Tadaaa........ we have lift off!! Spent Friday putting in the new con-rod and bearing. Glad to say the old one was visibly bent/squashed beside the new one. Not so pleased to say the new one had (very light) corrosion on the big-end surface (not the bearing shell) and one of the bolts - nearly rounded it taking it out ...... Quick polish and usable - but for £80 I kind of expected better.....
Head on - blimey those head bolts shouldn't be going anywhere - tight or what? Oh, and do put the cam sprocket in its chain before you drop the head on..... you can do it afterwards, but with about 1 thou clearance, and moving the sprocket one tooth took ages, the chain clings like a limpet once it drops in the teeth!
Spent yesterday on all the peripherals - good chance to have a clean up of the air intake/breather, and get the new regulator all plumbed in. Skinned a few knuckles, swore a lot at the fiddly bolts. Seem to be lacking one hoist point at the rear/right of the head (I'd swear there was one there, but no sign of it now - could be entirely my imagination!), and lost one 8mm bolt from the sound panel at the back of the engine - on shopping list.... Nothing else lost or left over!
Filled up - checked round 10 times - putting that key in was the most scary thing I've done in years. We'd turned it over by hand of course, but you never know......Turned over 4/5 times priming, then some welly and away she went! Switched off and checked, then a bit longer, then up to temp. No drama, no leaks (that I can see yet......). Tickover is a bit London taxi - need to get that new injector programmed in properly very quickly - could be the source, or maybe the compression is better than its been for years.....
Very gentle revs/load for a few hundred miles with that new bearing shell - but seems smooth and plenty of torque - and no smoke or steam at all out the back!! Woo hoo - as they say - watching out for any teething probs, but looking great so far.
Many thanks for the support/comments - verbal and silent - thanks for putting up with my ramblings.
Lessons?
-don't entrust a head gasket to someone you are not convinced about. They've long gone and I'd never prove it, but I don't think it was a top job.
- don't drive with a known coolant leak. I had no choice - my wife's car had a blown engine (acknowledged manufacturing fault thank you!!) and we had to rely on the Defender, but I'm not sure every top up was a soon as it should have been, and will never be sure I didn't overheat the head....
- don't keep starting it with cylinders filling (doh! - but see 'no choice' as above...) - gasket/coolant was the start, then the pesky 'open' injector' which I think finally blew the remnants of the gasket, so filled right up and hydrauliced the con-rod.... cost me £200 and probably 2 hours (slow) work to replace.
- do it yourself! With some help from someone with some skills/confidence. None of it was beyond me - although I am 'mechanically minded' - take it slowly, get it under cover, be methodical, and it all comes off and goes back on. All the bits in related collections in marked tubs worked fine.
- check the parts at the shop - not just as you are putting them on the engine - its too late then if you are keen to get it rebuilt.
- if you can go for new head (Turners/AMC) for the extra confidence/miles - I'll never know how good a used/exchange might have been, but with hindsight I'm glad I spent the cash.... (the card doesn't come in until 3 weeks -ask me again then....)
Cheers, A
