Project The Austin 2dr 1100 story - Part IV - Now in sharleys hands

[Squire_Dawson]

Are you doing any engine work, i.e. new bearings and crankshaft work, piston rings &c?

[SiC]

Si, Firstly - great work on this…….

Secondly - I'm an idiot - I parked the SAAB in het naughty corner after bouts of exhaust steam OMGHGF anger and forgot the package of carpets and discs, pads etc..... in the boot! I've got them in het house and will send htem over - so sorry for delay. Accept as freebie - for me being an airhead!

 

Get them sent in the coming days - new contract a bit busy...… Sat morning I think will be earliest opportunity

No worries. I've got a while yet till carpets will be going in. Need to make sure there is definitely no leaks as I certainly don't want them smelly and ruined. Thanks again for sending all this stuff, it'll be put to good use.  

 

Are you doing any engine work, i.e. new bearings and crankshaft work, piston rings &c?

No, not intending to. I'll check that middle main bearing and if it thats ok I'll assume its all ok. The engine runs sweetly as it is, so don't want to be changing stuff that doesn't need it. I'll probably keep the chain the same too.

 

If the grit had got around the rest of the engine, I'd been doing a bit more. However it looks all ok so far. Basically most of this engine mini rebuild is going to mostly consist of freeing the clutch, changing the oil pump and replacing most of the gaskets. While I remember, yes the tappet chest rubber seal was rock solid hard.

 

Picked up the gasket set from Moss, so I can start putting it together again soon. Surprising amount of stuff in kit came for my £16 - especially if I priced it all up separately. All the seals and gaskets I could see would be needed apart from head gasket.

[SiC]

The 1100 is famous! Unknowingly and possibly for the wrong reasons.

 

Got this magazine off a stand in the NEC.

 

It's the bottom 3 pictures on here. The zebra duct tape gave this away for me. Looks mostly like the pictures Vulgalour took when he owned it. The subframe mount picture has been mirrored for some reason though?

[Remspoor]

Spares?

I have an Austin Westminster and use to purchase spares that maybe impossible to get elsewhere at Earlpart. I have found out they went bust earlier this year. Via a forum for other BMC products I found out the business has been purchased by a guy who runs

https://longbridgemotorspares.co.uk/

The posters speak highly of this chap. The links to his catalogues are with the Earlpart logo on them.

Give him a bell and see if he has what you are looking for.

I need spares after Christmas  so until then I can only repeat the info I have read.

[SiC]

So I did some more stuff.

 

After scraping some of the black stuff in the gearbox, I decided that it wasn't that bad. The black stuff just felt like old oil - just a bit more sticky than oil usually is? It's not hard or really thick though. I'm pretty sure if was circulated around the engine it would cause no harm. Only a light coating too.

 

Instead I stuck it on its end in a oil drain tray and I went to town squirting in fresh oil. Then left it to drain overnight.

 

Took off the centre bearing cap. This is what it looks like with the flash on and off.

 

I know you guys are probably going to tell me that I should be replacing those mains?

 

Was hoping to get it all buttoned up this and next week. I would like to start welding again but I don't want to risk grinding dust getting into the engines if it's still in pieces in the garage.

 

I'm going to guess that you're going to say this chain is stretched now and needs replacing too.

 

Had a fiddle with the fuel pump. Was holding a vacuum pretty well. But you could hear a slight escape of air though. Hence pulled it apart.

 

Diaphragm looks to be in good nick.

 

I gave the insides a clean up. Full of crud.

 

Put it back together and the top rubber seal snapped.

 

Naturally the pump works worse than it did before taking it apart...

 

(That rubber seal probably was end of life anyway)

[SiC]

Spares?

I have an Austin Westminster and use to purchase spares that maybe impossible to get elsewhere at Earlpart. I have found out they went bust earlier this year. Via a forum for other BMC products I found out the business has been purchased by a guy who runs

https://longbridgemotorspares.co.uk/

The posters speak highly of this chap. The links to his catalogues are with the Earlpart logo on them.

Give him a bell and see if he has what you are looking for.

I need spares after Christmas so until then I can only repeat the info I have read.

That's useful to know. Especially if it's possible to order from the old Earlpart catalogue. They probably wouldn't have gone bust if I started on this 1100 earlier.

[panhard65]

Yeap those mains need replacing and the crank wants looking at properly to make sure it isn't too scored. If you leave it then it will only get worse and explains the low oil pressure.

[SiC]

Bottom end rebuild then? Sad face

 

(This is the 1000th post of this thread too)

[SiC]

This is the point where any sensible person would be pulling off the bits of value and then calling in the scrapman for the rest...

