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Jennifer's Makeover

  • Thread starter Thread starter Flyboy
  • Start date Start date
What's your timetable to start reassembling her look like?

I'm trying to figure when it's best to send out the bits you have accumulated. Seat pan is scheduled for painting the first of the week as I have 'paint booth' time available and have nothing on my plate after Friday so I can get after the wiring harness this weekend.

Time to look for another switch board after USPS lost your last package and If I don't forget, I'll contact Frank Z for another set of decals.
 
DAle, i am hoping to have the head assembled this weekend, then I need to scrub and clean the bottom end and get it ready for paint.
Need to order new small end circlips so I can put the pistons back on the rods, probably do that tomorrow, and get them next week sometime, so if I can get my hands on a ball hone I can get the barrels and head back on in the next 3 or 4 weekends, going to put the old rings back, as much as it drives me mad to do it, they are still far from service limit.
I did manage to track down 70mm Fiat Uno rings, but the ring thickness is not correct, the GS has a ring thickness of 1.1mm, the Uno ring is 1.5mm, so will give them a miss.
Afyer gettin the motor back in, i will tackle the brakes, so no rush Dale, plenty to do here before I will need the seat.

Got a bunch of work to do on the e30 as well and a Kirby vacuum cleaner restoration project as well, to fit in between.
 
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Stan, I was wondering about something and this seems to be a good place to ask it. I'm putting new rings on the pistons & cleaning the heads as well and putting new valve seals in. I've thought about taking the pistons out to clean them. If I do this do I need to buy new pins or can I reuse the old ones and do most of you plane the head when you do a top end rebuild?
 
going to put the old rings back, as much as it drives me mad to do it, they are still far from service limit.

Got a bunch of work to do on the e30 as well and a Kirby vacuum cleaner restoration project as well, to fit in between.
I don't recall if you measured your old rings for free end gap?
 
Tech73, no need to replace the gudgeon pins, use the ones that came out, but you most definitely fit new gudgeon pin circlips, because if one of them come out in the motor, you can write off that cylinder liner, as the gudgeon pin will move and scrape up and down the liner, scoring it beyond repair.
Lucky the circlips are cheap, probably a dollar or less. each.
Unless the engine has really been cooked red hot and you have a blown head gasket, no need to skim the head, chanes are it will be fine.
You can check it yourself by laying a steel straight edge across it and seeing if you can get a feeler gauge blade between the head and straight edge, just looking for light between the two will give you the answer.
I would put money down you don't need to.
 
Tech73, no need to replace the gudgeon pins, use the ones that came out, but you most definitely fit new gudgeon pin circlips, because if one of them come out in the motor, you can write off that cylinder liner, as the gudgeon pin will move and scrape up and down the liner, scoring it beyond repair.
Lucky the circlips are cheap, probably a dollar or less. each.
Unless the engine has really been cooked red hot and you have a blown head gasket, no need to skim the head, chanes are it will be fine.
You can check it yourself by laying a steel straight edge across it and seeing if you can get a feeler gauge blade between the head and straight edge, just looking for light between the two will give you the answer.
I would put money down you don't need to.

Sounds good, thanks for the advice.
 
The better part of today was spent reassembling the head, well, getting the valves back in anyway.

yes I was a good boy and made sure everything went back where it came from


Cheap and nasty from Taiwan


small screwdriver and grease for placing the cotters onto the valve and hold them in place as you release the spring.


Valve assembly, inner and outer springs, lower seat, upper keeper and two cotters


Be sure to put the springs in the right way round, you will notice that the coils on the spring tighten up on one end, that end goes to the bottom.




Make sure the bottom seat is in place and the spring is not going to sit directly on the aluminium head.




Valve compressor in place


I found the valve spring compressor a little long and it did not depres the valve far enough to get th cotters in.
 
A nice big nut as a spacer sorted that problem out.


All done


Filled the combustion chamber with petrol, to chck for leaks


Nothing, nill, nada, ports as dry as a bone.
 
Sorry Dale, could not get shim sizes for you, not one of them had a size on them, not that I could see, may just be my eyesight.
And not having a mic, I could not measure them for you, but they seem fairly thick.
Ed, again without a mic, I could not measure the seat area too accurately, but it seems to be just over over 1mm, probably 1.3mm all around give or take 0.1mm between them.
 
Andre, valve stem seals went on fine, I am paranoid about tearing them putting them on, as I have had a good few destroy themselves trying to get them on in the past, so I put them on with kid gloves. :D
 
Stan, do you have the head gasket yet? I recall many questions around mine a few years back, especially the rectangular "o-ring" around the timing chain and the other oil passages. Apparently there is a new pattern that supersedes the old pattern or so I was informed at the time.
 
Stan, I see that you couldnt get the correct size rings. I found a note that I made a few years ago and it was actually rings for a Fiat Palio 1992 - Hastings # 2C 5051. They were 70mm rings, rings 1 and 2 were 1.2mm and oil ring was 2.5mm.
I also noted then that a Honda Lawnmower used the same piston clips!

Keep well.:)
 
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Andre, I have a complete engine gasket set, including the head gasket, it is not Suzuki stuff, it is after market Vesrah, but seems to be good quality,
I don't know about any changes, that may or may not be included in the set, I guess i will find out as I go along, Dale procured it for me, and I trust his judgement with my life, so I doubt I will have too many hassles.
But will be sure to make mention of any discrepancies I may find
 
Will certaimly chase up those Palio rings tomorrow, many thanks Andre.
 
Stan, we also picked up an OEM base gasket to go along with that NOS Vesrah gasket set. Not a bad deal for $35 if I do say so myself!
 
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Stan, we also picked up an OEM base gasket to go along with that NOS Vesrah gasket set. Not a bad deal for $35 if I do say so myself!

If its NOS then you should not have any questions on the head gasket!
If Dale's checked it out it WILL be good! Hi there Dale!;)
 
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