Engine Building Advice

Engine Building Advice

Author
Discussion

vipernewz

Original Poster:

3 posts

115 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
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Hey,

I'm new to the forum so play nicely... please biggrin

I've recently got rid of my Classic Mini and have moved onto a 2001 MX5 which in terms of commuting was a great change... however I miss tinkering at the weekend and getting stuck in on the car.

Currently in the process of building a shed at the end of my garden and was thinking I might pick up an engine off of EBay and learn to strip it down and rebuild it just to pass the time and stop me getting bored/ going crazy.

I was just wondering is there anyway to check if you have built the engine correctly without dropping it in a car and plumbing it in? was hoping to start on a little a series and work my way up... but dont have anywhere for a spare car to drop the engine in.

Thanks in advance for any help

Tom

CrutyRammers

13,735 posts

197 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
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Munroe's "Engine Builder's Handbook" is good. Also search for all of Pumaracing's posts in this subforum. And give it a go, it's not technically hard, just a case of being methodical. And not making stupid mistakes whistle

OldBuoy

26,957 posts

182 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
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Why not start with an old motorbike. More fun than building an engine you can't use.

An example.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/motorbikes/...

Edited by OldBuoy on Tuesday 19th August 13:24

Mark Benson

7,498 posts

268 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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vipernewz said:
Hey,
I was just wondering is there anyway to check if you have built the engine correctly without dropping it in a car and plumbing it in? was hoping to start on a little a series and work my way up... but dont have anywhere for a spare car to drop the engine in.
Well, turning the crankshaft and checking that....

a) Nothing fouls (ie. you can get a full revolution without anything sticking/grinding/falling off)
b) Valves open and close as they should
c) Ancillaries move when/where they ought to

...is a start. After that you can connect a battery and add fuel from a can, give it a go on the starter as long as you secure the engine and take precautions with sparks and fuel etc.
The engine builders handbook is a good place to start, as someone above says.

To be honest, if the engine turns, the rest is just timing and fuelling really which you can do when the engine is in situ once you decide on a recipient.

vipernewz

Original Poster:

3 posts

115 months

Wednesday 27th August 2014
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Ah thank you! will hit up amazon now and get that book... yeah i am planning on taking as many pictures as possible when I strip it down just in-case :P

And thanks Mark think the turning it by hand will be as far as I can go... have a feeling my parents would flip if I tried to start it up in the garden!... oh how I wish i had my own house right now!... or a garage...

Btw sorry for my late reply got completely side tracked with a mates 21st... but thank you for the responses smile

vipernewz

Original Poster:

3 posts

115 months

Wednesday 27th August 2014
quotequote all
OldBuoy said:
Why not start with an old motorbike. More fun than building an engine you can't use.
I've thought about motorbikes once or twice... but i have got my heart set on stripping an A series, I almost done it when I had my mini but never had space to do it and now that I do it seems like a good time to finally get round to doing it (even though i dont have the car anymore)

If worst comes to it I will loose a few hundred pounds but learn a lot (hopefully!)

PaulKemp

979 posts

144 months

Thursday 28th August 2014
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Exactly the way I started
I do get the engineering shop to do the machining but I am now confident enough to specify the clearances required.
When you do your first build its worth trying to get the tolerances to the tight end of the range as it is easier to take metal off than put it back
I learnt on a Pinto but some parts are getting harder to find and costing more