Morris Minor Owners Club

i have just picked up a spare sidevalve engine in bits.
I am wondering what sort of work i could do on it as i put it back together

does anyone have any experience with basic porting, camshaft regrinds, head/block skimming, flywheel skimming etc.
are full gasket kits available - or am i better off making my own?
are there any problem areas which i should address (i think i heard mention of chocolate conrod bolts? ) while its in bits

Cheers

PM mike.perry certain he'll be able to help.

Here we go then!
Which engine do you have, with or without water pump fitting?
Full gasket sets are available as a decoke or head gasket set plus a sump gasket set. However look out for cheapo head gaskets which are not beaded around the outside edges and water passages, they are also a poor fit on the studs. Odd gaskets such as thermostat gaskets can be made.
There are enough con rods with big end bolts to last for generations, I know, we bought hundreds of the things ex army. The problem with big end bolts is that people over torque them using A series figures instead of s/v engine 27lbs/ft. The same applies to main bearing bolts which are only torqued up to 42lbs/ft
The engine will benefit from the usual tuning tricks, porting, polishing, camshaft etc. Just find an engine tuning firm that knows what it is doing.
Care should be taken not to over skim the head or you can get too near to the water passages and crack the head.
There is a long thread on this website on Cylinder Heads (8th Jan). Read through it, there is a lot of useful information.

I was looking at doing some basic porting myself - nothing too major - removing any casting marks and the like

How far can the head be skimmed safely?

I cannot say how far the head can be skimmed partly because you never know whether the head has been previously skimmed. What I do know is that I have a couple of heads with stress fractures above the pistons which poured water through presumably because they had been over skimmed. I would get expert advice before doing more than a gentle skim to true the surface of the head.
If anyone can offer further advice it would be welcomed.

well, just picked up my engine and box
very happy - turns over nicely, good compression and the internals are fairly clean
now to get stripping, cleaning, and painting

If the engine is in good condition then I would fit it straight in the car and rebuild the worn out engine. If the engine in the car is due for a rebuild I would concentrate on that one.

engine in car is fine - great wee daily driver