Questions following ground up restoration of '63 BJ7

[me61ic]

Well I have continued with the restoration of my '64 BJ7 after a few months of stand by and I have a couple of questions regarding a few parts and how to proceed with things. Album here: https://plus.google.com/photos/107593268794414994597/albums/5970201179591993665

The engine + gearbox (w overdrive) is finally out of the car, we could not find a way to securely remove the side rollpins that hold the gear lever in place after removing the circlip that is supposed to only hold it, so after reading a couple of posts here about problems with fitment and gear problems when reinstalling the rollpins, and taking into account the gearbox+overdrive was completely repaired & rebuilt prior to buying this car ($4000 bill given with the car) we decided to completely remove the upper inspection cover and refit a new gasket when reinstalling. We could also inspect the internals of the gearbox and they do really look like new without any marks in any of the gears or shyncros. It was also much easier to clear the firewall with that cover off.

Once the engine was out we had decided to take the cylinder head to have the valve seats & guides remachined for the use of unleaded fuel, and while opening the engine, we also checked the cylinder walls and found a 0,1mm step on the upper part, and a small movement on the pistons, specially on cylinders 1 & 6, the external ones and less noticeable on 3 & 4. Anyway, we have decided to get the PISTON ASSY. +.020' as the +.010' doesn't seem to be available in the UK (ahspares). One of the questions I wanted to ask is, I have noticed there are two different sets though that supplier, and there is a big difference in price:

ENG609

PISTON ASSY.(X6)+.020'

BT7-BJ8

$310.89

ENG609A

PISTON ASSY.(set of 6)+.020'

BT7-BJ8

$677.49

Have any bought the cheaper set? I don't intend to use the car in any kind of competition, so if the cheaper set is like the OEM ones, I'd stick to that.

We have also noticed that the head of the cam followers are somehow "smashed", my friend helping me opening the engine, an occasional week-end mechanic thinks that it is not important as they probably do the same work being mirror finished or the way they look now, but told me to ask here just in case. Here are a few pics of them, what do you guys think?:

 

[MCS]

I am glad that you posted the cam follower question and picture. Your weekend friend is a little off on his comments. Do not reuse the followers or cam, it will cause you nothing but grief. The rough surface will create continued wear to the point that it will be impossible to set valve clearance. With followers that bad I cant imagine the cam being much better. Send out your cam and have it checked/ reground if needed, I had mine reground for 150.00, and then had the followers rebuilt for less then 80.00 shipped to my house.

 

[Healey Nut]

Those cam followers are junk , just buy a new set .

 

[Keoke]

Those cam followers are junk , just buy a new set .--Yep I sure agree with that-:congratulatory:

 

[DerekJ]

The more expensive ones are listed as 'Hepolite' which was a famous UK company from Bradford and a huge producer of quality pistons, rings and other engine stuff. It's now part of a larger group. I believe these pistons will still be cast, not forged. AH Spares sells forged pistons from their competition parts range which are even more expensive. For normal use the cheaper pistons should be fine. I don't think the original pistons were Hepolite.

 

[HealeyRick]

I am glad that you posted the cam follower question and picture. Your weekend friend is a little off on his comments. Do not reuse the followers or cam, it will cause you nothing but grief. The rough surface will create continued wear to the point that it will be impossible to set valve clearance. With followers that bad I cant imagine the cam being much better. Send out your cam and have it checked/ reground if needed, I had mine reground for 150.00, and then had the followers rebuilt for less then 80.00 shipped to my house.

Don't ignore this advice. Replace the followers AND the cam. They are a matched set. A new set of followers installed on the old cam will soon look like the followers in your picture.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Well I have continued with the restoration of my '64 BJ7 after a few months of stand by and I have a couple of questions regarding a few parts and how to proceed with things. Album here: https://plus.google.com/photos/107593268794414994597/albums/5970201179591993665

The engine + gearbox (w overdrive) is finally out of the car, we could not find a way to securely remove the side rollpins that hold the gear lever in place after removing the circlip that is supposed to only hold it, so after reading a couple of posts here about problems with fitment and gear problems when reinstalling the rollpins, and taking into account the gearbox+overdrive was completely repaired & rebuilt prior to buying this car ($4000 bill given with the car) we decided to completely remove the upper inspection cover and refit a new gasket when reinstalling. We could also inspect the internals of the gearbox and they do really look like new without any marks in any of the gears or shyncros. It was also much easier to clear the firewall with that cover off.

Once the engine was out we had decided to take the cylinder head to have the valve seats & guides remachined for the use of unleaded fuel, and while opening the engine, we also checked the cylinder walls and found a 0,1mm step on the upper part, and a small movement on the pistons, specially on cylinders 1 & 6, the external ones and less noticeable on 3 & 4. Anyway, we have decided to get the PISTON ASSY. +.020' as the +.010' doesn't seem to be available in the UK (ahspares). One of the questions I wanted to ask is, I have noticed there are two different sets though that supplier, and there is a big difference in price:

ENG609

PISTON ASSY.(X6)+.020'

BT7-BJ8

$310.89

ENG609A

PISTON ASSY.(set of 6)+.020'

BT7-BJ8

$677.49

Have any bought the cheaper set? I don't intend to use the car in any kind of competition, so if the cheaper set is like the OEM ones, I'd stick to that.

