Scudo in FTP shock - now back together!

[djoptix]

I did have a cursory look on FB for local breakers but nothing popped up. Decision made, 1.5 helicoil kit ordered, should be here tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the lower mount fixed and back in place ready for whenever the new top mount arrives.

[grogee]

Interestingly* Brother in Law's Citroen Dispatch thing did the same, engine mount collapsed. I would have gone with your 'garage fucked it up' theory but the fact his did it as well suggests maybe it's a weak point...?

[SiC]

  On 11/06/2024 at 11:52, djoptix said:

I did have a cursory look on FB for local breakers but nothing popped up. Decision made, 1.5 helicoil kit ordered, should be here tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the lower mount fixed and back in place ready for whenever the new top mount arrives.

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The pull-it-yourself breaker up in Yate (if it's still there) often had a lot of older stuff lying around. Might just get lucky.

[Stinkwheel]

I'm now scared for my engine mount. Its been off twice recently (in the last 8 months ish) to do cambelt and also another job on pipework behind engine that needed it canted forward for access.

Hope yours can get sorted fairly painlessly.

[rainagain]

Must be a Fiat thing, I had to helecoil the lower half of the cylinder head on my Stilo. Just take your time and it’ll be fine. I drilled all the holes by hand using an old pillar drill chuck to hold the drill as aluminium is soft and you’re only slightly opening up the holes. Gives you lots of control. 

[djoptix]

Luckily I've got an actual pillar drill, though I couldn't get it at a good height. Too high with the shelf thing, not high enough without.

 

After much swearing and lubrication with WD40* I managed to drill the holes out as required. This alloy is VERY soft.

*I had a shed clearout the other day. As well as throwing away my tap and die set, I also took five litres of high quality thread cutting oil over to my lockup and left it there. Hey ho

 

Then over to the vice for the next bit. Thrown away my tap handle so had to wind it in with an adjustable spanner - Mumbai Mechanics

 

Phwoar, look at that swarfy old hole.

 

Helicoils wound in easily.

 

...and after all that I forgot to take pictures of actually fitting it, but it all went back together. I managed to use a combination of two jacks to raise and angle the engine as required, so I didn't have to resort to an engine crane.

The third hole (the one that wasn't stripped) didn't feel as positive as the other two. Perhaps I should have helicoiled all three. But it's all back together and running.

I also discovered there was hardly any oil in it, and I didn't have the correct oil, so I put some 5w-40 in (left over from Saab days) and then also some ancient Asda branded 20w50 that I realised I must have had for literally 20 years.

Poor van, it does get some abuse.

[djoptix]

  On 11/06/2024 at 12:48, grogee said:

Interestingly* Brother in Law's Citroen Dispatch thing did the same, engine mount collapsed. I would have gone with your 'garage fucked it up' theory but the fact his did it as well suggests maybe it's a weak point...?

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It doesn't seem a very well thought out arrangement. The weight of the whole LH engine relies on three bolts in tension, into a hollow alloy part. 

It's just an arrangement of holes and threads though, all at right angles, so it wouldn't be impossible to weld a steel replacement for it if one absolutely had to.

[grogee]

  On 13/06/2024 at 09:23, djoptix said:

Thrown away my tap handle so had to wind it in with an adjustable spanner - Mumbai Mechanics

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I do think that 50% of a mechanic's skill is 'making do' or improvising. 

So often you can't get a tap handle into the area you're working in so an adjustable spanner has to do the job. Or the HBOL process is based on a clean, dry, well-lit workshop and you're on a sloping driveway in the rain. 

Anyway well done and it must feel good to have the old girl back on the road. Treated to some new oil of exactly* the correct spec, too! That'll give you another 200k miles for sure. 

[djoptix]

This engine mount has continued to fight me.

A while ago I noticed it coming loose. A couple of times I've jacked up the block and re-tightened it but something definitely didn't feel right - the nuts weren't going as tight as they should. Once I found the original bolts were a bit stripped, so I went to Screwfix and bought some M10 bolts and cut them down, which was better for a while.

But on Wednesday night it properly failed again. Thankfully I realised it was going when I was about 3 miles from home and babied it back, with it finally properly falling apart about 200 yards from my drive (cue scary noises pulling into drive as the cam pulley was contacting something metal).

On Thursday morning I took it apart and found that the rear helicoil had pulled out of the mount, and the front bolt had stripped the threads. Overall I just think that the combination of soft alloy, plus ANY movement, means that failure is on the way. My mistake was not making my new bolts long enough, so I think they weren't fully engaging with the threads on the receiving side. The third bolt (the point of the triangle on the top mount) had snapped off completely again.

It's getting more and more difficult to get these bits. I did some searching online but could only find the top part in Lithuania for £160 with two weeks shipping, and I needed the van for work. There was always the option on the table of taking it off the "spares" van, but I decided to have another crack at mending, and also put a message out on the Scudo/Expert/Dispatch Parts Wanted page on FB. Then I went to Screwfix and bought a cheap tap set. This was turd. The M12 tap was very badly made with hardened swarf all over the leading edges of the cutting flutes. It wouldn't even start to wind in. Nor would it go into the M12 die to clean it up!! I ended up having to tidy EVERY flute with the grinder before using it.

Then I drilled and tapped the rear mount to M12, carefully measured and cut some new bolts for full and maximum thread engagement, put it all back together and tightened. After a few days all still looks good.

I left the cambelt cover off because #RACEVAN.

 

Whilst doing my repairs I got a message from a guy who thought he had the parts. It turned out he did have the parts, and he was "only" in Swansea (80 miles from me), and he only wanted £40 for the top and bottom mounts. I drove over on Thursday evening and picked them up and added some beer and cider to the payment as a thank you. I'll run it like it is and monitor for it coming apart again, and now I have the parts to swap into it if required.