Carbide scraper? I'd never use that on a gasket surface. Precision scraping yes, but that is an art in itself.
Cleaning a Cast Iron Deck prior to HG Replacement
- Thread starter bunnspecial
- Start date
It was the pan, which is large, complex aluminum casting that Volvo calls a sump.
This topic (use of abrasives) was central to that experience.
The car is OK, with a couple of short interval oil changes to clean it out. By short interval, I mean in the hundreds of miles.
Hmmm, just a coincidence that the tool maker is Astro Tools?
no it is a conspiracy, see above.Hmmm, just a coincidence that the tool maker is Astro Tools?
Realized I'd never followed up on this.
First of all, thanks for all of the information, discussions, etc.
I ended up getting this done and cleaned up nicely with the linked carbide scraper. which worked perfectly in combination with brake cleaner(the good red can CRC stuff) to get everything off.
I do have a Starret straight edge, and used that to check flatness of the block in the car. I was able to just work a 1 thou feeler gauge under it around where the gasket breech had been. I'm not especially concerned about that level of out of flat.
This also kills me to do, but I bit the bullet ad ordered a new set of studs. I'd replaced the factory studs(generally good quality and reusable many times) with ARP branded studs(way overkill for this engine, and generally will never need to be replaced) because the thread condition and condition around the breach concerned me a bit. It's almost $200 for a set of ARP studs for this engine, but worth it for my sanity. I hadn't previously paid attention to the fact that ARP puts a hex head drive in the top of their studs-I really appreciated having that there as there were a few that didn't want to come out by hand, but that really makes it easy.
First of all, thanks for all of the information, discussions, etc.
I ended up getting this done and cleaned up nicely with the linked carbide scraper. which worked perfectly in combination with brake cleaner(the good red can CRC stuff) to get everything off.
I do have a Starret straight edge, and used that to check flatness of the block in the car. I was able to just work a 1 thou feeler gauge under it around where the gasket breech had been. I'm not especially concerned about that level of out of flat.
This also kills me to do, but I bit the bullet ad ordered a new set of studs. I'd replaced the factory studs(generally good quality and reusable many times) with ARP branded studs(way overkill for this engine, and generally will never need to be replaced) because the thread condition and condition around the breach concerned me a bit. It's almost $200 for a set of ARP studs for this engine, but worth it for my sanity. I hadn't previously paid attention to the fact that ARP puts a hex head drive in the top of their studs-I really appreciated having that there as there were a few that didn't want to come out by hand, but that really makes it easy.
Didn't you have this thing professionally built not terribly long ago, or am i thinking of someone else?
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
It would be nice if the shop doing the head could also take care of the gasket surface. Of course that is added cost if they would even do it. Also out the window if the owner removed the head and took it into the shop and the car is sitting at home which is usually the case for the DIYs.
Extreme cleaning , going overboard (taping cardboard over inlets, stuffing of rags inside and meticulous wiping down, spraying and protecting foreign materials from falling into the machines at work was a big thing for several of us. We simply cared too much and did not want to have to rebuild compressors or turbines etc.... due to sloppy prep. Yet we always seemed to have the lazy , don't give a hoot mechanics and even some managers accuse us of milking a job for trying to do the best we could. Speed, lack of attention to details and the just don't care attitude ends up costing lots of money in the long run.
Extreme cleaning , going overboard (taping cardboard over inlets, stuffing of rags inside and meticulous wiping down, spraying and protecting foreign materials from falling into the machines at work was a big thing for several of us. We simply cared too much and did not want to have to rebuild compressors or turbines etc.... due to sloppy prep. Yet we always seemed to have the lazy , don't give a hoot mechanics and even some managers accuse us of milking a job for trying to do the best we could. Speed, lack of attention to details and the just don't care attitude ends up costing lots of money in the long run.
Yes I did…although “professional” is increasingly debatable.
The shop explicitly instructed me to not retorque the head. I suppose my retorquing would have required it actually be torqued correctly in the first place.
This is the most recent of several things I’ve found done wrong, although this is the most catastrophic.
The shop is now out of business…
100,000 miles still takes its tole even on an old, simple engine. I drove it to the shop but compression on cylinder 2 was 70 psi and tear down showed enough ring wear that the piston could be rocked by hand in the bore.
It took a 30 over bore to bring it back, and there was some bearing scoring that called for a 10-10 grind. I took the opportunity to warm things up a bit while we were there. The head is a street performance head with some port work. Combustion chambers are smaller than stock, with static compression around 9.6:1(compare to 8.8 on a stock engine of this age). The cam is a bit hotter than stock.
This is a “formula” that a lot of engine builders use, and despite my issues with some details on this one, it can move pretty well…
Good to know, since the MGB was never overpowered but always seemed quick enough to me.
A little more gear in top would have been welcome, though.
Really geared shorter than it needed to be.
A truly entertaining car to use and unlike anything you can buy today for pure driving enjoyment.
I loved every mile in my old B. Good ride, good handling and the best clutch and shifter arrangement ever installed in any car. The old B series was also pretty smooth up to 5K revs or so.
Yeah, I really liked the car.
A little more gear in top would have been welcome, though.
Really geared shorter than it needed to be.
A truly entertaining car to use and unlike anything you can buy today for pure driving enjoyment.
I loved every mile in my old B. Good ride, good handling and the best clutch and shifter arrangement ever installed in any car. The old B series was also pretty smooth up to 5K revs or so.
Yeah, I really liked the car.
