[Big D]

Hi all,

Here are a few photos now that I have the pistons out of the block. I’m glad that the pistons were not reuseable as it was a real battle getting them out and as expected, the pistons are now a sad sight! Four out of the 6 bores are not too bad. As you can see cylinder 5 has quite a hole in the cylinder wall. You can probably make out in the photos that the cylinder wall is actually quite thin there and as I said in my last post, I wonder if .060 thousand oversize is pushing it on these blocks. Cylinder 6 has a bit of damage from where the rings and the bore had become one. Structurally though, this cylinder and all cylinders bar cylinder 5 are sound.

I guess the reconditioner will determine whether the condition of that cylinder makes it a viable option for sleeving. I can’t see any reason why not providing the sleeve seals around that hole in the wall, but then I am no expert. Hopefully I haven’t wasted about 2 days work in getting it apart so far!

I am almost inclined to get the reconditioner to assess the block first before I try to get the valves out as I can see these are going to be a battle as well. All are stuck in the guides and I suspect there will be plenty of pitting around the valve seats once I get the valves out. I doubt whether any of these valves will be reuseable and I will be replacing the guides and springs anyway, providing the block can be rebuilt. Does anyone have any bright ideas on the most time effective way of getting the valves out?

The engine sump holds oil but is a bit of an eyesore and I am debating whether to repair it or not. It has several internal baffles so getting access to the dents is impossible without cutting the bottom off the sump, panel-beating it and then welding the bottom on again. I am a little hesitant to go that route though, as cutting through the sump without seeing what is behind the sump wall might be risky. Alternatively I guess I could drop it off to a panelbeater and get them to try pull out the main dents.

I have seen worse sumps than this though and I’m confident that the majority of the oil would drain during engine change. However, it does look ugly. Thoughts anyone? Has anyone done such a repair?

That's it for today.