Author Topic: Flaminia engine rebuild (Read 70604 times)

lancianut666 · « **Reply #135 on:** 06 December, 2025, 08:49:21 PM »

More trouble at the mill as someone had retapped one of the 16mm plugs and fitted an unknown size so I had to buy a huge 14.5mm drill to drill out the hole to allow me to re-tap it. I then used some of my dies and a few old bolts of 10mm and 12mm shank size to make new plugs to go into the cross waterway at the back of the block.
Clarkey
ps pics to follow when I find my camera.

lancianut666 · « **Reply #136 on:** 08 December, 2025, 05:52:29 PM »

Some pics and a bit more done as I trimmed the plugs and cut a slot in them with a Dremmel thing. As I was tidying up I noticed that the cylinder head that caused all the problems during it's removal had all the rocker mount studs at different heights. On investigation I found that the levels on the head vary with the position of the stud so I have forgiven the machinist who swapped out the studs earlier in the year. I also noticed a wear pattern in the rocker arms were it seems that the lower half of the rocker shaft is unmarked but the top half is badly worn...lack of oil?
Clarkey

lancianut666 · « **Reply #137 on:** 08 December, 2025, 05:54:27 PM »

few more...

lancianut666 · « **Reply #138 on:** 08 December, 2025, 05:56:09 PM »

This head has not been molested like the other one and shows how the studs should sit.

lancianut666 · « **Reply #139 on:** 09 December, 2025, 06:28:44 PM »

Hi all
Had a bit more time on the tools today and managed to give the oilways and crankshaft a good clean with brake cleaner and the airline. With that done I gooped all the plugs at the back of the engine but will have to test them as they will not be accessible with the engine in the car. I numbered the pistons to match their conrods and also numbered the bores to match the drawing in the owners manual I have a pdf of. However what stopped me from trying one of the pistons (no 6 was favourite ) was the information on the firing order as the stamped numbers on the heads were just for the firing order??? So perhaps someone who has already done this can explain what is going on as it looks like you will have to set the distributor and camshaft up before you can do the plug leads or has the distributor cap got numbers on it?
Clarkey

lancianut666 · « **Reply #140 on:** 10 December, 2025, 09:44:52 AM »

some pics

lancianut666 · « **Reply #141 on:** 10 December, 2025, 10:05:25 AM »

ignore the last shot of a head it is one of my spare ones. On the head you can see the casting has been stamped, a note in the owners handbook states these numbers refer to the firing order and don't match the cylinder order. I have moved the table with the engine as it will soon be too heavy for me to move safely (175kg all up) and it is already starting to bend the frame of my makeshift table therefore it will have to either be suspended from the engine crane (safe but easy to work on) or installed in the car (hard to work on but safe) decisions, decisions.

lancianut666 · « **Reply #142 on:** 10 December, 2025, 06:36:24 PM »

Enjoined battle again with the Flaminia engine and I have decided to fit the new camshaft with it's nice new bearings and it's nice new cam followers. So we had the new bearings on and held in place with the circlips and it was in but only up till the last journal with the screw thread to hold the sprocket on. The decision was made to take the crankshaft out as I could not see where the camshaft was catching (so glad I did not try to put the cam in with the pistons and conrods in!) After a bit of wedging up with bits of timber we had the crankcase up in the air enough to get the oil pump off and drop the main bearing caps and coax the crank out. I could now see the second bearing from the far end was not starting to go into the hole in the crankcase so I will take the camshaft out and make sure there are no high spots on the new bearings. We also got to use the black goop stuff and as promised it just stays where you clag it.
Clarkey

lancianut666 · « **Reply #143 on:** 11 December, 2025, 06:43:31 PM »

Hi all.
Good news bad news...the bad news was I spent all afternoon trying to get the camshaft in but it would not have it. When I first put the cam in yesterday the first bearing was smaller than the hole in the casting so it was the second one that I had to jiggle and push in but when we were asking for two bearings to fit into the crankcase it was just too tight and I was wary of walloping it in with the 2lb club as it would never come out again. So what to do, I know check the old bearings and see if they were any better...of course it flew in so I am a bit dischuffed with a certain Italian parts supplier. Any way this meant we could put the crankshaft back in and possible get one of those pistons in...
Pictures to follow tomorrow as I have left the camera at the unit.
Clarkey

frankxhv773t · « **Reply #144 on:** 12 December, 2025, 12:39:23 PM »

My distributor cap has numbers which I believe match the numbers on the cylinder head / plug holes.

Could you work on the engine with it resting on the bench but with the weight taken by the engine crane perhaps?

lancianut666 · « **Reply #145 on:** 12 December, 2025, 05:36:28 PM »

Hi Frank
You must be a mind reader Frank the engine is so heavy I have had to prop up the bench it is on with a stool and a socket set case. The engine crane will be wheeled out next as I want to put the sump on and put the engine in the car to free up some room as me and Terry have some welding to do on a certain Y10
Clarkey

lancianut666 · « **Reply #146 on:** 12 December, 2025, 05:37:49 PM »

Sorry about the pic seems there was some technical stuff going wrong...

lancianut666 · « **Reply #147 on:** 12 December, 2025, 05:57:03 PM »

As promised pictures of the last couple of days. The great news is all the pistons are in and the crank can do two complete revolutions with no metal against metal noises (Appia owners will know about this) There is still lots to do but one potential FUBAR is that the pistons have to go in to match the valve layout as the cut outs in the piston crown have to align with the right valves as the inlet valves are bigger than the exhaust valves. The reason for this is I think that the heads are identical so when you rotate one 180 degrees the valve layout changes hence the potential piston problem. Yesterday I had decided all the inlet valves were towards the front but this is not so as the nice diagram in the workshop manual shows each bank is different. So after a cold sweat I discerned the first set of pistons was OK and I had to flip the next three 180 degrees, PHEW! The engine will now have to go on the crane as it is a) Unwieldy and b) Dangerous It is propped up tonight on a stool and a socket set case.

lancianut666 · « **Reply #148 on:** 12 December, 2025, 06:00:40 PM »

Now to getting those lovely bid pistons in.

lancianut666 · « **Reply #149 on:** 12 December, 2025, 06:10:15 PM »

We are in a clover patch here as so far nothing has broken (see Appia resto where Terry broke a piston ring) and my back hasn't given up yet! Only prob was someone rang me as I was putting a piston in and I forgot to put the big end shells in!