adam83
Well-Known Member
Picked up a felpro gasket set to seal up my 1974 318 which seams to be leaking everything from everywhere. Today I pulled my timing cover, valve covers and oil pan. The heads and valve covers had a lot of hard oil gunk buildup, but since the engine is in the car I couldnt think of a way to clean the heads without risking clogging up an oil passage. I cleaned the covers thoroughly but the best I could do with the heads was vacuum out the loose pieces and pray I dont get a clog somewhere. Is there any way to dissolve the chunks with an oil additive? I was thinking about running a mix of tranny fluid with the oil for about 100 miles then changing fliud and filter, then repeating a couple times...
The timing chain looked loose, and my damper was in bad shape so I ordered a double roller comp cams magnum chain and sprocket set, and a replacement dorman stock style damper. The water passages had some pitting around the gasket surface, so hopefully some permatex ultra black with the new gasket should make a good seal.
With the oil pan removed, I removed the oil pump then the rear main cap. I ordered a melling m72 oil pump (I also saw a sealed power oil pump but I think they are made by the same manufacturer). I've heard these oil pumps have problems, and to inspect and test it before installation. The crank and bearing seemed ok, no major pitting or scratches. I pried out the rope seal from the cap and cleaned it, and drilled a wood screw into the upper rope seal and pulled it out a little, then redrilled the screw deeper and repeated this process until the rope seal came out all the way.. this was nerve racking as the seal was very stubborn and I almost tore up the end too much to get it out. The new seals were not rope but hard rubber with a raised edge (just like the front main seal). I installed them with the raised edge towards the front of the engine, and put a dab of ultra black rtv on the ends of the seals and lip of the cap. Wiped the crank and put a little fresh oil on the seal lips, crankshaft and bearing surface. I reinstalled the rear cap and tightened it just enough to squeeze the rtv. Tomorrow I will torque the bolts.
Anything I overlooked so far? Any tips for the rest of the job?
The timing chain looked loose, and my damper was in bad shape so I ordered a double roller comp cams magnum chain and sprocket set, and a replacement dorman stock style damper. The water passages had some pitting around the gasket surface, so hopefully some permatex ultra black with the new gasket should make a good seal.
With the oil pan removed, I removed the oil pump then the rear main cap. I ordered a melling m72 oil pump (I also saw a sealed power oil pump but I think they are made by the same manufacturer). I've heard these oil pumps have problems, and to inspect and test it before installation. The crank and bearing seemed ok, no major pitting or scratches. I pried out the rope seal from the cap and cleaned it, and drilled a wood screw into the upper rope seal and pulled it out a little, then redrilled the screw deeper and repeated this process until the rope seal came out all the way.. this was nerve racking as the seal was very stubborn and I almost tore up the end too much to get it out. The new seals were not rope but hard rubber with a raised edge (just like the front main seal). I installed them with the raised edge towards the front of the engine, and put a dab of ultra black rtv on the ends of the seals and lip of the cap. Wiped the crank and put a little fresh oil on the seal lips, crankshaft and bearing surface. I reinstalled the rear cap and tightened it just enough to squeeze the rtv. Tomorrow I will torque the bolts.
Anything I overlooked so far? Any tips for the rest of the job?
