Yet another 355 30K service thread

A few pictures of the water pump after disassembly. To remove the bearing from the WP, I found it easy to remove after heating the body with a small torch. This loosened the corrosion and expanded the body of the pump enough to extract the bearing. Also a shot of the auxiliary belt tensioner after removing the bearing for replacement.
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Scott and Mike - Thank you very much for the kind words. Actually, the pleasure is all mine! As I mentioned at the beginning of this thread, I have learned a lot from others that have taken the time to post on FChat, so it is only fair that I do the same. Hopefully, someone else will look through this thread and pick up an idea or a hint from something I've done. Or better yet, learn from my mistakes! I'll keep the post going until the task is complete: )

 

Well after a couple of weeks break for orchestra rehearsal, work, and honey do's, I have finally had a chance to post some updates. For anyone following along, sorry for the delay.

While the engine and belts were off, I rebuilt the water pump and replaced the bearing in the auxiliary belt tensioner pulley. The pump wasn't leaking and as far as I could tell the bearing was ok, but I didn't have any documentation that the pump had been replaced or rebuilt, so, with my luck, I decided to do it. The auxiliary tensioner bearing was "cheap" (figuratively speaking) and easy to replace.

I purchased the WP rebuild kit from Daniel, and if you've ever rebuilt a pump before (any manufactures brand) you know that removing the seal on the back almost always destroys it. I say almost because I'm sure someone out there can do it : ). The key to installing the new bearing, for me anyway, was to make sure the bore that the bearing fits in is clean and free of corrosion. I used some emory paper to clean it. I put the bearing in the freezer, in the ice maker tray (use a sandwich bag...this makes "mom" happy) to make the bearing contract as much as possible, then I heat the pump body with a heat gun to make it expand. Then holding the pump body with a pair of gloves, I drop the "frozen" bearing into the pump body. It drops right in with no "coaxing". As the body and bearing return to equal temperatures, everything is snug. The seal on the back of the bearing shaft just takes patience and careful tapping with a small drift and hammer. Here a couple of pictures of the bearing and seal installed without the impeller. Sorry for the quality of the pictures, I took them outside on a morning that was cold and foggy...and it looks like it!
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Once satisfied with the cam timing, belt tension, some general cleaning and fiddling, it was time to start putting it back together. One other thing I did while it was out, was perform a leak down test of each cylinder. I used a single gauge tester by Motion Pro http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0126/ that give a percentage of leakage with out having to calculate the percentage. Basically I would say the leak down indicated my engine was in "fair" condition. The leak down averaged 10-20% on the cylinders...all of the leakage was coming through the exhaust valves. I really didn't want to get involved at this time with doing a valve job, so I decided to drive it for a while and replace the guides, etc. in a couple of years. Oh well, I still love her! Here are a few pictures of the pieces going back together.
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Here are some shots of the heat shields that came with the Fabspeed headers. I "enhanced" them with some high temp heat shield material that I bought at the Summit Racing store. Now that's a cool place!! If I owned a Ford or Chevy, I would be even more broke from buying "toys" there! Here's a link to the stuff I used. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/THE-13575/ This material also comes in a preformed tube and I put it around the brake lines, AC high and low pipes, etc.
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A shot of the headers after installation. I like the contrast in colors. I'm sure they'll look like hell after a while, but I was more interested in the function of the coating.
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While the engine was out I received my recall notice for the fuel block, so I bought one of those from Ricambi and replaced it. Picture of recall parts (except for the power steering reservoir bracket).
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Pictures of the engine going back into the monocoque.
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Once the engine was in, I filled all the appropriate fluids,

Castrol 0-30 Syntec (German Castrol)
Red Line 75-90NS Transaxle
Pentosin Coolant
Red Line Power Steering fluid
Castrol SRF Brake/Clutch fluid


I pulled a vacuum on the AC system and charged the AC. This will have to be redone once it gets warm...I was charging the system while it was 33 degrees outside.

Before starting the engine for the first time, I primed the fuel system by first turning off the power at the battery switch, then remove the fuel pump relay (behind the foot rest on passengers side), then using a jumper wire plugged into slot 30 and 87 (where the relay was just removed) of the fuse panel, turn the battery switch back on and let the pump run for a 30 or 40 seconds...maybe a minute. Turn off the battery again, reinstall the relay and we're ready to go.

The starter spun for a few seconds and she fired right up. Oil pressure up, no leaks (yea!) and after about 3-4 minutes all of the hydraulic lifters were pumped up and silent. I had bled the clutch, tweaked the adjustment of the shift linkage, bled the brakes, and she's ready to go for a spin.

 

Erich, I used this http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200334559_200334559. Not only did it have the castors, but I was able to raise the engine to a "workable" height while I was doing the 30K. Much easier on the back for this old man!

 

Mike, yes it does. The owners manual and workshop manual both recommend Shell Helix 5W-40. Without starting a whole thread on oils and their properties, I'll just say that I am using an oil that has the proper viscosity (measured in cSt) for start up, for the oil temp that the engine usually runs at (around 190 degrees F) and has good oil pressure at normal operating temp (65-70 lbs/sq.in at 3000 rpm). The GC has a viscosity of 12.2 cSt at 100 degrees C. I think I've read (endured?) all the oil discussions on FChat and Bob is the Oil Guy. GC has always had good used oil analysis results so I thought I would give it a go. An argument could be made to use just about any oil...I chose this one. Thoughts?

 

Thank you Tom! I drove around this afternoon (finally some sun here in GA!) and the new exhaust sound great.

 

Scott,

The total for coating the headers and shipping to McDonough, GA was $316.45. I am very pleased with their service and the final product. Of course I would never have learned about Swain Tech if not for FerrariChat and all the great people on here!

 

Jay, I actually did put the wrap over the break and clutch lines, I just didn't take a picture of it. Actually (and to be perfectly honest) I think I got the idea from you to start with : )
Thanks!

 

Nice day in GA yesterday so I finally got the girl out on the road to fill up with petrol, check all the systems and make sure there were no leaks. Everything (still) works and so far no leaks! Yea! I made a couple of pictures of the headers in there "normal" habitat and a couple of the car after a quick cleaning to get the grime off. Thanks again for everyone's support, for following along, and most of all for being part of a great community!
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