Morris Minor Owners Club

In order -I suggest looking for the much better pressed steel rockers and align them correctly. You can see where these are running off- centre. Obviously not good. I do have a tub of sintered rockers you can have for the post cost if you want to use them - not sure they are much better than these ones - i'll look tomorrow. You can 'stone' these smooth again - but how long they will last is doubtful. new shaft required probably. Pull a rocker to the side to see the shaft wear. The sump is just cosmetic - as long as not leaking or distorted at the ends or flanges. I would fit a cover WITH breather - but it's an argument that goes round and round. Bench looks good - but I doubt it will last.......

As regards:-
The rockers - they are all interchangeable - so yes they would fit - use a new shaft.
Aligning the rockers spot on is not an easy job but can be improved on by using spacers and packing washers.
See thread:
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... +alignment

The sump - why spoil the ship for a halfpennys worth of tar. I would look for a good s/h sump.

The rocker cover - there is nothing wrong with the rocker cover you have - I would use it with a new cap. Make sure that the canister oil separator is clean and not blocked.

The bench - I use a 30mm thick kitchen work top - easy to wipe clean.

Phil

Thanks chaps! All advice much appreciated.

Rockers-wise, I think I will go for the mini spares Cooper forged arms and a new shaft, with the springs, washers and rocker pillars off of the 1275 rockers, so the oil feed lines up. That way the rockers will be as reconditioned as the rest of the engine. Will those cooper arms need delicately aligning or are they as tolerant as the sintered? I will do my best to align them with washers etc, but I don't really fancy filing down the pillars! I also lack facilities for reaming any bushes.

Unless these are thought to be any good? The ESM recon ones, are they the sintered type? They're pretty cheap.

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... 675504faaf

If you find any decent ones BMC, please let me know!

Looking for sumps on Fleabay is not particularly rewarding, not sure I fancy opening a parcel that oily! I can always pinch the one off of my current running engine but I'd like to have it all built and painted before I take that one out. I'll have a think.

Rocker breather....Who knows?! I have a cover with breather again on the current engine, so I can swap between the two. Again, I think I'll run no rocker breather, tappet cover breather to vac and vented oil cap and see how that goes, as that's what the engine currently has. I will report back switching between the options as an exercise into which is best.

The bench..It probably won't last five minutes, I use my Dad's garage as I live in a flat, he will have sawn up a tree stump on it or something and ruined it. Should be good for one engine build though!

Water pump, will the mini spares 'Super' pump fit? It has a 3 year warranty and seems properly made for the same price as any MM ones. I am expecting to file the top, but it says the impellor may be too long..
http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... 0to%20shop

Many thanks for all your advice again gentlemen.

Edd

Yes, those are sintered rockers, as fitted to many late '80s/early '90s A-series engines.

Your existing ones don't look too bad; I would be inclined to use them, but perhaps file any obvious ridges and ensure they are centred over the valves to prevent excess friction and wear.

It is virtually impossible to centre the sintered rockers over the stem of the valve.
The later rocker shaft pillars are flat sided and so are the sintered rockers which makes it virtually impossible to take metal from the rocker shaft pillar or rocker to align.
Really the only way to centre correctly is to fit early steel rocker pillars and use either the forged or pressed steel rockers.
You can go partly towards alignment by using machined (recessed) late rocker shaft pillars with forged or pressed steel rocker.
The picture is of me recessing the early steel pillar to allow the pressed steel rocker to move sideways so as to be central over the valve stem.
Phil[frame][/frame]

As above - you won't get forged rockers to centre using the 'sintered' pillars. And in any case - 'forged' are OTT for your use. Just pick up a set of the pressed steel rockers complete (sorry - my last lot went 10 days ago - and I seem to have binned the spare /good sintered rockers I had) - a new shaft will see a decent set of pressed steel rockers 'good as new' and definitely better than the offset worn sintered ones. Can you swap them onto your current engine - and then use that set on the 'new' engine ?

The engine being rebuilt came with a set of standard 1098 rockers, I assume these are the pressed ones? Getting a bit confused. I will inspect those and see whether a new shaft and some aligning will do the trick. If not I'll just buy the recon sintered from ESM. I vaguely remember that the front two pillars require swapping due to the 12G940 oilway?

