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3000 Engine Checks

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mylesw

Jedi Hopeful
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Hello

My Healey project came with a rebuilt engine, and a stack of receipts showing the new parts i.e. bearings, pistons, camshaft etc. However the engine doesn't look rebuilt - the block wasn't repainted for example, although you can see where the core plugs have been replaced. I would like therefore to check the condition of the engine, which is currently out of the car, and am wondering what is the minimum I should do to make sure all is ok. I am thinking about taking the head off to check the condition of the valves, pistons and bores and taking off the timing cover to check that the timing is correct and TDC properly marked. I guess I could also strip the engine down completely, and get the block cleaned and painted in a machine shop although this sounds extreme for a rebuilt engine that I have heard running. Any advice on what I should do or should I just forget about it so long as there isn't a problem when the engine is running? Note I have checked the compression and get ~130 psi on all cylinders.

Any advice appreciated....

Thanks

Myles
 
It sounds like you have a reason to distrust the rebuild. If so, pulling the head would give you a sense of whether it was rebuilt or not - build-up of carbon on the piston crowns, condition of the valve seats, etc. I'd check the TDC marks and the chain just to be safe. Or you can pull the sump and using plasticgauge (sp?) check the main bearing clearances and/or the connecting rod clearances. This would be easier and cheaper as you'd only need to pay for a cheap sump gasket.
 
Go rent a borescope or buy one of the cheap ones at Harbor Freight. You can look down the spark plug holes and see how the cylinder bores and piston tops look without pulling the head. Take off the valve cover and see how the valve train and rockers look and check the valve gap cold. You can also check the torque setting for all the head bolts. If you are still nervous after that, I suppose you can drop the oil pan and inspect the bottom end. Maybe check the torque for all the bearing caps. You might even take off one or two rod bearing caps and inspect the rod bearings and rod journals on the crank. Also you could remove and inspect the oil pump.

Who built the engine? Can you get the name of the shop and just give them a call?
 
It sounds like your doubts are based solely on the fact that the block isn't painted. Although it seems obvious to do that if the engine is out, I didn't, and not everybody will. If you have receipts I guess you can find out who did the rebuild and give them a call. I'd just drive the thing, unless you are worried that you may have been cheated and want to check that the parts are really in the engine.
 
Just a word of caution. When I bought my car in 2012, it also came with a bundle of receipts for engine parts and body panels. Apparently the PO (an engineer) had done an engine rebuild and put in the new body panels (floors / cills etc). However not being happy with the quality of the body work, I had doubts about the engine. As such I decided to get it stripped and fully checked (On the basis that if I was doing a full rebuild, then I wanted to be fully confident once complete). In my case it was a good job that I did. The engine hadn't been properly flushed / cleaned internally. New pistons had been fitted, but the tops of the cylinder bores had quite a deep ridge line that you could feel with your fingers etc. etc .....

As indicated above, if an engineering shop has done the re-build then you can probably be more confident, certainly discuss with them what they did. But if not I would suggest that you check yourself
 
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