Fixing hole in side of block

[joesmith123]

Cleaned piston 3, more hardware work

Cleaned crud with sandpaper, hit with compressed air

Recycled old rings: hand sanded them in bucket of diesel, hit with compressed air, reinstall piston rings

Treat it like surgery, hands stay clean, move very slow, no dirt on any surfaces that couple, keep dipping hands in non polar solvent

Piston 1 from other engine, get it ready to put in current engine as piston 2

New hardware, new piston rings, installed bearing half

Couldn't get rings into bore, maybe improperly installed, bottom ring with the band not compressing the whole way

Take piston out, reinstall that ring with its band, try again

Tried again after moving the belt of that ring, still: ring not compressing enough to allow piston to drop

Next chance I get: escalate your effort to squeeze ring using: torch, spray diesel, get big hose clamp, put real pressure on that ring, see if you can get that ring in the bore, then take hose clamp off and use the regular piston ring tool and get the rest of it in

It really just that main ring with the band, that wont close enough to allow piston to drop into bore

 

[hagrid]

Were the pistons and rings oiled prior to insertion?

 

[Lil Foot]

keep dipping hands in non polar solvent

Without gloves??????

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Without gloves??????

Cleans the hands too ....

 

[joesmith123]

Got the piston in but smacked it too hard that the bearing fell out

Setup of what worked: hose clamp hard on the bottom ring, slightly above block to get first half of ring into block,
smacked piston hard to push ring into engine

Put the ring in and off the hose clamp

Then pushed in other rings with ring tool and pushed piston into bore successfully

With new rings, that bottom ring is TIGHT that's why it needed the extra step with the hose clamp

Smacked piston too hard that bearing fell out

Now: try to put bearing back in without taking piston out and dealing with that ring again

Yes, got bearing from underneath engine, reached and placed it on crankshaft, went back up smacked piston down onto the bearing, went back down under, used a flathead to adjust the bearing perfectly

Went and got other part of connecting rod, cleaned and placed bearing on, torque to 30, bent in keepers using back of hammer

Also spent 5 minutes with flashlight making sure all serials face right, checked and made sure all serials on main bearings are correct one last time

Spun engine by hand but do not want to proceed until it gets it's deep cleaning

Onward: gaskets did show up for many of the smaller entrances,

In this area, need to install gaskets and fasten hardware

hit engine from and bottom with part cleaner, then compressed air, then give it one clean spray of diesel before closing her up

Oil pan gasket, install oil pan, clean all holes where head bolts go, install head gasket, install head, torque to spec

I share my favorite new habit that formed during this part of the build

Have a puddle of non polar solvent for when you are handling precise parts that need sterile environment

Everything you touch will not want to hold dirt, and dip parts in it that you need to stay clean

As I walk by puddle of solvent, dipping hands and parts in it throughout the assembly and getting it on parts that we want zero dirt on

Please add it to your habit and let me know if you agree

People saying use oily sprays or gloves, NO

During this part of build, you need to FEEL every detail, you have to move slow there are tons of sharp objects all over. Gloves will hinder your feeling and will hold dirt for different reasons

You do NOT want to be spraying oils on anything since it will hold dirt and you want NO dirt in the bearing cases

If you do need to use oils (like I had to hand sand in the diesel bucket), have that whole area away and have that bucket of solvent that you can quickly switch from cleaning (oily environment) to installing precise sterile parts (getting the rings into the block, handling the bearings that go in the connecting rod, all times where you want no dirt around)

That is where that bucket of solvent was formed, I could not keep my hands clean enough to when I went to work on bearing, that I would track dirt onto bearing

Then once I discover the solvent puddle, now I can dip fingers and bearing into puddle, come out of the puddle, put CLEAN grease on finger, and apply grease where we want it to stick ONLY

This trick is for: all piston hardware including rings, the pin, the connecting rod bearings, and many other times where you need cleanliness but also need things greased

(anyone else amazed that we are 500+ posts in, and a puddle of solvent is a game changer?)

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Hello Joe,
a lot of people are missing the oil on the pistons...
Kind regards,
Hagen

 

[Ktrim]

The oil ring should not be thar tight. Hope you didn't roll it over. Also those bearings should be smothered in lubriplate assembly lube. At 1st start up they aren't going to have any lubricisity. Cylinder walls need to be oiled.
Dry initial start up is detrimental. I once had to rebuild a rebuilt dodge 270 poly. Reason being it sat for years while body work was being done. Engine was started dry, wiped bearings, scored Cylinder walls and actually took a measurable amount off the cam shaft. LUBE LUBE LUBE

 

[Ktrim]

Wasn't fun trying to find a good camshaft either. As they only used that cam in 55.

 

[PaulL]

Be careful with solvents on your skin.

I used acetone to clean my hands after I got epoxy on them from doing some fibreglass. Turns out that's about the worst thing you can do, it mobilises the epoxy into your skin. I'm now desperately allergic to epoxy - when I try to do fibreglass my face swells up like a chipmunk. I work in a healthcare organisation, day after doing some fibreglass one of the nurses asked if I was having anaphylaxis. Ended up going to a doctor to get steroids.

