78 1.8L Engine Rebuild

[131]

needs to be perfectly aligned. fairly close ain't close enough.

^x2. If it's not spot on, it won't play.

[White78]

So it is just a matter of tweeking the engine and transmission heights. Other than the two dowels on the bottom engine bolts is there any other way to indicate if the alignment is adequate?

[engineerted]

There should have been a clutch plate alignment tool to hold the plate in the correct position while you bolt down the clutch housing. If not, SOL.

Ted

[White78]

There should have been a clutch plate alignment tool to hold the plate in the correct position while you bolt down the clutch housing. If not, SOL.

Ted

Many moons ago I rebuild a Mustang motor and was able to eyeball it with a socket. This time not so much, picked up an alignment tool from Princess Auto and discovered I was about 1/16th off center. Now the engine is in and the rest is administrative... not really I pulled the motor a few months ago and I am hoping the my photos and labels will guide me. The car was stripped of its emission controls but the wireing was not removed, so there is quite a rats nest of unessesary wires and plugs lines.

[White78]

Tonight was the night... but alas it was not meant to be. I need some inspiration desperately. The convertible season is effectively over in four weeks. I was able to get everything assembled and hooked up with relative certainty that is is all correct. First I filled up the oil.... then the coolant. I expected leaks so I was watching for it. I noticed a leak from the outlet on the water pump, so I torqued up the hose clamp. That wasn't effective so I took a closer look. The heater pipe was leaking, so I torqued up the bottom bolt. With very little effort the stud sheared off. A new water pump is necessary now. I am obligated for the next few weeks, and I imagine it will take that long to receive a new pump anyways.

From the start this build has been trying... somehow I need to take solace in the fact that there may be a slight chance that the maiden drive on this engine will be straight to storage. Sorry for the somber post but I am coming down from the utter rage of shearing the bolt after getting so close and shortly thereafter cursing ever god that may or may not exist.

https://imageshack.com/i/mamrm4j

[BEEK]

that stud, can be screwed out of the waterpump. you can just replace it with a bolt. check the flatness of the flange on the pipe, alot of times it is warped, i use a hammer and gently beat it back into shape. use sealer on the flange too

[vandor]

After flattening the ears back I use a rattail file on the pipe flange to get it somewhat flat.

[focodave]

Oh man! Don't give up!
You are 99.9999% of the way there, and it is looking really good.
After a short break, when you come back to it, the small detail work will seem very insignificant -- and maybe even fun.
Get her running and then tell us all how she feels with all that new horsepower and torque bulging out from under the hood.
It's going to be SWEET!
Dave

[White78]

Thanks for the tips and encouragement so far. I have sealed everything up and no leaks... cold, but I will take it as a victory. Tried to get her running, poured a little fuel into the carb while cranking it over and it ejected the fuel back out. Almost like the car was telling me "something is very wrong dude!". Timing. I put the number 1 piston to TDC and the cam markings matched up. I removed the distributor cap and marked the rotor and it aligns with the #1 terminal. So I removed the valve cover. My understanding is that the #1 piston is in TDC with the cam marking aligned and the #1intake cam lobe should be up (valve closed). However, this is not the case.

I did not take the step to remove the timing belt tension and play with the intake cam rotation. I wanted to get some feed back from you folks first. I am curious why does it not matter of the position of the exhaust cam? Assuming the the markings on the pulley indicate the cams are in the correct position it make sense, but I now have doubts considering the intake does not seem to be correct. I did not rebuild the head so I don't know about the cam to pulley alignment. Are the shafts keyed to avoid mis-alignment?



Here is a higher resolution picture:
http://imageshack.us/a/img33/6282/qiij.jpg

[engineerted]

Set the crank to TDC #1, Align the cams to there marks and set the rotor to #4. Yes, #4!!

[White78]

Set the crank to TDC #1, Align the cams to there marks and set the rotor to #4. Yes, #4!!

Set to rotor to the number 4 and I can't get it to fire. Got spark and I am putting fuel directly into the carb.

[White78]

SUCCESS!!!! Set rotor to #4 and then I had a friend turn it over and I rotated the distributor until I got a sputter. Then fine tunes it from there. Runs pretty good but I have a mis fire still. Also I have been trying to set the idle under 1500 it stalls. But it's pretty smooth and good lord is that clutch grippy!

[White78]

I can not recall where the top hose from the fuel canister goes... I think the intake manifold, but for some reason I thought all of the inlet/outlet on the intake manifold are all for coolant lines.

[131]

Also I have been trying to set the idle under 1500 it stalls.

Do you have 12v at the idle stop solenoid on the side of the carb when the ignition is on?

[White78]

Also I have been trying to set the idle under 1500 it stalls.

Do you have 12v at the idle stop solenoid on the side of the carb when the ignition is on?

I will have to put a meter on it to verify that. But, I thought that's what would kill the engine when it got up to temperature.