 

Anyone used Guess-Works before? £600 for a stripdown, clean up and then parts on top.

http://guess-works.com/Shop/Engine

 

Any other recommendations on places that could properly inspect and rebuild this lump? Ideally within 80 miles or so of Bristol. I'm thinking this could be a good job to outsource, so I can focus on the mountain of other jobs that need doing still.

[vulgalour]

It is weird that the oil light never came on except when it should while it was with me but you and Cats both had it coming on when it shouldn't.  Maybe the thicker stuff hadn't circulated enough while it was with me and that was keeping the oil pressure up and the light off.  At least you found it now.

 

Sensible person?  Sensible people don't get involved with this car.

[panhard65]

It only really needs the crank doing which isn't that hard to do. I am not sure who to recommend as I have used a couple of places down in the south west and 2 I wouldn't use again are Hamlins in Bridgwater as they charged me £180 for 3 helicoils. I also tried Barum engineering in Barnstable and they rebored an MG Midget engine but only bored 3 cylinders all the way to the bottom of the bores. Bloody annoying when you rebuild it and the engine keeps locking up. The last one I had done was by Westside motors Bridgewater, they did the crank in the Seat. Reasonably priced and all seems good so far. 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Crank out, polish with 600 grit and WD40, new mains, reassemble. Leave the rods and pistons in, head on etc. Not a disaster.

 

Or just replace the shells and leave the crank in place - it's not horrific. Where do you stop?

 

The chain is fine.

[SiC]

How do you know when you need oversized shells?

 

Replacing the bearing shells is something I should be able to achieve in my skill set if it's just swapping parts.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

What's stamped on the backs of the old ones? Replace like for like. 

[dozeydustman]

How do you know when you need oversized shells?

 

Replacing the bearing shells is something I should be able to achieve in my skill set if it's just swapping parts.

 

 

The shells should have a stamp mark on the back showing standard/undersized journals.

 

EDIT - RBJ beat me to it

[DodgeRover]

Run your finger nail over the crank journel where the shell fits, if it snags on anything it will need a polish or grind. It won't be expensive.

[jonathan_dyane]

Just wang new shells on, as above the same size as the existing ones.

[SiC]

Crank pulley end.

 

Clutch end. Yeah I know.

 

Clutch end a felt one tiny bit hit on my nail. Other ones it was smooth.

 

 

Bearing markings. This was off the crank pulley end.

 

Middle bearing markings are the same.

 

Forgot to check clutch end markings.

[SiC]

I'm guessing I need these?

https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/bearing-set-crankshaft-main-standard-8g2332.html

 

Standard size. Listed for 998cc Mini, 1098cc Minor and 948cc-1098cc Sprite/Midget.

[panhard65]

Pull the crank out and get it checked, If it was me I would get that reground. It's about £100 then new big end and main bearings. Also well worth checking the oil pick up as that has run been starved of oil at some point. 

[sharley17194]

If it was me, id take crank out run with some 800 grit clean and refit new mains big ends and thrusts. they are std from the numbers you've supplied. And pop it back in, especially if time is against you. As for guessworks, i cant recommend his services more. Even for a quick chat hes a legend!

[stuboy]

i saw a mustard coloured ado in margate on saturday, anyones>?

[Mally]

Depends if you are keeping it for 00 miles or 20,000 miles.

Take crank out, clean it up, new std mains and thrust bearings. as the Rev and Sharley say.

Correct way is a complete regrind, but........

It will likely be for sale within 6 months of completion, and the new owner will likely do 2,000 miles a year.

[SiC]

It will likely be for sale within 6 months of completion, and the new owner will likely do 2,000 miles a year.

Harsh!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Make sure you also fit the shells correctly - you would not be the first to fit them with the oil hole shell in the cap and the blank one win the block.

[SiC]

If I lob some new shells on to start with, what's the worse can happen? Just bugger up those new shells over time? Or would it cause significant damage to the engine?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

You'll have the crank out in an hour. It has to come out to fit the upper shells.

[DodgeRover]

If the crank is smooth having it polished at an engineering place to remove minor marks costs relatively little, I wouldn't attempt it myself unless I was putting it through the auctions etc.

The area where the shells fit needs to be eat your dinner off it clean, you can scrape the block area they seat into without worry - it's not unknown for a bit of white metal to stick (or weld itself) on there.

Crank needs to rotate once the new shells are fitted, use plenty of lubrication. Do them one at a time and ensure the crank doesn't lock up.

Fitting new shells without touching the crank isn't going to cause anything else to bugger up unless you fit the shells wrong.

[Mally]

You'll have the crank out in an hour. It has to come out to fit the upper shells.

Eh?

Is there a reason you can't just rotate the top shell out?

[Mally]

Harsh!

 

 

Sorry, 3 months.