Learning to strip an engine

[Konan]

PHMatt said:

You'll need a decent set of tools as well. You'll be amazed at how many different types you'll need sometimes requiring 2 of the same thing.

A good quality set of tools may be the difference between learning to strip an engine and learning to round off ancient and very stuck fixings.

You'll probably want to avoid anything that needs 'ze special tools' too.

[PHMatt]

Konan said:

PHMatt said:

You'll need a decent set of tools as well. You'll be amazed at how many different types you'll need sometimes requiring 2 of the same thing.

A good quality set of tools may be the difference between learning to strip an engine and learning to round off ancient and very stuck fixings.

You'll probably want to avoid anything that needs 'ze special tools' too.

Years and years ago I had a mk1 Clio 1.4 and blew the engine. £500 and 2 days later a new one from a scrappy was in and I was up and running again.
I had EVERY intention of taking the old one apart to find out what went wring but was thwarted after taking the cam cover off. Most of the internal fixings were male torx bits and I didn't have, nor ever acquire a set of female torx bits for my spanners.

I think 10 years later I lugged it to the tip when clearing the garage out.

[leon9191]

You will likely pick up an old car engine locally of ebay, I've juts looked and there are a few within 5 miles of me.

A engine stand should set you back about £35-45 and hire of an engine hoist is normally £10 / day.

That is worth a note if you go to collect one, car engines are bd heavy and if you get one from a breaker he will likely have it on a crane or alike for loading, unless you get a hoist for unloading you will struggle.

This I know from experience I remember my dad being on the verge of punching me for getting an old iron block BMW 6 stuck to the floor of his van. Thing was about 400kg might as well have been welded in place!

[PHMatt]

leon9191 said:

You will likely pick up an old car engine locally of ebay, I've juts looked and there are a few within 5 miles of me.

A engine stand should set you back about £35-45 and hire of an engine hoist is normally £10 / day.

That is worth a note if you go to collect one, car engines are bd heavy and if you get one from a breaker he will likely have it on a crane or alike for loading, unless you get a hoist for unloading you will struggle.

This I know from experience I remember my dad being on the verge of punching me for getting an old iron block BMW 6 stuck to the floor of his van. Thing was about 400kg might as well have been welded in place!

Maybe he should look for cars with ally blocks and heads and 4 pots to reduce size
You may be interested to know that an ally BMW M54 engine weighs aproximate 150kg vs the S54 M3 engine with iron block that's aprox 250kg!

[battered]

Get an old lawnmower from Gumtree or Freecycle. Dead or alive.

[bj1aut]

Once the inlet / exhaust manifolds and the wiring harness are off an engine they are really a lot more simple than they look. The head will be the most complicated part, but even then not too bad.

[PHMatt]

bj1aut said:

Once the inlet / exhaust manifolds and the wiring harness are off an engine they are really a lot more simple than they look. The head will be the most complicated part, but even then not too bad.

Mostly agree. However a lot of modern engines have their own versions of variable cam timing systems (VVTI, Vtec, VANOS etc etc etc) as well as other gadgets to aid performance/economy.
You wouldn't find much of that in older, pre 90's engines.

[robpeacey]

I'm surprised no one has suggested a motorbike yet. Much more relevant than a lawnmower.

Small, light complex enough usually to match modern engines and you have an end goal, Strip and rebuild a non runner.

This can be done easily on a drive or in a shed. Very much depends on budget but:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Im sure you can get non runners off of eBay local enough to push it home / trailer home. In some cases, the bike frame acts as an engine stand and you can see if it'll run again with relative ease.

Alternatively, something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/cbr-hornet-600-f-engine-...


You have the joy of playing with a gearbox as well in most circumstances, albeit a sequential dog type gearbox

Edited by robpeacey on Thursday 11th August 15:30

[PHMatt]

robpeacey said:

I'm surprised no one has suggested a motorbike yet. Much more relevant than a lawnmower.

Small, light complex enough usually to match modern engines and you have an end goal, Strip and rebuild a non runner.

This can be done easily on a drive or in a shed. Very much depends on budget but:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Im sure you can get non runners off of eBay local enough to push it home / trailer home. In some cases, the bike frame acts as an engine stand and you can see if it'll run again with relative ease.

Alternatively, something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/cbr-hornet-600-f-engine-...

Edited by robpeacey on Thursday 11th August 15:28

The only issue is registering the bike to yourself I guess but I can see the merit of it. Don't some bikes have inline 4's as well?

[battered]

Any number of bikes are inline 4s. I'm not sure what benefit that has in terms of learning how it goes together or works though.

[stanton_a]

Once you've aquired engine then along with a descent set of tools mentioned else where, Good digital camera, lots of tuppaware boxes, marker pens and little wrap round self adhesive tags, (jewelery tags) ?

Take pictures before you start, and every time you remove something that looks like it may cause you a headache, tuppaware boxes for putting all the different fasteners bolts nuts etc in from the removal, label the top of boxes too. That way you shouldn't have any problems locating bits when they go back,
And the tags come in handy for attaching to any ancillary hoses / bits of connectors.

