Collecting

With temperatures of 38°C (100+°F) I'm not driving the seven and I'm not doing any mechanics. I will wait for winter and continue to collect stuff. Recently I was offered to buy pistons with 0.110 overbore. Since you normally only find some with 0.090, I bought them for the old engine block waiting. Next week I shall collect a T9 gearbox, so I can make a complete assembly and swap the engine together with the gearbox.
Cheers.

Start of engine re-assembly

Here we go: new piston and old conrod, determine the right mounting direction through the arrow in the casting (pointing to front of engine). Lubricate pin ...

... and put it in, secure it with circlips both sides.

Number one ready ... and then repeat it for all of them.

Honing the cylinders to roughen the surface, then set the piston rings as shown.

Rings will not enter the cylinder without a ring compressor.

Tap them in with a wooden stick, repeat this four times.
Cheers.

New pistons

Vulcan delivered exactly as said. Old versus new ...

They also have their very own exhaust gasket set. Looks tough compared to those from Burton.

Vulcan's recommendation to replace all four pistons because of a weight difference might have been a marketing thing, but it is wise to replace them all if you have stripped the engine this far.
Cheers.

Problem found

More dismantling and cleaning done tonight, I pulled the rings off piston #3 to discover two pieces that broke off the piston. My order placed at Vulcan should arrive tomorrow and comprises four pistons and some gaskets.

Tools ready for reassembly, ring pliers, honing device and ring compressor.
Cheers.

Bottom off

After the tests showed that something is wrong with the piston rings on cylinder #3, I started to dismantle the bottom of the engine.

Conrods are a Ford item, pistons are AE 18647 +0.090 for the Fiesta 1300. They are commonly used to raise compression. Bore on 1300cc and 1600cc engines is the same, this allows to use both kinds of pistons. Valve pockets are a little less than 3mm deep. The bearing shells look good and can be reused. During the next days I will check prices and ask for quotations. I also have to check what tools I need. My torque wrench goes only up tp 60Nm which is not enough f. ex. to fasten the cylinder head.  
Cheers.

Petrol leak test

The compressed air test was not very concluant. That's why I took off the head yesterday. Other tests can now be done like the petrol leakage test. It consists in pouring some petrol on the top of the pistons. A faulty ringset will not keep the petrol on top as long as the others. With the pistons at the same height and a stopwatch, you can see what happens and how fast.

Cylinder #3 leaked well ahead of the other three. The pic shows it dry when 2 and 4 were still wet.

The same test can be repeated with the cylinder head by filling the exhaust duct (valves slightly leaking, but not a lot)...

... and the inlet duct (valves completely dry).
A Caterham owner and X/flow expert will tell me what to do next. I guess it means dismantling the bottom end, as already written in an earlier post.
Cheers.

Head off

Start of dismantling. Both manifolds off, water and oil drained, here we go. Piston tops look good, cylinder head gasket like new.

All parts and especially the valves look good. The probable reason being the piston rings, I will have to dismantle the bottom end as well.
Cheers.