Your welcome.

Now, get that thing clean and on the stand so we can start putting the bottom end together.

Right away, sir!

The case is finally getting clean. Progress was very slow with brake and carb cleaner, so I tried AlumaKleen which really sped up the process by unlocking a lot of the stubborn gunk. The inside of the case was pretty good, but some of the flanges had sealer residue that was stubborn, along with the usual grease/dirt staining on the outside. My goal isn't a gleaming polished concours-ready case, but I do want it to look like I made some effort. One more going-over and I think I can declare victory. Meanwhile, I have started preparing for the bottom end build.

I unpacked the crank today, and was pretty stoked to see that Ollie's did a great job of making it look not like it did when I sent it off. If you saw the pics earlier in this thread, it had some nasty scars on the webs, but otherwise looked sound. I was happy to see it shiny and looking like a worthy centerpiece to my motor.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pskfmpfusn.jpg

I had it magna-fluxed, balanced, and cross-drilled. This pic shows the groove in the middle main journal to pick up oiling through the bearing and case (a larger hole is drilled through the case web to the oil galley at that spot).

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...ps8y8gfthh.jpg
Here I've got the crank bolted to a junk flywheel clamped in my bench vise. Should be pretty easy to assemble everything this way.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psgqnfkfud.jpg

Time for me to do some reading and prep for assembling the rods...

Made some good progress today, with the help of silverc4s a.k.a. Bill Conway. We mic'd the crank, checked rod and main bearing clearances with Plastigage, and finally assembled the rods on the crank. Jamie and I had checked the crank before I sent it off to Ollie's, but following Wayne's admonitions about re-checking, went ahead and did it again, and main and rod journals were both apparently still in spec. Decided to check with Plastigage also, more than anything just out of curiosity of how it works, this being my first build and all. It is satisfying to see everything consistently within spec.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psiqqr0jqb.jpg

After checking the rods, we did the same with the mains - decided to do this because once the rods were put on the crank, it would be a lot more painful. Still, it does take some time to assemble and torque all of the case through-bolts, only to immediately take everything apart again. Here is half of the case case with the coated main bearings installed:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psc2nicuur.jpg

No surprises here, either.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pscm0m4z9y.jpg

Time to do some real work, and assemble the rods. I used ARP rod bolts, and assembled per the ARP instructions with the ARP stretch gauge, with the crank bolted to a junk flywheel clamped in my bench vise so we could work horizontally. This definitely makes this progress easy, I can't imagine trying to do this operation any other way. I had purchased the JEGS stretch gauge, and thought I would give it a try, but it will need modification in order to work, we couldn't get the thing to open wide enough for the 911 rod bolts. Fortunately, I had also borrowed an ARP gauge (thanks David) so no time was lost to that diversion. I was really glad Bill was there, it's a two-person job, or at least, a lot easier that way. Here we are about to stretch that last bolt.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psaajmjvhx.jpg

Sure hope we are reading that stretch gauge correctly...

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pszvmqmdrv.jpg

As Edd China would say, "Job done." I was impressed by the difference in torque needed to achieve the proper stretch among different bolts, and now find it easy to understand why the stretch gauge is preferred. Next up will be dropping it into the case, fitting the oil pump and intermediate shaft. But at the last minute, because of my engine's unknown history, I've decided to replace my cam chains with new, so I'll be waiting a few days for parts.

Now you are making progress. Assembly should go much faster now. And putting things together makes it visually appear like lots of progress is made.

You're gonna have that pretty little orange coupe back on the road in no time��

Great progress! I wish I could have dropped by today since I will need to be doing this myself sometime soon (and to also give my cam housings a nice ultrasonic bath), but I spent most of the day buying a car for my son.

Well there is not any orange on it right now. Its pretty naked.

Let's hope John's engine is built before I finish tub welding.

Lots of interruptions, delays, roadblocks, sourcing forgotten parts (IM shaft bearings), the Hill Country Rallye, and so on. I am finally moving on the reassembly again. Got the oil pump and IM shaft with chains installed, and the crank laid in place, I still haven't sealed the nose bearing o-ring or installed the flywheel seal, but it's starting to come together. Ready to lay the crank in on the coated bearings:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pstn8971xq.jpg

Kind of a challenge to get the crank in place and the nose bearing onto its pin with a single pair of hands, but I am here to tell you it can be done. Whoops, watch that oil pump O-ring...:D

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psthp4hoh7.jpg

This being my first time at this, my progress is painstakingly slow. It's been long enough since I took it apart that the memory is not exactly crisp, and I'm afraid I will forget some critical part - always checking the exploded parts diagrams, etc. Sure seems like my gasket kit as a lot of little parts that I don't remember removing from the old one. :D

Looking good, John. Looking forward to seeing it come together on Friday.

