Hello folks,
Well I've been taking this job nice and steady, mostly due to the weather up here over the last few days.
I've had my head skimmed, (they only had to remove 0.008" thou'), I've got my new gasket set and new bolts. I also bought a valve spring compressor and stuff to give the valves a quick grind. all for a total outlay of just £90, probably nearer £100 after a bit of driving around, so far- so good.
Now the crux of this post.
I've had a good study of Dave's photos and also x-refered to both the Haynes manual and the Fiat workshop manual. I originally set my Crank timing mark at what i thought was TDC , (which looks like the apex of the oil pump web from all the pictures), the problem that i have though is that I have also borrowed a Dial Test Indicator from work and set it up on the main block whilst the head is removed. According to the DTI when my Piston crown is at the height of its travel up the cylinder (i.e. TDC) the crank shaft timing mark doesn't line up with any marks, notches , or reference points on the Oil pump web. If i then continue to turn the crank to line up the crank mark with the reference point on the oil pump web, ( at the apex??) the piston has passed TDC and is starting to go back down again on the 'bang' stroke.
I marked up the belt and pulleys and have transferred the markings over to my new belt, so I'm confident that I can re-fit the new belt in exactly the same position as the old one, i'm just not convinced now that the old belt was fitted correctly in the first place.
The fuel economy, etc , of the car Pre-blown head gasket was really very good, although i always thought that the idle was a bit lumpy. The emmisions where perfect on a recent MOT too, shall i just re-fit everything as it was ?
A picture paints a thousand words so here are some photos:
http://imageevent.com/sidandcoke/gashcarstuffhosting
Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated.
Well I've been taking this job nice and steady, mostly due to the weather up here over the last few days.
I've had my head skimmed, (they only had to remove 0.008" thou'), I've got my new gasket set and new bolts. I also bought a valve spring compressor and stuff to give the valves a quick grind. all for a total outlay of just £90, probably nearer £100 after a bit of driving around, so far- so good.
Now the crux of this post.
I've had a good study of Dave's photos and also x-refered to both the Haynes manual and the Fiat workshop manual. I originally set my Crank timing mark at what i thought was TDC , (which looks like the apex of the oil pump web from all the pictures), the problem that i have though is that I have also borrowed a Dial Test Indicator from work and set it up on the main block whilst the head is removed. According to the DTI when my Piston crown is at the height of its travel up the cylinder (i.e. TDC) the crank shaft timing mark doesn't line up with any marks, notches , or reference points on the Oil pump web. If i then continue to turn the crank to line up the crank mark with the reference point on the oil pump web, ( at the apex??) the piston has passed TDC and is starting to go back down again on the 'bang' stroke.
I marked up the belt and pulleys and have transferred the markings over to my new belt, so I'm confident that I can re-fit the new belt in exactly the same position as the old one, i'm just not convinced now that the old belt was fitted correctly in the first place.
The fuel economy, etc , of the car Pre-blown head gasket was really very good, although i always thought that the idle was a bit lumpy. The emmisions where perfect on a recent MOT too, shall i just re-fit everything as it was ?
A picture paints a thousand words so here are some photos:
http://imageevent.com/sidandcoke/gashcarstuffhosting
Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated.