Engine Strip Down
 

I'm looking to strip down, clean up and paint my newly acquired 1.8 cvh engine, i've never seen it running, and i dont even know if it is a runner (i managed to get it for free), oh and the sump has a pickaxe shaped hole in the bottom of it.

Does anyone have any tips on how to strip it down, how far i should be stripping it down and what i should be doing to it once its stripped down?

Cheers

Firstly i hope that hole wasnt done when it was running and it lost all its oil :eek:

There are enough engines out there to use one that you have heard running and know the history of but if you really want to use it The first thing i would do is take the plugs out and try to turn it over by hand if it turns with out any strange noises and just the sound of compression its a good sign!

Im not a mechanic by trade so i will leave the rest for them to get their teeth into :D as they have years of experience and im sure later today you will have a list as long as your arm to check ;)

I had never heard my engine running. Bought the donor with a snapped cam belt. Why is it a non runner? Already stripped from car, or is there something else wrong with it? (Other than hole in sump).

If doing full strip down I would check the following things.

1. Head for belt valves, burnt valve seats. Replace valve stem seals anyway.
2. If the cam followers can be compressed by hand then they need replacing. (Two of mine where knackered.)
3. Check cam lobes for wear.
4. Check bores for scoring. Piston rings breaking up is a known fault with these.
5. Piston wobble. If excessive, might need rebore & oversize pistons.
6. Crank should rotate freely with head off. If notchy further strip down required. Could be main bearings gone.

I must add I am not a mechanic, a mate of mine rebuilt the engine for me. Started first time when we tried it.

See below link for youtube video. Bit blurry, taken on mobile phone.
http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2739

Hope this helps
Mark

The engine had already been removed from the donor car, which is why its a none runner.

Cheers for the advice.

I've taken the silver bit off of the top (im new to the whole engine scene, feel free to tell me the actual names of these parts, ill happily learn them). I got a bit overwhelmed by the look of valves etc, so stopped stripping it from then. What do i do after i've taken the top part off? Which bolts allow me to remove the head?

Cheers

If the hole in the sump metal is pushed in over it may be ok, if any of it is pushed out over it may have dropped something internal and burst out of the bottom of the sump.
Hopefully some knob has just put a hole in it !

The bit you have removed is the rocker cover ,there are 8/10 bolts that hold down the head and they are evenly spaced under all the oil and crap,once you get the head off there are small dowell pins in the block don't loose them.
Put the pistons level in the block about half way down and put enough parrafin or diesel in the bores to cover the piston and leave it for a while and see how long it takes to run down,if it goes quickly its knackered and the bores/rings/pistons are worn.

Andy picked up the donor parts, and i think the guy said to him that he accidentally put a pickaxe through the sump which trying to lift it up...:eek:

Did you get the engine wiring loom or are you planning on going down the bike carb & megajolt route?

If donor car is still about, and you haven't got the loom it would be worth getting it with the ignition control unit.

Cheers for the tip flyerncle. I'll try and take the head off tonight and see how things look. Although when i took off the rocker cover, it all looked pretty clean, is this a good sign?

Im afraid i dont have the engine loom. I didn't realise that this was going to cause me much of a problem. So because i dont, and because the donor car is no longer available, does this mean i need to go down the bike carb/megajolt route? If so, i dont see that as being too much of an issue for me, because i am eventually planning on upgrading to a 2l zetec engine, so i'd need them eventually.

Being clean inside the rocker cover is always a good sign. These engines can be prone to gunging up the oil around the rockers. Thick oil / sludge in there could also be a sign of the rings being knackered, and letting exhaust gases into the oil.

Not having the loom is not a major problem if you are going to go down the bike carb route eventually. Better to do it sooner rather than later. Just for a budget build if loom was avaliable could be a bit easier & cheaper getting you on the road quicker.

Cheers

Mark

Are there any recommended bike carbs for the cvh engine?