Good luck man, we follow you !

Some major progress this weekend. Friday night Jamie (jpnovak) was kind enough to come to my garage and lead a tech session on case sealing with my motor as the guinea pig.


We had a full house of onlookers who apparently had nothing better to do on a Friday evening. :D Here is the maestro explaining something vitally important as we all look on enraptured.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psjrzrefft.jpg

We did the necessary prep work then started the 45 minute drop-dead timer. I did think to take one photo just before the halves went together:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psbdkw4svw.jpg

23 minutes later, we (I use the editorial we, as Jamie did much of the work) had it closed up. I was pretty busy the whole time trying to assist (i.e. get in the way), and forgot to take any other pics as we went along.

I took this one today after putting the o-rings under the acorn nuts, test-fitting the breather cover and thermostat, and beginning to install the Supertec head studs. The '72 beauty that this lump will go back into when complete can be seen in the background.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pshu2nottj.jpg

Onward!

Did you not put the o rings on with the initial sealing procedure?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not on the nut ends. We did put o-rings on the head ends of the through bolts, because that can be done before applying the sealant. Not putting them on he acorn nut end speeds up getting he case halves torqued into place in the race to get that done before the sealant starts to cure. The next day, with the sealant cured, I could go back and one at a time, pull an acorn nut and washer, install its o-ring, and re-torque. This technique has been discussed in other threads here.

A lot of good info here. I'm at about the same stage as you, so I will be following closely.
A shot of my motor
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1461527143.jpg

I'm interested in the installation of the head studs.. is there a special tool?
How tight should they be? Do you use thread locker? What about the heights, is it critical?
MIke

Mike - there are some special tools for inserting and removing studs, but double-nutting them works just fine (i.e. thread two nuts onto the end of the stud, tighten them against each other). As for height and thread-locker, this depends on the studs.

I believe Wayne's book calls out red Loctite for these. When using factory-style barrel nuts at the head end of the studs, you need to make sure the studs are deep enough in the case that you don't end up unable to turn the barrel nuts due to the top of the stud protruding into the 10mm hex opening at the top of the nut. The book has the height spec.

I am using Henry Schmidt's Supertec stud kit, though, which is a little different. The head ends of the studs are finer pitch, and the kit includes 12-point nuts, which the tool grips on the outside instead of inside. This eliminates the need to worry about precise stud height - you just turn the studs in until they bottom, then back out 1/4 turn. Blue Loctite is used instead of red with these.

I can contribute one photo from the evening of the sealant being applied:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1461625455.jpg

Yum. 574 and Threebond. A tasty combination.

Can't wait to see the rest of this go together.

cant believe I missed this thread! looking good and thanks for posting!

keep on rollin' guys... looking great as any progress is ALWAYS a good thing...

Making some progress with assembly. After a comical sequence of orders and re-orders, I finally got all of the correct parts (and some extras) to get my oil pressure relief/bypass pistons installed. Part of the problem is I still haven't been able to get one of them out of the old case, the one with the big NLA flat-blade screw cap. Since Wayne suggests all new parts for these anyway, I am just leaving it for now.

I installed half of my new Supertec studs, and supported the rods with Big Ass rubber bands. I'll put the other studs in once I have the pistons on the rods, this gives some room to work.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psfoswlel6.jpg

I was installing the case chain ramps last night, and had one bolt that was a little stubborn, didn't want to go into the plastic chain ramp, and was very hard to turn. This being my first build, I am more than a little shy about forcing something that doesn't want to go. I vaguely recall one of them being difficult to remove. On closer inspection:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pswyqyxepd.jpg

Somebody must have broken a timing chain at some point? I was surprised that anyone would re-use this bolt until I checked on pricing :D. Still, I'm getting a new one.

What's the list behind the bolt? Sealing procedure?

Yep - it's the info sheet that comes with the Supertec sealant kit. I wanted to put the bolt along a straight edge to show the bend, and that happened to be handy...

Here is where I install the Classic Autowerks crank sensor for EFI. It mounts to the case behind the crank pulley on the LHS of the case, next to the nose bearing. First, I taped the drilling template to the case along the parting line of the case and against the nose bearing, then used a punch to locate where the holes need to be. The engine is rotated 90 with cylinders 1-2-3 at the top.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psravsatns.jpg

Then I drilled and tapped two M3 holes to accommodate the screws that will hold the sensor in place. These holes don't go into the case, they go through to the other side of the web for the fan, which is external, so no worries about aluminum filings ending up inside.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psmvjynghb.jpg

Here is the sensor installed.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...ps9rpvi6wu.jpg

The pulley has three magnets mounted to trigger the sensor:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psv68rrivp.jpg


Here is the pulley mounted on the crank, with one of the magnets shown over the sensor.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pskhscsa7n.jpg

With that done, the crank pulley can be torqued, and it becomes time for cylinders and pistons!

