U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E

[Ultimapaul]

I've had the gearbox out again this morning to find out what this bloody chattering noise is! The clutch was also dragging big style!

Well, it would seem that when I put the car back together after replacing the starter motor, the clutch alignment tool, upon removal, pulled the beargox shaft bearing out of the crank. This has then floated around between the friction plate and flywheel

I never noticed this when I had the car in bits on Thursday as I never removed the clutch. When the car originaly made the noise I suspected it was clutch bolts failing on the bell housing, then after putting back together I thought maybe loose flywheel. This is why I removed the clutch ....... and had the bearing fall out and give me a suprise!!

Luckily I had only driven the car a couple of hundred yards after putting it back togther each time and no damage has been done to any of the clutch components. The bearing is a little beaten up though.

So, next time you use a clutch alignment tool, make sure the bearing in the crank stays in place when you extract it. I was very lucky this time.

Paul

[ultiman]

Pleased you found the source of the gremlin. The only time l used a clutch alignment tool the bloody thing was a nightmare to use and l couldn't get the thing right. l used a cut off section of broom handle which was just perfect and have kept it to this day. l took the Ultima gearbox and engine out today and the engine will be heading for Lancing for a once over by the experts. l tried the oil pump with a pre-oiling tool run by an electric drill and achieved full oil pressure so probably could have continued to Le Mans a few weeks back after all. Chances are that there was so much junk in the sump l could have wrecked the engine big time so better safe than sorry.

[gdr]

I got a clutch aligning tool from Sealey that doesn't rely on locating in the pilot bearing. Instead you get a plastic collet arrangement that clamps the clutch plate onto the clutch to temporarily hold it in place during assembly. Have to align visually before bolting clutch up to flywheel. Tool then collapses and is removed. Bit fiddly but works OK. Was also cheaper than mandrel type tool.

[Ultimapaul]

ultiman said:

Pleased you found the source of the gremlin. The only time l used a clutch alignment tool the bloody thing was a nightmare to use and l couldn't get the thing right. l used a cut off section of broom handle which was just perfect and have kept it to this day. l took the Ultima gearbox and engine out today and the engine will be heading for Lancing for a once over by the experts. l tried the oil pump with a pre-oiling tool run by an electric drill and achieved full oil pressure so probably could have continued to Le Mans a few weeks back after all. Chances are that there was so much junk in the sump l could have wrecked the engine big time so better safe than sorry.

Good luck Nick. I hope you have been lucky this time. Glad to here you got decent oil pressure with the drill!
I'm interested to know what caused such a failiure? The big question is why did the dissy gears get shredded?
Post on here what the verdict is.

Cheers

Paul.

[ultiman]

Ultimapaul says "The big question is why did the dissy gears get shredded?" Thats the 64000 dollar question. l will be taking the engine over to Lancing tomorrow morning and will find out subsequntly. One suggestion was that the roller cam did not have a cam button to stop end float which apparently is not required for a normal cam (which l had originally) but is necessary for the roller cam. l reckon the dizzy wear had been going on for a while until the remaining bits of cog were too thin to take the strain with two snapping at 5000 revs. Watch this space.

[US-GTR]

ultiman said:

l tried the oil pump with a pre-oiling tool run by an electric drill and achieved full oil pressure so probably could have continued to Le Mans a few weeks back after all. Chances are that there was so much junk in the sump l could have wrecked the engine big time so better safe than sorry.

The reason the distributor gears became shredded are simple. You probably used the same distributor from the old cam. Cast cams are softer that the billet (or hardened) roller cams. The stock (or standard) steel distributor gears cannot handle the hardness of the uprated cams. The steel distributor gear needs to be replaced with a bronze gear (that can be picked up anywhere).

Also to help the new gear last longer (and even on the regular steel ones) a small groove can be filed into the distributor housing. The gear relies on “splash” oiling to keep it lubed up. After the distributor is placed back into the block and timed, mark the housing that directly points to the cam. Remove the distributor and file a small groove into the housing directly in line with the mark (not so big that you lose oil pressure and not so small that it doesn’t let enough oil through) less than 1/16 of an inch deep (1-1.5mm). A lot of OEM distributors already have the oil “weep” hole to feed the distributor gear. Re-install the distributor and re-time. The distributor gear will be much happier and have a much longer life. For more specific information E-mail me directly.

[ultimaandy]

ultiman said:

One suggestion was that the roller cam did not have a cam button to stop end float which apparently is not required for a normal cam (which l had originally) but is necessary for the roller cam.

I did wonder what this button did and why it was on my roller cam but not on the hydraulic one....

fortunatelly I have fitted it with the roller one as without it I was able to move it over 10mm with the chain in place.

[steve_D]

Am I right in thinking that when using a cam with a cam button you shoud also use a timing cover with reinforcement where the button contacts?
Steve

[ultimaandy]

steve_D said:

Am I right in thinking that when using a cam with a cam button you shoud also use a timing cover with reinforcement where the button contacts? Steve

I suspect only to stop it flexing, which is what mine had...... but its a good point.
Nick I think you ought to check as the other timing cover I had wouldn't have worked.

[Stig]

ultiman said:

Pleased you found the source of the gremlin. The only time l used a clutch alignment tool the bloody thing was a nightmare to use and l couldn't get the thing right. l used a cut off section of broom handle which was just perfect and have kept it to this day. l took the Ultima gearbox and engine out today and the engine will be heading for Lancing for a once over by the experts. l tried the oil pump with a pre-oiling tool run by an electric drill and achieved full oil pressure so probably could have continued to Le Mans a few weeks back after all. Chances are that there was so much junk in the sump l could have wrecked the engine big time so better safe than sorry.

Doh! So the dizzy did pop off the pump drive after all

Still, better safe than sorry Nick. Hopefully it won't be expensive to rectify.

[k wright]

If you don't want to change timing covers the most reasonable solution is to fix a bolt to the water pump that contacts the front of the timing chain cover. many water pumps have a provision for this. If not you can make a bracket that mounts using the bolts that hold the back cover on the water pump.

While you engine is out you should also make sure that a small hole is drilled in the face of the cam gear thrust bearing that leads to the front cam bearing oil supply in the block. This allows a fresh supply of oil pressure to "cushion" the cam gear contact with the face of the block.

>> Edited by k wright on Tuesday 1st July 21:43

[ultiman]

The thing that is so good about this site is that all sorts of advice is suddenly offered by contributors that can prove really useful. Thanks to those above. l did try to take photos of the distributor drive but they were blurred. l will let you know when the source of the problem is found. Low oil pressure is believed to be one problem with cold at 75psi and hot at 45psi at high revs. l had noticed a slow drop in pressure over the months. l wonder if the lost bits of cam from the last problem have contributed to this one.

Ultimaandy and Steve D mention cam buttons. l have an interesting Crane Cams installation guide that mentions all of this, including bronze gearing and cam cover changes. lt is an Adobe file so if interested e-mail me and l will send to you.

Nick