I agree with your comments Elinor, the only thing I'd add is if the owner of a pet CAN afford relevant bills then good on them.....I would personally never spend anywhere near 6k on a pet.

 

I have no issue with pragmatic views. But, not to the exclusion of others. A guy that risked his life to save a wild rabbit in the SOCAL fires. A CHIP ordered him to get the h... outta here. Proper, no doubt.
Rabbit included? Not reported.


More than one fire fighter has saved a pet at a fire at some risk. Now, hey have means to allay breathing issues.


Here. Billy is still with us. Not out of the woods, by a lot. Young Vet and students took him for a walk. No, the other way around he took them. Dragged them. Kidney function improving. Enough ? Not yet clear. He is one tough old goat.


Wowee, they are adding to the "herd". A two year old Saanen buck.
One goat for each of their homes !!!


Choices: Some of us spend "far too much" on old cars??? Some of us spend far too much on animals as pets ???


No doubt about it, we are vulnerable in each and far from financial pragmatism.


I heard two interesting terms recently. Poodle Vet vs farm vet.


Carl

 

There's a Lot more money to be made by Poodle vets.



And what I almost posted Would offend people......
(';')

 

Now that I'm ready to start on this block for serious, husband has decided it's Just the time to refurbish lights in the shop! He's been talking about replacing the 8foot florescents with LEDs for some time.

He already replaced several ballasts, but they're going again and tubes dying one by one; the tubes are expensive and hard to dispose of (toxic waste charges) and Costco has a good deal at the moment on 4 foot LED shop lights (~$20ea., ~$8 off) and he simply couldn't resist so he bought 12.

However, while he's making sheetrock dust, steel shavings and generally making things Unsanitary there will be no engine work.

I'll sort of miss those 8' florescents though. He calculated they amounted to 600w total, and when cold, like now, they had the Cutest swirly pattern inside for about 10 minutes until they got their act together.

But after they got warmed up, that 600w actually warmed the shop a bit so that it wasn't at all uncomfortable after just a few hours. That won't happen with the LEDs. Their color rendition is less than grand too, but they're "cheap" and he was bored.

He figures he'll be done in a couple days. I'll give him Sunday to clean up, and after that, serious stuff will happen.
(';')

 

1. Billy is at home # 1. Was quite rambunctious. Kidney function hard to measure accurately, but seems at least good enough to get along. But, medication that tastes lousy, what other kind is there, three times a day. forever? Or just for a time? Titan, the Sanaan buck has settled down. Either the call of a female goat in the neighborhood has waned or he has established his territory!


2. LED shop[ lights. Interesting. My shop is "lighted" by a mess of differing lights, no LED's. My LED flashlight bit the dust. I have a few little solar LEDs in front. Some do well, some n mot so much. I have some spare fluorescent tubes. I should get atop my bench and replace the bum ones. but, something tells me "don't do it, you are an old goat".


Leaf blower time to dust out the shop????? I use one of mine for that. Beats the broom or even the shop vac.


Carl

 

Procrastinating Jaguar work. Cold.....


Carl

 

Husband has been doing his job Very well. I think I have everything I need for this project.

The latest box arrived today.


Inside was another box, Romaine Electric:


Inside that was the Cutest little starter I nearly ever saw!
3hp gear drive!




Not a whole lot bigger than what's on the Adequate Korean 4-banger.
However, guys on his Chevy forum say this is The 350 starter to use. It has permanent magnets which allow smaller physical size, lighter weight, more clearance for cooler running and better access.

One of the guys bought 2 so he had a spare when one died, but after a long while he sold the extra one (this is Not it!).

Oh. It also came with spacers and Nurly bolts.

What Fun!
(';')

 

LnrB

Yours is very similar to the one I use on my 383 SBC, have it on there for years now. Really works nice and is much easier to lift into place under the car..

Using modern parts on a conversion only helps your Jaguar become more "wonderful".

 

Dont recall it being mentioned yet, but are you fuel injecting or carburetoring?

 

Carbureting!

I don't Like FI engines, either to look at or to drive (I've driven several, even "new"). Open the hood/bonnet and you see a Boring expanse of grey plastic. Press the pedal, and it's taken under advisement before anything discernible happens.

All my carbureted engines give *Instant* response and acceleration that throws me back into the seat if I'm in a hurry.

Not only that, BAR already has this car listed as carbureted, and I fear tweaking some SMOG tech's nose if there are too many changes. I might be pushing the envelope now.
(';')

 

Those are neat "little" starters. My LT1 came to me with one. It did fine for years. Then, issues commenced. Killed it and others. In including a big heavy old tech Delco Remy. Too big fore me to hold in place with
one arm and start the bots with the other. All while down under on my back. Years earlier, yes.


That one is very similar to the new Malaysian unit in the car now. But, the bolts in mine are not staggered. Indeed, it did come with knurled bolts. spacers mentioned in the literature, but none provided. Not needed, in my car. Fitted and engaged correctly. The bolts stay in place during the install a huge help. l.


