I'm halfway into tearing down a block that was showing signs if cam/lifter failure. Some of the pushrods weren't spinning.
It's good that I tore it down cause the lifters are showing unusual wear after break in.
The engine was run for a couple hrs and I don't believe there was any serious damage or accumulation of solid matter that would require replaement of the bearings. But I think the lifter bores should be honed and I'm going to replace the cam and lifters with a less aggressive grind.
So much for the background info... Here's the question.
I'd like to do the minimum amount of disassembly, of course, and i'm wondering if the crank can be R&R'd without removing the pistons/rods? This is to get the crank out of the way for lifter bore honing. Or should I try to hone the lifter bores with the crank in place?
The engine is on a stand waiting for the next step.

Please let me hear about any tricks that anyone has to help this process go more smoothly.

Thanks

 

I assume the block will be on a stand? If so, then I'd dissassemble it completely then blow/flush out the oil passages...don't want any emery grit from honing to be circulating through and cause further damage....you may also find other issues after pulling the crank/rods/pistons, that you were not aware of.

Remember, those metal particles have to go through the engine, before getting to the filter

 

considering how cheap bearings and rings are i think i'd take it all the way apart and start over. there's also about 100% chance any metal from the cam lifters got else where in the engine.

 

Actually, when I said the lifters are showing unusual wear after cam break in, I meant one of the lifters shows indications of not spinning in it's bore. It is not cupped in any way, in fact it's still crowned, but there's a linear wear pattern across the contact area, and a tiny 1mm wear patch at the very center . And in fact, the cam lobe in question still has it's full lift.
When I took the pan off, the oil in there looked normal for an engine with 2 hrs break in time.
So I want to hone a couple lifter bores without taking the whole thing apart and then put in a new cam and lifter set.
I really think that it's not nessecary to do a complete disassembly if I'm careful. But I would like to remove the crank if it can be done without taking out the pistons/rods.
Can I do that? Remove the crank without removing the pistons/rods?
That's my question... my only question.
I have the rest figured out.
If anyone would like me to explain how I plan on doing it, I can let you know. But for now I'm just interested in finding out about the crank R&R.

Thanks for reading, help out if you can.

 

yeah the crank can be R&Red without removing the rods, but in the long run it's more work i believe.

 

Thanks, I can imagine it would be tricky.
I'll have some extra hands on standby and I won't let them have their beer til the job's done.

 

Then you definitely wouldn't get any help from me

All you're really doing is first part of teardown anyways, right?

I/e pulling the crank...tricky part will be putting it back together with all the rods dangling around...don't forget to use sleeves on the rod studs so you don't nick the crank when putting it back together.

I still wonder about about saving much time/less work though, only take a few minutes to push the pistons out...most time spent on putting them back in is putting on the ring compressor.

 

In your case Mike, I'll make an exception, and I'll give you a shot of JD to to help steady your hands before we start.
I'll get in touch next wk if I need your help.

My plan is to hone 2 or 3 lifter bores, and I'll stick some rubber corks in all the holes to keep chips from going where they're not supposed to go. And I'm going to do it with the engine inverted so the fluid/chips won't drain where they shouldn't go. And then I'll take a shop vac and vacuum the area as clean as it can be, and flush it with solvent afterward, and then clean it again.

I asked about the crank removal just in case some chips go into the bottom end. And I don't even think they will with the engine inverted and the lifter bores plugged with a cork at the bottom.

I'm confident it'll be a success. Of course, as a last resort, there's complete disassembly. But that would make me sad. And I'm already sad enough as is.

 

You won't need my help...and I still wouldn't help you anyway...


I'd need at least two shots before I started....one for each hand

If the cork comes apart, might head to the hardware store and get tapered rubber plugs, there always by the bathroom plumbing stuff...I've no idea what they are supposed to be used for, but they come in all sizes at like a quarter each.

 

Yeah tapered rubber plugs... Same thing, I just called em corks.
Got a bunch of them and put them into all the places I wanted to plug up.
The job's going pretty smoothly, I'm not anticipating any problems. Just turned the block upside down and let the chips fall out the top instead of onto the rotating parts.