Engine Overhaul Kama 554

[MtnViewRanch]

I have to second that.

Rob,
I don't know how you do it. With fencing the garden, working on the drives, engine rebuild, two days a week down south, and everything else - where did you find the time to clean and organize the shop?

I'm starting to think that Rob is one of those lucky people that only need 3-4 hours of sleep and he's good to go. Man he gets a lot of stuff done, and he still has time to show and tell about it with us here at TBN.

Simply amazing, THANKS Rob, we all appreciate it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

I noticed some staining on the bottom of your wood, next to the roll up doors. I have something similar on my walls. I was making all sorts of plans to grind down my concrete, add weather stripping and even build a roof over the door to keep the water out.

A client had the same problem and asked me to fix it. I don't know why, but I got to searching online for ways to stop water from getting through garage doors. I found this Amazon.com: Sensible Solutions 3016 Storm Shield 16-Foot Garage Door Threshold: Home Improvement and really liked the reviews.

It came with a full tube of liquid nails to glue it down, but it's not called liquid nails on the tube. I cut it to fit, glued it down and then shut the door to hold it in place. The next day I bought a tube of brown silicone and built up the ends to form a dam of sorts, so water could only go back outside. I went pretty heavy with it, and still only used less then half the tube.

Shortly after doing that, we had a very strong storm come through that dumped several inches of rain. I went over there the next day to see how it worked, and was VERY IMPRESSED that thre was no sign of water in the garage.

I bought one for my shop and put it in the day it arrived. I did it the same way, and I've had the same results. It made a HUGE difference in water getting in under my roll up door.

Eddie

 

[dcyrilc]

Rob,

I noticed some staining on the bottom of your wood, next to the roll up doors. I have something similar on my walls. I was making all sorts of plans to grind down my concrete, add weather stripping and even build a roof over the door to keep the water out.

A client had the same problem and asked me to fix it. I don't know why, but I got to searching online for ways to stop water from getting through garage doors. I found this Amazon.com: Sensible Solutions 3016 Storm Shield 16-Foot Garage Door Threshold: Home Improvement and really liked the reviews.

It came with a full tube of liquid nails to glue it down, but it's not called liquid nails on the tube. I cut it to fit, glued it down and then shut the door to hold it in place. The next day I bought a tube of brown silicone and built up the ends to form a dam of sorts, so water could only go back outside. I went pretty heavy with it, and still only used less then half the tube.

Shortly after doing that, we had a very strong storm come through that dumped several inches of rain. I went over there the next day to see how it worked, and was VERY IMPRESSED that thre was no sign of water in the garage.

I bought one for my shop and put it in the day it arrived. I did it the same way, and I've had the same results. It made a HUGE difference in water getting in under my roll up door.

Eddie

It looks like his door needs to come down another 1/2" to an inch to be fully closed as well. Of course, it could be that he just didn't have it all the way closed too.

 

[3RRL]

Jim,
Those 2 items (I figure) will surely make life a little easier.
It was tough to lift the head off and on without dinging up the liner sleeve tops or the head gasket. You know I used the head and bolts to seat the sleeve liners, then took it off again. I'm getting a bit weak in my old age so this is the first step to using alternative lifting methods. In fact, I've been thinking about adding a lift of some kind to my log splitter for the same reason.

Holy mackerel, you guys have good eyes!
I did clean up the barn after the first rebuild and as usual, Loretta is behind all the organization and cleaning. My machine shop area is still a mess though. I've helped her set up a wood working area for her woodworking. She has her own wood lathe. The rest of the barn is split between the machine shop and automotive/tractor bay. Plus some storage for the ATV and golf cart. She is the one who had me hang up all my old golf bags and clubs since I rarely use them anymore.

Thanks for the link to that Garage Door threshold Eddie.
Both bay doors let water in. We were just talking about doing something about it too. (Another scary mind reading on your part). That threshold is something we will probably get.

Cyril is right, I didn't have the door locked all the way down.
But nevertheless, even when I do water still leaks in on each corner. We noticed that the wood rats like chewing the rubber strip on the door. They've chewed off about 6" length on one side of the door! What's up with that??

Brian,
I figured on you staying with us for the Ag Fair again.
Dave Krug just emailed me about the same thing. He might come up Monday evening and attend the fair for 1 or 2 days. I figure you'd be picking up your giant road grader this year. Loretta and I will most likely attend 1 day later in the week since I'm out of town until Tuesday evening.
You still have my email and phone number, right?

 

[ToadHill]

Regarding your question on balancing connecting rods, I have some experience. I built race engines for a lot of years. I always balanced each part seperately to within 1/10th of a gram ( I know it may be overkill). Weigh all the rods, caps, and I did each bolt and nut, mark the lightest and then how much each piece is over the lightest then slowly grind away material until all are within your specs.

You can do the same thing with the rod bolted together. I did it seperately for ease of replacements at the track if I needed to replace a rod bolt or a cap.

