Went to Coffee and Cars at Southward today. Speedo stopped working on the way back. Must get onto that jobs list instead of just driving the car around

More here

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1595946703838953&type=1&l=77e9688190

Speedo fixed - the connector on one of the wires had come apart. Have squished it a bit with the crimp tool for a tighter fit and wrapped a load of electrical tape around it as a further temporary fix. I will do it properly with a decent connector!

Can't resist sharing these Facebook memories. Three years ago Just Rust were getting stuck into welding up and repairing the holes in Rusty's bodywork.

Crikey. It's easy to forget how bad it was!

Car park side shot

Now if only you could have got the tyres at the same point of rotation  

On 21/12/2018 at 12:09, Lady Elanore said:

Now if only you could have got the tyres at the same point of rotation  

Is this your car jack?

This is a useful thing. Makes it so much easier to turn off the car's power.

Finally started pulling things out to do the head gasket. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing

Bit more done.

Out of the comfort zone, down the garden path and out into the wilds... 

Eeeeeeeeee.......

Good luck!!

Id probably be stress puking for days if i even started giving serious thought to doing that kinda job on me own

 

10 minutes ago, mac11irl said:

Eeeeeeeeee.......

Good luck!!

Id probably be stress puking for days if i even started giving serious thought to doing that kinda job on me own

 

 

Yeah it is rather stressful. Got a mate coming later to help with the downpipe bolts, I need arms about 2ft longer to get to the nut and bolt at the same time.

Head gaskets not too bad, do what you’re doing and take plenty of images. Bag and label smaller bits. Just take your time. Should be straight forward, all the best with it Rob.

 

 

If you don't mind a small piece of advice Rob, as B33fy said, take your time, take loads of piccies if you are not sure of the sequence.

 

Once you have the head off, spend some time once you have the head and block faces clean, checking them with a quality straight edge and some feeler gauges to see if you have any face distortion. A calm hour spent doing that could save a lot of disappointment later.

 

Also make sure you have a valid retorquing sequence to tighten up after the head is refitted, but it looks like you have a factory service manual in one of the piccies, so I guess you've got that one covered.

 

Good luck, and all looks good with what you have done so far............. just don't forget to breathe .

Thanks. All advice is always appreciated. Got my mate booked to help with re-assembly. He's an ex-mechanic and knows his stuff.
He came round last night to help me with some rusty nuts that needed holding from the top and undoing from the bottom.  

Getting there! Ran out of time, next step is to remove the head bolts. Gulp...

I guess I should get the turbo reconditioned while it's out  

Edited 13 January, 20197 yr by RobClubley

Best practice for removing head bolts is to release torque in the opposite order to how they're torqued up. Once you've done that a few bangs around the head with a mallet should release the gasket "stick", and only then start removing bolts!

19 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Best practice for removing head bolts is to release torque in the opposite order to how they're torqued up. Once you've done that a few bangs around the head with a mallet should release the gasket "stick", and only then start removing bolts!

 

Didn't need any bangs!

 

The head is out!
Almost all of the exhaust manifold studs were loose. I can't find any cracks in the exhaust manifold, which is good. It's pretty mucky and corroded inside.
Dropped the turbo off at Diesel and Turbo in Petone for them to check out.

When you clean the head and block faces up, you can face them off with a sheet of moderate wet and dry paper wrapped around a square flat object like a bit of 2"x2" timber that is big enough to run the entire width of the head and block faces.

 

Then run the entire length of the head in strokes like planeing a piece of wood to size. Try not to concentrate in one area as the can cause low spots and issues that you don't need.

 

Once it is clean, check it for low spots with a steel rule and a light behind it, any areas that you see light under the rule, pass a feeler blade under it using a bigger one each time to see how big the gap actually is, then see what the tolerance is for distortion on the faces, but ideally you dont want any low spots at all.

 

Well done mate, all done and no nervous twitches

Dropped the turbo off today at a local specialist for assessment, and the head and exhaust manifold to another one.

The manifold is warped and has been leaking quite a bit. Will get that machined. Waiting for assessment on the other stuff.

Head work that's being done:

Assessment from Diesel and Turbo in Petone:

The exhaust housing has a few cracks but it will go again.

Turbine shaft has been rubbing on heat shield and bearing housing is eroded. We are trying to find some part to repair.

Well I'm not getting my torque wrench in there!
Bumper off next then. And work out how to get around the welded-in metal front panel.

One for you Rob, taken yesterday at Brands Hatch..

On 19/01/2019 at 22:36, RobClubley said:

Head work that's being done:

Assessment from Diesel and Turbo in Petone:

The exhaust housing has a few cracks but it will go again.

Turbine shaft has been rubbing on heat shield and bearing housing is eroded. We are trying to find some part to repair.

 

That's a proper doggies gonads report there Rob, are they saying coolant loss is down to gasket failure, and just skimming the head for certainty or has a gallery breached to the outside world?.

 

You've dodged a bullet not having to do valve clearances though, they can be frustrating if you have contact wear inside the valve side of the follower on older cars, as you never get a consistent reading twice without sorting the follower issue. A good engineering shop just take that sort of stuff without even stopping to think in their stride.

 

As for the torque wrench access issue, can you release the engine mounts and lift the engine enough to use an 18" extension through any air vents in the valence?. What sort of torque setting have you got to use on the offending item?

1 hour ago, kentphil1 said:

 

That's a proper doggies gonads report there Rob, are they saying coolant loss is down to gasket failure, and just skimming the head for certainty or has a gallery breached to the outside world?.

 

You've dodged a bullet not having to do valve clearances though, they can be frustrating if you have contact wear inside the valve side of the follower on older cars, as you never get a consistent reading twice without sorting the follower issue. A good engineering shop just take that sort of stuff without even stopping to think in their stride.

 

As for the torque wrench access issue, can you release the engine mounts and lift the engine enough to use an 18" extension through any air vents in the valence?. What sort of torque setting have you got to use on the offending item?

 

Apparently if I remove the bumper I'll find a service hole. About to do that now.

The bolt requires 450Nm tightening torque!!

 

Bumper off, and it seems the internet is wrong about the crank bolt being 24mm. I don't have a bigger socket, so need to get one. Guessing 26 or 27mm.
Also I painted some bits.