Strongly recommend not doing that with strong solvents. Petrol, diesel, other oils are sort of OK (but not really recommended). Stronger solvents - no.

 

[Henro]

So Joe essentially assembled his engine to this point with components unlubricated.

I doubt anyone would claim this is desirable.

So my question is, since Joe has mentioned turning over the engine by hand, would it be possible to somehow apply oil under pressure to the block, so that while turning over by hand it would move through the engine and provide lubrication?

Thinking that this would be done before the engine is actually started. Perhaps after assembly is complete and before the glow plugs are installed

Just trying to brainstorm a possible way that Joe could recover from not using some type of lubrication on the components during assembly.

edit: Perhaps pulling oil from the oil pan drain plug hole, into a pump, and then perhaps through a fabricated adapter that would replace of the oil filter?

2nd edit: I can imagine using a cheap drill powered pump, like I used when I filled the tires on my tractor. It was able to produce at least 10 PSI I think, but it’s been 20 years so I don’t remember for sure.

 

[joesmith123]

Oil pan preparation

Up close of the bearing that seized and then caused the hole in the engine

You can feel the metal cooked into it

Oil pan need cleaning

Hit with compressed air, soak in diesel, hit with abrasives, etc

Lubrication: all bearings and moving parts have been lubricated, look closely at photos, I put heavy coat of grease for all bearings touching crankshaft, sprayed gears with heavy coat of diesel before closing gear case , and

Once I close it up, fill it with oil, do not start it, spin it and build pressure in oil system and get everything lubed very well before first startup

Bearing materials cooked into the oil pan

Clean oil pan

@D2Cat

Pictures: long as camera lens is not covered in grease, then picture comes out fine, usually just dip hand in solvent then wipe with towel, then take pictures

Purpose: I make portfolio of my work and I present it to clients

(Many other purposes but that's one)

 

[hagrid]

If only there was some type of chem resistant hand covering that also maintained dexterity...

 

[fried1765]

So Joe essentially assembled his engine to this point with components unlubricated.

I doubt anyone would claim this is desirable.

So my question is, since Joe has mentioned turning over the engine by hand, would it be possible to somehow apply oil under pressure to the block, so that while turning over by hand it would move through the engine and provide lubrication?

Thinking that this would be done before the engine is actually started. Perhaps after assembly is complete and before the glow plugs are installed

Just trying to brainstorm a possible way that Joe could recover from not using some type of lubrication on the components during assembly.

edit: Perhaps pulling oil from the oil pan drain plug hole, into a pump, and then perhaps through a fabricated adapter that would replace of the oil filter?

2nd edit: I can imagine using a cheap drill powered pump, like I used when I filled the tires on my tractor. It was able to produce at least 10 PSI I think, but it’s been 20 years so I don’t remember for sure.

Not to worry!
Joe, " will figure it out".

 

[lynnmor]

He could add the correct amount of oil to the pan and then turn the engine upside down for a few seconds to lubricate everything.

 

[D2Cat]

Joe, you constantly provide pictures of your process. When I'm working on something I seldom think about taking any pictures, except when I begin disassembly. How do you have the time to clean your hands at each stage to get the pictures? Are you doing all of this for a specific purpose?

 

[Ktrim]

You're still not listening to issues of vital importance. How do you plan on priming oil? Turning with starter will not be prudent.
It's not like it's a small block chevy where you can put shaft down distributor hole and prime pump.
Little grease on the bearings won't cut it.

 

[RCW]

Joe - it’s obvious lubrication of the engine parts while assembling it is a major concern for several folks here.

They have much more experience than I do and I know it’s important.

Do you have a plan for that, or do you plan on spinning it up dry to see what happens?

 

[Ktrim]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it a dry start thar started this whole fiasco.

 

[joesmith123]

Pressurized diesel top and bottom

September 17, 2024

youtube.com

Video spraying top

Video spraying bottom

Hit top and bottom hard with compressed air, then soaked it all with clean diesel, all entrances

Applying some heat while soaking diesel

Spun engine by hand for few minutes spreading diesel

Installed oil pan gasket

Organized hardware for oil pan, verify I got right seal looking at diagram now

Had wrong set of bolts, this is correct set of bolts

Per diagram, it's calling for 16 of smaller bolts, 4 large long bolts, and tiny bolts for the oil suction

Verified seal via diagram, installed seal

Got all 20 bolts in except front bolt on oil pan, cannot get it further in,

take bolt out, clean area, look at diagram

Hit it with torch, wire wheel on drill, diesel, compressed air, went in

All 20 bolts fastened for oil pan, now install head

 

[joesmith123]

Put on head with new gasket

Small seal, didn't forget

Hit with compressed air, then part cleaner

Installed new head gasket, no shim

Put head on, adjusted gasket by hand

Oil pan and head installed, look at diagram, organize head hardware, hand tighten, then torque to spec

Head hardware: hand sand the intricate parts, give them one last cleaning then install per diagram