Engine Crane

The engine crane has been a asembled and is all ready to go. So the next step will be to disconnect all the connections to the engine and attach the engine crane and undo the engine mounts. I'm not sure when I will do this. That will depend on discussions I have with the engine re-builder and to a lesser extent finances. I still haven't figured out how much maneuvering will be required once the engine is freed and lifted out but I imagine I'll be able to swing it around and load it straight onto the back of the ute. I was thinking of perhaps creating a wooden crate for the engine to make it easier to transport. I first need to establish whether I need to remove all the bits and pieces from the engine, for example the exhaust, the water pump, the clutch and get box starter motor generator and other peripherals. I am guessing I will need to strip it right back.

Yesterday i managed to disconnect some of the brake line which i will bring to Rotorua and polish and paint and then bring back and reconnect. I will then disconnect a little more of the brake linings once the engine has been removed and it is easier to get it.

You can see where i have started cleaning the running gear a little. This is just after a few minutes of work so given few days most of the front part of the running gear should be able to be cleaned up and made ready for painting. 

Distractions -now back into it

It's been a little while since I've done any work on the Pontiac. We have been busy doing renovations and moving furniture getting ready to rent out our beach house.

The next big job on the Pontiac is to remove the engine and take it in to get it bored and and whatever other work is required to the engine. The measurements I took on the bore indicates there is tapering and uneven bore size which probably accounts for excessive smoke and oil usage. The engine needs sorting.

Soon i will take on the task of removing the engine when all the other stuff is moved out of the shed and I have some more room.

  I have purchased an engine crane which is still in the box . This was quite good value at 250 dollars from super cheap autos.

The other thing I'm thinking of doing is taking my spare engine apart a little to discover what usable parts can be found inside the engine. Already this spare engine has come to my rescue by providing a replacement cylinder head for the one I cracked up when I was trying to remove it. I'm really keen to get the engine nicely renovated so that the car runs as it should.

In the meantime I will do some work on the brakes. My plan is to remove all the brake lines, blow them out with high pressure air, paint them and then re-install. I will do a little at a time so as not to completely dismantle the car . If i do it in small manageable sections then at the end of the exercise the brake lines will be completely renovated and ready to go. I will then move into the brake cylinders for each wheel and sort them out.

 With the brakes overhauled and the engine overhaul the car should be fit on the road and that should inspire me to sort out the multitude of other issues and get the car roadworthy and regular use.











I tried cleaning a little of the front suspension this morning using a electric drill and wire brush and found that it was not too difficult to clean it up and get it ready for painting. So this little experiment proves that it's not necessary to get the whole car torn down and sandblasted. Given the standard of renovation I'm under taking a good clean up with wire brush and sandpaper will be enough to get the running gear clean enough for new paint work. So after I have removed the engine I will have better access to the front section of the chassis and running gear and while the engine is out I will wire brush it and paint it so that the front section looks nice. While the engine is out i will also have a go at painting the bulkhead

How to remove the engine

I now need to get my head around the complexities of removing the engine and taking it somewhere for a possible re-bore, new pistons, rings and valves. Having now removed the dog box I will need to remove the engine, not a trivial task. I have researched the steps to remove the engine which are as follows:

Steps to remove the engine

1. Remove the floor center plate.

2. Disconnect and remove the selector control cable from the transmission.

3.  Disconnect the outer lever from the transmission shift shaft.

4. Disconnect the gasoline line at the fuel pump.

5. Disconnect the oil pressure gauge line.

6. Disconnect the throttle control rods.

7. Disconnect the wiring at the generator.

8. Disconnect the wiring at the starter etc.

9. Disconnect the windshield wiper tube at the manifolds.

10. Disconnect the heat indicator at the head.

11. Disconnect the engine ground strap.

12. Disconnect the clutch control bracket at the flywheel housing.

13. Disconnect the clutch throw-out fork.

14.  Disconnect the speedometer cable from the transmission 

15. Disconnect the front end support (2 bolts).

16. Disconnect the exhaust pipe at the manifold.

17. Disconnect the rear universal joint and propeller shaft.

18. Attach a chain hoist to the engine and remove the bolts from the rear engine mountings.

19. Lift the engine free of the rear engine support cross member.

20. Remove the engine from the frame pulling forward.

Reverse the above operations when re-installing the engine. Pay special attention to:

·         Clutch pedal lash

·         Safety shift adjustments

·         Install two new exhaust pipe gaskets

·         Adjustment of throttle range

Off with the dog box and head

I started the car using jumper lead. It is not running that well –maybe only on 5 cylinders. The car is blowing a lot of blue smoke. I decided I need to take the plunge and remove the head to inspect and find the reason so much smoke is being blown. I started by draining the radiator of water. The drain plug broke off the bottom tank of the radiator –Bugger. So a change of plan is now required. I now need to remove the “dog-box” to get at the radiator and remove it. After that it will be off with the head to see what is going on there.

