Detroit 6/71 - Work required

Alf,

what's this oddly shaped and coloured thing in the (I guess) engine cylhead cover behind the exhaust manifold by the salon sliding doors?
Some sort of paper stuffed into something, or what?
v.confused or eyes are playing up.

cheers

V.

Now that would be the slightly damaged Turbo heat shield lying upside down... showing the inside ...something like this inside out...

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Still frustratingly slow process... with not much to show for it as nearly every second bolt was a challenge after not being moved for 30 years.... Let's have an overview ... this time it is the Starboard engine I'm working on...

Engines are 45 degree angle blocks and handed, so aim is to drop oilpan to get access to crankshaft etc., from centre and lift pistons etc., from the outside...

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Angled engines makes for an interesting oilpan shape, with serviceable items actually bolted into the pan, so items that needs loosening are fuel filters, Oil filter and Alternator + bracket. Then I get access to the bolts near centre, fwd and aft. The outer bolts for the pan is accessed from the inside of the oilpan through access hatches at the flat portion of the pan... so need to go inside to loosen pan., which is a bit counter intuitive, but actually quite clever. So today was removal of the filter brackets etc.... some pictures before the job with amber arrows showing the block end where it meets the oilpan...

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Managed to loosen the items, but did not get around to dropping oilpan...... which I hope will be easier than today was...

(Would be easy if engine was out, so if I say I'll re-build in situ again, please remind me about this thread!!)
 
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Another 6 hours of slow progress today, which started with more stuck bolts and the use of a stud extractor tool ....

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Net result is all required bolts are out and three out of.... (heck .... I've lost count, but thanks to Spare Thyme for lending me a small hacksaw)..... damaged and need replacing......

So oil-pan access openings (approx. 40 x 25 Cm) got removed..... here is one open and you can see the other one further behind.... (each of these have 14 bolts)

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Here is another picture through the hatch.... you can see the inside fasteners of the oil-pan (mentioned earlier) at far left, conrod clamshell bearings in centre showing conrod & pistons going off at 45 degrees left from the crankshaft. The small opening to the right is breather and a bit further back you can see the dipstick & tube coming down.

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So a lot of strange sounds emitted, but all inside oil-pan nuts removed.... (the strainer you see centrally behind the dipstick is the lube oil pump pickup)

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Removed aft and fwd bolts and those on the other length. Left boat with six oil-pan bolts loosely fitted and rope around oil-pan for controlled lowering, when I eventually manage to get the pan loose .... after 30 years, it seems rather stuck on the seal, so suggestions welcome....
 
Great thread Alf and very insightful. :encouragement: Been following from the start and whilst I can't add anything constructive, I can empathise with the difficulty of access etc and hope the worst part is over! Certainly admire the tenacity - I think I'd have lifted them out by now as I'd probably have run out of patience (and skin on my knuckles!)
 
Thanks rbc.... Perhaps I am stupid (no need to answer that one :) ), but I enjoy a challenge and this is an escape from working with computer systems, bids, etc., all week, and getting back to basic mechanics..(only have basic DIY skills, so simple man can repair simple engines) .. This one is taking more time than planned as I can only do this in small time intervals as in a day at the time. Part of the dismantling had to be done irrespective for lifting the engine out, so up until starting work on the oil-pan this would have been required to enable a lift (fwd of engine is only Cm's off the deck). There after it is pure stubbornness that I "should" manage this in situ once oil-pan is dropped.... as I should have clear access to the required bearings etc, to lift out the pistons once top is removed... A engine removal would require a lift-out where we are and hire of a car with a crane... adding more than £1K to the bill (and I still have to do the work....). Aim is for parts not to exceed £1K for bringing the six cylinders to factory spec., rings + top and oil-pan, exhaust etc., seals ... the rest is my time and labour.

