I’ve decided to tackle the engine re-build in stages, I’ll do the Cylinder Head first, then the Block and finally the Gearbox. This means I won’t fill the whole garage with a ton of bits in one go!
So as you can see from the Pic’s the head is already nearly finished, Removing it from the engine was pretty simple. I’ve kept the rocker shaft together, and poked the push rods through a piece of cardboard with numbers on to keep them in order.
I’ve then removed the valves (the springs needed a little tap with a plastic mallet to free them from the retainers), but other wise they cam out without issue.
The stem seals, basically little ‘O’ rings on these early cars, are all either badly perished, very hard or missing completely, which nicely explains the whiff of oily smoke on start up. Fortunatly the gasket set comes complete with a nice new set.
The valves and valve seats are all fine, they’ll needed lapping in again of course, but there are no burn marks or pitting. I’ve decided to keep the seats that are in the head, so will need to continue to run with the lead fuel additive, partly to keep the originality and partly because there is nothing wrong with the original parts, so I’m using the “if it isn’t broken don’t mess with it” rule.
One thing that will need fixing though, is one of the spring seats. The head has obviously been in bits before and has had a washer used in place of one of the seats, which, because it’s not hardened has badly deformed. So I’m trying to source an original part, but it’s not proving that easy!
The rest of the valves are however back in place and it’s had a coat of the proper BMC Green Engine Enamel/ Along with the rocker cover it now looks smart and new.
So… next up is the bottom end, Cylinder Block, Crank and pistons