I feared the down pipe on the center dump Ram horn manifolds might be an issue. Not quite. Just enough room to wiggle in the starter and access the bolts.


So, I suggest hanging the starter before installing the engine/transmission.


Actually, getting the tin flywheel dust cover took more wiggling than the starter to get in place and bolted down. I have a cast alloy version. Considered swapping at one time. Now, not much of a chance.


My Jeep has a Misubishi built unit. Very similar. But it bolts in with horizontal bolts. I swapped in a rebuild. so far, just fine.


Merry Christmas to all.


Carl

 

For any lurkers who have possibly never done this I will be quite detailed.

Cam bearings have an oil hole (front one has 2 holes, more about that later) which should line up closely with the oil holes in the block. To make this easier, I marked the opposite side of the bearings. Marks line up with oil holes in crank web.



Slots in the cam web allow oil around the cam bearings to reach the crankshaft bearings. The perspective of this photo is misleading. Holes are straight through.


Some time ago, husband bought a Brand New cam bearing driver mostly because it was pretty. He didn't really *need* a set of cam bearing drivers, long before I came he had fabricated a set.





But as you can see they weren't clean and shiny, nor were they such pretty colors, all nicely anodized, gold, red, blue and black.

So, he wanted me to use this new tool. It is quite nice, has 2 stabilizers to keep the driver perfectly perpendicular to the block, ensuring bearings aren't cocked, scarred or otherwise damaged. What a good idea!

Starting with the farthest back one, of course (because by its very nature the driver won't go THROUGH the bearings), I put the bearing on the new driver, which seemed a little snug (but I thought nothing of it at the time), set the stabilizers as shown and started pounding with a 24oz. hammer.

Before I got the bearing fully inserted I thought I had better check my progress by pulling the driver out to see if the hole lined up with the slot. It wouldn't come!

Ohhh, I thought bad thoughts.

It took some time to drive the stuck driver back into the engine cavity, which, of course, ruined the bearing, requiring a new set; overnight from Summit.

The fancy new driver was just *slightly* oversize by maybe half a thousandth, so the bearing would go on easily enough,



but once driven into the bore, the crush factor didn't allow the driver to come out of the bearing.

However, the stabilizers were Such a good idea that husband modified them to work on his old grungy drift. He also shined it all up so it looked nicer.


Now I'm in business.

Starting again, always with the back bearing, this time it went so smooth. No fuss no muss. I checked carefully to see that the bearing hole matched up with the oil galley hole and worked my way forward.

Bearings should be centered in the bore; as in, equal amount of web showing on both sides. It's a lot easier to go not-quite-far-enough and add a couple gentle taps than to try to back them out. (I can tell you how I know that......)

Notice for example, how bearing #5, the rear one, is not Quite where it should be, because the oil hole is Not centered over the slot in the bore.

This could lead to catastrophic failure. There's a Very Good reason these holes are the size they are.

A few gentle taps and it's Just Right.

One tap more would be too much, resulting in the need to drive the bearing out completely, and reinsert it, Correctly.

The stabilizer thingys are especially wonderful. Whoever thought of that was a Genius! I had no trouble at all even with bearing #2.


The old refurbished driver worked *Just* *Fine!*

The last bearing to drive, the front one with 2 holes, is very important to install correctly they tell me.

Notice the red and green arrows point to holes in the bearing.

With the block **bottom up,** **cylinders down,** RED arrow hole at 6 o'clock position matching up with the hole in the block; Green arrow hole at 10 o'clock position; BLUE arrow merely marks 12 o'clock for reference as in all the other bearings.

Rather than beat on the bearing driver itself I got one of husband's press blocks as a drift.


All done.

This takes about 30 minutes total if you don't have the handicap of a bad driver and the need to order new bearings. It's taken way longer to write it up than it did to do the job!
(';')

 

I did this once and had a similiar issue. The 2 motors I did subsequently... I had the machine shop do it when they bored or honed the block, charged me 40$.

 

****These instructions apply ONLY to the SCAT9000 crankshaft. Be sure to follow the manufacturers instructions for any component.

The first thing I did was clean out the bolt holes because this block is just back from the machine shop and I didn't want any surprises.


All bearing shells were lubricated with this Assembly Lube.
It feels and acts a lot like STP.


The clearance of the bearings had to be tested with Plasti-guage, with the Lucas lube on the bearings.


I don't like the mains too loose nor too tight. .002 inch is recommended by SCAT, just how I like them. Tight enough to be quiet, loose enough to spin freely.

One must use care installing the rear 2-part seal or the sharp corners of the block shave off part of it and it won't seal correctly. It comes with a little tool (sorry I didn't get a picture of that but I was on a roll) which makes installation a breeze. The block half is rolled into place. Having been well lubricated, it follows the crank around like it was designed that way. It's not necessary to have it Perfectly aligned with the block. The cap half is easy peasy.

