V8 top end & timing chest rebuild.

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VmaxRik
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Post by VmaxRik »

Here it is at it's correct length....






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For all those who have never had to deal with antique engines....the oil pumps not self priming. So what you have to do is pack everything out with petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and then hand prime the engine before firing it up.

Before you rebuild the pump, don't forget to put the bolt through the timing chest...otherwise you'll have to strip the whole thing apart again.





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Once the chests rebuilt....give a good thick coating of RTV liquid gasket around the bottom corners where the sump/block/chest all come together, it will leak oil from here if you don't.

Now gently replace the chest onto its dowels and wriggle the retaining bolts through the new gasket. Once all the bolts are in you can do them up. Oil up the new crank seal and fit the bottom pulley....Now comes the fun bit.

Jam the ring gear and torque the bolt up to 160 lbs ft.....now that's a lot and takes some strength, but that's the figure it's got to be.




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Post by VmaxRik »

Back to the heads then.....Assuming the timing chest's back on, and if the cranks moved away from TDC. Slowly line the crank timing marks back up making sure no'1 piston is at TDC as well. Place the head gaskets with the stamping TOP, to the top and let them rest on their dowels.

Quick hint...the inlet manifold gasket won't have top stamped into it. So look at which way the head gasket sealing ridges sit, the ridges are normally proud when you look at them....make sure the inlet gasket goes the same way round.

Clean and sort the head bolts out, the three longest in the middle top, the four smallest in a line at the bottom....all the medium size ones fit in the rest of the holes. Torque them all down to 40 lbft in this order....



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Wind your torque wrench up to 70 lbft (latest thinking is 65 lbft so it's up to you) and using the same bolt order, torque down all the bolts apart from the bottom four...these stay at 40.




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Now replace the pushrods into their relevant holes and fit the rocker gear. Take your time with this and make sure all the rods are sitting properly in the cam followers and the rockers....then torque at all down starting with the centre two bolts to 30 lbft.





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The next problem that reared it's head is the oil cooler adapter bolt. This is the male/female adaptor bolt that threads onto where the oil filter would have fitted...then the cooler sandwich plate...then the oil filter.

Surprise surprise...it's a completely different size on the P5 compared to the SD1. Only £6 for a new one, but it wont be with me until Tuesday. So tomorrow I'll finish everything else off so the motors ready when it turns up.

Then I'll show you how to prime the oil system before it's startup time.



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This nation wasn't given to our forefathers, it was wrought over a 1000 years of bloody war and the efforts of those who came before.
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Post by 1130cc »

In the interest of injecting some technical discussion...............

What is your approach to priming the oil pump.

Some recommend that you fill it full of Vasoline, before you put the cover back on, so you get some suction when you first start up to draw the oil in to prime it.
The low melting point of Vasoline will then clear it out easily.

I have a rod with a female slot, that fits down the dizzy tunnel.
This can be connected to a drill. The rapid revolutions is enough to ensure suction.
You can hear the pitch of the drill change once the oil pump is primed.
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Post by VmaxRik »

Bang on. :)

Pack all of the inside of the pump with vaseline (never ever grease...that bungs the filter up). Then stick your priming bar on the end of an electric drill and rotate the pump shaft the same direction as the dissy turns...clockwise.

Steady as she goes, then you'll start to feel resistance on the drill....then shortly afterwards, oil will start coming out of the rocker shafts. Job done, dissy back in and fire it up. :)


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Post by ratwing »

Any thoughts on fitting the bottom 4 head bolts (11/12/13/14) quite loose, basically just using them to block up the bolt holes? The later engines didn't have these holes and some think it contributes to head gasket leakage because they get slightly more compressed along one edge over time.
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Post by VmaxRik »

On the 14 bolt heads such as mine, I just torque them down with all the rest to 40 lbft then leave them at that while you take the rest up to 65 or 70 lbft.

Other people only nip them up to 20 lbft. Each to their own I suppose, but I still like to go with the original tech data book.

They might contribute to blowing head gaskets over years of use, don't think that will ever effect mine though 'cos it gets ripped apart every year. :)

Reams of stuff about head problems on Google....normally on the 4 litre and up, that only use the 10 bolt heads, composite gaskets and stretch bolts. Wonder why. ;)


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This nation wasn't given to our forefathers, it was wrought over a 1000 years of bloody war and the efforts of those who came before.
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Post by VmaxRik »

Onto the dreaded inlet manifold lip seals today....

These things are a pain in the neck and leak just for something to do when not fitted properly. As you can hopefully see from the pictures, at the end of the seal is a wedge that fits in the gap twix head and block, these have to be trimmed so they fit in the gap nice and flush...not like the picture.




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Once your happy that the seals are sitting correctly, get yourself some of this and give the area where the gap is between the heads and the block a good coating of the stuff, then do the same with the inner part of the seal where it sits on the block....do this at both ends.




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Now it's time to fit the valley gasket. Give the top of both lip seals a good dose of RTV, then very carefully with the heel of your hand, push down on the centre of the gasket so it lines up with the retaining collar bolts that hold the thing in place. Once the bolts are in a few threads, carefully start to tighten them, one side then the other. All the time your doing this, keep checking that the lip seals haven't moved...'cos they do, often.






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This nation wasn't given to our forefathers, it was wrought over a 1000 years of bloody war and the efforts of those who came before.
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Post by VmaxRik »

When you've finished, it should look like this......




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Now it's time to fit the inlet manifold back on, gently does it once again. With the manifold slightly lifted, move the thing forward so you can fit the two hoses that go on the water pump, then carefully line the manifold up with it's retaining bolt holes. Loosely refit the bolts in the same order as they came out.

What you'll probably find is you have to jiggle the manifold to get all the bolts started, this is normal.

Set your torque wrench at 10 lbft and starting from the centre, torque the bolts down (keep checking the torque setting on the wrench because you'll keep adjusting it). Wind the wrench up to 25 lbft and do it all again. Once you've finished, go round and do them again 'cos the centre ones will have slackened off a couple of pounds.

This is important....If at anytime you "feel" the thread in the head starting to go, STOP. Make no attempt to tighten the bolt up anymore as you'll pull the thread out of the head...not a good thing. The original torque setting for these bolts was 30 lbft, which was fine when the head was new, it's not now.


You now have to leave the RTV to set....I leave it alone for at least 12 hours.





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Refit the alternator and drive belt......







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This nation wasn't given to our forefathers, it was wrought over a 1000 years of bloody war and the efforts of those who came before.
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Post by VmaxRik »

Then the kickdown linkage...........




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After fitting ALL new gaskets to the inlet spacers, refit the carbs.....





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As previously discussed, refill the coolant system with a blue or green 50/50 antifreeze mix and let it settle. Never ever run a Rover V8 without some kind of fluid in the system.....the water pump will destroy itself.



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This nation wasn't given to our forefathers, it was wrought over a 1000 years of bloody war and the efforts of those who came before.
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Post by 1130cc »

I just love stuff like this.
Great for first timers, and great for those that have done it before too.

On the subject of kickdown cables, where is the best place to get one from?
I think mine is shedding a couple of strands inside the sleeve. :(

Despite what you said, the job does not look too bad.
Drop the gearbos sump and it should be visible in the front left corner.
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