Here we are. What started as a thermostat and hose change has turned into a rebuild... I was having fun taking things apart, kept going a bit further... a bit further... and finally said, heck, lets do this. I figured with 107K miles, things were starting to wear down (I have some ticking, gaskets deteriorating, gunk everywhere...)

I'm posting my progress here as I go. I'm sure I'll have questions, also feel free to post comments or recommendations. I'll be taking my time, hoping to have everything done by mid October when I will pack up and move to San Diego.

Starting Point:
Upper manifold, lower manifold, all ancillaries, timing cover, hoses, reservoirs, exhaust manifolds, etc have been pulled. Got the 4 flywheel bolts off.

Next up:
- removing heads
- pull block

Planned work:
- new valve train: rockers, lifters, push rods, springs, cam shaft, etc
- timing cover: replace oil pump, gears, chain, check oil pressure relief valve spring length
- Cam bearings (machine shop). Might order these from Lucky8, finished, or have the shop do what they want?
- Heads checked/ resurfaced if necessary (machine shop)
- New valve seals (machine shop)
- Head and block hot tanked (machine shop)
- Crankshaft measured for tolerances (shop), turned/polished if necessary
- New main and rod bearings (shop can tell me if I need STD, 0.10 or 0.20 over, right?)
- Pickup tube cleaned
- Block pressure tested (shop)
- Have pistons checked for tolerances (shop)
- Sand blast exhaust manifolds, or clean however I can
- Freeze plugs replaced with brass (shop)
- Valves measured for tolerances, lap/cut/reseat if necessary
- Secondary air ports tapped with 5/8-20 UNF 2A threads (shop)
- New front seal, rear seal, gaskets, o-rings, etc
- New motor mounts

Not sure of work:
- Piston overhaul. New rings?
- Valves


If anyone can recommend a machine shop in the Pacific Northwest - ideally Kitsap county - I'm all ears. I called the local LR dealer and they recommended AutoSport in Ballard, WA, but its a ferry ride away so looking for something on the west side of the Sound.

I bought an engine stand on Amazon for $52, and plan on getting a lift off craigslist or renting from a local store.

 

Snapped the head off an exhaust manifold bolt, so I picked up a bolt extractor from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Mayhew-Select...ds=stud+puller)

Was super easy. Took less than a minute.

 

Pulled the heads today. I wasn't thinking with my head I guess, because now I have nothing to strap the chains on to pull the block with. Has anyone pulled the block without the heads on?

Head bolts came off easy, ironically it was the engine harness bolt and sensor bolt on the LH head that were the most difficult.. stripped them... finally vice gripped them.

Good news... heads and cylinders look good to me. Makes me wonder a bit why the heck I'm going this far. Oh well.










Nicked the block a little... not happy about that. problem?


All tucked in for the night

 

<p>If you're going through all that trouble, you might as well do the piston rings also and you can do a dinkle ball hone on the cylinders.</p><p><br></p><p>Also, that nick won't cause you any trouble.</p>

 

Nice! I'd say go for a full rebuild. You've come this far, it seems a shame to put it back together without new crank bearings and rings at the least. Also a great opportunity to take the oil pan off and clean it and the pickup up really nice.

 

Agreed - diving all in! I've been watching this engine rebuild series:
It's a Ford 1960s steel V8, but looks practically identical to ours... forty years later.

 

That guy makes good videos, he's a little long winded, but he knows what he's talking about.

 

An order from Lucky8 came in:

• 16x Push Rods (allmakes)
• 16x Rocker Arms (allmakes)
• 2x Rocker Shafts (allmakes)
• 16x Lifters (BRITPART)
• 1x Camshaft
• Head Bolt Kit (britpart)
• Head Gasket Kit

Everything looks pretty good except for the rocker arms... the quality is a little questionable. I don't think any of them visually look the same, which makes me wonder about the machined tolerances. They're also much more rounded looking than stock. Check out these photos, note the bubble on one of the rocker arms, and the holes in the top.

The camshaft also has a fingernail-feelable imperfections, and a shiny looking ring on one of bearing surfaces.. can't feel it though

 

Geez! Those look horrible! Of course that's perfectly in spec in GB.

 

Yeah, and they're steel. Hoping lucky8 can help me out on getting some better quality arms. I took advantage of the Atlantic british engine parts sale this past weekend and I was already ordering a few other things, decided to throw in the finished camshaft bearings for $155. Check out this picture. What the hell?

I'm getting burned on parts. Good thing this isn't a really time sensitive project.. so I can take my time and make sure I get the right stuff. I guess I'll return them and see what Lucky8 has instead. I wish our suppliers wouldn't stock junk and slack on the Q/A. It's a ****ty feeling when parts arrive and you need to check over everything