I had hoped to have Numbum finished yesterday, but family commitments reduced my working time and I hit a couple of snags along the way.
Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were taken up with removing the old crank, fitting the new with new bearings, and buttoning everything back up. This went reasonably well apart from the fact that I couldn't turn the engine over when I'd finished fitting the crank. It was locked solid. It took some time but I found that I'd fitted the centre main bearing cap on the wrong way. Once changed, all was well.
It was slow going but I eventually had the engine ready to go in by Sunday lunchtime, when family duties called and the install had to wait till today.
This morning the engine went in with a little cursing and a lot of pulling and pushing. Once in and secured by the top bell housing bolts, I filled and fitted the oil filter and filled the sump. I decided to check that I had oil pressure before I started it, so I fitted the starter, removed the plugs, and spun it over. Nothing, not a flicker on the needle.
I phoned a friend and he told me how to prime the system, which I did, but it made no difference. I tried a few times but still no luck. Getting desperate by this time and with visions of the engine coming back out, I called my friend again and he voulteered to come round and talk sternly to the engine.
A good talking to didn't do any good at all, and eventually we tried a different method of priming the pump and after about half an hour we got pressure. What a relief!!
As I didn't want to fit too much back on the car in case the engine had to come out again, we ran it briefly to check the pressure before fitting the dynamo and radiator. The pressure was fine, so the radiator and generator went on.
I finally closed the garage door, some eight hours after I'd opened it, with water hoses and exhaust still to fit, the bottom bell housing bolts to go in, the clutch to adjust, and the bonnet to go on and it's done. It will be great to be back on the road, if only slower than my normal pace as I have to run it in.
Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were taken up with removing the old crank, fitting the new with new bearings, and buttoning everything back up. This went reasonably well apart from the fact that I couldn't turn the engine over when I'd finished fitting the crank. It was locked solid. It took some time but I found that I'd fitted the centre main bearing cap on the wrong way. Once changed, all was well.
It was slow going but I eventually had the engine ready to go in by Sunday lunchtime, when family duties called and the install had to wait till today.
This morning the engine went in with a little cursing and a lot of pulling and pushing. Once in and secured by the top bell housing bolts, I filled and fitted the oil filter and filled the sump. I decided to check that I had oil pressure before I started it, so I fitted the starter, removed the plugs, and spun it over. Nothing, not a flicker on the needle.
I phoned a friend and he told me how to prime the system, which I did, but it made no difference. I tried a few times but still no luck. Getting desperate by this time and with visions of the engine coming back out, I called my friend again and he voulteered to come round and talk sternly to the engine.
A good talking to didn't do any good at all, and eventually we tried a different method of priming the pump and after about half an hour we got pressure. What a relief!!
As I didn't want to fit too much back on the car in case the engine had to come out again, we ran it briefly to check the pressure before fitting the dynamo and radiator. The pressure was fine, so the radiator and generator went on.
I finally closed the garage door, some eight hours after I'd opened it, with water hoses and exhaust still to fit, the bottom bell housing bolts to go in, the clutch to adjust, and the bonnet to go on and it's done. It will be great to be back on the road, if only slower than my normal pace as I have to run it in.
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