201 engine assembly

Installed an oil filter (made sure it is the stuffed kind, not pleated paper) and built a custom lifting bracket. Also installed a 1 ton chain hoist in the ceiling of the basement.





Borrowed the preluber from work. You put oil in the tank, pressurize it with compressed air, hook it into the oil galley, and fill the oil system to eliminate dry startups.




Plumbed in where the oil pump delivery line from the oil pump goes.





Took awhile to fill the system, but eventually I had oil coming out all the mains, the rods, and all the rockers. Its neat how oil runs down the rockers to lubricate the push rod sockets and valve stems.








Not sure if the preluber is higher pressure and lower flow versus the oil pump, but the relief valve opened right away, so I plugged the ports with my fingers, and then the gauge would register. We'll see how it acts when I fire it up......someday.










Edited by littlemarv - 02 Sep 2017 at 9:10pm

littlemarv,I'm not certain here,but I believe it has been said not to use seals on valves on these engines because the guides will wear quickly.Need to check with MACK or Drallis or any other know quanity....

Edited by SteveM C/IL - 03 Apr 2016 at 8:43pm

Marv,
 Just awesome documentation on a WC engine build. Maybe even I could do one someday too. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Glad to see the kids helping too.
Regards,
 Chris

Check video below. This is the proper way to safety wire. You don't need the expensive spinner pliers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XktwpWPFvHs

Making great progress again. Looks like you had a good Easter weekend. It's good to see everything coming together nicely.

Marv,
I am enjoying your photo documentary. It is very interesting to me. I did not grow up with a Dad who could do this, or near a shop that did it. I find it very fascinating and way above my head. I wish I could of learned this skill. Thanks for sharing.
Mike

Nice job so far Marv!!  Good documentation and the pics are great!  Not out of focus or anything.  GREAT job!
I've got a good idea how you're going to get it out of the basement....... I did it with a piano once....

Well, after doing a little research and talking to several people on the connecting rod bolt torque, here is what I have come up with. This is a theory, NOT fact.

The castle nuts got torqued to 70 foot pounds. They were cranked down so tight because the rods were shimmed with soft brass shims, and if the shims ever fretted out and your rod caps start clunking around, all hell was gonna break loose pretty quick.

With the introduction of sized rods and precision insert bearings, the self locking nuts could be torqued to 40 ft. lbs. only. Really, there isn't any stress per say on a rod bolt, other than actually pulling the piston down on the intake stroke.

I think 70 ft. lbs. is a lot, even for a new 7/16" fine thread fastener. I'm not going to put that on bolts that are this old.

So, here's what I did. Pulled the cotter pins out, loosened the rod bolts, torqued them to 50 foot pounds, and turned them whichever way was closest to get a new cotter pin in.

Installed the timing cover seal, I always pack the backside of the seal with something if it has a garter spring in it. On axles you can use regular grease, on engines I use Lubriplate.



I was going to make a sleeve to locate the front cover like Don said in his video, but since I can flip the engine up, I just installed the seal in the cover, and slid the cover into place, it should be about as centered as you can get...




I happen to have two covers. Took the cam plugs out of both. One is stuck tight, the other one moves but has no spring tension behind it. Took them both apart, and took the best pieces to make one good one.







Tightened the plug down, back it off 3/4 of a turn, and lock down the jam nut.

Cleaned up the head studs and put them in. Waiting for the machine shop to give the head a once over. I took the valves out, they look pretty good, and the stems measure good.






With every part I bolt on, I grin a little. Two reasons:

1. I'm getting closer to driving a tractor that I built.
2. Gives me more room on my bench for more junk! (Carb and mag both need a good going through)

Concerned about how I'm going to get the engine out of the basement, eh? Oh, don't worry, that little spectacle won't go undocumented, trust me.


Edited by littlemarv - 02 Sep 2017 at 8:59pm

You are doing it right but one thing is bugging me.  How the heck do you get it out of the basement?

littlemarv wrote: No, with having it line bored and the rods sized to eliminate shims, theres nothing I can do about it anyways....

think i would check with plastigauge just to make sure the machine shop did there stuff right.ya just never know when some body can have a bad day not getting things right.hopefuly not on your project.

No, with having it line bored and the rods sized to eliminate shims, theres nothing I can do about it anyways....

Well, I guess I will have to do a little research, cause rod bolts are something you need to be sure about. 70 sure sounds like a lot for those little bolts..

Going from memory reading the service manual a few days ago. I think the castle nut rod bolt are supposed to be torqued to 70ft/lb and the newer self locking nuts are 40ft/lb

Looking great, just a couple points- you should not put any oil or petroleum based lubricants on those o-rings, it will cause the rubber to swell and actually distort the liners believe it or not. Clean the bore and sleeve to an inch of it's life and use a little dish soap only, it is plenty slippery and when it dries up it actually causes them to stick to the sides of the bore sealing them better. I'm a bit concerned about the safety wire on the left, doesn't look like it's tied together?? The proper way is to do a figure 8 between the bolt heads so if one bolt loosens, the other bolt turns the opposite way and tightens. Not trying to be critical, just don't want anything to ruin that beautiful rebuild  

Junior taking care of a little body work,



"Connecting rods with Courtney"





And the old man on pistons.



Found a universal ring compressor that should work. These are Conformatic aluminum pistons, no long bosses, and no arrows. Well, they have arrows now, so the pistons all go in the same way.


Got the pistons on the rods per the manual. Kind of neat how you do it, depending on which number cylinder it is, you push the pin to one side of the piston, then push the rod the same way. Torque the pinch bolt to 35 ft. lbs., then slide it away about 1/8". Then the pin is pretty much centered when the rod is offset.










These were the first wrist pins I have ever installed that didn't have snap rings, so I was a little worried about keeping the wrist pins away from the cylinder walls. Cause if you make a mistake there, you are starting all over. But, looks like it should work.





Here's where I really could use an engine stand. Put it up on blocks a little higher, made a disposable drain pan out of tinfoil, and stuck some towels under there to catch all the drips.






My teacher in overhaul class at tech school taught me to soak pistons completely in oil prior to installation. You can't get much more complete lubrication than that. It is a bit messy, but its the only way I've ever done it.








Just snugged the rod bolts with a ratchet for now. I'm going to let it drip overnight, then I will flip it up so I can torque the rod bolts.





After I got them all in, just for kicks, checked the rolling torque. I don't think there is a spec, but we can file this away in the "useless info" category. Averaged 250 inch pounds, more or less.






Ironic- the torque wrench probably cost more new than the tractor....





Edited by littlemarv - 02 Sep 2017 at 8:51pm