Restoration of Sandcast #97

[markb]

I went ahead and retorqued the head.  I used thread sealer on the nuts and under the washers.  I’m satisfied.

I want to continue to assemble the motor but it won’t be long and I’ll need the cam chain adjuster and the breather cap which aren’t painted yet so I want to get that done.  But after looking over the adjuster I found that the seal is bad.  I want to save the sandcast housing so I needed to figure out a way to repair it.  After thinking about it for a while I made myself a little puller.


Here’s how it fits into the housing.  I had to put the fingers in first and then screw them to the holder.


Then I put it in the arbor press with a rod through the housing and the seal cup came right out!


There it is.


Here’s the housing without the cup and seal.


I have a donor that looks good.  I don’t think there is any pressure on the seal so I figured this simple leak test would be good enough.


And here is the housing with the replacement seal and all cleaned up and ready to paint.


As long as I had it apart I figured I should identify the seal in case I do need to replace one someday.  It is an 8mm x 18mm x 5mm.  Honda part number 91209-MB0-003 looks to be an exact replacement. Note: I have learned that this number may not be the correct one. I am trying to verify so proceed with caution until I can confirm.

[kp]

Your work and feedback to us on this project is truly amazing Mark 
KP

[UK Pete]

Amazing attention to detail mark, your work is probably the best i have seen , you leave no stone unturned
pete

[markb]

Thanks guys.  I’m just trying to do a good job.  Feel free to speak up if you see something you think is incorrect for this resto.

I need to decide what colors to use on my breather cover and cam chain adjuster.  After discussions on other threads I agree with the consensus that the breather cover and cam chain adjuster are a darker shade than the cases and that the cover has some gloss.  (By the way, I also observed that the breather covers on later VINs are even darker than E100’s).

I’ve had good luck with the Duplicolor high temp engine paints so I picked up cans of what was close to compare.  It’s difficult to get the colors right in the photo but the three samples in the top row aren’t close.  In the second row the E100 cover is on the left and the adjuster on the right.  In the center is a sample of the DE1650.  I used the DE1636 clear on the left half for some gloss.  For comparison the sample on the bottom is the DE1615 that I use on the cases.  I think this is pretty close and have decided this is what I am going use.

[Steve Swan]

I take the part i need matched to our local automotive paint store.  They match exact and put it in an aeorosol can.

[markb]

I didn't know they could do that (put in in the aerosol can).  Thanks, I'll check it out.

[markb]

I’m jumping around a bit here but I guess that’s what happens when you have so many things that need to be done.  I decided this weekend to try to finish the top end of the engine: cam holders, camshaft, rocker arms, valve cover, etc.  First order of business – clean up the cam holders.  That’s when things came to a screeching halt.  Remember the crankshaft earlier in the thread?  And all the hardened gunk that was in the oil passages?  I don’t know why it didn’t dawn on me that I would have the same issues with the oil passages in the cam holders.  So no problem, I figure I’ll just run drills in the passages to clean them all out.  Here’s a pic of what came out of one of the holes to the cam journals. 


Then I look at these holes.  Plugged too.  Luckily I happen to have a 1mm drill that fits that hole.  But wait, here’s the problem.  The junk I removed from the holes is now trapped in a hole that runs the width of the holders but that hole is plugged.


Here’s the plug.  I really had no choice.  The holes had to be cleaned out and that was the only way to do it.  So here I am again where I really want to save the original parts if I can.  They are unique to the early engines.  So I need to remove the plugs.  The first thing I did was drill and tap a #6-32 hole in the center of the plugs.  Then I used a small drill and drilled out the dimples on the outside of the plug.


Then I adapted a #6 screw to the end of my puller.  I call it a slide hammer but I think it’s for pulling dents.


Here’s my setup.


About 4 or 5 medium taps and they came out.  So the hard part is done.  I’m going to pick up a long drill to clean out that hole.  Then just for good measure I’m going to have the holders ultrasonically cleaned to make sure everything inside is clean.  Then make up some new plugs and good as new.  But so much for finishing the top end this weekend.

[markb]

I bought a long drill so I could clean out the long oil galleries.  Then I had the towers ultrasonically cleaned.  I’m convinced there is nothing left in the holes.


Here’s the new plugs.  They’re pretty small to make but they turned out nice.


And here’s the repaired towers.  I even re-punched them for authenticity even though they went it hard enough that I know they won’t fall out.


If you pick them up and look close you can tell it’s not original but if you just look at them lying on the bench you would never know.


By the way, if you’ve read this entire thread you may remember that one of the towers had a crack in it.


I had that repaired some time ago.  After welding I ran a 20mm reamer through from the opposite end to make sure it lined up and it’s good as new.  Now they’re ready to put on the engine.

[Joe K]

Hi Mark,

After reading your latest threads I am so impressed by your attention to detail.  You really take your restorations to the highest level.  Your work is making me re-think my restoration and consider pulling everything apart for a re-do.  This is unlikely to happen now, but I will be better prepared for the next time I restore my sandcast.

Joe K.

[patriotcommercial]

Mark is a very skilled.  I enjoy his work.  Wish he would post more often, but happy with what he does post.

[markb]

Joe, you probably didn't need to do half the stuff I did.  In many cases, because I wanted to use the original parts, I had no choice. 

I wish I could post more often too. If I had more time and didn't run into issues like this with the cam towers, things would certainly go faster.

The support from you guys inspires me to keep at it.  Thanks for the kind words.

[markb]

I wanted to get the cam and rockers in today and made good progress.  I took a shot of the head for proof that I had all pins, o-rings and plugs in place before proceeding.


Same for the cam position…..


….and crank position just in case I want to check later that I did it right.  The original advancer is in pretty rough shape so I temporarily used another one for now just to get it together.  More on the advancer later.


Fortunately the original R1 cam was good enough to use.


I initially had a little trouble with the new cam chain (not much extra slack) but it's all done including the tappets meticulously adjusted.  It sure is nice to adjust them when they’re in the open.

[UK Pete]

Nice work mark, photo's are great reference for yourself and good for us to admire your work
pete

[DW69K0]

I admire your attention to detail and all the quality pictures.
Your workmanship quality is amazing!
DW

[4pots1969]

Markb,
The Restoration of very high level !!
Gerard