36 replies to this topic

[ibrooks]

It is called a rewpot - named after the place that first made them (Robin Rews). The idea is to provide pressurised expansion space rather than relying on two seals in the rad cap so that it sucks water back from a non-pressurised expansion bottle. Sound idea and it works very well. There are very few cars nowadays that don't use this system - it's something that the Mini would benefit from too but usually done the same way as the Metro with s seperate bottle remote mounted.

Iain

[samsfern]

mr postman delivered some bits today, these bits and a steel timing gear.


had a degreasing session, then got the gear on and engine timed up, and had a clean up of the pistons.




engine looks pretty clean underneath, i think its had a rebuild not too long ago, as the conrods had all been numbered, and it looked fairly clean, as well as hardly any bore wear, i think someones spent a lot of money on this car at some point.

[samsfern]

next job is to get the sump washed out, loads of little bits of gear in there, give it a nice paint up, and get that back on, get the timing cover cleaned and back on, then refit the heads.

Edited by samsfern, 02 November 2011 - 06:23 PM.

[samsfern]

more progress on the schimmy today.

got it all stripped and primed in the engine bay, acid etch.



then put some "base coat" on. Halfords red primer happens to be a near perfect match, as can be seen, lol.



needs a bit of lacquer throwing on it, its a bit matte at the mo, lol

and, nearly came over the wheel i had a session with the polishing wheel on.

[samsfern]

progress, next i need to work out setting the valve clearences up, there all closed at the moment, which doesnt make sense, as on some of them, the camshafts on full lift, and the valves are still fully closed, should be fun working out how to set them up, lol, i did start to set them, but it got too cold outside.

[ibrooks]

They are adjusted by the nut in the middle of the rocker. Yours looks like the later setup (and gven the age of the car it should be) where they are a stiff-nut rather than a plain nut and a lock-nut. Just spin the engine till the pushrod is all the way down (no lift) and then tighten the nut on that valve till the rocker is at it's clearance.

Iain

[samsfern]

Spent a few days on this this week, shot blasted the rocker covers and gave them a good coat of 2k paint, painted the front chassis with gloss black, got the inlet manifold and carb back on,

Oil pump is driven by a shaft which the distributor drives, the distributor is driven by the camshaft, had a right job refitting the shaft, luckily I hadn't got the sump back on, as it did fall out the bottom of the engine a few times, lol, sumps back on now too. Distributors rebuilt, and I've fully finished refurbing the wheels. Then I got frustrated, as the engine keeps jamming up, whilst I'm setting the valve clearances, as per manual, so I need to work out what's going on there..

Will upload pics in a bit.

Edited by samsfern, 30 December 2011 - 11:46 PM.

[samsfern]

been bored the past few days, everyones too busy working or colleging or studying or other boring crap, so spent some time on the old thinking mans capri.

i can now work inside in the warm, only just though, theirs a trainset in the way.



got the inlet fanimold and weber back on



as i couldnt be bothered to piss around with paint stripper, wire brushes, etc, i gave these a session in a blast cabinet



.

i forgot about the sump, but the paint on that was barely on there, and came off real easy with a wire brush, then a quick key up with some wet and dry, then out came the 2k and spray gun, im using 2k gloss black as its better quality and is cheaper than rat cans, plus i have a load of it left from when i sprayed the front of my old mini.







cleaned and fitted new points, condensors, etc to the dizzy





done some more painting as well yesterday, painted some gloss black (2k again) on the chassis and bits of exposed fibreglass, not my best of jobs, but you dont see much of it when everythings back in, also cleaned and painted the radiator whilst i had the spray gun out, and fitted it today.



got the sump on this afternoon, and this is what else i got done and how i left it.

[samsfern]

Tommorows plans are to fit new brake hoses, and I need to change a few suspension bushes upfront, then I'll have some fun and rip out the interior, and chase up the seat covers and carpet set I ordered ages ago!

[benb12]

So you sorted the valve clearances in the end?

[samsfern]

Haven't bothered looking at them again yet, still waiting on one to replace the broken one. Rocker covers are only sitting there to keep rubbish out.

[The Matt]

They are fibre on the Essex - it's to keep the noise down. I fitted an all steel one to my Scimitar when I built the engine to avoid a repeat of your problem. to be honest I was hard pressed to tell the difference in noise level so for peace of mind and fit and forget I'd do it again.

Was just saying to a guy at the Mini club last night that I wish I still had it and if I saw it come up for sale I'd buy it back and then worry about where to put it. Mine was an SE6 too but manual with overdrive. It was white with a black interior (a very unusual combination it would seem) and didn't have a sunroof.

Iain

There was a firm up near me somewhere that used to sell a load of Scimi parts. My Dad was "popping there" all the time.....he always came back with something shiny, like stainless steel tank and straps, chromed engine pieces....anyway, I'm sure he got a steel timing gear kit for his too. His was the 3.0 Essex, but his was an SE5a. I used to hate the blooming things, but I'd quite like one now to be honest.

[The Matt]

Here it is:

http://www.grahamwal...itar re-man.htm

Not sure if you've used them before or not.

[ibrooks]

I got the stainless tank for mine from Graham Walkers and the reg plates had their name on them so I guessed that mine had been through their dealership at some point.

Iain

[samsfern]

So you sorted the valve clearances in the end?

Yes, yippee, I sorted them today, decided I had no choice but to have the timing cover (and sump as the gasket tore whilst removing the timing cover) off again to make sure, at first I was puzzled as the two dots were lined up still, but then I spotted another dot on the crank gear, about 90 degrees away from the other one, so I took the cam gear off again, turnt the crank until the dot came round, put cam gear back on, replaced the missing rocker, then set the valve clearances with no troubles.

Got the timing cover, rocker boxes and sump back on, changed the oil filter and filled it with oil,

then decided to check for oil pressure with no spark plugs in, took a while but then the gauge shot up to 55psi, she's got oil pressure.

So I decided to go for a start up, set the initial ignition timing up, and checked for a spark, she has no spark, and theres no feed going to the coil, as it was getting late and I had someone coming to collect a car from me, I packed up, I shall have a look again on monday, and hopefully I'll be able to upload a video of it running.