Home - Wednesday Thru Friday Evening - April 28th - May 1st

Alot has happened this week.

I had a crummy week at work. No particular reason, just was crummy.

I have been really tired. Who knows why.

I worked on The Engine as much as I could. Only, to be stumped like a buffalo on Thursday evening at midnight.

And, Wednesday marked ten years ago when I lost one of my sons, Ted, to an accident. All day my thoughts were not here, but with him. Thinking of what might have been. Knowing Our Creator cares very much for you and for me and Ted is happy with Him. My, where has the time gone.

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Well, to the images at hand.

 

The 55amp alternator I picked up last winter? Time to start thunking of it and, the shaft is too big. More Internet searching, and CarQuest brought in three to pick from.

This one is what I wanted. A 43amp unit, Lucas - which starts charging at 1,000rpm not 1,500, and the shaft fits.

 

These gaskets are from on top of the transmission. No new ones, so I soaked the old ones in (guess what?) lacquer thinner for a day and the oil is largely gone and also any gasket goo.

 

Picked up the sniffles and sneezes and 2 1/2 boxes of Kleenex later? Back to health once more.

 

Time to rinse out the block and parts prior to assembly.

 

A spray bottle works very well to get into places only a stream can get. Plus, L/Thinner really gets the grease/oil off the parts.

 

If you look really careful at the center lobe of the crankshaft, you will see a small hole. That, is used to deliver oil under 60 pounds of pressure to the bearing on the bottom of the connecting rod. How does the oil get there?

Thru journals drilled into the crankshaft.

In this case, way overbuilt it is, from both bearings at each end.

 

The flywheel end. Here, the oil flows into the groove and always is delivered to the throw.

 

The other end will kind of spurt oil to the throw each revolution as it lines up with the hole in the bearing.

 

Let's rinse down the block.

 

Pretty dirty, is it not?

 

This is a "From the crankshaft up" rebuild. Although not every part was refinished nor replaced. All are within tolerance or were replaced etc.

 

When a stud comes out when you take it apart, spin two nuts back to back and tighten and you can spin the stud easily into the hole. Then, crack them loose and all set to go.

 

Altho lubed up, this is a brass end bearing for the crankshaft sideways motion, if any.

 

I use moly grease (wheel bearing grease) on some of the items during assembly.

I think, one of the most critical times for an engine, are those few seconds/minutes just after it starts and before the oil has been pumped to every nook and cranny. Alot of wear and tear can happen if these parts are not properly lubed during assembly. I also use oil and cam lube - a really sticky heavy oil.

 

I placed Permatex gasket cement on the gaskets before assembly. This is the flywheel end. Feels good to get the crank back into the block and ready to go.

 

Torque wrenches are used to tighten nuts and bolts to a predetermined setting.

Inch-ounces, foot-pounds and Newton meters are measurements used to measure how tight something is. By turning the handle, one sets the torque wrench to the desired setting. A scale is stamped into the body.

 

The "Gear End" all put back together.

The gear in the top image is a "Shrink Fit". One has to heat the thing and then either press sit on or maybe, it simply drops in place. I heated this one for an hour in the Bbq on high and I was really lucky, it simply dropped on the shaft!.

 

Old connecting rod bearing vs new. What a difference.

 

Connecting rod in place and torqued down.

 

Flywheel shaft lubed and ready for the flywheel.

Look carefully and you will see a small, yellow, brass piece at the bottom of the image. This will become very, very important in a few minutes.

 

Back on ...

 

I needed to check the Ring Gap. I have a cheapy tool to remove them and then we fit them in the cylinder and push them up the cylinder with the crown of the piston. This assures they are placed correctly in the bore.

 

All set, here is the gap.

 

We use a feeler gauge and select the right blade of the correct thickness. The top ring was 0.008" and the gap was perfect. So were the other two.

 

Piston fitted to the connecting rod. Am glad I had a new wrist pin bushing inserted to the top of the rod.

 

Compression is very important in a diesel engine. By raising or lowering the cylinder/head assembly to the block/piston, the ratio can be varied. I needed to check the gap between the dome of the piston and the head itself. 0.022" to 0.028" is the dimension we need. (Not much!)

 

Head gaskets usually have a Top and a Bottom.

 

I used circuit board solder (soft), twisted three strands together for thickness and set them on the head with grease.

 

We place the piston about here. Place the head back on, torque to the correct settings and spin the piston over Top Dead Center (TDC), one time.

 

The results. All flattened out.

 

About 0.035" or so. Too thick.

 

I remove the cylinder and remove a 0.010" shim.

Repeat and all is perfect.

 

The head gasket is only 0.020" thick. Not much.

 

Remember I asked you to remember that small yellow brass thingy? Well, this line, connects to it.

 

And, I have no way to get it there with the flywheel in place.

 

This has to come off again. Nutz!

 

Before I took it out, I filed down the burrs on the back edges of the ring gear. That really made it easier to remove as they did not drag on the case which is really snug around the flywheel.

 

I made breakfast and see the egg carton? I run a really neat kitchen (especially the day before my wife comes home for a visit).

 

Here it is ...

 

These lines get enough vibration and no need to bend them or twist them into the other connection. So I routed it, spun the nut on and wrenched it down.

 

Sticking a drill bit in the flywheel I could tighten the nut Big Time.

 

To ensure the nut does not come off, I bent the tabs on the keeper.

 

This is an air cell. It is hollow and air and fuel sneak into that little hole. I am not really sure of what it is really good for, but, it does something.

 

Head all torqued down and valve clearance is set.

I started to turn the engine over to see to it there were no problems, and I heard a sharp clicking sound in chorus with the valves going up and down. By a process of elimination, I determined the valves were hitting the top of the piston.

The reason is, my engine although classified an AC1, has a few parts from an AA1. The head being one of them. The valve seat height for the AC1 is 0.015" higher than the AA1.

I will drop the head off Monday so Andy can resolve that and then, we are ready to keep going.

 

Here you can see the slight traces that made the noise.

 

The Fuel Lift. It is a pump that transfers diesel fuel from the tank to the Fuel Injector Pump. All installed, ready to go.

Well, tomorrow I head down to Lake City and patch holes in the hull. Boats float better without them.

 

Later ...