Adam's 450 SE Project

[thysonsacclaim]

Very near buying all the parts and beginning this project. My buying list is basically the same as the above, but I got some extra bolts and the bottom guides for later use. The longer head bolt also says it is in limited supply. Also got valve stem seals.

I have decided to leave the engine & trans in the car.


Getting cylinder head milled and injectors cleaned and spray tested.


In re to the woodruff keys, I have set up to buy 2x2 deg, 2x3 deg, 1x5 deg. Would this be sufficient? I am thinking I should have enough and will use the leftovers for adjustments later. If you recall, when I did my timing it appeared to be on spot, but someone mentioned it was probably advanced a tooth. What do you think?

I will be buying head gaskets for both sides (maybe), although I may only do the faulty side for now. What do you think about this? I'm anxious to drive the car and the other side tested fine on compression and leak down. I know it's best to do it all in one go, but again I'm working on a time & money constraint.

[thysonsacclaim]

Okay the final word is:


I am pulling out the engine!!! My neighbor will likely be able to supply the engine hoist. I got my school stipend and work will begin very soon (1-2 weeks). I may order expedited shipping hahaha!

Pulling out tranny & engine as one unit. Will need to find out what seals I will need. Replacing both head gaskets and milling both heads. Replacing all guides and cleaning sump out.

While out, replacing the shoddy vacuum lines and faulty A/C hose so I can do the propane conversion. Summer's a coming around the bend already!


Have myself and 3 others enlisted (brother, father, neighbor) (they're all 3 mechanics, lucky me) on the project now. Hopefully will be a breeze.


Any insider tips on the tranny split from engine after being pulled out? Going to upload a modified buying list when I check what else I may need. I assume the radial seal and some other things, but haven't looked yet.

Tips? Detractions? Insults? Etc? 


I'm horribly excited, about this.

[koan]

Have myself and 3 others enlisted (brother, father, neighbor) (they're all 3 mechanics, lucky me) on the project now.

Tips? Detractions? Insults? Etc? 

Just sit back and let them work it out!

There are things to lookout for regarding the transmission but I'll leave it up to those who have "Been there, Done that".

No, don't sit there and watch, get in and learn.

koan

[thysonsacclaim]

No, don't sit there and watch, get in and learn.

Wise words, Koan. I'm planning on getting mighty dirty.


I just got my US Treasury check today, so I put in the final order:

2 x Camshaft Sprocket/Gear; Double Row at Left/Right Camshaft
1 x Cylinder Head Bolt; 10x155mm; Allen Head
1 x Cylinder Head Bolt; 10x55mm; Allen Head
1 x Cylinder Head Bolt; 10x80mm; Allen Head
1 x Cylinder Head Gasket Set; Left
1 x Cylinder Head Gasket Set; Right
1 x Timing Chain Guide/Rail; Clamping Rail/Lever at Tensioner
2 x Timing Chain Guide/Rail; Cylinder Head Inner, Left/Right; 172mm
1 x Timing Chain Guide/Rail; Left Cylinder Head; 143mm
1 x Timing Chain Tensioner
1 x Timing Chain; Double Row 198 Link with Master Link
2 x Valve Stem Seal Set; Black
2 x Woodruff Key; Camshaft Gear to Camshaft; 2 Degrees Offset to Adjust Valve Timing
2 x Woodruff Key; Camshaft Gear to Camshaft; 3 Degrees Offset to Adjust Valve Timing

I just put in the order and it was $548.90 with free shipping. I actually think that's not a bad price for what it will do for the car. The 155mm head bolt was a bit expensive ($15), so I may see about having extra bolts made from the new one at a bolt shop here.

The rest of what I'm doing is

Ultrasonic cleaning and spray analysis of injectors, which will be about $135, this may wait.
Milling of both heads, will be $95. If there's a problem with valves sticking, they will fix & it will be about double.


I'm very excited.

Total cost expected: $850 or less.

[TJ 450]

Just a bit of a caveat... make sure the torque converter remains firmly attached to the transmission as a unit. If you leave it attached to the engine and pull the transmission away from it, damage to the converter may result.

Good luck with it though, removing the engine/trans allows you to get to all areas, even just for a bit of cleaning. I highly recommend it.

Tim

[thysonsacclaim]

Thanks TJ. Here's some pics of how the car looks right now (just took them). You can see some dirt and rust that could be cleaned up. With the engine out, I can do detailed cleaning and rust maintenance. I don't have the funds to re-do the paint job, but I can touch up anything rusty in the compartment and cover over it for now.



Vacuum lines dry rotted and need to be replaced. I'm buying a fell set of silicone ones to replace everything.



Wire terminal was missing, but not a top priority. I may make one myself if I cannot find one. Also the water jackets were a little clogged and I cleaned these out manually. When the engine is out, more cleaning will be done and when put together a cleaning agent will be run through the system. There is no real noticeable lip around the cylinder chambers. There was a bit of carbonization, but no metal.



Caked grease on sump area, noted. The chain is in, but the locations of everything relative to other parts were marked with a center punch and grease pen (ie locations on chain relative to gears, relative to cams etc). Pictures, too. The plan was to latch the chain in place, but after we marked the parts, the top one slide inside!  My fault.




Lobes have gotten a bit of surface rust that I just oiled up. You can also see where the timing chain ate into the cylinder head


Haven't pulled the left side off yet. I might wait until the engine is out.