[PHMatt]

battered said:

Any number of bikes are inline 4s. I'm not sure what benefit that has in terms of learning how it goes together or works though.

It's the closest thing to about 80% of car engines on the road in the UK.
A 2 stroke single cylinder engine is nothing like most car engines.
A V Twin isn't much like a V6 either.

[finglas]

hi everyone, thanks again for all the help and advice. appreciate everyones input.

As a bit of background, the honest truth is that i don't know very much at all about engines but i would like to learn. I have an older bmw e46 (2001) 330ci. the panels were rusted and the other month i tackled it (or tried to!). Had the wings off and rear bumper etc. I quite enjoyed the process and i just figured id really like to learn more about how the actual engine in a car operates.

I'm not expecting to have a in depth knowledge of it all, I would just like to understand them a little more and the concepts behind them. i.e understand the function of the key parts.

PHmatt, thanks for your response. Regarding the points you mention, i have a very basic understanding of most of them but i have never actually seen them "in the flesh" and so wouldn't be able to identify them. Only ever read about them in all honesty.

I was just hoping that cutting my teeth on a lawnmower engine would be enough to give me even a slight insight into the engineering behind the more complex engines found in cars. I understand cars are quite a bit different and although i guess it would be ideal to work on one it just isn't realistic given my total lack of experience. perhaps one day given the right equipment and experience!

Essentially I was just hoping that working on a small lawnmower engine would give me a rough ideal of the principles behind engines. I was hoping this would allow me to perhaps get a better grasp of how car engines work.

I appreciate all the help everyone. very kind of you all.

jamie

[only1ian]

I can highly recommend a Citroen AX as a learning car. It was designed with the intention of being an excellent introduction to home mechanics by the French. Everything is designed to be simple to pull apart, panels are plastic and you can even so some fun to drive. I bought one in 2008 with MOT for £110!

[battered]

PHMatt said:

battered said:

Any number of bikes are inline 4s. I'm not sure what benefit that has in terms of learning how it goes together or works though.

It's the closest thing to about 80% of car engines on the road in the UK.
A 2 stroke single cylinder engine is nothing like most car engines.
A V Twin isn't much like a V6 either.

For sure, but a bike engine is a strange thing for those of us accustomed to cars. Needle roller cranks? Hmm, interesting. Likewise strange clutches and alternator arrangements. I can do most cars in my sleep, less so a bike.

Reading what the OP is after I still think a simple little lawnmower engine, even a 2T job, will be easy to handle and give a good insight into how they work.

[Triple8]

Hi OP, just adding my thoughts... Myself and a mate (also on here) also wanted to learn some basics, but not trash our own cars. We had a bit of a look around and found that our local college did a basic vehicle mechanics evening course. I think it cost about £150 for 11 evening sessions, and was well worth it. Took the head and clutch off an engine on a stand, did brakes, radiator etc. Well worth a look to see if any colleges near you do something similar hope this helps.

[battered]

That's a good suggestion. I used to work in a college that did that, a workmate of mine who was into old bangers had a Cav SRi (remember them?) that went sick. I think it needed a head gasket. He persuaded the lecturer to have it in the shop as a project car. The lads loved it because it was the kind of car they all aspired to owning, so it got stripped down, head rebuild, I think they even did some porting work and various other bits, all for parts cost. He got it back a few weeks later, it was like a new car and went like hell. He smoked around in it for about the next 2 years, abusing it royally until it was burning more oil than petrol and the MoT tester said "no". That's a good outcome all round.

[gowzer]

My brother and I did an intro to automotive engineering evening course at Edinburgh college followed by an advanced course which involved stripping and rebuilding an engine. The intro course is a pre requisite to get onto the advanced but is great for learning basic servicing skills plus how to change brakes, swap suspension components etc. I think both courses were £120 or so which has more than paid for itself already. I'm sure they'd run something similar at one of the Glasgow colleges.

[finglas]

Excellent replies again everyone. Really appreciate them all. I'll look into the college idea. Perhaps a wee evening course would be good fun. Very nice suggestions.

Thanks a lot,

Jamie

[Mr.Jimbo]

I did Motorsport engineering BTEC at college straight after school (turned out to be a bit of a swiz and was actually a tarted up light vehicle maintenance course) but anyway - the lesson that sticks with me is checking.

Like checking the head bolts are in the Puma V6 you've just begun to rotate on the engine stand, it's lucky my mate was wearing his toecaps that day

It's very easy to scratch things, dink/bruise surfaces if you're not careful, so pay attention, take your time and look at things and question why they do what they're doing/not doing. If you don't know why something does something look it up, they're in there for a reason

I've had the engine out of my 106 Rallye in the garage, it's been through two house moves and I'm determined to get it rebuilt, but I spend all day looking at engines now and I haven't got round to buying an engine crane...