She died!

The bottom end is back in the car now, it went in on Monday night. It was BY FAR the easiest engine drop in I have ever done. I bought one of the proper chain block and tackles and I dropped the engine in by myself in about 15 mins(after getting it hanging in the air above the car).I ended up Loctiting the oil pump bolts. At the moment, I've got everything ready to put it all back together. I bolted in all of the accessories during the week and now I've just got to get the starter motor in and head back on. For some reason every time I bold up the starter the motor locks up. I think there is an alignment issue there but I dont know how to fix it. With any luck it will be going tomorrow.
 
Missing sandwich plate? Shocked
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Thats exactly what it seems like. I tried making spacers but still no luck. You can move the starter motor around with slightly loose bolts and at some points actually stop the noise altogether. There weren't two different sandwich plates used for the 200 and 250 were there because I'm using my 200 plate. It was bent at one point but I straightened it out. Its the only thing stopping me from getting the car going. Hopefully this week I'll get my first drive with the new motor.
 
Have a look at my post on flywheel differences. Anything in there relate to your situation?
 
Have a look at my post on flywheel differences. Anything in there relate to your situation?
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Interesting post. The thing is my flywheel and starter are a matched pair off my 200 so I can't see anything like that happening. Can the position of the sandwich plate alter where the starter sits to the degree of stopping it from working properly? The thing thats interesting though is that it worked fine on my 200 but it didn't work right on both of my 250s. Maybe variances in casting, different sandwich plate thickness, something to do with the crankshaft?????? There is a mystery here. I got the head on today and lifter preload all set up today. Its looking like a complete motor again :D :D .
 
Only other variable then is crank end float. Can you pry it back at all? I'd wondered if you'd changed to a different flywheel.

Suppose a question to ask, may also be: Did you check main caps clearances, rotate the crank and check endfloat during assembly, before rods went on?

Is there any chance the thrust faces are on the wrong side? :shock:
 
MAKE sure the thrust bearing is in the right cap.. im pretty sure it's number 5... Make a smaller plate up for the starter to space it out further , ive used just a piece of one from another plate , and cut it out around the starter, THat way the block and gear box only have one plate between them, and the starter/gear box has 2
 
Suppose a question to ask, may also be: Did you check main caps clearances, rotate the crank and check endfloat during assembly, before rods went on?
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To tell you the truth, I bought the bottom end of the engine as a whole and that means no I hadn't done the clearances myself...but they were done by the engine rebuilders for me. I just checked over the final torques to make sure it wasnt going to fall apart on me.


Make a smaller plate up for the starter to space it out further , ive used just a piece of one from another plate
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Now theres an idea. Have you had to do it before DYNOED250?

Things are almost sorted to get my motor started now. Head is on, carby sorted out fluids are in etc. I just need to get the starter sorted and bolt up the extractors and I'm done.

Any tips for starting up the new motor, running it in etc because I really don't want to kill this motor?
 
Who's guaranteeing the motor?

Got the oil pump shaft in this time?

Got the dizzy set on #1 compression @ 10°before TDC?

Manually fill the float bowl beofe hooking up the fuel pump. Use a known good battery with plenty of punch; the motor should be tight. Check your spark first by tripping the points. Check all plugs in tight.

Keep it at a fast clip with no load to break in the cam. Then vary the driving for 1500 miles. This should include some boot.

Break a leg!
 
Addo, as far as a guarantee goes I don't know, but John Moyle Engineering did the engine work.

Got the oil pump shaft in this time?
Yes yes, it was one of the first things I did when the block went in. I may make (big)mistakes, but I learn by them :wink:

I have set up the dizzy, but need to rotate it back to 10 degrees before TDC on compression before I start. I was going to do the fuel bowl thing and also prime the lines by running a small electric pump to fill them up. I am also priming the oil system by spinning up the oil pump with a rod on a drill before I start the engine to make absolutely sure that I have oil pressure. The carby is set up with idle control screw all the way in. Testing the electrical system is a good idea. Do you mean just rotating the dizzy to open the points and check for spark?

I fixed up the starter motor problem today. I cut out another sandwich plate like DYNOED250 suggested, but it didn't work on its own. I ended up using this in conjunction with a couple of spacers to change the angle of the starter motor. Worked like a charm. By the way, there were two different sandwich plates used, but they have the same bolt pattern and what looks like the same thickness. I found a bend in the bottom of my 200 plate but couldn't fix it on the car.

