cult45's 45 recovery and remobilisation (1 Viewer)

[cult45]

@andrews520 where did you get your tube and olives from? My Bunnings only has larger dia. stuff for household gas and water. Also, my Bursons didn't have any, but the guy there directed me to Caterpillar, though I'm expecting to pay through the nose.

 

[west aussie]

cat normally reasonable price for consumables. glad you found the drama. have you had oil up to the rockers before now? might be a good time to pull the rocker gear for a clean inspect and bit of love; not too hard you just need standard tools and a set of feeler gauges.

very timely find. cant really see how this would stop the motor though. prob a fuel issue you think? pulling the sump is well worthwhile anyway just for a clean and a bo peep. sump gasket is a pita to fit. even the pushrod gallery gasket is an annoyance; fit that before you refit the dizzy is easier.

bloody good to see your progress cult

 

[whitey45]

Agree, that oil line issue would not cause the bottom end to sieze. Have you pulled a main and rod bearing cap to look at the bearings? You have gone this far, might as well be safe than sorry. Cheers Mate

 

[cult45]

Thanks boys. I haven't as yet, but will, I promise. Just don't like having too many pieces lying around when engine parts are all a bit new to me. Soon as the copper pipe is replaced and installed and tested I'll hit the big end for a bo peep.

Quick question @west aussie - won't pulling the rocker assy. release tension on the valve springs [and send em boinging out, then require a spring compressor etc]. I'm more hesitant about this than the main bearings.

 

[whitey45]

Hey Mate, no worrires, valves and springs will stay put. When reinstalling you want to go slow and even when tightening the bolts as you will be compressing some valves, and when unbolting, same deal, some rockers are under spring presure depending on where the cam position is. Slow and even is the key. Cheers

 

[cult45]

@whitey45 you're a bloody legend! I'll get stuck into it this weekend. Cheers buddy.

 

[ozcrusier]

Cult all trucks use different size ollies on the airlines if caterpillar can't help.

 

[andrews520]

I went to bearing wholesalers in Bayswater...bit far for you! Any decent bearing shop usually has this stuff. Good luck!

 

[cult45]

ENZED. 10 mins down the road. Open today. Got enough to make a spare

 

[cult45]

Well thanks to the Mudders I had the balls the pull the rocker assembly. Whitey was right - no boinging of valve springs and no searching for said springs in the gutter. Split it two and disassembled each side separately so as to have a model to reassemble. Some of the rockers and the towers were a little hard to remove. Not requiring blunt force trauma but a little twisting. Some due to hardened sludge and some due to the wear on the shaft. Laid all the parts out on my specialised engine reassembling bench and cleaned them with a toothbrush and degreaser.

Sprayed degreaser down the shaft and cleaned the holes with a piece of wire and reassembled. However when I pulled the second side down I realised the shaft was really sludgy. So I pulled the first one down again, taped up the holes with electrical tape and filled them with petrol. Think I'll let them soak overnight and blow them out with compressed air in the AM. Would that be enough to clean them?

Is this too much wear? I can definitely feel it when I run my hands over it.

Oh and lastly, during reassembly, do the rocker shaft holes orientate a particular way?

 

[ozcrusier]

Cult
I think your crankshaft is going to look the same as the rocker shaft. My guess is the missing metal from the rocker gear has gone through the engine taking out the crank and bearings. Fingers crossed mate but it's not looking good.

 

[cult45]

Well f**k me I didn't want to hear that! but hurt me with the truth than shielding me with lies, so thanks old mate. That end is the worst of it, so I guess it's time for me to find out after I pull these main caps. What are the odds I can get a bit more feedback in a few hours after pulling bearings and posting pics?

 

[whitey45]

Im here mate! Seen that sort of wear on rocker gear, wouldnt worry just yet, pull those caps and lets have a peek!

 

[cult45]

What a team! Well the rocker reassembly took wayyyy longer than expected and I used up all my wrenching time for the day but as soon as I have some free time tomorrow those caps are comin off baby! Today I pretty much reassembled the rocker assy. and reinstalled by torquing each nut/bolt a few turns before moving to the next one. Just need to torque to spec. Also installed my new freshly made copper tube. Note the gap between tube and pushrod.

 

[cult45]

Well I pulled the mains.. Actually it's not that bad. 1, 2 and 4 are pretty clean. Some small particles and no scoring on the crank journals. #3 is a different story however. No scoring but jeez there was some metal! Fk me a piece came out 1/10 of a mm thick! Sheeeeeiiiittttt!! Hahaha. Also on the gallery that runs through the journal has metal in it. I haven't pulled the rod big ends yet, but am about to.

 

[cult45]

Last two.

 

[ozcrusier]

Hard to tell with all the old oil on the mains but can you feel any high marks with your finger nail. Give them a wipe with a rag so we can check the scoring out. The offer still stands if you want the 2f donk I spent around $400 getting it running with parts like points, plugs, cap, leads, carb + carb kit, manifold. I have a top end gasket kit I will chuck in if you want pull the head and re-seat the valves. It's sitting in my driveway under a tarp waiting for me to take it to the tip or for someone to pick up.

 

[Ken White]

Great read Cult have just finished reading the entire post, and without being disrespectful to our overseas friends it great to see a Aussie conversation on the old girl.

 

[cult45]

Great read Cult have just finished reading the entire post, and without being disrespectful to our overseas friends it great to see a Aussie conversation on the old girl.

Thanks for reading Ken. Yeah we gotta even the score on here against our American brethren. If only we had the lax modification laws like they do, cheap gas and enough population to warrant cheap parts pricing. Then we'd be a shoe in!

 

[cult45]

Hard to tell with all the old oil on the mains but can you feel any high marks with your finger nail. Give them a wipe with a rag so we can check the scoring out. The offer still stands if you want the 2f donk I spent around $400 getting it running with parts like points, plugs, cap, leads, carb + carb kit, manifold. I have a top end gasket kit I will chuck in if you want pull the head and re-seat the valves. It's sitting in my driveway under a tarp waiting for me to take it to the tip or for someone to pick up.

Well oz I may just make the pilgrimage. I certainly can't screw this one back together in a hurry. Pulled the rod big ends and found a MESS, capitalised. Now I'm no engine builder, but I'm pretty sure molten rocker shafts in your bearings isn't supposed to happen.