The mesh in place underneath the valance cover below the windshield tells me all one needs to know about this P38 owner and his attention to the vehicle.
As an aside, the cam shaft resembles an iron bar more than what it is supposed to be...
Best of luck with repairs.....
Looking at the state of that cam and followers, I'm wondering if the chirping squeaking noise wasn't them running dry for some reason?
StrangeRover wrote:
standard lift cam going in i take it?
Yeah standard cam - the price difference between a standard cam and something like a Torquemax was something I couldn't really stretch for right now. One day maybe... Marty has one in his and he has been impressed with it.
JMCLuimni wrote:
The mesh in place underneath the valance cover below the windshield tells me all one needs to know about this P38 owner and his attention to the vehicle.
As an aside, the cam shaft resembles an iron bar more than what it is supposed to be...
Best of luck with repairs.....
I'll take that :) I do like to keep on try and keep on top of things - cosmetically... the car is in need of a fair bit of attention these days. But mechanically and functionally - even the non-moving things like a mesh to keep junk out I like to keep in order. Plus... I'm sure we've all seen how much crap can build up under there if its missing!
It's also why strange little noises have resulted in this kind of tear down on more than just this car...
Gilbertd wrote:
Looking at the state of that cam and followers, I'm wondering if the chirping squeaking noise wasn't them running dry for some reason?
It may well have been - one of them certainly didn't appear to be pumped up properly on removal. The oil galleries look okay though, so I can only put it down to a failed or bunged up lifter/follower.
Unfortunately due to some kind of pandemic, my Island4x4 order hasn't been despatched - but apparently it should early next week. Till then, I'm working through things like cleaning the sump out, cleaning the lower inlet manifold and blocking the LPG jets etc. Next up will be repair to the petrol injector wiring loom and some tidying in the engine bay.
Morat wrote:
Well, that escalated!
It sounds like you'll have a really good engine when you're done :)
It did a bit :P Hopefully it behaves!
Did you find out any clear source of the oil leak on there? The lubricated starter motor is a problem I've also got, suspect its the valley gasket in mine which is on the agenda to replace (its been purchased but haven't got round to actually fitting it yet). Its had new rocker cover gaskets which removed most of the leaks, but has started getting more noticable recently every time its been run for a few minutes.
Tappets pump up with oil however crap can be pumped into them and after almost 2 decades use some of them are more than likely full of more crap than oil, once full of shit they can't take oil.. LOL
Pulling them apart for a look is quite easy "nudge nudge"
BrianH wrote:
Did you find out any clear source of the oil leak on there? The lubricated starter motor is a problem I've also got, suspect its the valley gasket in mine which is on the agenda to replace (its been purchased but haven't got round to actually fitting it yet). Its had new rocker cover gaskets which removed most of the leaks, but has started getting more noticable recently every time its been run for a few minutes.
To be honest this isn't the first time I've tried to deal with the oil leaking onto that side of the engine and getting all over the starter. When the flex plate shattered 18 months ago, Marty and I pulled the engine out to replace it, and I did the valley gasket then too (but didn't really look at the cam at that time, as it seemed to be running reasonably). This time like back then, oil was just everywhere, so any main source didn't really stand out.
I noticed the rocker cover was dripping onto the rear-most header pipe though while removing the upper inlet... all of the rocker cover bolts had come loose. I suspect this has been the main culprit. On reassembly this time, as per the 4th edition of the overhaul manual, I am going to locktite the swines!
StrangeRover wrote:
Tappets pump up with oil however crap can be pumped into them and after almost 2 decades use some of them are more than likely full of more crap than oil, once full of shit they can't take oil.. LOL
Pulling them apart for a look is quite easy "nudge nudge"
Might have to give that a go! They haven't made it to the bin yet... and if I run out of things to clean or prepare before the order turns up I might have a look.
A little Circlip on the top and they come apart, very simple things!!
My Rocker covers use to leak so i cranked the bolts right up, ya know crank them up until they start to loosen off LOL
no more leaks!!
Mind you, my Timing chain is making itself known now!
With this partial engine rebuild going on, does this mean the diesel swap is on hold for the time being?
The problem on the Thor is that to get to the inner bolts of the damned rocker covers just to nip them up, the upper inlet at the least has to come off :(
Timing chain isn't too big of a job at least - fan off, ancillaries off/out of the way, water pump off, sump off, front cover off - hello chain. I think... about the only things I haven't taken off is the heads this time round!