I have been remiss in updating this thread. I have made some progress - I will admit I never thought this would take me as long as it has. When I first started and I was reading threads that went on for a year, I remember thinking, not me! I'm gonna crank this baby out quick! Well, I realized a week or two ago that I hit the one year mark of finding the crack in my case. Not gonna worry though, it's all about the journey. The learning curve is steep, but I am quite sure my next build will go a lot quicker.

Anyway, I had a couple minor setbacks. First, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, I am doing performance coatings on most of the parts that can benefit. The pistons and wrist pins presented the greatest challenge so far. First, Jamie had a hard time getting the coating to stick to the piston crowns. After he got that sorted, I went to start assembling, and discovered that the performance coating on the wrist pins was just thick enough to cause problems when installing the pins, they just did not want to go into the pistons. Persuasion with a hammer got one partially installed, but it was so tight, I decided I was not going to get it on without harming something, so I took it off. Getting the pin out proved to be another obstacle. I thought I had it properly protected when I positioned it on my vise with rubber jaws so I could hammer the pin out, but discovered later that I had munged up the skirt right at the oil ring, and even took a little tick out of the oil ring. I got a another piston (thanks, Tom) and set of rings for good measure. Further delays as I learned how to remove 12g of aluminum from a piston to balance with the others. I used a mill bit in my cheapie HF drill press, which was just barely up to the job, but got it done. Finally, back to where I had been two weeks earlier!

I took a red scotchbrite to the wrist pins. My micrometer showed them to be about 0.005mm larger than an uncoated pin, so I polished the coating down, and wiped the micro-cruft off the pins with solvent. This took them down to nominal size, and made them install like buttah. Jamie says the coating penetrates, so not a problem to polish it down, and it's a good idea to have it since these pins just get oil from the squirters rather than internal lubrication. Bill Conway (silverc4s) helped me install the pistons and cylinders last weekend, where I learned I am not as good with a ring compressor as I would like. Managed to get them all installed, but the July Texas heat makes a marathon session difficult.

Then this last Sunday, I went over to Jamie's to "help" (i.e. watch) him coat the combustion chambers, valve faces, exhaust ports, and valve stems. Here is the artiste at work.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psexa7yxuk.jpg

Here is a coated and uncoated head for comparison. I meant to note the composition of the coating, but forgot to write it down. If you look closely, you can see some of the heads have similar pitting to a couple of my pistons. It certainly appears that some parts of this motor survived some kind of catastrophic event in the past. Outside of that, these heads look pretty sexy, thanks again to cgarr for working his magic.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pshkzohooy.jpg

After I left, Jamie finished the baking them, and assembled the valve springs and keepers, and I brought them home yesterday.

Tonight I had some prep work left to do. When Bill and I installed the pistons and cylinders last week, we didn't seal the base gaskets. I know some leave them dry, but Jamie's counsel is to put CurilT on them. I had incorrectly decided to wait until installing the heads, as I was under the erroneous impression that the sealant would cure. I thought it would be better to wait to apply the sealant until ready to torque the heads down. Tonight, I paid the price of my ignorance, as it is a bit of a pain to try to get sealant on those gaskets while in place on the engine. Thankfully, I had only two studs installed for each cylinder, which made access a little easier. Once I had all of the base gaskets sealed, I installed the other two Supertec studs for each cylinder. My next work session will be putting those heads on. But, it is starting to look like an actual motor:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pskhq7cw4a.jpg

Good to see the progress, John. Bet you are ready to see the heads go on and the long block buttoned up😎

For a bit, I thought my powder coater shorted me two pieces of my engine baffle tin - the pieces that fit along the tops of 3.0L cylinders. Turns out they were stuck in the foam wrapping of one of the larger pieces. Whew!

On the coatings, I've never found that DFL stuck good enough to steel to be worth the trouble, but bearings, aluminum parts, piston skirts, etc. it's great.
In fact I love how it tightens up the tolerances inside the oil pump housing.

Ceramic is a PITA to do right and it doesn't like sharp edges.

You might want to tighten up the gap for the sensor/magnets.

