TR engine out by do-it-yourselfer...

I'm sorry to repeat myself from an earlier posting, but I want to keep the pics and descriptions together and avoid possible confusion....I'm confused enough as it is....

Here are some more pics of the installation of new cam belts and tensioners. As you can see I use a sorta "caveman" low-tech approach to locking the cams into position at Top Dead Center. I verify this by checking the engine builer's marks on the camshaft and retaining cap on #1 and #12 cylinders. Everything lined up spot-on perfect. Then I put reference marks on each cam sprocket, and the crankshaft sprockets, and on the cam belts. Next loosen the tensioner bearing bolts, push the tensioner in all the way as far as it can go, and then retighten the bolts to lock the tensioner in this position. Now you can slide the right side cam belt off the sprockets. Then remove the crackshaft sprocket and seperator ring. And now you can remove the left side cam belt. Next step is to push inward on the tensioner and remove the retaining bolt completely, along with the washers. Now you can either slide off the old bearing, or in some cases pry it off. I had to destroy the right side tensioner bearing to get it off, while the left side just slide off easily. The wipe the new bearings clean on the outer diameter where they will be in contact with the new cam belts. Apply some anti-seize to the inner diameter of the new bearings and slide them onto the tensioner assembly. Then once again compress the tensioner all the way inwards and install the washers and retaining bolt and tighten everything up to lock the tensioners into position. Next place the old timing belts over the new belts, and line up the teeth, and place marks onto the new belts in the same positions as the marks on the old belts. Now slide the new belts onto the sprockets while lining up all the reference marks you've made. The marks assure that you don't install the belts one tooth off. I use some binder clips on the cam sprockets to hold the belts tight onto the teeth while I route the belt around the tensioner bearing and onto the crankshaft sprocket. Once both belts are on, slowly loosen up the tensioner retaining bolts until the tensioner applies force onto the belts. Take one more look at the reference marks you've made to see that nothing has moved. Now crank the motor over while watching the tensioners carefully...you will see some slight fluctuations in their position. When you see the tensioner at the most inward travel point, tighten down the retaining bolt and lock it into this position. Now install the crankshaft harmonic balancer and pully and your finished. I hope my layman's explanation makes sense.
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I JUST WANT TO HUMBLY THANK DANIEL at Ricambi for being so generous and subscribing me...I honestly don't know what to say. I ordered all my parts for this service from him, and will be ordering more odds and ends today or tomorrow. THANK YOU AGAIN DANIEL !

 

Latest update as of this morning. I removed the much-corroded old steel fuel injectors from the intake runners. I had to drive them out, and in some cases the bushing came out also. It took a lot of force to get them out, but I'm glad I did it. Just take a look at them! Yesterday afternoon I media blasted the coolant expansion tank for refinishing too. I'm also showing a pic of the engine as of this morning, it's coming along but still miles to go yet. Lastly is a pic of the air pump and it's plumbing, this crap will NOT be going back on the car. I have to make some block-off plates for the head ports yet. And my goal today is to get all of the intake pieces refinished, the upper plenums, and the lower runners. Stay tuned......
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The car has 35k miles on it. The corrosion is from the previous owner washing down the engine bay with a caustic liquid of some kind. He ruined every plated and plain steel part in there....I could have beaten him silly when I saw the extent of the damage. But instead negotiated the purchas price down considerably to allow for the "resoration" that I'm doing now. I'd much rather bought a perfect car, but I'm just a blue collar type who struggles to have what I do. Oh well it will be nice when it's done!

 

Had a busy day today but I accomplished a lot. I refinished the intake runners and plenums, the coolant expansion tank, and the starter. I also installed a new solenoid on the starter. Since I had to disassemble the starter to do the job right I figured it was a perfect time to install my new Ace solenoid. I'm very happy with how the intakes turned out, they look very good. I also installed all new fuel injectors once the intakes were done. For the injectors I first had to slide the o-ring over the body and into the groove. These green neoprene (?) rings are very stiff and hard to work with. I used vaseline to help things along....okay....no jokes please! Once the o-ring was on the injector, I would press the injector into the bushing, and then the whole works into the intake runner, and finally install the snap ring. It wasn't too bad of a job except it was rough on my fingers, which are already dried, cracked, and raw from all the solvents and cleaning. Pics are attached for those who may be interested.
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I used VHT crinkle paint for the cam covers. The red is a bit darker than it should be, and I'd planned on fogging on a light dusting of brighter red, but I'm not sure yet. They look good as they are. It's almost an art form to get good results. Unfortunately they dont' make many colors in "crinkle" paint, only red and black. On my last TR to refinish the intakes I tried to spray on black crinkle and then fog on a coat of silver/gray. But the results weren't good. I did two more attempts that failed to meet my standards. I even called a high end restoration shop and asked them what to do. They said you can't get the light gray/white crinkle paint that Ferrari uses on the intakes and that what I'd tried was what they do also. But they also said it may take 3 or 4 tries to get it right, and they do it for a living. So after this conversation I just bead blasted everything down and sprayed them aluminum silver. It looked very nice but was not correct. On my current car I just cleaned the intakes with lots of scrubbing, and washed them with solvent. And then I baked them to be sure that all cleaners and solvents were purged from the finish. And then I luckily found some "cast aluminum" paint made by Dupli-color that matched the original color and fogged on several coats. I think the results are outstanding....the intakes look authentic and "new". My next big project is the fuel distributors and fuel lines, many hours will be spent I'm sure. I must be insane for doing all of this, it's a TR not a GTO after all....but I Love 'em....these TRs!!!!!

 

Well gang, I took a couple of days off to let my hands heal up a but. Today I disassembled the fuel injection system. It's almost too far gone to try and clean up, but I'm gonna give it a shot. The fuel lines are etched very badly, and there are discolorations on the fuel distributor base that I can't get out even with a brass brush and solvent. As I've said in an earlier post, I could just beat the guy who ruined this motor. But you know there are people out there who just don't care what the engine looks like, it's just a machine to them, something to haul their carcass around. Anyways...back on topic. I'm going to try and get the fuel lines clean and then use some anodizing spray on them to get a sort of cadmium finished. It's going to be tedious doing one line at a time, but that's the way it goes. As for the fuel pressure regulators and their brackets, these were also originally plated but I'm going to spray them a dull gray as their surfaces are not smooth enough for anything flashy. I would love to buy all new hardware, lines, cold start injectors, regulators and brackets, but I would have to take out a mortgage on my house to do it. Considering that the car ran fine before all of this work, I'm assuming that even thought the components look awful they function correctly. I'm also attaching a pic of the refinished coolant expansion tank. I used zinc etching primer prior, and then painted it using duplicolor gloss black high temp. paint. It turned out fine. I have been "baking" painted things over my little shop furnace and I just can't say enough good about how it speeds up the process. The paint flows better warm, evens out on the surface, and dries very fast. Thank You for all of your support through this job so far. And I welcome any comments and/or criticism as long as it's contructive.
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