• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

2 questions for the experts

Share this page

Randy Harris

Randy Harris

Jedi Warrior
Offline
Greetings all...

Question #1
1966 BJ8. Leaking rear drum brake, appears to be gear oil.
I think a seal gave up the ghost. Can anyone tell me how big a fix this is. Can I do it or are there specialty tools involved?

Question #2
I've got a few weeping freeze plugs. I want my mechanic to remove the engine rather than try to replace the plugs in the car. There are 2 leaking plugs at the top near the manifold. My thinking is that if he's gonna remove the manifold and carbs he might as well remove the engine. That way he can do a proper and complete freeze plug job and I can finally give the engine compartment the detail job it deserves. We can also pull the head and give the engine a thorough going over quite easily. My issue is: he hasn't ever pulled a Healey motor, he's a Jag specialist. He's an extremely capable mechanic, but he doesn't know the car that well. So he cannot tell me how big of a job, in terms of hours, it is to do this. Can anyone tell me how long it should take a competent professional mechanic to remove a BJ8 engine and replace same. We'll leave the tranny in place as it was rebuilt recently. To my eye, this just doesn't seem to be that big a deal, assuming one has all of the right tools, which he does in spades. Anyone give me a time estimate? Advice is always welcome of course.
Thanks in advance
Randy '66 BJ8, '68 E-Type OTS
 
Rear seal is no big deal to replace; pull the whhel, brake drum, then remove the axle to access the hub nut (size escapes me, but a 15" Cresent will work...). You might need a slide hammer attached to a plate that fits over the drum studs to "yank" the hub off. A new seal, paper hub gasket and O-ring and you should be good to go. Brakes shoes should clean up okay with some decent brake parts cleaner. Might as well do the (brake) wheel cylinders while you're in there...

Edit: The engine comes out fairly easy; remove the radiator and if it was me, I'd leave the trans on the end of the engine (easier than aligning the engine to the trans when going back into the car). You can leave the intake/exhaust manifolds on the engine, just undo the flex pipes. You'll have to unbolt the RH enging mount from the block once the lifting process has begun (maybe the left too, it's been a while).
 
Hi Randy, Question #1; yes it requires a special tool: A 2 3/16" socket on a 3/4"drive to re
move the large Bearing nuts they are handed.Disassembly and reassembly is straight forward and should not present any real problems.

---Question #2, the car must be litterly taken apart to remove the engine; seats, tunnel, upholstery etc. setting the freeze plugs with the engine in the bay is easily accomplished with the proper tools.Similarly, the transmission if left in place will require some sort of support.

Time to accomplish this task will take about 10 man hours each way.---Fwiw---Keoke
 
Hey Randy, nice to see you posting those questions. Smart bunch of guys here.

I wish I could help him out. Randy has been over my place so many times, I should give him a house key. He's a good guy and has a realy nice car. Thanks for all your help Randy. If you need a hand with your car.... good luck. I'm busy with mine. Feel the love? Roger
 
Steady, you may not need to pull that rear hub, just check the paper seal behind the half shaft, could just be that, If memory serves me right, oil would come out over rear axle casing if the hub seal had gone.

The engine out should be similar to the Jag I would have thought, Radiator out for sure, probably starter motor for a bit of clearance, if you are taking the gearbox as well, don't forget to release the ground cable near the bell housing, remove hydraulics to clutch and wires to the overdrive and gear lever. The manual gives you the methodology for either way.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
Bob

Bob
 
I agree that pulling the engine is not all that difficult, BUT I agree with Keoke that by the time your done with it, the mechanic will spend about 10 hours out and 10 hours back in. Not difficult but 20 hours times $75 to $85 or more per hour adds up.
 
Ok. 20 plus hours at $85 per is a bit steep for me right now. After all, the Healey has a needy cousin in the garage. But I still need to replace the damned plugs. Roger (AUSMHLY) was able to find an excellent guy who replaced most of his (easily reached) plugs in-situ. Unfortunately, said mechanic cannot take my car on as he's already buried for the rest of the year. So, let's say I leave the motor in place. Let's say I remove the necessary interior parts, console and tunnel, and clean/flush the cooling system ahead of time. Knowing the carbs and manifold must be removed, how difficult and how many hours (estimate of course) can I expect to replace all the expansion plugs, including upper and rear, leaving the engine in place?
Maybe I gotta do it this way and hold off on the detailing.
Thanks
Randy
 
Well Randy , let me suggest a course of action for you.If you can dismantle and reassemble the car, you might get that mechanic to agree to install the plugs for you if thats all he has to do.Using this approach I think would reduce the task to about a 2-to- 3 man hour job.---Fwiw---Keoke
 
Keoke - now that is what I wanted to hear! Sure, together with my buddy Roger, we should be able to remove the interior bits, pull the manifold/carbs and disassemble the exhaust. Then all he has to do is concentrate on the plugs, in-situ. He'll have to readjust the carbs because they no doubt will need a good going over afterwards.
Thanks
Randy
 
Naw, just do not fiddle with the carbs and they will be ok when reinstalled.-Keoke- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH Roger gonna get me Keoke-- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif
 
Back
Top