228 replies to this topic

[M44K TS]

Chris dropped the engine crane in this morning so I was able to crack on and get the engine out with the help from my pops.

Once I wrestled with the bell housing bolts, (2 lower ones were pretty tight for access with the chassis and exhausts in the way) the engine mount bolts came straight out and it was finally free and ready to come out.



God only knows why someone has painted the torque converter purple!


Out



The 'bay was caked in oil & grease so that was the next thing to sort.


The obligatory 'gurn like a mong in the engine bay' shot before pulling it outside to degrease it all....



Chemical Guys orange degreaser, it says you can dilute it with 6 gallon of water but I decided to spray it on neat



Came up ok too, may need another going over with the jet wash as I only used the hose. I also had to ratchet strap the front of the gearbox up as the only mount is towards the rear of the 'box so didn't want the whole weight of the 'box to be supported by its arse end with only the prop and diff to counterbalance it. The exposed chassis will be painted black again so it has a nice lustre to it.





And finally, ready to donate it's engine mounts & flexplate, along with a couple of other bits that I'll need.


All in all, first engine I've removed from a car and I'm happy with how it went

[M44K TS]

Few jobs done today, firstly, decided that the exhaust manifolds looked very ropey so decided to clean them up and give them a good dose of high temp. black to tidy them up.

Before

After



I know I only bought these last year, but, I've always thought they would look better than they did once on the engine. So, I've bought replacements that should be here some time this week.


Started cleaning up some of the ancillaries. First off, what I thought was just grime on the starter motor was actually grime on top of black paint on top of some god awful lime green and traces of blue. So, whichever muppet owned this engine before me must have had some bad taste. So far, the horrible orange engine, purple torque convertor, green & blue starter motor, green crank pulley, green flex plate and traces of green bolts dotted around the engine.





With it stripped back to bare metal, masked it up and gave it a tasteful coat of satin black then cleaned up the solenoid with some thinners.

Huge improvement from what it started out like



Cleaned up the gearbox and gave the torque converter a quick coat of satin black too, not that you will ever really see it unless you're under the truck as there's no dust cover on the bottom of the gearbox, I have heard that the 'box will run cooler with no dust cover but still unsure if I should buy one anyway.


Moving back in the engine bay, the chassis was degreased yesterday, gave it another quick wipe over and painted the exposed chassis. I also painted the steering box black as someone had previously painted it silver. I hate silver painted engine parts!



I also cleaned up the distributor and fuel pump. If I have the chance tomorrow night, I'll clean up the alternator too.

[M44K TS]

Cracked on tonight, swapped the coil over to the new distributor cap, found a load of corrosion on the terminals and the coil itself so cleaned it all up and swapped it over.



This is the earth terminal that grounds the coil body


Looks like water has got in from somewhere

Swapped over

And back together


Started sorting through the engine bay wiring, it was very untidy and just thrown in so I wanted to do a bit of a wire tuck by hiding as much as possible down the bottom of the bulkhead so it's not on show


I'll be replacing all the crap pre-insulated terminals with proper non insulated ones like these

You can see how crappy the old ones were



Also pulled the headlight, indicator, horn and electric fan wiring out of the 'bay to run through the wheel arch along the chassis then terminate behind the grille so there will be no wiring on show on the inner wings. The loom will need shortening in places as instead of shortening in the first place, the wiring has been doubled over and stuffed in some split convoluted tubing.


Finally, stripped the alternator back to bare metal with thinners, degreased it, masked up the terminals and gave it a decent coat of satin black with some satin lacquer



I did contemplate leaving bare metal, but I have chrome bracketry and will be buying a chrome fan and pulley for it so will contrast nicely with the black.

That's all really for today, only spent a couple of hours or so, hopefully tomorrow night, I'll get the wiring ran down the chassis ready for it going for the 'bay painted.

[minimaxie]

Awesome! Love checking the updates on this, keep up the great work!

[M44K TS]

Thanks


Shiny bits!!!!

New valve covers

New air cleaner & K&N element

New push in breathers

Chrome alternator brackets


Just waiting for the longer valve cover T bars to arrive then I should have everything I need.

[steven]

they look lovely

[M44K TS]

Thanks, I can't wait to fit them.


Was bored tonight stuck in the house so decided to go and do another couple of hours on the wiring.

My initial plan was to run the front loom down the side of the chassis, but decided against it as it would be really close to a brake hose and lower wishbone. So, as I couldn't drill through the inner wing to put p clips on the underside as you'd see the screws sticking through inside the engine bay, I had to run the loom right at the top of the wheel arch and over a strengthening bar that supports the front wings. Got the drivers headlight and both front side lights/indicators wired back up, the passenger headlight still needs some terminals crimped on but I'll need to whip the wheel off for access, it was almost midnight when I left the unit so didn't want to spend another half hour messing on taking another wheel off, that'll be another nights job.

Anyway, pics.

Added some braiding to the headlight wiring to stop it chafing on the metal wiring loom clips



The rest of the loom comes through behind the radiator so won't be seen which was what I wanted. I don't like having too much wiring on show.