The diesel engine is for the moment on hold - but the engine isn't going anywhere. My biggest problem is not having the space for a long time to actually do the swap if I encounter issues actually doing it. If I know everything is going to go to plan - then I can work with that. But at the moment there are enough unknowns to make me uncertain. I will get back to investigating the gearbox control at some point soon though I hope - which is one of the big concerns obviously.
Oh - and money. That old chestnut. The adapter plate alone for the autobox seems pretty reasonably priced for the work involved - but it and a flywheel would cost me the same as all of the parts (including full exhaust from the headers back) for this refresh. I'd like to have bought said adapter plate - but keeping the P38 usable is more important in the grand scheme of things.
Money is the factor!
If moolah wasn't an issue a new V8 developments 5.2 would be going in place of my tired old 4.6.
I'm not sure if the rocker cover bolts back off over time, or if the cork gaskets compress, making the bolts looser over time.
Cork? They are rubber with steel insets where the bolts go through so you can't compress them too much. I suspect it's the same problem as with ball joint boots, they are made from a sort of vinyl these days which shrinks.
Depends which ones you buy, I received a set of the cork ones as well from somewhere, though didn't use them for obvious reasons (Britpart on the bag being part of the reason, plus I had got the rubber ones instead once I'd see what turned up). The rubber ones on mine had obviously gone bad, they had got that bad that the metal bits had dropped out of them and would stand straight if you held one end of them rather than flexing.
Cork? You're right,
Sorry, hit reply before I finished typing.
My experience with rocker gaskets is cork, but I haven't had my V8 Rover ones off yet. I will in the next while though as I need to do HG's on the Disco.
To be fair I'd considered actually using cork gaskets at one point - just to see if they are any less likely to leak!
Various Island orders in the past have left with me two sets of rubber gaskets spare though so those will be going in again this time, following rave's instructions.
Over the weekend I got the rear bumper back together (bit of feature creep... took it off to get the exhaust off and it was looking a bit shabby inside), and I went to look at the petrol injector plugs... which resulted in the whole loom ending up on the bench:
22 years of oil and heat have turned most of the loom covering either brittle or absolutely solid and inflexible - so it is all getting cut off and redone.
4 of the 8 injector plugs need repair, along with both coil packs, one knock sensor, and probably some other bits I can't remember now! Also discovered what appears to be another prototype fix on the loom - the connector for the evap solenoid seems to come out in the wrong place, so it had the wires (badly) extended to the correct location after it was made. I'm going to relocate it to the proper place as all of the manky tape and loom covering has now been stripped off - but I'm going to keep the 'wrong' connector they used to bash on - because that's how it was made.
My injector loom also crispy, but holding on - the less I touch it the better.
I'm not even going to look at mine, coz i feel looking will break it!!
I
Disturbing them is certainly what will cause issues - but most of these issues have been exacerbated by the LPG pickup loom being crammed in too.
Bit of progress over the last few nights. Stripped most of the oily and crispy coverings off before a bit of cleanup, repair, and recovering. I'm using cloth loom tape on parts of the loom at the top of the engine - where they should be safe from most oil leak sources. On the lower parts I'm reusing the split conduit covering, but cable tieing it in place where required.
Had to move to the floor to lay it out before I completely lost track of how it was supposed to be physically laid out. Not the most exciting update but I'll be happier with it cleaned up and less messy.
I keep thinking of doing similar to the wiring loom on our VSE but disconnecting the LPG from it puts me right off.
If you've got depinning tools and various decent crimping supplies, it isn't that bad of a job.
If I re-fit the LPG to this, then I will be soldering in the LPG pickup wiring instead of using the injector piggy back loom - makes for a much neater installation. I'll probably do the actual connections within the flexible rubber pipe as there is a fair bit of room in there. Just slide it down the loom, cut in etc, then slide it back. I'm actually thinking of locating the LPG ECU within the vehicle next to the ABS ECU, as there is room there, and the big loom grommet at the edge of the bulkhead will have plenty of space to get the LPG wiring through. The GEMS ECU box is a good place normally, but I already have plans to re-use it for something else, and the wiring loom spread over the engine bay always seemed a bit messy.
Loom is done for now - I still need to replace the MAF connector with one Chris sent me yonks ago (thank you!) as the insulation is now cracked on all the wires, but I can do that when its back on the car and more importantly... when I find the replacement connector! :)
Island4x4 order with the engine parts should turn up today, so I can get started on reassembling things over the weekend, then fight with the centre section/rear silencer exhaust stuff next week. New cats were the first thing to arrive so they can go on too beforehand.