Now I am back to a ITT response .... but I'd rather be on the boat... :(
 
No, not stupid at all! I'm of the same mind with these things and there's a great deal of satisfaction getting them done yourself and at minimal cost. (even when it takes 6 times as long!) I'm behind a desk much of the time too so also appreciate the hands on mechanical jobs - sadly they're usually out of necessity on the cars rather than for pleasure on the boat! :nonchalance: That said, I'm still very tempted to overhaul the V8 for the boat whilst it's out... Common sense says I've got more than enough to do with the rebuild of the boat and the engine is supposed to be good but there's always that doubt... Thankfully, mine's only a small lump by comparison, is in the driveway and I have a hoist to hand.

I certainly hope you can achieve what you need to after all that work and will await the next update with interest.
 
Great stuff. It all looks healthy so far (apart from your knuckles). Did you find any lumps or flakes of metal in the oil or the pan when you got it off?

Can't wait for the next installment.

Not got the oil pan off yet, but some crud on the access hatch which is located just under the lube oil pickup strainer... oil was drained before from the aft (lower) drain point tube which is DD standard install on marine engines.

Next work will be to prepare for and to lift the 110 Kg Cylinder Head....
 
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Just noticed a small detail for the engine geeks... The conrod clamshell bearings (fastened biggest bolts in the picture with the cast stamp), does have two holes (next to the bolts), which when forced downwards, carries lube oil up the conrod and "splash" underneath the piston skirt as a coolant and lube the moveable parts underneath the piston skirt, such as the bearing around the piston pin.... sorry for being a bit (as in massively) geeky... :)

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Typically crankshafts are hollow as in letting oil through them to lubricate all the bearings, right?

So DD squirt oil off the crank to lubricate the various bits. Nice, but that probably means they have a much higher pressure in the oil system around the crank as holes look rather large so a lot of pressure drop in there, no?

Usual approach is to have injectors spraying oil under the skirts up, probably the DD way is slightly cheaper engineeringwise.

come on Alf, get a few days off, you know you want to do it :p

cheers

V.
 
Hi Divemaster1, been following your thread with interest for some while. Must admit I'm struggling with this bit though. The stamped caps that have the large bolts in and two small holes look like the main bearing caps. The big ends have the nuts and bolts through I think - nuts downwards!
The two holes in the main bearing caps look like spare tapped holes for bolting things to - like the steel bracket towards the lower part of the pic.
 
..... Must admit I'm struggling with this bit though. The stamped caps that have the large bolts in and two small holes look like the main bearing caps. The big ends have the nuts and bolts through I think - nuts downwards!
The two holes in the main bearing caps look like spare tapped holes for bolting things to ........

Thanks John for keeping me right ... (difficult when hanging upside down) .. that is indeed the Crankshaft main bearing ... but holes are through and lube oil entry points ... Clamshell bearings are indeed the ones with the nuts... as can be seen here on one of my piston assemblies..

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Crankshaft bearing illustration below....
 
Additional work 5 - 6 hours done this WE ... was cut short as celebration of wedding anniversary took place as P1 above boat .... so....

1) Fuel line to and from cylinder head removed
2) Cylinder head bolts removed (left four locking bolts in whilst lifting rig was assembled)
3) Rigged up lifting bar and tensioned ropes
4) Undid final bolts and started lifting (very slow progress as she needs to go up level on front and back)
5) Lifted fist 10 Cm and managed to swing cylinder head out from 45 degree angle to level
6) Secured head suspended but leaning on wooden blocs (now this worries me a bit ...). and left the boat (for wedding anniversary..... ).

Pictures may follow as I get access to photobucket later ...

Anxious wait now until the WE when I need to slide (move) cylinder head backwards and up through hatch...
 
good, painfully slow installments though :p

are you lifting this alone???
.

Try being on my end :( ... but combination of mother with open heart surgery (7 hr OP) and other issues have made it a looooong job.

So far alone (another reason for time taken as getting around engine when you have forgotten that one spanner is a pain .....), but need additional hand to get the head up and onto deck (unless I can devise a clever way to do it myself).
 
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