freeridenick wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:17 pm
Cases are back from being checked for tolerance and honed. The good news is the bores are good and round and they've matched the pistons to the bores for best fit - no front or rear on the JEs.
freeridenick wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:17 pm
Cases are back from being checked for tolerance and honed. The good news is the bores are good and round and they've matched the pistons to the bores for best fit - no front or rear on the JEs.
Bad news is I need new rings.
great news saving lot of money and troubles, you should use new rings with new pistons anyway.
I've just priced up all the parts I need and it's well over £350.
I can't do without head gaskets, rings, con-rod bolts and clutch centre lock nut but I'm going to recheck the bearings with Plastigauge. That would save over £100. I'm aware of the potential false economy.
There are items like water pump o-ring, water joint o-rings and exhaust port gaskets. Is it another false economy to not replace these? Engine cover gaskets are on the list too but the cheapskate in me says gasket sealant will do.
freeridenick wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:27 pm
I've just priced up all the parts I need and it's well over £350.
I can't do without head gaskets, rings, con-rod bolts and clutch centre lock nut but I'm going to recheck the bearings with Plastigauge. That would save over £100. I'm aware of the potential false economy.
There are items like water pump o-ring, water joint o-rings and exhaust port gaskets. Is it another false economy to not replace these? Engine cover gaskets are on the list too but the cheapskate in me says gasket sealant will do.
Considering your going for a big BHP figure, seems a false economy to skimp under the circumstances?
I can tell you from experience, saving a few quid on the appropriate gaskets and O rings on an engine rebuild soon fades when your tearing down your freshly rebuilt engine , maybe missing out on a track-day which has cost you a couple of hundred quid to attend..
I'm collecting the parts for the build on my 350 engine at the moment but as you say, its expensive, so im buying a couple of items every month and/or when I manage to flog something on eBay and raise some funds.
My pov, everything what can be part of regular maintenance without going into engine case and removing heads, can be done cheaper way - side cover gaskets, exaust, water pump. But bearings for rods and crank, new just because you probably don't go into engine again.
I've been a bit too busy to make any progress with this these last couple of weeks but I managed to get a few hours in yesterday.
Service limits have all been checked and are all good and all parts are now laid out in order ready to go back in. I had a cost saving brain wave and checked the ring gaps for the rings that were in the engine already. I think they are OK - the engine has only done about 16k but feedback from other appreciated.
Front: 1st 0.35mm; 2nd 0.56mm; oil rings both 0.6mm
Rear: 1st 0.35mm; 2nd 0.56mm; oil rings bottom one 0.6mm the top one 0.65
Next step is ordering all the replacment parts and looking at crankcase venting mods. I also have an idea about gearbox mods that I'm exploring.
My opinion is that rings are somehow adapted or deformed to pistons and cylinders and these slight size differences in pistons can make some harm in cylinder walls or compression when old rings are used with new pistons until rings are reshaped to new configuration. There will be the same process with new piston rings anyway, but with lower extremes.