Mark,

Thanks for the comments. I think the magnet distance is fine. Ceramic Cobalt magnets and the sensor read distance is 18mm. Current clearance is about 2mm. Works just fine on all the other installations.

The DFL is highly dependent on the surface prep. sometimes you can see that the coating appears worn visually but thin films still have a significant reduction in friction. And that is the whole point of the DFL coatings.

I have the first engine I coated parts apart in the garage and they have demonstrated remarkable robustness despite about 4 years of service, many track days and the summer heat of TX. The reduction in temperature is worth it.

Jamie

Thanks for chiming in, Jamie. Mark, that photo might make the gap look bigger than it is, it's probably around 2mm. If it ever did need to be closer, it would be pretty easy to shim the sensor out a little bit from the case, but based on the specs and Jamie's testing, I think it is the least of my worries in this build.

One of my biggest problems seems to be keeping my parts organized. On Sunday, I couldn't find them, and I thought my rebuild seal/gasket kit was missing oil return tube o-rings, so I capitulated to the heat and ordered a set that showed up today. Naturally, as soon as I set up to work tonight, I found the bag of goodies containing those o-rings squirreled under something else, and so now have an extra set of o-rings. My hope is having an extra set on hand will keep the ones that are in there from leaking. :D

I got everything ready, did a final cleaning of the cam towers including blasting out the rocker oiler rails with brake cleaner. I put the sealant on, got all the pins aligned, and started putting the nuts and washers on using the screwdriver technique. Somehow, I still managed to lose control of one of the washers and had it fall - of course - into a valve spring pocket. Rookie mistake #368!! I tried to get it out of there for a minute or so, but I couldn't get at it even with a magnet. With sealant a-curing, I didn't have time to fool around, so I popped the tower back off (it hadn't yet contacted the heads on the sealing surface) and got the washer out.

Anyway, no drama after that, got the 4-5-6 heads and cam tower assembled without further incident. This is the last time I will be able to use my trusty trash bag engine cover, it won't fit once I get the other heads and cam tower put on.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psnppk7hxz.jpg

Looking good! SmileWavy

I use two leaf/recycle bags and overlap them in the middle. ;)
Use masking tape to cover stuff like the cooler holes, intake, exhaust, etc., till you're ready to install.

BTW I know others are following this thread, so if anyone is interested here's my 3.0 build thread for my 914/6 conversion.
914World.com - The fastest growing online 914 community!

Nice thread, Mark - I am definitely bookmarking it, as I have dreams of building a 914-6 once I have this car up and running. I see you are going with Webers - my car came with them and I have decided to go EFI with Jamie's help. Mine were in need of some tweaking - they ran very rich, and the fuel economy was abysmal. Good luck with your build!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...s/beerchug.gif

1-2-3 cam tower and heads are on - nothing like a little momentum...

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...pszcfkxpwe.jpg

This finally looks like an engine... Nice work.

Congrats on the progress... Ive been enjoying the updates.

David

Thanks, David. I need all the encouragement I can get!

After a morning run in sundevil64's awesome turbo, I got the cams and end plates in before the heat started getting to me.

Cams have been performance coated, and inserted smoothly. I know they shouldn't bind - they both definitely turn easier then harder for a bit, but not by a lot, wondering if this is normal. By this I mean if I turn them by hand with the socket tool (no ratchet handle), I can turn them most of the way around, but then I reach a point where they won't turn further without a tool in the socket. With a ratchet handle on the socket, when I turn them, I can feel a spot where they "speed up" when turning with constant pressure. Is this normal or the kind of binding I should be worried about? Did I just not get enough lube in the journals? Should I loosen and re-torque the cam tower nuts (per the good book) to see if that changes anything?

Obligatory photo:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...psaxb95pml.jpg

nice thread... u should b fine with the cams = possible "binding" as you call it, sounds like u r running up and down the hills of the cam lobes and compressing and decompressing valve springs which is normal... if you want to b 100% certain, remove 1 upper valve cover and watch as you rotate the cam and see when you feel this "bindings" and look to see whats going on... carry on... bob

Hey Bob, thanks for the diagnosis, but with no rockers installed yet, I think I might need to look for another cause!

true... I thought I saw valve covers on there but I did not have my glasses on either...))
if the cams are not in contact with anything, I would remove one camshaft and inspect 1 cam tower bearing surface and cam at a time for unusual wear... maybe this is a reflection of the cam lube coating you did...? either way they should turn easily 360 degrees so something is binding and/or is not true...Are cam towers torqued in correctly = cam tower is not being flexed out of being straight from incorrect torque...? dig further and ask jamie... he will have a good idea too...