Would also be nice if I could clean up the headers or get new ones, but that'll have to wait.

[thysonsacclaim]

Okay guys so I got one of the gaskets of course




And today I got home from lab to find a nice big box on my porch with the cylinder heads in it  

[will post pic here later, haven't got time as I'm off to 'real' work now]


EDIT:

After getting home from work this evening, I went to check the mail to find another nice little thing I purchased ($1.15 @ Amazon.com)



I gave them a look over and they are really in MUCH better shape than the original ones. Guess what else? Well originally I reported here that the numbers on the heads were different. WRONG!

What it seems to be is a case of me referring to the right cylinder head (ie M-Bs right, from inside the car) versus the post being about the 'other' right hand side, looking at the car. When I actually looked at the two 'real' right side cylinder heads, they both had the same casting number  

Anywho, now just waiting for some miscellaneous parts to arrive from Autohausaz, should be here by Monday according to UPS. Shortly thereafter, the sufferring... er I mean... putting things back together ... will begin. Stay tuned for lots of cursing, pictures and plenty of aspirin!  

[TJ 450]

Nice work, you seem to be making lots of progress.

I bet you will be pleased with the end result.

Tim

[thysonsacclaim]

Just got the following parts in:

   
1 x Anti-Seize Compound; 100 gram tube

8 x Fuel Injector Insulator; White Nylon Nozzle Insulator
   
1 x Headlight Bulb, Standard; 5-3/4 Inch Round Sealed High/Low Beam; Halogen
   
8 x Intake Manifold Gasket; Upper Intake Manifold to Plenum Chamber
   
1 x Stabilizer/Sway Bar Link; Rear Left/Right
   
2 x Camshaft Sprocket/Gear; Double Row at Left/Right Camshaft

1 x Cylinder Head Bolt; 10x155mm; Allen Head
   
1 x Cylinder Head Bolt; 10x55mm; Allen Head

1 x Cylinder Head Bolt; 10x80mm; Allen Head

1 x Cylinder Head Gasket Set; Left

1 x Timing Chain Guide/Rail; Clamping Rail/Lever at Tensioner

2 x Timing Chain Guide/Rail; Cylinder Head Inner, Left/Right; 172mm

1 x Timing Chain Guide/Rail; Left Cylinder Head; 143mm

1 x Timing Chain Tensioner

1 x Timing Chain; Double Row 198 Link with Master Link
   
2 x Woodruff Key; Camshaft Gear to Camshaft; 2 Degrees Offset to Adjust Valve Timing

2 x Woodruff Key; Camshaft Gear to Camshaft; 3 Degrees Offset to Adjust Valve Timing

1 x Oil Filter Kit

1 x Timing Cover Oil Seal; Timing Case Cover to Block

On the way are a set of cam oilers.




And an example of the 'new' heads:

[WGB]

Looking good - following this as you go along with interest.

Bill

[s class]

That's a nice collection of new parts there.  New stuff is always so clean and good to work with. 

[thysonsacclaim]

Alright guys, I got that damned A/C compressor off. I've got the timing cover about 90% off. It seems to be catching on something, so I didn't want to force it off and break something. Going to re-read the manual and see if it's safe to use some force to pry it off, evenly.

With both heads off, timing cover off and all front dressing off I'm about ready to take the heads down to the shop.


I'll post some pics, most likely tomorrow. I've covered the bottom end of the end (sump etc) with some paraffin to help degrease it for me so it looks rather messy at the moment. Going to clean it up some more before I continue.

Also, I began hand polishing the valve covers. Started with a coarse grain, then going to machine buff the large parts and do a soft shine up with some rubbing compound and fine grain. It's looking much better, but it's hard to get that type of aluminum to show a mirror finish. It tends to want to gray up.

Anyone know what color the factory was? Just gray aluminum or mirror shine? The autohaus valve covers are painted black, but I don't see any evidence of black paint on mine.



Cheers all and thanks for all your help so far.

[s class]

They were originally grey.  The black painted finish was introduced with the 380/500 aluminium engines.

[thysonsacclaim]

All is well on the Western front...


Today I pulled off the sump and undid the oil pump according to job 18-210 as part of overall job 01-210 (removal of timing cover). The timing cover is now off and I've had a bit of time to inspect everything.. it looks very good actually. There was not nearly as much sludge as I expected to find (although I did dump build up remover in the crank case, intake and gas tank before dismantling).

Initially the cover did not want to move much so as to get it off, so I did a quick look over the manual and went around the periphery of the timing cover with a small, soft pry tool. Not wanting to apply an uneven amount of force, I worked my way around all sides of it until it was equally freed up on all sides. It then pulled forward with minimal force.

With the woes of that stuck cylinder bolt and the booster being in the way, the timing cover was taken off with one head still in place (though cam tower now off).

I've inspected the AC compressor and it appears to be in good shape, but very very dirty. As part of the eventual overall conversion to HC, I'm replacing all the seals, hoses, drier, expansion valve etc.


EDIT:

Found answers to these on some deeply buried posts here and on another forum

[thysonsacclaim]

Here's the start of some of the latest pics (more to come):

Stage 1, initial inspection and beginning of tear down.

Wiping sweat from brow--Wasn't aware my picture was being taken  
That's my other ride in the background.