Added some braiding to the horn wire too, it looked a bit daft having just one bare wire.


Fan wiring looks rather factory now


I've ordered some different size ring terminals to redo the alternator and starter motor connections, but may have to extend some wiring to get it to reach. I've been a bit stuck as to where to run the starter & alternator wiring. I want to avoid having it draped over the engine like it was as the plastic sleeving was melted when I took it off due to it running so close to the manifold, I don't want the wiring melting any time soon!

To combat that, I think I'll p-clip the starter motor wiring along the very bottom edge of the bulkhead, there's a very small lip so hopefully be able to get it tucked out of the way there without any problems then wrap the cabling in some exhaust heat wrap just to be sure. The alternator and electric choke may just have to be along the inlet manifold again unless I can find an alternative.

[MrBounce]

Excellent progress. Has given me some ideas too...

[M44K TS]

Hmm, some ideas eh? V8 Mini?


Had a spare hour tonight so removed the flex plate and oil filter adapter, I think that's all that needs to come off the old engine.

Flex plate, (being anal about everything, I may get the thinners out to strip the manky paint off then give it a quick dusting of satin black just in case anyone looks under the truck!)


Oil filter adapter


Now the old engine is looking rather bare.



Might even put it up for sale this weekend if I'm sure I don't need any more parts off it.

[M44K TS]

Made myself a little list of the jobs that need doing still, I've given myself 3 1/2 weeks as I want to take the truck to the local classic and American meet on the 8th of next month. There's a bit more on there than I'd anticipated!

[M44K TS]

Flexplate cleaned up and given a quick dusting of satin black.


Decided to build up the passenger door, the vent window frame, door glass and felt anti-rattle channel needed to go in. Bit of a nightmare job as it's so fiddly and a very tight fit with the new seals.


It's such a snug fit that winding the windows up and down was pretty difficult. The window didn't really want to budge which has resulted in the metal runner that's pressed onto the glass that pushes and pulls the window up and down has came away from the glass. I have someone coming out in a couple of weeks to refit the windscreen as I'm not brave enough to do it myself, (both windows need to be set in the rubbers and installed as one, not something I'd be happy tackling myself) so I'll ask the bloke to put some windscreen bonding agent into the channel and clamp it back up onto the glass. That should hopefully get a strong enough grip to hold the runner to the glass.

Anyway, for now, the glass and seals are in so I'll leave the mechanism wound up to hold the glass should it fall.



I've also added some dual colour LED bulbs to the front lights as originally, both the sidelights and indicators were white due to a dual filament bulb. These new ones are white with the sidelights but then flash amber with the indicators. I know they might look out of place a bit with them being LED but, it's more for visibility than anything. I've had a few people not notice the indicators with them flashing white.


I haven't had a chance to test them out with the battery being out and all the engine wiring being disconnected, but this is how they should work.

[M44K TS]

Was going to call it a night at 9pm but decided to do a little bit more, measured up where the engine bay wiring needs to sit, annoyingly, it's only 8-10" short so made a start extending the looms. I've got the alternator loom extended, the distributor power feed & rev counter signal wire didn't need extending so covered it in braiding ready to be p-clipped to the bulkhead.

Alternator loom including new spade terminals into the existing multi-plug, it's all going to be sleeved in braiding so not too bothered about the wiring colours being different.


Had to make up a new section that goes between the starter solenoid and the alternator


Distributor wiring sleeved


I'll measure up the starter motor wiring tomorrow night and get that extended. Then it should be a case of getting it all sleeved in either braiding or convoluted tubing and then wrapping some heat wrap to the starter motor wiring as the previous sleeving had melted where it had been too close to the exhaust manifold.

[M44K TS]

I know it's only boring wiring, but I've just extended the alternator and electric choke wiring. I've also braided the loom right up into the wheel arch so it's nice and protected. I haven't added the alternator to starter motor wiring because I'll sleeve that separately and cable tie it to the rest of the loom.


The same place I bought all the braided sleeving from, sell glass fibre and acrylic braided sleeving that can withstand 155 deg c long term and 200 deg c short term exposure, that should be ideal for the starter motor wiring that runs close to the exhaust manifold so I've ordered some ready for the engine going back in along with some push in cable tie holders so I don't have big p-clips dotted about the engine bay..

As far as I can see, there's not a lot I can do now until it goes round to my mates unit for the bulkhead,that should hopefully be tonight or tomorrow night at the latest if his current jobs go to plan tonight. Fingers crossed!

[stevede]

Loving the updates on the truck

Liking those front lamps as well, they may be an answer to my DRL / indicators on the front of the mini.

Could I ask where you got them? The link on the video was for the US and I don't think I could justify the cost. Cheaper option on Ebay but guess you get what you pay for?

Thanks in advance

Regards

Steve

[M44K TS]

They were quite difficult to find on eBay and came from China, I'll check when I get home, you'll need different bulb holders in your front indicators to make them work, I'll see if I can fin some to match.