We have also noticed that the head of the cam followers are somehow "smashed", my friend helping me opening the engine, an occasional week-end mechanic thinks that it is not important as they probably do the same work being mirror finished or the way they look now, but told me to ask here just in case. Here are a few pics of them, what do you guys think?:

I've always been able to have the lifters resurfaced with no problems. I only had 6 lifters that looked similar to yours and the rebuild of my engine was in the late '70's. I used Elgin Cams for both cam regrinding and lifter resurfacing for my current rebuild and I paid about $96.00 for the lifter service which included parkerize & polish & hardness testing. Dema also checks the new lifters for MOSS motors before they sell them to their customers. We can be sure that the company Moss uses(foreign) makes a good lifter and are tested before you buy them.

I had Elgin regrind my BJ8 camshaft with proper lube taper, nitride and no problem. This is the second regrind for this cam! I paid $484.00 for both cam & lifter work including shipping. It's a piece of mind that I'm using a high quality service shop for my work. Dimitri, "Dema", usually has cams for Healey's in stock for faster turnaround. He also provided me a sheet explaining oils and zddp with a recommendation.

Break-in is critical for cams and I used Joe Gibbs break-in oil plus I prime the engine with an pressure oiler to do it before start-up. I posted this pre-oiler in an earlier post on the BCF. I also shopped around for the work and had one bid to do the camshaft for $150.00 but that low price scared me off.

 

[me61ic]

By the way I also wanted to ask, how do you mount the gudgeons pins that hold the pistons to the connecting rods? I have seen they have circlips on both ends, but the Reground Shop also thinks they are heated pressed in, and they will be charging to remove old and install new. Are they heated pressed in or not? I don't really see the point for the circlips if that is the case...

Also, I was wondering, can anyone decipher the marks/reference numbers on the pistons/conrods?

Here's what I found in my car:
PISTON 1
ConRod Ref: MOGOW AEC7908 94 (both parts marked as 1 (piston number) and with a +17(don't have a clue what it means although the mark does not look factory made)
Piston Ref: MOGOW AEC900 AM413 M42 HEPLEX also has marks on top of piston 3 inside a rhombus (the same mark can be found on top of the engine block close to that cylinder opening) and ID7

PISTON 2
ConRod Ref: MOGOW AEC7908 94 (both parts marked as 2 (piston number) and with a +17(don't have a clue what it means although the mark does not look factory made)
Piston Ref: MOGOW AEC900 AM413 M42 HEPLEX also has marks on top of piston 3 inside a rhombus (the same mark can be found on top of the engine block close to that cylinder opening)and ID7

PISTON 3
ConRod Ref: MOGOW AEC7908 94 (both parts marked as 3 (piston number) and with a +17(don't have a clue what it means although the mark does not look factory made)
Piston Ref: MOGOW AEC900 AM413 M42 HEPLEX also has marks on top of piston 3 inside a rhombus (the same mark can be found on top of the engine block close to that cylinder opening)and ID14 (instead of ID7 as the first 2)

PISTON 4
ConRod Ref: MOGOW AEC7908 94 (both parts marked as 4 (piston number) and with a +17(don't have a clue what it means although the mark does not look factory made)
Piston Ref: MOGOW AEC900 AM413 M42 HEPLEX also has marks on top of piston 3 inside a rhombus (the same mark can be found on top of the engine block close to that cylinder opening)and ID14 (instead of ID7 as the first 2)

PISTON 5
ConRod Ref: MOGOW AEC7908 94 (both parts marked as 5 (piston number) and with a +17(don't have a clue what it means although the mark does not look factory made)
Piston Ref: MOGOW AEC900 AM413 M42 HEPLEX also has marks on top of piston 3 inside a rhombus (the same mark can be found on top of the engine block close to that cylinder opening)and ID14 (instead of ID7 as the first 2)

PISTON 6
ConRod Ref: MOGOW AEC7908 94 (both parts marked as 6 (piston number) and with a +17(don't have a clue what it means although the mark does not look factory made)
Piston Ref: MOGOW AEC900 AM413 M42 HEPLEX also has marks on top of piston 3 inside a rhombus (the same mark can be found on top of the engine block close to that cylinder opening)and ID14 (instead of ID7 as the first 2)

I have seen in the Mechanical Service Parts List Book when talking about the piston assemblies makes reference to a grade 3 or grade 6 which I believe can be the 3 inside a rhombus marked on top of the pistons and on top of the engine block close to the cylinder openings but the reference inside the walls of the pistons (AEC900) do not appear on that Mechanical Service Parts List. Any ideas?
I can share pictures if needed.

Thanks in advance.