Should I be worried???

[peteracs]

Hi Tim

Just waiting for the new ones. The ones I have do not have the holes in them and although Glyco sheet says for the 1600 Beta, the original rods have an oil way to the little end from memory which requires the holes. So waiting for Mark to hopefully ship a set together with sump gasket.

I could try these Glyco ones, but unsure of how useful that would be and really want to do the job once....

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

Thanks to Mark, who promptly shipped bearings and gasket which arrived yesterday. Fitted the bearings dry to check clearance, all were within 1.5 to 2 thou range, so really happy with that. Finally oiled bearings and journals and final torque up. Just need to finish cleaning sump pan and can start getting it back together again.

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter, Did you check the oil pump clearances and pressure relief spring length? These pumps often need some adjustment with a wet stone on the casings for end float and if running an oil cooler a 2mm shim under the relief spring. Because I have a hungry Supercharger fed by engine oil. I have a 3mm shim and carefully adjusted end float.     

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

Good points, I still have it on the bench and a couple of days before the oil arrives, so will give it a check. I did check it originally when I last had the sump off which was probably 10 years ago.

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

Checked the pump and all still within spec, so re-assembled and installed in engine. One thing I did note on the pump was the rubber O ring was very flat, so ordered a pack of 10 via next day Amazon. The difference was noticeable.

Also managed to re-fit the sump with new gasket and non setting gasket sealant Permatex Form-a-gasket rather than RTV.

Another day and should have the rest screwed back together and a new 5l of oil should be here.

Peter

[peteracs]

So this morning the forecast was good (sunny all morning), so decided to crack on and get the rest of the subframe, driveshaft etc all put back together. New oil and filter, removed the plugs and disconnected the coil. Turned over the engine with the starter until I had oil pressure reading. Then installed the plugs and reconnected the coil and went for a start. Sadly no change at all in the noise which was really loud on startup. Interestingly it did quite down when the engine had been running for a few minutes, so as per Tim's suggestion, I a going to put this down to piston slap, which is a bit of a pain as that probably means rebuilt engine with overbore I would guess. Not what I really wanted to hear as really keen to get on with the HPE especially as time currently tends to be limited.

So I am going to get the car off the lift, give it a good run to check everything else is ok and put it away for now and ignore the problem unless it gets to the point of being unusable.

I would appreciate comments on if it will be a problem using the car and what to look out for if I need to stop using it.

Thanks

Peter

[lancialulu]

IMHO piston slap is nothing to worry about if you are not burning oil. It is just annoying when the engine is cold.

I am running standard pistons in my 230,000 mile old Fulvia 1600 engine (new rings were fitted at the last rebuilt but the the piston ring grooves were unworn). When warm sounds like any other engine.

[peteracs]

Hi Tim

Thanks, gives me confidence to do nothing, car has never really used any noticeable amount of oil, though this noise is recent.

I should add although a bit deflated at spending several days doing the big ends, they did prove to be worn, albeit not badly and I really needed to renew the sump gasket which had been leaking for a while, so not a complete waste of time.

Peter