Tigger

Time has ticked on and I have finally stripped the engine in-situ and have the liners and pistons sitting in a plastic box beside me. The stripping down was a bit protracted and as a result the liners were exposed at the atmosphere/coolant interface a little too long I fear, with the result of some pitting around the top 'damp' part of the liner. The bit in the block is absolutely fine. Therefore my query is, should I re-fit these or buy new ones. here and here Also, what is the tolerance on the overall liner heights, the dimension between the shoulder of the liner to the top of the liner varies by .01mm is this a problem...? Thanks Tim Edited by - Tigger on 21 Oct 2007 16:33:22

Have to confess that I have only made it to one of the SARF meetings, I always have good intentions to come but seem to be thawted every 1st Wednesday by other commitments. Tim

Nice to see another local...

18:20 Sunday 14th Oct

Thanks Dave. I consider myself suitably enlightened.

I've got hold of one of the new Land Rover gaskets and am intrigued by it's construction. The old gasket was not too difficult to understand, piece of metal with some rubber strips which got squished between the head and the block but the new LR item is a different beast altogether. 1. For a start the firing rings 'float' in the gasket with a movement of almost 0.5mm, how do these get centred on the liners. 2. Then there is the gasket thickness, even without the additional shim this appear to be quite an increase over the old Payen (?) gasket. Does this affect the compression ratio? 3. Now for the shim, I'm sure I heard somewhere that this actually 'stuck' to the head but looking at it is seems to be sprayed black. Does this stick when hot....? It certainly looks like a very engineered solution but I'd like to know a bit about how it works ... any ideas ....? Tim

I'm just about to re-pack my Power speed exhaust but what is the general consensus over how tight to pack the wadding for optimum silencing......? Tim

That was probably the chap with the R400 who was at the LoT Brands evening. Did the Trailer has a wheel rack...?

Having changed the oil in my dry sumped 7, I've noticing a bit of a stripped thread on the blue plate bolts and fear that it is soon time to re-thread the holes. Can someone tell me which helicoil I should get? Many thanks Tim

Torx E18 from Memory Draper part no 32299 £3.76

I also believe that not all Diesel oils are equal either..... for some reason the PD engine in my VW Passat is uses some special grade..... Tim

top tip

Ric, Thanks for the info..... will order a proper one today. Tim

Whilst on the subject... will oil leak if the 90 degree union is removed?

When I was at Castle Combe a couple of weeks ago I suffered a broken throttle cable, fortunately this happen on the final lap of the day and just before the pitlane entry (phew). Time has come to fix it, from what I have read in other threads it seems that a cycle brake cable can be used, but one observation I've made is that the lug on the end of the throttle cable (TB end) is longer on the OE cable than that on the Cycle cable, is this going to be a problem. Also what method have others used to terminate the pedal end....? Many thanks Tim

Thanks for the reply, any idea who it might have been......?

Here I am in Dubai for just four days and I see a Yellow and Ali Cat passing me in the opposite direction just outside Arabian Ranches development (Mirador) ........ Who might that have been.....? Any chance of being taken out for a spin whilst I'm here Tim

I'll pursuade SWMBO that a trip to MK would be a nice outing one weekend... It'll give me a chance to get a bunch of bits for re-assembly. Should I strip the head before coming up....? Tim Edited by - Tigger on 9 May 2007 15:16:47

A couple of years ago I hired a noise meter from Book-a-Track for a tenner, it was very easy and they even include a stamped, self addressed envelope to return it. Tim http://bookatrack.com/-pp?17 (in fact it's 9quid)

I've just been in touch with my local machine shop who haven't got a clue how to test a head for hardness, does anyone know of a company in London (preferrably SE) who might be capable. Tim

Now what this does mean is a fine excuse for some shiny new tools which until now I haven't been able to justify to SWMBO. I already have an E12 socket and break bar used to remove the stretch bolts but are there any other 'special or uncommon tools required for the bottom end, I'd like to buy these before the event rather than discover I need a 'EB20 Widget' when I'm lying covered in oil under the car Shopping list: Piston Ring compressors (Is this the right one?) Wet'n'Dry - grade? and where from? Sanding block - anything particularly special? Tim

Many thanks Dave, So I can leave the BFH in the tool box then This might be a little ahead of myself but how will I know how much to linish off? Tony also mentioned something about a piece of glass to check flatness, something of a decent thickness, un-toughened and about the same dimensions as the mating surfaces I imagine. How do I use this...? The fact that Tony did this on a nice accessible 7 is going to be a little different to struggling in the deep recesses of the MGF access panel Edited by - Tigger on 7 May 2007 16:12:51

Bozz and Tony, I completely support both of your comments and if I was a little nearer to MK my first option would be to ask Dave to do the business. However, I was heartened to read Tony's account of undertaking the same task and in the past Dave has given me the confidence to work on the engine myself which I previously considered to be a black art only to be undertaken by those with Magnatec running through their veins. I see this as a new challenge although I may need to make a couple of calls to Dave (hope you don't mind) Tony, did you by chance document or even photograph the process as you were doing it:) Tim

Dave, Many thanks for the advice, I thought this would probably be on the cards. So that I know what I'm getting myself into, what can I expect the hardest part of the disassembly and will I need any special tools or can I rely on a BFH to move the immovable objects? Tim

I need a little help and advice with a Head Gasket replacement on my K-Series (not my Caterham but the MGF), if failed a few months back at a Brands Hatch track day, but thankfully, rather than going it a catastrophic manner on track it happened 5min later when the car was still idling in the pits. This is not the first replacement HG (it's the 3rd!) and this time rather than getting a garage to do the work I thought I would take the plunge and do it myself. The head is now off and from what I can see still seems to be OK, there is no pitting or indentation in the head, however there does seem evidence that gasses have been passing the firing rings: Gasket Pics: here Head Pics, I'm really hoping this will be OK since it's a very nicely flowed head. here here here I have now measured the height of the liners and I think they might be a little low. (Counting from the Cambelt cover) Cylinder one - 1Thou & 2Thou here Cylinder Two - 2Thou here Cylinder Three - 2Thou Cylinder Four - 2Thou So my question is what do I do about the liner height....? I'm also considering using the new Land Rover Multi-Shim gasket and replacement ladder, will this have any bearing on the height of the liners...? Many thanks for any advice given. Tim