Heads off or engine removal

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Grant
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Re: Heads off or engine removal

Post by Grant »

Raise the back of the car up onto those sort of drive on ramps or as high as you can with axle stands Andrew and remove the lot in one go.. much easier in the long run :wink:
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thomaslk
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Re: Heads off or engine removal

Post by thomaslk »

i pulled the transmission for an overhaul and let the engine in situ - so not exactly your task. IF i remember right reaching the bellhousing bolts was quite manageable from under the car with a couple of combined 1/2" socket extensions up to about 1 meter length. Than we could reach over the tranny to the bellhousing. I guess we dismounted the crossmember first to get the rear transmission closer to the ground allowing a bit more space.
Good luck ...
rgds
Thomas
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PeterHume
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Re: Heads off or engine removal

Post by PeterHume »

Hi Andrew
I don't think you will have sufficient height using a mobile engine hoist to remove the engine and trans together. You will need to get an A frame gantry with at least 2.5m headroom. You will probably also need a second hoist (hang from same point as main one) to raise the back end of the trans to safely clear the front of the car on the way out.
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Peter
Peterh
72 mk3 interceptor 128-4846
Western Australia
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AndrewP
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Location: Perth, W Australia

Re: Heads off or engine removal

Post by AndrewP »

Thanks everyone for the info.

I was very tired yesterday after a full days (work) work, then 3-4 hours fighting with the car before throwing in the towel. In the meantime Ive done some reading, and can see that it can be done, and along with the helpful info here, I think I can take another run at it over the weekend.

Headroom will not be an issue as we are pushing the car onto the driveway to give us lots of space and I`ll try Grants method first of getting the back up as high as possible, keeping the front low to ensure clearance.

If all else fails, then plan B is to use my newly acquired 2 x 600mm 1/2" extension bars, so I`ll attack those bellhousing bolts from the rear if its possible. Always a silver lining...new tools :D

Thanks again.

Andrew
Andrew P
Perth, Western Australia.
Interceptor Mk3 #1284312
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AndrewP
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Re: Heads off or engine removal

Post by AndrewP »

Hi everyone,

Just to catch this up to date.

A good neighbour came round a few weeks ago and helped get the lump and gearbox out of the car.
Engine Out.jpg
Engine Out.jpg (77.23 KiB) Viewed 2961 times
The rear of the car was jacked up on stands, and the gearbox was all disconnected and out it all came.

As in another post, the first thing apparent was the huge crack almost around the circumference of the L/H exhaust manifold, which will need replacing. Fingers crossed the replacement 2nd hand unit from the US will work OK and match up to my downpipes.

I`ll begin the strip-down shortly after a few other car issues (with the daily drivers this time) are sorted.
No issue as its a winter job, and I have a good few months to sort it out properly.

Cheers

Andrew
Andrew P
Perth, Western Australia.
Interceptor Mk3 #1284312
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AndrewP
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Re: Heads off or engine removal

Post by AndrewP »

Oh my..how the time flashed by.

What was supposed to be a 'refresh' turned out to be a major complete rebuild and engine bay strip-down.

Very briefly..a bit of a fast forward from June 2020.

Started with this:
IMG_20200520_174526.jpg
IMG_20200520_174526.jpg (90.72 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
and this
IMG_20200520_200722_1.jpg
IMG_20200520_200722_1.jpg (84.15 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
Gearbox went off for a 'check-up' (HA!)

A few months later...I tore down the engine to find it was well past its best before. This included:
- crank was scored and on its last grind for both mains and big ends
- Cam lobes were showing major wear
- Cam followers were dished (!)
- timing set was still the nylon type, and missing a few chunks
- Heads were good, and just needed new springs and re-lapping the valves in (I think someone had had these done not too long ago)

Basically, the only bits I could keep were the block, conrods and heads. Everything else was skip fodder.

So..another crank was found and the build-up began from this:
IMG_20200818_182028_1.jpg
IMG_20200818_182028_1.jpg (117.09 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
Whole block was dipped, line bored the main caps, decked and bored to +30. Mains and big ends to +10 to clean up the surfaces
New cam bearings and dizzy drive bushing and rebuilt everything from there.
IMG_20201121_113341.jpg
IMG_20201121_113341.jpg (89.37 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
Ohh..shiny!

