Building a hot vintage engine with Jonny69
- Thread starter Jonny69
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For goodnes sake PLEASE WEAR SAFETY GLASSES you only get one pair of eyes look after them[huzeeee] said:Eyes are like anything, if you abuse them enough they toughen up
I wear safety specs in the workshop at ALL times
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Last night I got in the ports with the cut down valve guide and boy does it make a difference. With the stock pointy ones the port is really blocked up but with the cut down jobbies you can stick your finger in the port and out the valve hole!
Meanwhile continuing my kitchen theme I took some pictures of the goodies that turned up before the weekend. Here on the microwave we have the valve springs:
The one on the left is the uprated one, it's about 3/4" longer than the original and a lot stiffer. This is good because it'll put a lot more preload on the valve when it's shut and prevent any blowby with the increased flow and compression. This was a problem even in standard form because I could turn some of the valves on their seats with the end of my thumb. This said to me they weren't very tightly closed.
They came in the most awesome dog eared box pictured here on the chopping board next to the courgette:
Finally, and apparently hovering over the dishwasher is one of the adjustable tappets next to an original solid one. They were expensive but when you see the amount of work in them you do have to wonder how they did them at that price:
They will adjust right out so can accomodate the extra lift on the cam and will make doing the clearances much easier than grinding the valve stems or seats.
These will be the last lot of pictures until I get back off holiday unfortunately but the aim is to get it back in and running ready for the Nats. Will probably use the standard intake and exhaust manifolds at first then upgrade to the Aquaplane bits when I have time to fettle the linkages and rebuild the carbs. Clock is ticking...
Meanwhile continuing my kitchen theme I took some pictures of the goodies that turned up before the weekend. Here on the microwave we have the valve springs:
The one on the left is the uprated one, it's about 3/4" longer than the original and a lot stiffer. This is good because it'll put a lot more preload on the valve when it's shut and prevent any blowby with the increased flow and compression. This was a problem even in standard form because I could turn some of the valves on their seats with the end of my thumb. This said to me they weren't very tightly closed.
They came in the most awesome dog eared box pictured here on the chopping board next to the courgette:
Finally, and apparently hovering over the dishwasher is one of the adjustable tappets next to an original solid one. They were expensive but when you see the amount of work in them you do have to wonder how they did them at that price:
They will adjust right out so can accomodate the extra lift on the cam and will make doing the clearances much easier than grinding the valve stems or seats.
These will be the last lot of pictures until I get back off holiday unfortunately but the aim is to get it back in and running ready for the Nats. Will probably use the standard intake and exhaust manifolds at first then upgrade to the Aquaplane bits when I have time to fettle the linkages and rebuild the carbs. Clock is ticking...
Good stuff. I'd have definately ground the welds down as well. Lumpyness in the combustion chamber traps small pockets of mixture.
Does the original follower have the flat circled in the above pic? If not make absolutely sure the cam lobe can not ride over the edge of this flat or it will wipe out your new cam very quickly.
I don't quite understand why it's there as there appears to be flats on the top end to get a spanner on to?
Does the original follower have the flat circled in the above pic? If not make absolutely sure the cam lobe can not ride over the edge of this flat or it will wipe out your new cam very quickly.
I don't quite understand why it's there as there appears to be flats on the top end to get a spanner on to?
New spring looks like it is up to the job a lot better!
How long do you think it will take you to finish the work after you get back?
Plus how much of an improvement does the Aquaplane manifolds have? I am guessing the stock stuff are not very good at all.
How long do you think it will take you to finish the work after you get back?
Plus how much of an improvement does the Aquaplane manifolds have? I am guessing the stock stuff are not very good at all.
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Hopefully I'll get it back in the car within a week of getting back. Just got to lap the valves in, turn down another pair of valve guides and re-assemble.
The guides say that the Aquaplane gear is good for +10% per manifold so minimum I'll gain is 6hp. Ultimately it'll be more because of the other work I've done and there isn't much worse than the standard intake and exhaust design
The guides say that the Aquaplane gear is good for +10% per manifold so minimum I'll gain is 6hp. Ultimately it'll be more because of the other work I've done and there isn't much worse than the standard intake and exhaust design
Soldato
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hmm looks good. must admit i'm thinking about getting an anglia or something like that..
oh btw jonny, good work on the stealing. I have recently stolen several things upon leaving a bad job..
shouldnt need to buy another calculator for 20 years.. lol
oh btw jonny, good work on the stealing. I have recently stolen several things upon leaving a bad job..
shouldnt need to buy another calculator for 20 years.. lol
- Joined
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Valve grinding was tonights job. It's been a while since I last did this and I remember it was one of those jobs to put off because of the blisters and bruised hands that follow. Anyway enough of my complaining and on with the build...
My local spares shop had this old timey tub of valve grinding paste sitting on their shelf for what looked like about 50 years. I bought it over a decade ago and it sits on my shelf becoming history awaiting my next engine build. You use so little of it I doubt I will ever get through it!
You get coarse paste at one end and fine at the other. To apply it you need a stick with a sucker on the end which you can get for about 50p from any good spares shop or alternatively Halfords does one which comes with two little tubs of grinding paste for £2.99:
The paste is like grease with grit in it:
And you apply it with a mucky finger:
My local spares shop had this old timey tub of valve grinding paste sitting on their shelf for what looked like about 50 years. I bought it over a decade ago and it sits on my shelf becoming history awaiting my next engine build. You use so little of it I doubt I will ever get through it!
You get coarse paste at one end and fine at the other. To apply it you need a stick with a sucker on the end which you can get for about 50p from any good spares shop or alternatively Halfords does one which comes with two little tubs of grinding paste for £2.99:
The paste is like grease with grit in it:
And you apply it with a mucky finger:
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You do this with the springs off so the valves are free to move. Apply some coarse paste to the valve seat and stick the sucker to the top of the valve:
Then twizzle the stick back and forth between your palms, lift the valve out, turn it round a bit, repeat and so on until you've taken the valve and seat back to clean metal and there is no pitting:
Then repeat with the fine paste which takes the surface down to a smooth finish and clean it all off thoroughly:
Mine were particularly bad so this took me about 2 hours all in, plus the valve guides drop out so I had to put all the valve springs in to hold them in. I did a simple test to see if it had worked. I pressed down on the valve lightly with my thumb, puckered up and blew into the port as hard as I could. No leaks!
Today my hands are bruised to hell but surprisingly no blisters
Then twizzle the stick back and forth between your palms, lift the valve out, turn it round a bit, repeat and so on until you've taken the valve and seat back to clean metal and there is no pitting:
Then repeat with the fine paste which takes the surface down to a smooth finish and clean it all off thoroughly:
Mine were particularly bad so this took me about 2 hours all in, plus the valve guides drop out so I had to put all the valve springs in to hold them in. I did a simple test to see if it had worked. I pressed down on the valve lightly with my thumb, puckered up and blew into the port as hard as I could. No leaks!
Today my hands are bruised to hell but surprisingly no blisters
Normally I just grind until there is a solid band of polished metal around the valve and the seat. I did it to my mini head, but then one of the followers got broken so they all got recut anyhow 
Good job though, i cant wait to hear this thing run
Good job though, i cant wait to hear this thing run
Blimey, seeing that tin of Chemico brought back memories of helping the old man grind the valves on his 120E. 
Must have been about the time Neil Armstrong was walking on the moon!
Alan "but I can't possibly be that old, can I? " Woodford
Must have been about the time Neil Armstrong was walking on the moon!
Alan "but I can't possibly be that old, can I?
" Woodford