 

[3RRL]

So, any tricks to using the engine stand?
I've never used one. Do you mount the rear or front of the engine to the stand? I figure to mount the engine from the rear, but I might be mistaken.
-Can I take the entire engine out and do all the dis-assembly while on the stand?
-Or do I have to remove some components first?
It would sure be a lot easier wrenching on that stand than inside or underneath the hood area like I did before.
Any other tips?

Couple of other questions:
-Should I dis-assemble the head and valves again?
-They were fit/lapped good before.
-What about the liners when I take the pistons out.
-Do I need to re-hone them or anything?
-Can I change the oil and filter to new, like after the break-in period?
-Since I've ran it for about 3 hours now, perhaps 90% of the break-in shavings has already occurred?
-Or will there be wear/shavings from the new journal bearings and I'd need to change the oil again in 10 hours anyway?
-Note that the filter and oil in there right now is 3 hours old.

Yesterday I took off the FEL and the boxblade and parked the Kama in the barn.
Today I'll start draining the oil(s), fuel and water to get it ready for dis-assembly next week. If there are no other emergencies around the ranch, it should be dis-assembled, and waiting for the new components. I'd like to get the pistons and rods balanced too. Perhaps IH3444 will have time to instruct me better on that? I'll be sure to mic the new crank too. I was even thinking about indicating each bearing hole on the connecting rods for roundness. I'd like to set them up so there is like .001" to .0015" clearance max with the bearings in...or whatever the minimum clearance suggested in the manual. The new crank and other parts should arrive by the end of next week.

 

[3RRL]

Regarding your question on balancing connecting rods, I have some experience. I built race engines for a lot of years. I always balanced each part seperately to within 1/10th of a gram ( I know it may be overkill). Weigh all the rods, caps, and I did each bolt and nut, mark the lightest and then how much each piece is over the lightest then slowly grind away material until all are within your specs.

You can do the same thing with the rod bolted together. I did it seperately for ease of replacements at the track if I needed to replace a rod bolt or a cap.

Thanks TH,
Is there a specific place/area on the connecting rods to remove material?
I'd like to try this to get the engine to run as smooth as possible. Why not, right? Might as well do it along with everything else to make it run better. I figure I could weigh some chips (I have plenty lying around) to give me an idea of how much material to remove to make say, a 1/4, a 1/2 and 1 gram or so...just as a visual guideline. What kind of scale could I get? I need a new one for reloading anyway.

 

[dcyrilc]

Is there a link for information about this Ag Fair you guys keep talking about?

 

[dfkrug]

Is there a specific place/area on the connecting rods to remove material?
I'd like to try this to get the engine to run as smooth as possible.

It is not as simple as the pistons. A con rod's big end is subject to rotary
and linear motion, while the small end is linear only. So you can not just
staticly balance them. I have balanced pistons before, and sent out
cranks to be spun (dynamically balanced).

As for the engine stands, I use them often (I have 2, but have needed
3). For car or tractor engines, I mount to the flywheel side using existing
holes. I can rotate the block to work on it, which is a necessity. With other
engines, I end up making brackets, like my Honda CX500 2-cyl.

 

[EddieWalker]

So, any tricks to using the engine stand?
I've never used one. Do you mount the rear or front of the engine to the stand? I figure to mount the engine from the rear, but I might be mistaken.
-Can I take the entire engine out and do all the dis-assembly while on the stand?
-Or do I have to remove some components first?

A few things that work for me when using my engne stand.

With the engine still on the lift, but clear and free to work on, take off the flywheel and whatever is attached to it. Then the bell housing has to come off so that you have the back of the block all free and clear.

Then you'll need to figure out what bolts you need. The problem with the bolts is that you will need them to be long enough to go through the engine stand and into the block. I've seen them with different sized threads, so be sure to check all of your mounting points to get the right sized bolts. If you have to go to town to buy them, lower the engine to the ground. You don't have to take off 100% of the pressure ont the lift, but don't rely on it either. I just set the block down on the oil pan nice and easily until there's slack in the chain. Then I tighten it up again to make sure that the engine wont fall over.

When you have the right bolts, attach the part of the engine stand to the block without the base of it attached. Getting it all lined up and tight is the trick. Then when it's all tight, slide the base onto the bracket while it's still up in the air. This way, you'll have all ove it floating, which makes it real easy. Then slowly lower the entire thing to the ground. Line up the wheels and make sure to do this slowly.

After you take off the lift, you'll find that it's a bit springy, but solid enough for working on.

Spinning the engine is easier said then done. Usually I have to use a pry bar or breaker bar in the stand to get it to turn. Then make sure to go real slow so it doesnt' get away from you. There is a point where it will feel like it wants to flip onto it's side, and then you'll be all the way over. If you are watching for it, and being careful, you wont have any problems.

Eddie