Fed up as a washer drops inside the timing case cover

[288gto]

Paul I think you may well be right with that, and i don't think there is room at the sides of the baffle to get past.
The washer has probably ended up in that front section behind the web.

Simon

[265bhp]

Good guess...

Suffice it to say that my efforts to remove the sump were not completely successful...as without more wrestling it doesn’t clear the reaction plate...as you will all probably know....however within this whole episode I had one piece of luck and that is that with the endoscope I managed to find the washer...in that front compartment

So the short version of the story is I am now almost back where I started...

But...importantly..Friday also saw Mike return to re-do the valve shims...and he did he adjusted to reduce to 5 and 7 thou...so only +1 on each...using the shims he had

I am happy with that as it is very close...and perhaps with some running in will settle to less....let see

Final task is to complete the lock wire of the sprocket bolts and refill with oil

Then a few cranks over minus the plugs to circulate the oil....and fingers crossed it will all be better...

Whew.....

[abowie]

Good guess...
however within this whole episode I had one piece of luck and that is that with the endoscope I managed to find the washer...in that front compartment

YAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

[288gto]

Excellent news Jonathan!!! Glad you got it sorted, as mentioned before, a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions from despair to elation this E type restoration malarkey!

[abowie]

A final comment about stainless steel hardware.

Stainless has a number of downsides in comparison to the grade 5 or 8 high tensile bolts used in the E Type.

Firstly, it's non magnetic. So you can't pick it up with a magnet and it won't stick to your magnetised tools.

Secondly, it has nowhere near the tensile strength of high tensile bolts. A 304 bolt has less than half the tensile strength of a grade 8 bolt. So they break more easily.

Finally, and potentially the worst, stainless work hardens. So when you're drilling out the stainless bolt you just broke off, you need to get it done quickly. No messing around. If you leave your drill bit in one place for too long the stainless you're trying to drill will harden a lot. And then you're never going to get it out.

Don't get me wrong. Stainless is an excellent choice when you don't want a fastener to rust, like in a boat. But for cars, the manufacturers don't use it for good reason.

[rfs1957]

I would have followed Andrew on this one, in both senses.

If you had been able to establish - endoscope - that the washer wasn't stuck on the crank sprocket, and been able to prove this by rotating the engine (no plugs) freely by hand, no jamming, then you could have happily concluded that it was down there and would stay there forever.

I have seen parts like this resting in far more sensitive locations, undisturbed for years, in bike engines.

The second issue is indeed stainless, which has no place anywhere inside an engine for the reasons he states.

Even outside, on the rest of our cars, there is a tendancy to use this stuff - and I've been as guilty in the past - in places where it is a really bad idea, because - IMHO - the worst aspect of stainless is its tendancy to gall.

It's great when threading into aluminium, cast-iron, or probably even mild steel, but I have had many occurrences of having to chuck (even new) stainless nut-bolt combinations in the bin, either because of cold-welding, or - more worryingly - where the torque I was applying was not producing a concomitant tightening of parts or surfaces.

And that is despite greasing every single fastener I ever use.

I think now it's a dangerous metal that should be used very sparingly.

[Mich7920]

Hi
I used stanless steel only for fixing the mudshields and nowhere else.
It's absolutely not a mechanical solution.
Mich

[265bhp]

......If you had been able to establish - endoscope - that the washer wasn't stuck on the crank sprocket, and been able to prove this by rotating the engine (no plugs) freely by hand, no jamming, then you could have happily concluded that it was down there and would stay there forever.

I have seen parts like this resting in far more sensitive locations, undisturbed for years, in bike engines......



Hi Rory

Even if I hadn’t found the washer...despite what you say about it probably being safe, i wouldnt have trusted that level of probability...happily this wasn’t the case..

Al the best
Jonathan

[PeterCrespin]

“- in places where it is a really bad idea, because - IMHO - the worst aspect of stainless is its tendency to gall.

Don’t they spell it Gaul where you live?