I'll second flyerncle's advice ;)

Pound to a penny that the hole in the sump was made to drain the oil :rolleyes:
Our local breakers punch a hole in the sump rather than undo the drain plug

Worth checking the exhaust ports for signs of burning oil ( Black & greasy ). CVH engine valve seals tend to leak if the engine has not been well mantained or covered high mileage .

New valve seals will be included with a head gasket set :)

Parts wise, Head gasket set, bottom end set, timing belt ( renew timing belt tensioner if unsure of condition )
Inspect the water pump ( renew if in doubt )
New spark plugs, leads, rotor arm & dizzy cap if required
Oil & filter

I took a picture of the valves etc last night:



Does this mean that my engine could be all right?

OH MY GOD ...NOOOOOO...:eek: :eek: :eek:

The zurgon disintegrator reflector shield has gone



Only kidding.:D
You need to go further, before you know if it's a goodun.
Might be worth taking the sump off, see if there is any nastys lurking.


David

Hello Tatey,

In my experience with the CVH i would remove the sump and head and remove each piston and check for any play or signs of wear on the big and little end. Both sets of shells are quite easy and cheap to replace and also the piston rings while you're at it. With mine the cvh was running sweet in the donor car but as soon as it started getting pushed the big end went to the extent that a crank regrind just wasn't worth it (well thats what i told the good lady to upgrade to a new zetec).
Also check the hydraulic lifters, these can fail or oil ways block after high mileage and again are not too expensive to replace. Also when modifying the sump retain as much volume of oil as you can with the pick up pipe in the correct position, its also worth adding an oil pressure gauge on the dash just for peace of mind.
Just from my experience but that is my plan with my next cvh.

Enjoy.....AndyH

on my pinto i removed the head and sump replaced all the gaskets and seals cleand up painted it and put it all back together. total spend £40 ish. these old engines are 10 a penny is it seems pointless throwing loads of money at them when you can buy another whole engine for less than a set of big end bearings.

i dont expect loads of people to agree with the above but in my opinion its much easier/cheeper to replace an engine of this type age than it is to repair.

im plan is to run the 1.6 pinto until it pops then change it for something with a bit more poke :D

hi mate i am just finishing my cvh rebuild and got a big tip for you replace everything when i took my rocker cover off everthing inside was covered i thick black slime so the first thing you need is a parts washer i got mine from screwfix for £50 best £50 i ever spent then i striped and cleaned the gunk off then i was super brave and when the wife was out i put it all in the dishwasher ( see my preveus threads ) . I got all my new parts from ebay

fuel pump £9
gaskit set £22
piston rings £27
theromstat £3
bearing shells £29

for that kind of money you cant afford not to and as it is all apart now now is the time to do it . as a pint of refarence i have just had to put a new fuel pump in my mondeo £200 just for the part

Well as a reward for doing a fair bit of uni work yesterday i decided to have another go at stripping down my engine, with a bit of common sense with a spanner and a breaker bar i managed to get the crank pulley off and got the head off, here are some pics. From the pics could someone tell me if my engine could be a runner?:





Oh and flyernycle i did the tip you said, i put a small amount of petrol in each cylinder when they were all at the same level, after 5 minutes the amount didnt seem to have changed at all.

Also could anyone tell me if my clutch is any good?





Also does anyone know why there is a Bosch spray can lid on my engine? Any idea what its there for?

Also could someone give me a quick list of all of the engine parts i need to get my roadster running e.g. engine, carbs, alternator, fuel pump, starter motor, battery, loom.

Cheers

Looks like no1 cylinder had some water in it. This could have damaged the cylinder wall and or rings.

The head from what can be seen looks quite good.

The clutch is near impossible to check without having it in hand. The friction surface looks okayish, but there is so much more to it than that.


I would finish stripping the block, check the bores for wear or have them checked. If they're good hone them throw in a new set of rings and bearings. The head would also benefit from a strip and at the very least a set of valve stem seals and grind/lap the valves.

That of course is just my opinion from what can be seen in the photo's, the bores and pistons would need proper checking.

Edit: It would be a really good idea to get a Haynes manual that covers the CVH motor, the manuals generally have really good engine sections.

dosnt 'look' too bad but you can never tell by just looking at it

would probably benefit from a good clean up make sure all the gunk is out

then like someone else has said finish stripping it down, get the bores checked hone them new rings beatings e.c.t

so parts your probably looking at for the block...

Big end shells/journals
main shells/journals
piston rings
crankshaft oil seals
headgasket
timing belt kit
water pump
?? oil pump ??

with regards to the head id say strip it and new seals possibly new valves is there buggered... maybe a good idea to send the head to a machine shop and get it all checked there and the head skimmed but its up to you and how much you want to spend.

the clutch 'looks' ok but i personaly would put a new one in whilst its out, you can never be too sure

that 'paint can lid' is the oil filter that should be replaced.

Thats not at all embarrassing :D :p. Can you tell i havent spent much time around car engines :D

Im plan at the moment is to completely strip down the engine clean it all up and replace:

fuel pump £9
gasket set £22
piston rings £27
thermostat £3
bearing shells £29
+ lots of other bits

I dont mind if it takes me a while and costs me around £100, one of the main reasons for starting this project was to learn more about cars, engines in particular, so if i can take a dirty old engine and make it nice and clean again, and work at the end of it ill be more than happy :D