[Big D]

Hi all,

I’ve finally completed stripping the scout car JXD engine block. The valves tried my patience but I got them all out, albeit one taking a guide with it.

As I expected, it made a big difference being able to access the top of the guide where all the corrosion was. I got a bit creative and came up with the bright idea of using a mag drill and hole saw cutter to cut the top of the stuck valves off. That worked out good as it gave me access to the top of the guide and I was able to first scrape away and clean off the corrosion and then get some penetrating oil into the guide.

The block is now with the engine reconditioner for cleaning and crack testing. We’ll see then what the bores are like. He took a quick look at the valve seats and felt that two of them may need new seats inserted, but will confirm once he has had a closer look. He also thought that the main bearings and big end bearings might actually be fine, but will also confirm later. I see the big end bearings are already 0.060”.

The M8 manifold is blasted and painted now, although I’m not overly happy with the paint. It is just too flat and some surface rust is showing on the manifold already, so I’ll need to find something a bit heavier. I’ve pre-drilled the holes on the scout car block for the two extra studs required for attaching the M8 manifold. I’ll tap these once the block is confirmed as ‘good to go’.

I did a bit of panel beating on the sump but it still has a number of dents in it. Now that it has some paint on it, it doesn’t look too bad.

I’ve also continued some work on the recoil system. I will need to get some new strips of brass folded up to replace the damaged ones on the top of the cylinder. These strips are held into place by small brass pins. They almost look like an extrusion of some sort so I might try some of the surplus scrap dealers to see if it is something they might have on the shelf. I’ll also need to make up another brass bush for it to sit in the cradle as this only has one. I’ve re-tapped all the mounting holes on the cylinder and all are in good shape. I have also cleaned out the bore and it is nice and shiny. I am taking Barry’s advice and won’t be putting any oil in the tube.

I will need to make up a tool to get it all back together though. With the aid of a neighbour who is a retired mechanic, we spent a bit of time on it today trying a bit of muscle power, to see if we could compress the spring enough to get the coupler on the end. We weren’t able to do it though and I’d suggest it would be a three person job to be able to hold enough weight on the spring while screwing the coupler on the end.

I have in mind to use some steel plate at each end connected by half inch threaded rod. There are enough fixing points on the cylinder that I can attach it to and I’ll simply wind down the plate on one end and compress the spring. That’s the plan anyway…I’ll photograph what I make up next week.

That is all for this week.