I was only looking at the forged ones as they come with bushes reamed and ready to fit. I'll post pictures of what I have, won't be in the garage till Tuesday.

Many thanks

I centralised the sintered rockers using a combination of extra washers, filing the rockers and moving the end springs, it's been fine since I did it.

Before modification[frame][/frame]

and after[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

The only problem I encountered was the locknut on one of the filed rockers was close to the pillar so was a little awkward to tighten up when adjusting the valve clearance. Maybe not best engineering practice but without a machine shop to hand I used what was in my toolbox

Well done for managing to get those sintered rockers aligned - but it is the close proximity of the adjuster nuts on those reduced width rockers to the rocker shaft pillar that puts me off.
Phil

There's no 'swapping' of pillars - just use the pressed steel rockers, re-aligning them is not difficult - and satisfying to get it right! New shaft if necessary.

Do rocker pillar 1&2 not have to swap positions due to the oil feed being different on a 940 rather than a 202? Sure someone pulled me up on that previously...

Edd,
Here's the oil feed on the 940 head.
Regards
Declan
[frame][/frame]
Close-up encircled in red.
[frame][/frame]

And is that different to a 202? I can't check until tomorrow.

Thanks

The No: 1 & No: 2 pillars have changed places because the later rocker shafts were secured by the locking screw in No: 2 Pillar and not No: 1 as original.
The change over in position for the locking screw was because there was a tendency for the rocker shaft to fracture between No:1 pillar and No: 1 rocker.
With the hole for the locking screw and the hole for the oil way opposite there was not a lot of metal left to support the rocker shaft. Not so much of a problem with standard 803cc/948cc strength valve springs but a real problem with increased poundage valve springs.
Whilst there is no problem with exchanging No: 1 & No: 2 pillars the old No:2 pillar (now No: 1) must have an oil way through it or the rockers and shaft will be starved of oil and will not last long.
I have come across a problem were the oil way in the head is slightly shrouded by the rocker shaft pillar so make sure that there is a nice countersink in the bottom of the now No: 1 pillar to compensate for any misalignment of the holes.
The picture below is a rocker shaft pillar that I had to relieve (towards the dark patch) to maximise the transfer of oil from the 940 head to the rockers.
Phil[frame][/frame]

No need at all to swap between 202 rockers shaft/pillars and sintered. Only very early heads had the screw in the 'wrong' place. The oil hole has always been where it is now.

Edd
If you are still looking for a 1098cc sump here is what appears to be a sump in a better condition than the one you have.
The small dents appear capable of being knocked out without too much difficulty.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sump-for-an-A ... SwYmZXH4Oa

Phil

Thanks Phil,

That one is a lot cleaner than the one I bought on eBay last week!! Never mind, puts the paraffin to good use.

Cheers,

Edd

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Second that

Finally!

Engine came back from the machinists a couple of weeks ago, sadly corresponding with me being flat out at work so no time to put it back together. I am trying to get all the new parts ordered today so I can crack on this weekend and next week. Couple of questions..

The bores have a coating of oil/fine swarf mix (I think) which I believe is left on after honing to protect them from corrosion, what's the procedure to remove and clean properly? There may also be bits of larger swarf that have escaped after having the pockets made, I had those done after all the other work (my fault) so I don't want to scratch or damage anything.

Is it common to replace main cap/con-rod bolts? I need to do one that had rounded and was different to the others anyway. Do I re-fit these dry? It seems crazy to me to not even wipe the threads with engine oil but I am aware that affects torque.

Ordering new water and oil pumps, rocker shaft etc. Then I was planning to use engine assembly grease on all the bearing surfaces and to pack the oil pump?

Thanks, and photos to follow when hopefully done!

Edd

Obviously - get rid of ALL swarf - the pockets are a mistake but we've been there already I think. Bolts are reused if heads are ok. And yes -wipe of oil on the threads. No need for 'engine assembly grease' or anything like that - do you think BMC used that ???? Just lashings of oil - and if you don't plan to run the engine for a while - a bit of vaseline in the oil pump (and oil) to help it prime up when you do spin the engine up (without plugs) for the first time.