Putting the engine back in

[coulson1986]

Hello all,

First off Merry Christmas to you all, I am currently restoring my lovley Moggie I have put a rebuilt gearbox back in and have now rebuilt the engine and turns by hand and looks lovley thanks to my girlfriend painting it with BMC green engine paint! I am going to put the engine back in this weekend can anyone please let me know of any precautions and maybe any advice before putting it back in? I just want to make doubly sure before i go ahead with it. The car is up on ramps at the moment would it be best i take it off the ramps?

Thanks
Marc

[bmcecosse]

Yes -off the ramps. Make sure the clutch is correctly centred on the flywheel - and did you fit a new spigot bush in the rear of the crankshaft. Lift the engine into the opening and support it (and the gearbox) at the correct height on wood blocks, then gently ease the engine back on to the gearbox spigot shaft - perhaps turning the engine (leave the plugs out) to allow the shaft splines to engage with the clutch plate. Then - bolt it all up! And fit the front engine mount towers and rubber mounts.
What work was done to the engine ?

[coulson1986]

Hello, thanks for the reply, the work i did on the engine was fit a recon crankshaft, all new bearings and piston rings, new timing gear, new valve seals, thermostat and oil pump plus new teath on the flywheel. I spent alot of time on this i also replaced all the gaskets with brand new new ones and refitting all bolts ect to the correct tourque.

[bmcecosse]

That's great - just wanted to check you had a new oil pump!!

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

PRIME THE OIL PUMP! Unlike I did the first time, fortunately that engine was already worn out.

[philthehill]

I agree with JowetJavelin. Most important to prime the oil pump. Unless you have used engine assembly lube when rebuilding it is best to leave the plugs out when doing the first turnover. This gets the oil to the crank journals etc before any compression factors come into play. Once the oil pressure light goes out fit spark plugs and start up. If you have a canister oil filter - filling that with oil and then screwing it on before starting also helps as it reduces the time for the oil pressure to come up.

[coulson1986]

Thanks for all your help, somebody told me it would be a good idea to turn the engine on the starter without the fuel hose attached to help build the oil pressure does this like a good idea?

[philthehill]

No
If the spark plugs are not fitted there will be no induction suction to pull fuel out of the carb.

[beero]

Make sure you have fitted an earth lead. It is normally on the gearbox but I found an extra one one on the engine helped the engine start that little bit easier. Oh and Happy Christmas to you too!

[bmcecosse]

You absolutely MUST churn the engine without plugs until the pressure rises - then keep going for another 10 to 15 seconds.....