More general questions....Gaskets, breathers, other stuff

jenko · Post by **jenko** » Wed Sep 14, 2016 10:50 am

Now the engine build has started, I've built up the oil pump in the timing cover (using pleanty of vasolene and engine lube), oil pressure relief valves in place....but...have some questions.

Crank pulley - The crank pulley clearly holds the timing chain sprocket and oil pump drive (crankshaft driven) in place. Is it a simple case of these items butting up against each other...i.e. no shims or spacers?.

Oil pick up - the oil pick up I have is the one that comes directly from the oil pump cover, the long pick up pipe has an O ring and is held in with two bolts. Does this usually have a gasket?.

Rocker cover breather or flame trap - interestingly, these seem to come filled with wire that clearly degrades over time, the breather and rocker covers I've just refurbished were in an appalling mess, and I've no doubt the engine they were originally attached to must have been running with small bits of wire in the oil!. Anyway, wire removed, what should I fill the breather with?.

Head gasket - 4ltr, new block, I was supplied with two types of head gasket. Is there anything I should be looking out for. I need to post pics of them both so I can get the collective view as to which ones are better to use.

Splash tray in sump - Or lack of......my engine did not come with one, are they required?. I've seen them in some pics on google, but also notices that some engines don't seem to have them.

Really stupid question....is there a right and left bank head...Mine look the same, but I would hate to missing something and put the wrong head on.

That will do for now....Im sure there will be more!.

Paul.

DEVONMAN · Post by **DEVONMAN** » Wed Sep 14, 2016 2:21 pm

I will answer a few of your questions.

The heads are the same but it would be ideal to put them back on the same side of the engine if it's the same block that the heads were removed from.

The crank pulley bolts on without any shims.

Just an o ring on the pickup, no gasket.

I would say the splash/windage tray is optional. If you are using a sump with a factory horizontal baffle then I'd say there is no need for the windage tray. Some later blocks are not even drilled and tapped for the windage tray bolts.

When you assembled the oil pump, did you make sure the rotor went in the correct way round. If it's in the wrong way then you will not be able to rotate the centre of the pump with your fingers and the pump will seize in use.

jenko · Post by **jenko** » Wed Sep 14, 2016 2:48 pm

It seemed to spin around ok......are there any markings on the pumps to show the direction?.

jenko · Post by **jenko** » Wed Sep 14, 2016 5:52 pm

Oooopps...almost forgot 1 last question...for today.

Does the plenum chamber to trumpet stack housing have a manifold?. Cant find one anywhere!.

seight · Post by **seight** » Wed Sep 14, 2016 9:05 pm

You mean a gasket? Nah, just some sealant.

jenko · Post by **jenko** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 6:07 am

Gasket...doh!....1 too many G & T's...ta.

DEVONMAN · Post by **DEVONMAN** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:07 am

jenko wrote:It seemed to spin around ok......are there any markings on the pumps to show the direction?.

If it spins it's probably ok. The book says to mark it before you pull it apart to enable re assembly in the original way. If the rotor is put in back to front then usually it will jam when the cover plate is bolted down. However, this may not happen if the pump is badly worn.

The rotor's face should be about 3-4 thou below the pump surface to give clearance when the cover is bolted down.

jenko · Post by **jenko** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 9:28 am

Ahhh.......the pump was all brand new, so there were no markings....

DEVONMAN · Post by **DEVONMAN** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 6:06 pm

jenko wrote:Ahhh.......the pump was all brand new, so there were no markings....

The outer ring of the pump rotor has a small chamfer on one side and a sharp edge on the other. The chamfered side goes into the pump housing and the sharp edge side goes against the screwed on cover plate.

If fitted incorrectly, the sharp edge will eat into the ally in the housing and although it may seem to pump ok, there will soon be some swarf floating about in the system.

For the sake of undoing a few screws I would have to check and re thread lock the screws.

jenko · Post by **jenko** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 6:15 pm

Great spot................I will be checking this...thanks so much ....Paul.