One always starts the tightening procedure with the center bolts on 4-bolt mains, or the inserts are deformed leading to possible premature bearing failure. All bolt threads were lubricated with engine oil as per manufacturer directions.

Mains caps are torqued, center bolts first, but all bolts to 35 pounds.

Torque is then increased to 50 pounds, and finally 70 pounds torque on the inner bolts, 65 pounds for the outer bolts and caps with only 2 bolts.

At this point the end play is checked. SCAT requires .002 inch to prevent failure of thrust surfaces on the rear main bearing.


Now the block is ready to accept piston/rod assemblies.


I haven't had this much fun in Years!
(';')

 

Magnificent work. I got a vicarious thrill from remembering my efforts to properly assemble a good engine.


NIX will enjoy that fresh engine.


I just looked out a back window to do my "day light" check on Billy. He is enjoying the first sun light and awaiting morning treats. A slab of Timothy hay and a couple of celery stalks. And, a bit of goat food with anti crystal med.


Down the throat of the awful med squirt now only twice week.


Carl

 

The pistons husband bought, KB Hyperutectic as mentioned earlier in this thread, require specific ring gap for specific applications; Street (little old lady runs to market), Towing (Queen Mary etc.), and full bore Racing. Because, if the rings don't have sufficient end gap, they expand too much and cause damage to the pistons; like break off the top land; little things like that.

I'll insert a short rant here:
I'm a Hostile Witness for this operation because I hated it. Had I been buying parts for this engine, I would Never have made it this complicated. Until now, I have never heard of street pistons requiring file-fit rings! 4-bolt mains were overkill enough, but this was getting quite ridiculous! I like to keep things *SIMPLE!*

OK. Now that I got that out of my system.......

To do this job correctly, he had to fabricate a ring grinder. That meant long hours of research to figure out how he could build one that didn't cost $1500 which would be used once. R&D took a month. Here is the result and cost him about $35:

A Harbor Freight air die grinder with 2 air valves, one for supply, one for speed (any slower the grinder wouldn't spin), chucked up with a diamond wheel ; a turn table, a couple stops to position the ring correctly (end absolutely perpendicular to the grinding wheel); a tang operating a dial indicator to show how much ring material is removed.

Rings made by Mahle. Filing is done with the TOP surface of the ring up, shown by the mark; M on the compression ring, a Dot on the second ring.





Grinding must be toward the center to prevent damage to the ring facing surface, in this case, Chrome-Moly.

It was a tedious job, requiring the need to remove the ring from the grinder, insert it in a cylinder, shove it one inch into the bore with an inverted piston to make sure it's flat, check end gap with feeler gauge, grind more if necessary. I soon learned how to sneak up on the clearance I wanted and not make it too much. Operation went much faster after that but it was still Tedious.

All 8 compression rings and all 8 second rings needed this treatment. Fortunately, the oil rails had sufficient end gap out of the box.

Next up: Rings and Pistons.
(';')

 

.

speaking of Poodles, my two varmints!

 

Ron : We had a string of them dating back to 75 !!! Dear departed was enamored of them. Demitasse, Bentley, and Duke. One other in there, but, alas, I forgot the little guy's name !!!


Elinor:


That is the slickest end gap ring grinder I've ever seen !! I used a stone! But, at one time I had a little hand cranked device. Mre troune than it was worth !!!


Carl

 

It's not hard to put rings on pistons, I think it's fun; especially if you have a good ring expander.


I could also do it on the kitchen table as I didn't need any other tools.



I always start with the oil ring, simply because it's 3 pieces and a bit of a pain. It also doesn't require a ring expander. Then the second ring (which does require the expander) and top ring.

While installing rings, I also put a line of this thread lube on the rod bolts as directed by Eagle, the manufacturer of the rods.



There are certain positions for each ring on a piston to prevent combustion gasses from escaping into the crankcase.



Husband got me the Neatest ring compressor! It's nothing short of Brilliant!



It's an aluminum cone, tapered to specific size cylinder. Piston/ring assembly (generously slathered with engine oil but NOT dipped!) sits on top; rings are Easy to start into the cone, and as it's the Exact size of the bore, the whole piston can be pushed in with no fuss!

Did I mention, This thing is Brilliant!! Far and away the Best ring compressor I ever used!

For turning the crank, husband got a socket that fits over the nose and has a slot for the woodruff key. It's 3/4 drive, so you can use a BIG breaker bar if you need to, and turn just about any engine that isn't completely seized.



Eagle rods with cap screws torqued to 40 pounds as manufacturer specifies.
***Your rods may require more or less torque. Be sure to follow your manufacturers directions.



Here it is, all done.

(';')

 

Nice work, Being a retired toolmaker I just used a fine file and compressed the rings for my 3.4 XK engine while making sure the file was aimed at the centre of the ring.
This is just going to be an occasional runner as I have two other Jags to play with as well.