New motor build

#36

[quote=“Ranger” post=62850]

Don’t forget the 1/2NPT bung for getting oil temp.[/quote]

Mine is only 1/8-27 npt.

Also I’m pretty much decided the new blood will be Redline 40WT racing oil but maybe 50WT depending on the oil temps I see.

#37

[quote=“turbo329is” post=62851][quote=“Ranger” post=62850]

Don’t forget the 1/2NPT bung for getting oil temp.[/quote]

Mine is only 1/8-27 npt.

Also I’m pretty much decided the new blood will be Redline 40WT racing oil but maybe 50WT depending on the oil temps I see.[/quote]
In my experience the temp sensor I want is often not in the size I want. They come in 1/2, 3/8, 1/4 and 1/8NPT. If you put in a 1/2NPT bung you can accomodate any of those sensors sizes when your gauge scheme changes. If you put in a 1/8NPT bung, you are a 1 trick pony.

#38

Ranger you bring up an excellent point, serviceability. I’ve taken an M20 pan off while the engine was still in the car. I hope to never repeat that PITA, but if it happens I really don’t want to add yet another layer of complexity with a crank scraper.

I’m about to start putting my own engine back together. The one thing I don’t want to see is a leak. Do those thin paper gaskets for the front and rear cover do a decent job of sealing or would I be better off using something like an anaerobic sealer? Or maybe a combination of the two?

(I apologize if I’m highjacking the thread.)

#39

I just finished rebuilding a S14 and used anaerobic everywhere. I have lots of paper gaskets left over from the gasket kits. I did a bunch of research and the S14 likes to leak a lot an those that used anaerobic instead of gaskets had no leaks. When time to rebuild the M20 again that is the way I am going.

#40

Thanks Michael. Any tips for the crank and intermediate shaft seals? I’ve heard of placing them at a different offset so as to not ride in the groove created by the old seal. Is there anything more that can be done?

#41

That is about all you can do for shaft seals. I sometimes coat the outer ring of the seal with the sealant but not much you can do on the inner part except make sure it rides on a different part of the shaft.

#42

I usually use copper rtv everywhere.

#43

My brother just called to tell me my head is “scrap metal”. Cam journals are shot. His only spare head has 6 bent exhaust valves so it may be junk as well.

#44

I have 2 spare heads, but I’m kinda far away from you. The heads are assembled and came off of high mileage cars so I can’t vouch for their condition, other than the cams looked ok when I bagged the heads and stored them in the attic.

The cam ok, or is it shot too? Often when the head has visible wear at the cam journals, so does the head.

The head with the bent valves may be fine. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

#45

The cam is junk also. The lobes were all perfect though.

#46

It’s a crappy pic but I don’t think cam bearings should look like this.
[attachment=1780]2012-02-1822.12.36.jpg[/attachment]

#47

My brothers spare head is in good shape despite the seriously bent valves on the right that came out of it.
[attachment=1781]2012-02-1822.17.02.jpg[/attachment]

#48

The head and cam have been together for a long time. I’ve read that coated bearings don’t need any break in. The rockers were carefully selected from a 10lb bag of used rockers so that just leaves the rings for break in. Do I need to do the usual junk oil break in or can I just throw good synthetic in and drive like I stole it?

#49

It sounds like your cam is well broken in, but I would shy away from synthetic oil until you break in the rings. There are differing opininions on ring break procedures, but I’ve had success with the “drive it like you stole it method”! The goal is to seat the rings before the cylinders glaze. You need load and high cylinder pressures to do this. Don’t run your motor much until you can load the engine otherwise you might glaze your cylinders and the rings may never properly seat. When you can drive your car, conduct several acceleration and deceleration runs from 2000 or so RPM to full engine speed.

#50

Is there a kind of bearing that needs break in?

In a departure from my normal screwing around, that was a serious question.

#51

I was reading a bunch of oil info last night trying to find if royal purple racing oils are api certified. It was in the faq section that said coated bearing don’t need a mineral oil break in. Maybe that only applies to someone who hadn’t done anything to the motor but change bearings.

#52

According to the engine builders I’ve spoken with, bearings don’t “break in”. Makes sense to me considering there is no metal to metal contact while oil is flowing assuming they fit properly. I broke in my last motor on the dyno; it’s strong! I intend to do the same on my latest build.

#53

My brother is insisting on the accumulator and he has 600$ into the motor plus labor so I’m going to buy the moroso 3 quart. The -10 lines I have are non flared and are made for helicopter transmission oil. I can’t find an adapter for female straight unflared an to npt anywhere. My SSG 15g aircraft hydraulics friend says I can get an adapter at the local oreilly but that sounds unlikely. I’m calling earls and moroso tomorrow otherwise I need to hack saw the end off the line and put an npt fitting on.

#54

A couple years ago I set out to create the most complicated e30 oiling system known to man. One of the lessons learned during that effort is that clever choices re. fittings made a big difference in how well the plumbing worked.

The best kind of fitting is an AN swivel fitting. AN fittings are highly tolerant of R/R. Swivel fittings allow you to easily adjust the directions of the hoses. In my early efforts I underestimated the significance of both of these issues.

The worst kind of fitting is NPT because they are good at neither of the above.

In the middle is a non-swivel AN.

Murphy’s rule of fittings is “any kind of fitting that has an angle will be entirely wrong once fastened up tight”. So if you don’t have a swivel, you’re, ah “hosed”. Pun intended. Of course.

Also…you can save a lot of money on plumbing by using steel hydraulic JIC fittings instead of aviation oriented aluminum AN fittings. We’re talking 90% cheaper here, made all the more significant by the fact that inevitably you end up with fittings you don’t use.

Instead of a half dozen interations of buying expensive AN fittings mail-order to make the latest idea work…and the first couple plumbing ideas never work…I was instead able to head to a local hydraulic repair shop, peruse their bins of JIC fittings and get what I wanted immed. So not only did I save a lot of $$, but it was very efficient.

The merits of AN apply equally to JIC, except that JIC is even more rugged because it’s steel or brass.

#55

I did order a moroso accumulator today. I still haven’t figured out wtf the fitting on the lines I have are. At first I thought they were nps(national pipe straight) but they could also be orfs(o-ring face seal). I downloaded the army manual on it today and have found that the various non flare fittings are simply called MS fittings. Searching for MS to NPT adapters hasn’t given me any good results so far.