FB Standard Wagon

[FbSTDwagon]

just whipped one up eh ????????

nice work , when you have another 5 minutes spare can you whip me one up too ????

Well Blacky I tell you what, I’ll speak to my mate who has CNC machines and get him to do a price on 10 or 20 units.
It’s always cheaper buying a bulk lot as the main cost is in the set up and programming.
I’ll let ya know what the magic number is and see if 10 or 20 punters want a tool.

Seen one on eBay for $200 but that bloke can FO at that price, that’s why I made my own.

If that plan does not work out, yes I’ll make you one for sure mate.

[ardiesse]

I bought a harmonic balancer puller from Rare Spares. It wasn't that expensive - certainly less than $100.
Now you "just" need to make the installing tool. It has just a short length of the larger size thread, and a shoulder the same OD as the hub, so the shoulder bears up against the hub.

Rob

[FbSTDwagon]

Gday Rob, under $100 from Rare Spares certainly sounds better than the eBay tool.

Yes the installer will be made some time in the future when I get to the point of fitting one back on!

[Blacky]

If that plan does not work out, yes I’ll make you one for sure mate.

Appreciate the offer mate, but the club has one that we share between members

[In the Shed]

Here ya go Drew,
If you decide to make one, the knockerer onera thingo plus the seal alignment tool too

Stephen

[Harv]

COXHEAD TOOLS.jpg (35.23 KiB) Viewed 562 times

Cheers,
Harv

[FbSTDwagon]

Cheers Harv for the drawing, I must have saved that pic a while ago as it is what I referred to when making the puller.

So I have been working on the motor to get it ready to hand over to the builder, whom I still have not chosen yet.
Good thing come to those who wait I guess?

Dummied up the bottom end to check the piston to block deck clearance, just to double check it against my calculations.

I calculated .009 deck height above pistons at TDC, seems it varies a bit but ranges from -.007 to +.003.

All of my rod lengths are the same so I’m guessing there is some thing funky going on with the old pistons to give such a variance in compression height.
I only measured 1 piston for compression height and it was 1.812, from what I can find a factory piston compression height should be 1.820… can anyone confirm/ deny this?

Why would my compression heights vary so much when I dummied up the bottom end with the old pistons?

[FbSTDwagon]

Next up was to drill out a broken bolt for the water pump and I did the mods for the late EJ head gasket.

Drilled out the coolant galleries holes on the back of the engine block so they are bigger.

[FbSTDwagon]

Took the block off the engine stand and gave it a good blast in the coolant galleries with the Karcher.

The pressure washer blew a couple of chunks out of the block deck around some of the coolant galleries, that’s why I’d like to get the block decked another .010 just to clean this defect up a bit

[FbSTDwagon]

Considering the coolant galleries are so rusty I mixed up some fresh citric acid, turned up some plugs for the block and made some plates to cover the water pump hole and I filled th coolant gallery with citric acid.

I leave it soak for a few days and give it another pressure blast out, if it needs another stab I’ll repeat the process.

[ardiesse]

Drew,

Not bloody bad at all. Couple of things off the top of my head -

Corrosion damage to the block deck around the coolant passages is inevitable. Looks ugly, but doesn't affect sealing at all. I see no reason to machine any more off the block deck.

Piston crown to deck height measurement: if I may suggest . . . the dial indicator's in the wrong place. You would need to measure bang on the cylinder bore centreline, just next to the "countersink" in the piston crown. I reckon that piston-to-bore clearance is getting the better of you. If the pistons can rock in the bores, a measurement at the side of the bore will be inaccurate. Worn big-end bearings will contribute to uncertainty, but not to the extent you're seeing.

Go the citric acid in the water passages by all means, but I find nothing beats a Gerni, and patience.

If you've blued the mating faces of block and head, it'd be worthwhile seeing where the two make contact.

Make sure you replace the Welch plug at the front of the oil gallery.

Rob

[FbSTDwagon]

Cheers Rob, I’ll check the piston height closer to center of the piston, good suggestion.

All of the welsh plugs have been removed as far I can see, so I’ll have a further look at the oil gallery plug that you mention.

[Harv]

If you are able to, the screw-in plugs along the oil gallery should come out too to let you floosh the gallery out. The slot-heads are painful... I've got at least one in a grey block that heat, soaking in acetone/atf and the impact driver will not budge.

Cheers,
Harv

[Blacky]

If you are able to, the screw-in plugs along the oil gallery should come out too to let you floosh the gallery out. The slot-heads are painful... I've got at least one in a grey block that heat, soaking in acetone/atf and the impact driver will not budge.

Cheers,
Harv

This might sound stupid Harv, but I have had good luck removing stubborn threads by heating with a gas torch and jamming a candle onto the heated bit - the wax will wick down the threads and make the bolt /stud /whatever easier to extract.

[Harv]

Will give the parafin wax/heat a go next time the block is out (it's hiding in the naughty corner in the lean-to behind the shed).

Cheers,
Harv