Earlier tonight, I fixed up a small water leak from a stripped water pump bolt and have almost got the extractors on. Tomorrow should be the day!!!!!
I just need to get some rego again and I'll be back on the streets.
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Yep just power up the dizzy and push the points open with a screwdriver; watch the coil lead spark to ground.

Still a bit concerned about that starter bit... Did you take comparison photos of the blockplates? I have noticed only cosmetic differences - some have a bulge pressed into them towards the top.
 
Yeah the starter problem was a little weird. Pictures would have been a good thing to do. One is sorta boomerang shape (for lack of a better description) and one is a semicircle plate. Bolt holes matched up fine and thicknessas appeared to be the same. Thickness wasn't the problem, the angle of the starter relative to the flywheel was. A little push up or down meant the difference between running freely and locking up so tight that I was actually doing up the harmonic balancer bolt. Are there some bellousings not compatible with some blocks although they do bolt up? I think my bellhousing has an X on it on the part number. I can see it because the Toyota box is way smaller than the Toploader or the other 4 speed. The block is a 250 out of a TC Cortina.
 
It's ALIVE!!!!!!! I finished the extractors off today and checked off the pre startup list and surprisingly everything went really well. Motor started up within about 1 or 2 revolutions of the crank. It seemed to run really warm for the first half an hour or so to the point of overheating. I had to shut it down 2 or 3 times while breaking in the camshaft. The mixture is a bit up the creek at the moment. I think the car will really benefit from a good tuneup. I haven't even taken it onto the second barrel or above three and a half grand yet, but it goes really well. Still spins the wheels in 2nd around a corner on half throttle. I can't wait to get it all sorted out and run in so I can give it a bit of stick!
 
Good! A tight rebuild will often run warm for the first miles (you do have a thermostat fitted, don't you?). Don't forget to vary the driving conditions and get those rings seated properly.
 
Yeah I do have a thermostat in. The engine seems to be running cooler now than yesterday, which is saying something cos today was like 38 degree heat in Adelaide. I may still need to get a larger thermofan. Do you know any good manufactureres of the thin ones. I've looked at Davies Craig, Ice and a couple of more generic brands but haven't found anything yet.
So far I haven't taken it over half throttle because the carby tuning seems to be out by quite a bit. Still spins the wheels though, I love it. Ahh the joy of getting something right :D :D
 
Nice work Brett, good to hear its all coming together. As for the half throttle thing....what are you doing man?? give it some curry yeah :twisted: Keep us posted. My haed is getting ported next week. I can't believe it its only taken 2 years and 8 months at the engine shop but ive seen it with my own eyes and its prepped ready to port then assemble :twisted: Steve
 
As for the half throttle thing....what are you doing man?? give it some curry yeah
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Don't worry, the curry giving started today and holy camel excrement is this thing FAST. I got the timing sorted out properly today at my engine shop. I had it too advanced by miles, but he fixed it up and now it runs sweet. The timing still isn't at its optimum, but it is way better than I had it. My engine rebuilder basically said that there is no reason not to give it a bit of a hiding but don't overdo it. So naturally I did :twisted: It is by far the fastest car I have ever driven, all others pale into insignificance. It still needs more tuning but from a semi dropped clutch, it still fried both tyres from a standing start in 2nd gear. If I had have given it a few more revs, it would have spun them all the way up the road.

I can't believe it its only taken 2 years and 8 months at the engine shop but ive seen it with my own eyes and its prepped ready to port then assemble
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Man in those two years, I have done three motor installs, swapped in a Toyota 4 speed gearbox and ported 2 heads lol. I hope for your sake that your machinist hurries it along a bit so you can get your Cortina going sometime this year. Good luck with it.

Next week I should have the tuning done and my custom dizzy rebuilt and installed, which should get it going even harder. Low 15 second quarter mile here we come!
 
Top stuff Greeny. Sounds like your loving it and im crying over the bill my engine has waiting for me. Soon my friend soon, and we shall cruise hard. Just gotts find somewhere to drag, i can think of at least 10 good spots. :twisted: Good luck with the rest of the dizzy stuff and possibly a dyno tune????
 
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