Then ended up here:
IMG_20201207_193254.jpg
IMG_20201207_193254.jpg (142.86 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
This was Dec 2020.
So..in the meantime..the gearbox was on its last legs (I dont have any photos, but the clutch packs were done) so it was overhauled and new clutches and plates fitted as the old ones were warped.
Then..beer in hand I began to look at the untidy engine bay.

You can guess the next steps...

Stripped the engine bay of everything and scraped all the old heat proofing and the 'schultz' off and found some rust that needed welding up.
New hard lines, brakes, fuel, breather lines to the back of the car were installed.
New oil hoses, power steering and transmission cooler lines were made and installed over a re-coated engine bay.
(not the best pic..but midway through the fit)
IMG_20210213_182517.jpg
IMG_20210213_182517.jpg (80.66 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
Bulkhead heat shielding took forever, but should last a while...hopefully!
IMG_20210206_194233.jpg
IMG_20210206_194233.jpg (143.33 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
All new fuel and vacuum lines were fitted as well and almost forgot to add that I also re-furb'd the steering rods, UJ's and flexi-disc as well as its much easier to get to without the big lump of engine in the way!

So engine and gearbox were re-united and ready for the 'in' March 2021. Which..thankfully having a great mate to help out, went in with little hassle.
IMG_2316.jpg
IMG_2316.jpg (152.44 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
All that hard work getting everything to look nice...all covered up with Chryslers V8 lump! Ah well.

I've lost count of the HOURS since getting the engine and gearbox in the car I've spent connecting everything up and getting it ready for the go.....only to be beaten by a duff rotor arm (WHY?!!? is was working fine when the car stopped, but then wouldn't work when it was re-instated!)
A new rotor arm (and the old one sacrificed to the god of big hammers) was fitted after an hour or more of scratching my head and checking, re-checking, re-re-re-checking timing...sigh.
Finally however it fired and the cam was broken in without incident....phew!

Anyway, just the bonnet to go back on now as its done the customary laps round my road without hassle so fingers crossed it goes well from here.
Here it is in all its glossy, satin, matt and crinkle-finish black-ness!
PXL_20210425_065225795.jpg
PXL_20210425_065225795.jpg (93.8 KiB) Viewed 2009 times
I will say though that this has taken an eternity to go from beginning to end and its not an easy engine to work with or on. Admittedly I kept (keep) on finding jobs 'while I'm in here' but the hours needed to even get from the engine in the bay to turning the key is significant if..like me you decided to re-furbish and re-make parts such as transmission cooler lines, and even if like me, you copied the old ones as faithfully as possible, they are always just a little bit out.
This then means in-out-in-out x 20 to get them to fit nicely. By this point your knuckles are bloodied and you are questioning your sanity and 'why did I bloody well start this!'.
I`ll also add that whilst it is the best time to replace as much as you can...the engine in the interceptor is so huge it covers everything. All that time spent on lining up the brake lines is hidden by the engine. Its the satisfaction of knowing its been done though.
Id also offer an opinion after many hours of staring a the same space is that the interceptor bay is 'ugly' in that there are so may pipes and cables for oil cooling, power steering, vacuum lines, heater hoses, as much as I've tried to keep it neat and tidy..I think it still looks messy even with all the hours gone into it. Its very much a case of function over form IMO and a miracle that the Jensen engineers got as much as they did into the small space of the engine bay!

Anyway..hope it helps someone thinking of doing the same. Go into it with eyes wide open, but make sure you set realistic timelines as more than likely...you`ll open a can of worms!

Cheers

Andrew
Andrew P
Perth, Western Australia.
Interceptor Mk3 #1284312
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ajc9415
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Location: Sutton, Surrey, UK

Re: Heads off or engine removal

Post by ajc9415 »

Great work Andrew, it looks very smart. I’d love to do a similar thing to mine but don’t have the space that I’d need. Did you do any upgrades to get more power or are you happy with what it was born with?
Adrian
1974 Interceptor Mk III 2240-9415
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AndrewP
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Re: Heads off or engine removal

Post by AndrewP »

Hi Adrian,

I went for the 'make it better where I can' approach, but I wasn't chasing HP.
I figured that a refresh of the motor, a new cam, decked block etc. should see a few of the lost horses returned!

With the rebuilt gearbox as well, I'm hoping the whole engine and driving experience will be much better.

Fingers crossed it all beds in well and a good few years of trouble free operation ahead!

Cheers
Andrew P
Perth, Western Australia.
Interceptor Mk3 #1284312
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