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Thanks for the replies.
Yes, I fitted a new radiator with an extra row of tubes. Also the water gallery in the head and block were thoroughly cleaned.
I Also fitted a digital electronic temperature gauge to the cylinder head thermostat housing and an electric fan. The engine temperature now is usually 75-78 deg. C. on a level road. The fan is set to come on at 84 ish. It only comes on if im stuck in traffic.
I’m going to fit a temperature gauge to the radiator header tank soon (I think that’s the correct location for it) which I expect will be a couple of degrees cooler than the head.
Btw. The electric fan has reduced the noise in the cab which is nice and also released the extra half a horsepower (I imagine).
Ive recently done this on my pickup after its respray. Yes, its a right pain!
I had several attempts as you describe. In the end I slid all the bits in from the top. Then I think I fitted the door catch loosely, Then I fit the screws in the long right angle channel, leaving out the one at the very bottom. Then I think I slid the long straight channel down at the front. You have to push the quarter light into the long channel at this stage and force it down without scratching the paint. Finally do up the T headed screws that secure the lower ends of the 2 channels.
I also took the felts out of my channels so that I could re paint them before fitting. This made it even harder because when i refitted them, they had fluffed up a bit so the glass was now very stiff in the channels. A very awkward job.
Also, I stupidly waxoyled the inside of the doors before I did all this which meant I got covered in the stuff whilst trying to work out how to put it together.
Mike.
Years ago I did the king pin bushes on my A35 using expanding reamers. But I was fortunate to have had the use of a set with the the screw on pilot guides.
The trafficator switch has a long tube that goes all the way down the centre of the hollow steering column. The wiring goes down this tube.
Lay on your back at the front of the car and you will see a brass nut with the wires coming through. Undo this nut and it should all come free.
Mike
Dave,
Well actually I’ve never anealed a car gasket myself!
But I have any done a few classic motorcycle head gaskets over the years. Which are a bit smaller. And I’ve built a few live steam copper boilers for miniature locomotives which involves a lot at anealing.
So assuming you have a propane torch, I would hang the gasket on a wire hook. Maybe 2 books because the blast from the torch might make it swing about a bit (coat hanger wire would be ideal). Start heating an area to red heat and work your way round until it’s all been heated to red. You don’t have to get it all red all at the same time, as long as it all gets to red eventually. Then dunk it into a container of cold water.
I think the gasket could be a cause of water in the oil. also examine the joint faces carefully for cracks.
BTW, I rebuilt my A40 engine last year (I used a NOS asbestos gasket ). Before you refit the head. Get a bit of stuff wife and probe down the holes in the block into the water gallery. It should go down around 100mm all along and all the way round all 4 cylinders. My block was horribly choked up. Almost solid at the rear . It took me ages to clear it out. I had my head and block skimmed. If your waterways gallery is blocked your engine will run not and your gasket won’t like that.
MN
Copper only needs heating to dull red to anneal. Heating to cherry red could end in tears (if you are using a gas torch). Then either quench or allow to cool. It makes no difference to the resulting softness/hardness. Scrub With a scouring pad or scotchbrite and water to remove any scale that forms during heating.
With a solid gasket your joint faces must be in very good, flat condition. With an engineer’s straight edge or ground parallel test bar you can check for distortion with a feeler gauge. I would think any distortion, or hollow areas over .003″ on either the head or block would require rectification.
Mike
You can buy automotive “chrome” vinyl wrap. I don’t know if it’s suitable for this particular application but it’s cheap and there are tutorials on utube on how to apply it.
Can I make as suggestion. If you have the engine out and the head off. Before you refit the head get a piece of stuff wire, like a wire coat hanger. Snip off a length and insert it down through the water holes in the top of the cylinder block . It should go down about 100mm , maybe more. If it doesn’t then you need to investigate why. The water gallery may choked with years of rusty crap and this will probably cause overheating. Note there should be a free passage of water from top to bottom and all the way round all 4 cylinders. It took me days to clear out the rubbish from the block on my car. It was quite alarming the amount of stuff that I got out.
Hello, Well the smart arse answer is, I don’t know why you don’t have a dipstick perhaps you’ve lost it? But the more helpful reply is that the hole for the dipstick is located on the right hand side of the engine in front of the starter motor and behind the oil filter. It’s literally, just a hole about 7mm diameter. If the dipstick is missing then there’s nothing to stop dirt falling into the engine.
Just had a thought. If you dont have a dipstick, maybe you were putting to much oil in and that’s why the engine smoked badly?
Forgot to say, these engines did originally have a stem “seal” but it’s not really worthy of the name. It’s a rubber washer (more like a tap washer!) that goes around the top of the valve stem and is somehow supposed to stop oil running down the stem and entering the guide.
BTW, The later B-series engine has valve stem seals but the stems are a different diameter to the 1200 engine. So no use.
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