With the engine fairly clean now, I could see what I was doing and set to work getting to the heart of the matter.
Removal of the rocker cover revealed thick, baked-on, tar-like oil caked over everything. It was very doubtful that oil had been circulating as it should. If it was like this up top, what was the bottom end going to be like?
Richard started working on me again: since the engine was already out, it would be madness to put it back in without changing the timing chain and piston rings. And if you were going to do that, ou might as well inspect and replace the bearings. I gulped. Surely all this was beyond me? I'd never anything like that before. I barely knew where to begin. However a second glance at the rockers convinced me he was right: it had to be done.
The head would have to come off. I removed the water pump and water pump housing. I was shocked by the amount of grit and sludge I could see through the aperture into the cylinder head. I scooped it out but it seemed to be never-ending. I stopped short of removing the cylinder head - worried about tales of snapped bolts and then problems with their removal. Although, as it turned out, overcoming that uncertainty was surprisingly easy: all I had to do was pick up the phone.
One Saturday in October 2015, I took a call from Richard: he was up at the barn and together with Doug had pulled my cylinder head! Only two bolts had snapped!
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| Glued-Up Rockers - 19 October 2015 |
Removal of the rocker cover revealed thick, baked-on, tar-like oil caked over everything. It was very doubtful that oil had been circulating as it should. If it was like this up top, what was the bottom end going to be like?
Richard started working on me again: since the engine was already out, it would be madness to put it back in without changing the timing chain and piston rings. And if you were going to do that, ou might as well inspect and replace the bearings. I gulped. Surely all this was beyond me? I'd never anything like that before. I barely knew where to begin. However a second glance at the rockers convinced me he was right: it had to be done.
The head would have to come off. I removed the water pump and water pump housing. I was shocked by the amount of grit and sludge I could see through the aperture into the cylinder head. I scooped it out but it seemed to be never-ending. I stopped short of removing the cylinder head - worried about tales of snapped bolts and then problems with their removal. Although, as it turned out, overcoming that uncertainty was surprisingly easy: all I had to do was pick up the phone.
One Saturday in October 2015, I took a call from Richard: he was up at the barn and together with Doug had pulled my cylinder head! Only two bolts had snapped!
 |
| Cylinder Head: Blocked Waterways - 19 October 2015 |
At the earliest opportunity, I used a lunchtime to get over to the barn. Lifting the dust sheet covering the car I found a box of oily springs, rockers and bolts. Examining the underside of the cylinder head my suspicions were confirmed: the waterways were badly blocked. Pulling the head had been the right decision. This engine was going to need some serious work.
