Pull TC Head while engine in car? Plus Bonus Question

[FourLoti]

Hi:

I'm getting (a bit) closer to being able to try to fire up my '74 with 33K miles - that has been parked for many years. The engine turns freely and bore scope shows no rust in the cylinders, but I'm wondering if I should pull the head to do a closer inspection. Done this twice on an Elan - is it any more tricky on a Europa? Any tricks or tips?

Also, If I just want to verify that it runs and check for oil pressure, what to do about coolant? If I end up needing to go through the engine, I don't want to spend a lot of time restoring the whole cooling system first. Has anyone come up with a way to temporarily run water through the engine for a few minute test?

Thanks,

Ron

[EuropaTC]

Hi Ron,

Personally if a bore inspection shows no problems and it turns freely then I wouldn't remove the head but I'd probably do a compression test to see what I've got there. Then I think I'd just spin it over to build oil pressure and see how it runs.  From what you say about setting up temporary cooling then if the transfer pipes/rad are in place then I'd just run plain water and drain the system afterwards, it might flush out any debris that's built up.

If it's been standing without coolant then my biggest concern would be the water pump leaking at the mechanical seal, long periods of standing is apparently worse than running every day for the seal surfaces. But you'll get the message very quickly if it's bad and as it's a fairly major job, I'd just wait and see if it needs doing.

If you do need the pump overhauling then you have to remove the head anyway, another reason I'd leave that job until you know what you're dealing with. Unless you want to do it twice for the practice ?   

As for head removal the only thing I can think of that's more of a problem than doing an Elan is the cam timing. Everything is up against the bulkhead, the crank pulley timing marks are hidden in the depths so it's not as easy to check alignment as on the Elan but even so it's quite do-able. On the plus side, if you remove the rear luggage box/tray you can stand over the gearbox and have much better access to everything else than you do on the Elan.
   
Brian

[Pfreen]

Pulling the head is fairly easy.  I don't know why it would be harder than an elan.  I would take the engine bay cover off.  I hooked up a winch to an eye bolt I put into a ceiling rafter to pull the head with a winch without muscling it off and on by myself.
The only difficulty is timing the cams back in with the chain sprockets.  I guess getting the valve cover to seal takes some skill/experience.

I would warn that when you pull a head and inspect and measure it, You often find an issue which is hard to ignore, requiring a fairly expensive machining and rebuild.  But, when you put it back together, you know it is right.

[jbcollier]

Don’t pull the head until you get the engine running and can evaluate it properly.

Spark plugs out, squirt some oil in each cylinder.

Fresh oil in the engine.

Remove the oil pump cover and pack the pump with petroleum jelly (Vasoline).  Replace the cover.

Crank the engine for 10 seconds.  Wait 10 seconds.  Crank for 10 seconds.  Repeat no more than four times (40 seconds of cranking) or the oil gauge needle moves.

If you got oil pressure, then refit the plugs and attempt to start it.

No oil pressure?  Then remove the oil filter and use a large syringe to push oil back through the pump and try again.

Run it briefly.  No more than 30 seconds without coolant.

Add coolant, bleed, start and warm it up.

Let it cool down.

Retorque the head and check the valve adjustment and timing chain tension.

Start it again and warm it up.  Check compression.

[FourLoti]

Thanks everyone.  Great info, and what I was hoping to hear

Ron

[4129R]

I have just spent ages trying to get a rebuilt TCS engine started. Everything was timed right, all new electrics, float level checked, but it just would not start. I had to use Easy Start to get it to fire, then after it started, it now starts first time, every time.

I think it needed a fast turn over to get the fuel flowing through the Weber carbs properly. Just pumping the Webers to squirt fuel in them had not worked. I pumped the carbs 4 times, and squirted Easy Start into all 4 inlet manifolds with the butterflies open, and to my surprise it fired up. Until then, I had flattened the battery 7 times trying to get the thing started. 

I had used JB's trick of packing the oil pump with Vaseline, and that worked very well. Thank you JB.

[Kendo]

After you start with the Vaseline packed oil pump, should you change the oil shorty after that? Or is Vaseline "compatible" with engine oil?

[jbcollier]

I use Vaseline in first start situations: first start after a rebuild, or first start of an engine of unknown provenance.  I start them up on fresh oil and filter.  I run them up to temp, check them out and then change the oil and filter again.  So, while the answer is yes that vaseline is ok in oil, you should change the oil immediately regardless.