Update time... finished the short motor this afternoon/evening. Started with checking the ring gaps:
Fresh block/light hone...
New set of rings...
To check the gap of the ring it needs to go into the cylinder, be squared then measured with a feeler gauge. Gave the bore a bit of WD40, and popped the ring into the top of the cylinder..
Used the piston to square the ring up and push it down in the bore slightly..
Then used the feeler gauges to measure the ring gap..
This was repeated for all the rings for each cylinder, noting each gap as I went along.
The Renault workshop manual specifies the following gaps..
Upper Ring: 0.225 ± 0.075mm
Sealing Ring: 0.5 ± 0.1mm
Scraper Ring: 0.9 ± 0.5mm
Mine came out at:
Cylinder 1 - Upper: 0.254mm, Sealing: 0.457mm, Scraper: 0.483mm/0.406mm
Cylinder 2 - Upper: 0.254mm, Sealing: 0.457mm, Scraper: 0.406mm/0.483mm
Cylinder 3 - Upper: 0.254mm, Sealing: 0.457mm, Scraper: 0.483mm/0.483mm
Cylinder 4 - Upper: 0.254mm, Sealing: 0.457mm, Scraper: 0.403mm/0.483mm
So considering they all within tolerance, I carried on. Removed the old mains shells from the block..
New mains bearings...
Fitting them to the block...
Using a straight edge to get them fully seated..
New bearings in the mains caps..
All the new upper mains bearings fitted...
Now that those were fitted, I wanted to check the clearance of the new bearings to the crank with some Plastigauge, so I could be sure it was correct to Renaults specification. Very simple stuff but works very well!
Gave the mains bearings a light dusting of WD40 to avoid any scuffing. The crank was then sat in the block, it does not need to move for these checks hence why it hasn't been oiled..
Laid a small piece of Plastigauge on each mains journal..
Then sprayed the mains caps with some silicone release agent to avoid the Plastigauge sticking...
Fitted the caps and torqued them down to the correct setting...
Then left it for 5 minutes. Came back and removed the caps to reveal the squashed Plastigauge...
Which tells us the clearance of the bearing. Using the supplied chart, it allows you to see a good enough measure...
Comparing my results with Renaults specification, everything checks out...
So I was happy to go ahead and build it up properly
Thanks to Rob I now had a tube of Graphogen assembly compound, something I wanted to use when building this up instead of plain old oil.
Applied liberal amounts to the new mains shells..
Then fitted the new thrust washers into the grooves on the 2nd journal...
Sat the crank in place...
..and applied more Graphogen to the caps before fitting and torquing them up to the correct specification..
The flywheel end cap was sealed with..
Next the Rings needed fitting, then the pistons into the block. Started with a bit of a clean up...
...and some new big end shells..
First up were the scraper rings. Its worth noting the gaps in the rings have to be in certain positions on the piston... I followed the Renault diagram...
Then the sealing ring which has a mark that goes on the top side...
And finally the upper ring...
Fitted the new shell to the rod...
Then popped it into the block...
Which was then repeated for the other three pistons...
After all the pistons were in the block, I turned it back over to fit the big end caps. I had already applied Graphogen to the rods before fitting the pistons into the block, so only the caps required it before bolting them up...
Once that was done the oil pump drive cog and chain were fitted, along with the block end plate..
Then the oil pump and windage tray..
...and finally cleaned the sump and fitted it to the block...
Finished by giving the whole thing another coat of paint, but thats pretty much it, one complete short motor :approve:
Will probably get on with the head tomorrow and get it bolted onto the block, ready to go back in the car. Less than two weeks until Mallory now :sleepy: