up front here- best of luck to you.

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

Any shots of the shop/car? Sounds like a lot of planning and effort up front here- best of luck to you.

Andrew, per your request, here are some pictures of the car (1980 SC) and the shop.

[Roslin]

Is it 8x16 (951) and 9x16 wheels you have ? Nice car !

[fred cook]

The wheels are 7x16 front and 8x16 rear.

[fred cook]

Just got far enough into the engine to now know that my existing cams use the old style large nut. The new 964 cams require the small bolt and associated washer. Are there any other parts that will need to be changed to go to the newer cams? Also, any good ways to check/measure the cam gears for wear?

Thanks!

[tctnd]

The new bolts and washers are all you need; they are otherwise completely interchangable.

regards,
Phil

[fred cook]

Got most of the right side of the engine removed. Down to the cylinders/pistons. The left side will (hopefully) come off tomorrow. Sometime in this car's past, it appears to have been torn down on the right side to replace a stud. When the unknown mechanic put it back together he failed to put the rocker shafts back in correctly which made for a bit of extra work taking it apart. Also, the head barrel nuts were somewhat rusted to the studs, coming loose with a noticible "Pop" sound. I've got the left side soaking in penetrating oil overnight so maybe it will come apart more easily. I also found that the engine did not have two broken studs on the left side, but three! Fortunately each of the broken studs were on different cylinders. I'll post some more pictures later.

[fred cook]

Got both sides torn down, only have the block left to split. In the process of removing the pistons and cylinders, I found a great tool for removing the piston pins. Of all things, it is a brake adjusting "spoon". It is just the right shape and size to fit in between two cylinders and press against the pin, pushing it most of the way out!

In the process of removing the rocker shafts, I discovered that whoever worked on the engine last not only put the rocker shafts back incorrectly, but also managed to damage the hex socket that the 5mm wrench fits into. With a lot of luck and some breath holding I was able to get all of the shafts out except one. Fortunately it was the front one on the left side of the engine and I was able to drill out the nut to release the tension. Some pictures.

Stalactites




I've got to clean up some of the already removed parts before splitting the block. Will probably be a day or two before opening it up.

More to follow!

[david dolan]

With the broken studs, did you notice during the tear down if there has been any exhaust leakage around the heads?

[Flat6Heaven]

I will be headed down that road fairly soon as well, so thanks for sharing!!

May I ask where you purchased the LN cylindres and Mahle pistons?

Thanks,
Ben.

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by david dolan

With the broken studs, did you notice during the tear down if there has been any exhaust leakage around the heads?

Did not notice any. Fortunately each broken stud was on a separate cylinder which helped prevent the heads from lifting. The engine did, however, develop a pretty severe oil leak at the base of one or more cylinders!

[david dolan]

That's very interesting as I too have broken studs on my SC, my mechanic advised waiting for the tell-tale air leakage noise before tearing into the engine as well, it's now been 5 years and still going strong!
My engine leaks a bit of oil too, but they all do that.

Good luck with the rebuild!

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by david dolan

That's very interesting as I too have broken studs on my SC, my mechanic advised waiting for the tell-tale air leakage noise before tearing into the engine as well, it's now been 5 years and still going strong!
My engine leaks a bit of oil too, but they all do that.

Good luck with the rebuild!

Just keep in mind that any head leakeage can damage the head and the cylinder! I was pretty certain that I would be replacing both so that did not particularly bother me. As it turns out, I did not see any damage to either heads or cylinders. Still, if I was going to build an engine using these parts I would have them machined to make certain that they were "ok".

[KTL]

You'll have to use new (or good used) rocker shaft bolts. They are M7 thread size and not something easily found via most hardware sources like industrial supply as an example. Good to hear you were able to get the last pesky one out w/out issue.

Since Ollies is doing your rods, you could have them offset bored to allow for use of Carrera compression height pistons. Carrera pistons are lighter and the rod/stroke ratio is better when the rod bushings are offset bored, allowing for a engine that spins more freely.

3.3L short stroke is a good engine. We have one in our old MotoDelta 1970 racecar and it's made a solid 248 WHP for many years with Weber carbs and Electromotive ignition.

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by KTL

You'll have to use new (or good used) rocker shaft bolts. They are M7 thread size and not something easily found via most hardware sources like industrial supply as an example. Good to hear you were able to get the last pesky one out w/out issue.

Since Ollies is doing your rods, you could have them offset bored to allow for use of Carrera compression height pistons. Carrera pistons are lighter and the rod/stroke ratio is better when the rod bushings are offset bored, allowing for a engine that spins more freely.

3.3L short stroke is a good engine. We have one in our old MotoDelta 1970 racecar and it's made a solid 248 WHP for many years with Weber carbs and Electromotive ignition.

I'll just buy a new rocker shaft to replace the damaged one. The rods were done by Ollies some time ago, already in hand! I'm using a set of Mahle 10.1:1 pistons, again, already on the shelf!

I'm excited about the possibilities of this engine. With the increased displacement, better heads, uprated cams and the XDi ignition, it should have good low and midrange torque and rev well to 7k or thereabouts.

[KTL]

The boss' 3.3L revs to 7500 no problem and makes good power there too. Of course it helps to have Webers, race exhaust, Web 120/104 cams.

Nonetheless you'll get a peppy engine. The 3.3L we have is similar to yours with a stock SC crank balanced, stock rods balanced w/ARP bolts, EBS valve spring kit, ported heads, JE 10.5:1 pistons and LN 100mm Nickies. Close ratio trans helps it rock & roll pretty good too.

[fred cook]

Got the block halves separated this morning. Not too bad of a job, but it did take a few "thumps" from a dead blow hammer to get it separated. I guess the best news is that the main journals on the crank look very good. I haven't pulled the rods off yet so I don't know what the rod journals look like. Next step will be to remove the rods and mike all the journals. Some pics.