Austin's 1977 Tintop Camper

[chuckspence]

about that "edge" you mentioned, I pointed that out to Bill, as I have assembled two AMC headed engines in the last year I can tell you that the push rod tubes will go in very hard if you don't clean up the tube bores in the head and taper that edge, some of the push rod tube o-rings were getting cut or rolled on installation, you don't have to grind it if you're uncomfortable about taking a die grinder to your brand new set of heads, just be careful installing the push rod tubes... Mike & Rick can add to this, as they were there too....

(before all the type 1 gurus comment on this, please understand that type 4 push rod tubes are completely different than type 1 tubes, and are installed after the cylinder heads are installed)

[toolbox]

Having a really tough time getting the gas tank out, the filler hose coming off the tank is stuck

Cut it. Replace with a tank to neck hose off of a Dodge Sprinter van, about $15 and good for today's fuel blends.

[Dual Port]

I don't know the size ID you need, but Napa and FLAPS sell fuel filler neck hose in various diameters.

[TRL]

Also, Chuck is right about the pushrod o-ring sealing edge. That protrusion into the sealing edge fouled us up until Chuck removed it. If you look at the case you can see the conical sealing surface is smooth. The head should be the same way for the best seal. Looking forward to seeing this bus on the road!

[Kooper271]

Chuck and Rick,

Thanks for the advice on the heads. I will grind the ridge out. And yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing the bus on the road as well.

Ted and Bruce,

Thank you for the tips on the fuel filler neck. I will have to get in there with a utility knife, the cut off wheel I tried didn't work.

[Kooper271]

Made some progress today.

Removed the gas tank. Looks really clean inside, minimal rusting and no sludge.

Bought a slide hammer/bearing puller kit from Harbor Freight and pulled the pilot bearing out of the end of the crankshaft

Used nylon brushes in this brush kit (also from HF) to clean out the oil gallerys

Sealed all the oil gallery plugs with Leak Lock.

Cleaned up the case some more.

Going to clean up and assemble the crank assembly tomorrow at the least. I started to taper that edge in the heads, but chickened out. Also somehow lost a hardware set for one of my heads so I'll need to reorder it.

[chuckspence]

Ask Bill about your head hardware, he had one head out on his bench and may have left the package out when you picked up your heads, I can stop by and die grind your heads sometime, anytime this weekend will work. 216-346-0008

[wwebner]

Found the hardware.Pm me with your address and I'll send it.

[Kooper271]

Sure had a long, but fun day today.

I started out the day by picking up some supplies from NAPA and then i cleaned out the oiling holes on my crankshaft.

I saw Chuck's shop for the first time and he ground down the edge in my heads. He also gave me a couple of parts I needed and some much needed advice. Then it was off to Bill's to pick up my head hardware. The gas tank got dropped off to Dan and then I drove back home to Akron.

Built up the crank, mostly. Hung the rods and got the #3 bearing along with both gears onto the crank. The rod nuts need to be torqued to 24 ft lbs, I only have torque wrenches 10-200 in lbs and 50-250 ft lbs so I'll need to find and buy one tomorrow. I'll also need to buy a pair of snap ring pliers to fit the crank's snap ring, none of mine fit.

Welding gloves from harbor freight won't stop a hot crank gear from burning you. Why I would ever trust PPE from harbor freight, I have no idea.

[Kooper271]

My bearing driver kit broke and ruined my new pilot bearing so I have to pick one up. LA Products has them in stock luckily

Building a crank without a holding fixture or bolted down vise is difficult. I also couldn't find an appropriate pair of snap ring pliers for the crank snap ring so I spread it with vise grips and got it on like that. I was worried about stretching it too much, but the gap measured okay.