Story so far series 1 resto

[lancianut666]

piccy

[lancianut666]

A word on the Dremmel gizmo it is working fine but when I went to recharge the battery there was a fritzed plastic smell coming from the charger so will have to source another charger. To over come this and cut out the holes for the front lights I used an older less powerful but mains powered gizmo...it got a bit hot but again I was surprised at how thick the steel is.
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

Hi all
Had a look at the points yesterday and they were a bit black and crispy so I spun the engine over with the dizzy cap off and we had a lot of sparking and arcing across the points so I decided to 'quickly' change the condensor...2 hours (that's what it felt like!) and it was out but it is a poor wee thing nothing like the new ones we have in stock so I detect a bodge in the dim and distant past.
Clarkey

[Jaydub]

Lengthen the wire on a new condenser and fit on the distributor side of the coil with its bracket earthed on the coil mounting bracket. Saves the hassle of removing points screws etc.

[lancianut666]

That is an excellent idea...but I've just fitted the new condensor in the original position will bear it in mind though for the future. Got the points out today they are in a very grotty condition so they have been changed. Reset the ignition timing and gave it a spin and got a nice bang and the smell of burning oil so will fit some new plugs ( the old ones are very black and oily )and some fresh petrol tomorrow...
Clarkey

[mikeC]

My condenser is externally mounted on the distributor:

[lancianut666]

Hi all
During my efforts to get the engine going I have been baffled by the lack of a test to show that one has the engine timed there are no marks on the camshaft sprocket you need to line up...during a bit of light reading of a S3 user manual I came across this see below

[lancianut666]

The instructions seem to make sense so I tried them on my engine a S2 lump and it indicates surprise surprise the timing is out so weather permitting I will go over to Hartlepool and have another go at the valve timing. I was dubious at attempting this with the engine in the car but once I had took the bumper, radiator, water pump, dynamo, crankshaft pulley and timing chain cover off I was pleasantly surprised how much room there was and as the car is up on the dollies it was at a good working height.
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

The $64,000 question is will it run with the timing chain cover off hmmm.... would save a lot of work if it still not right...
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

Been a while but have spent a bit of time under the bonnet and we have found a reason for the none starting... Pics and explanation tomorrow.
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

It looks like the dowel on the block has been fouling the cylinder head stopping it clamping down on the head gasket and making a proper seal. The gasket looks very uncompressed in the picture as the head is pulled up

[lancianut666]

The offending dowel can be seen on the right of the picture with bits of cylinder head on it Guilty!!! The corresponding hole in the cylinder head shows evidence of binding.

[lancianut666]

The result of this can be seen with the oil in cylinder number 4 and to a lesser extant in cylinder number one. The other 2 cylinders are dry but have big soot particles in so all the pistons will have to come out to be cleaned the bores checked the ring gapping checked, the dowel hole cleaned out and a new head gasket fitted.

[lancianut666]

I will have to check the oil feed to the head to make sure that is not binding and preventing the head being pulled down correctly as well.

[lancianut666]

So the sump is off and I can now get the pistons out. In a way despite all the work involved I have a reason for the low compressions and can hopefully sort it out.
Relieved of Redcar