So the steps to remove the dog-box are as follows:

1. Remove the bonnet by unbolting the two bolts either side of the bulkhead and the two bolts in the centre of the bulkhead and lift the bonnet off.
2. Remove the battery.
3. Remove the water from the radiator using the drain plug on the bottom (which broke off).
4. Removed the bumper by undoing the four bolts that attach to the bumper.
5. Disconnect the radiator hose on the top.
6. Disconnect the radiator hose on the bottom.
7. Disconnected the fuel lines from the fuel pump. (I need to ensure the lines are upgraded before re-assembly).
8. Disconnected the wires to the electric fuel pump.
9. Disconnected the two bolts under the radiator which attached it to the centre cross member.
10. Undid the bolts that attach the front mudguards to the side of the bulkhead.  A total of five bolts should be there however one is missing. Two the bolts (on each side) go all the way through the bulkheads and attach on the inside, one at door hinge height and the other lower. Therefore needed to secure the nuts on the inside of the car to undo them using a ring spanner.  Bolts are half inch however I have lost my half inch socket.

Once all the fastenings were removed it was then a matter of lifting up the dog-box and removing it. This step was not as easy as first imagined. Used the trolley-jack under the radiator to lift it up a bit and after lots of pulling and wriggling slow worked the dog-box off. The dog box is not light, there is a bit of weight in the radiator for a start. It is also very awkward to handle. After the dog box is off a whole new world opens up.

 

Loosened and removed the head bolts and the head wouldn’t budge. Banged some screw drivers into the gap because I thought the head was simply stuck on. The heard a crack noise and discovered there was still a heat bolt attached (it looked different to the others). I cracked the head –Bugger. I removed the head which now has a large and is now useless. Luckily I have a spare engine with an OK head. The inside of the engine is bad news. There is a lot of oil in each of the cylinders and it is no wonder it throws a lot of smoke out the back. The rings must be the wrong size or else fitted wrong.  The pots look oK. Now I have to remove the engine –the mission just got that much bigger.

 

Engine problems

The engine for some reason wouldn't now start. It was starting well a few weeks ago. Using the (on the road) how to make it start fault finder routine (which I summarised in a word document) I first checked to see if there is a spark at the spark plugs –answer no. This indicates there is a fault with the ignition system, as opposed to the fuel system.

Did the following:

1.    Cleaned the spark plugs. They were quite dirty and corroded on the outside (used the wire-brush buffer). Noticed that the plug from cylinder 6 is very oily –I suspect number 6 may be the cause of the smoke problem, certainly high on the suspect list.

2.    Checked the points. Look OK. I adjusted the gap and go Carol to turn the engine.  I couldn’t see anything wrong.

3.    Checked the distributer cap and rotor –fine.

4.   Remove all the spark plug leads and distributor cap and took to the kitchen table for a thorough inspection. Found one potential issue. The contacts on the inside of the distributer cap where the spark plug lead plug in were quite corroded. Cleaned them up with screwdriver, emery paper, cotton buds etc. until the contacts were shiny.

5.    Checked the electrodes in the distributor cap which looked fine.

6.    Put it all back together. I had problems starting. Battery seemed low. It then didn’t turn at all. The only cause I could think of (i.e. since playing with the HT leads) was the battery earth strap attaching to the head. So I undid the bolt again and put the washer under the earth strap and then re-attached and fastened tighter. Hooked up the jumper leads to the falcon and away the old girl went again. So the conclusion to the overall problem was that the HT lead connections in the distributer cap were so corroded that it failed to spark altogether. There was a similar issue with the HT lead to the coil which potentially was the main cause.  Maybe I should get a new distributor cap which will fully solve the problem.

7.    Although the engine now runs it runs rough. A few observations are:

a.      Black liquid initially came out of the exhaust. Clue maybe? Is oil somehow getting into the exhaust system and heating up and generating smoke?

b.      Oil is seeping down the block from the head. Is there a problem with the head gasket?

c.       The engine fumes smelt very rich. The mixture adjustment screw on the carburettor does not seem the change the way the engine runs. Does the carburettor need overhauling?

d.      I disconnected the spark plug lead one at a time however this didn’t seem to make much difference to how much blue smoke came out. This indicates it is more than one cylinder at fault.

Getting the engine sorted is number one priority so I need to undergo a number of tests to see if I can figure out the problem. Maybe it will be easiest to just remove the head.