Tear Down Part II

The chassis sans motor.

Tonight I removed the engine from the frame and proceeded to split the cases. All the remaining fasteners came out without issue, but I was worried the case halves were sealed together with some unknown adhesive. Every time I handled the cases I got some odd, black gooey stuff on me that wouldn't come off no matter what I tried, and looking at the combustion chamber (combined with a lot of odd nicks on the flywheels), it was obvious that this engine had been opened up previously, most likely after some sort of catestrophic failure.

Something was bouncing around the combustion chamber at some point.

Like the rest of the motor, however, the cases split without issue, as there was no gasket sealer whatsoever between the cases. I removed the crankshaft and all of the transmission, ensuring that I got all of the shims and thrust washers. Everything was zip-tied onto its respective shaft and bagged for later inspection. A cursory inspection showed the transmission was in pretty good shape, but the crankshaft wasn't so happy.

It looked like shafts had been overheated at the journals, as both showed the deep blue of severe heat, and the timing side of the crank even had a piece of a tooth broken off (a bit blurry in the photo).

I was worried that I'd need a new crank assembly, but looking closely at the pics of other cranks on eBay it seemed the bluing was normal? I posted the question to the Bevelheads mailing list, and the consenus was that amount of bluing is not a concern.

A closer inspection of the chip in the timing gear revealed that it was actually the timing mark drilled into the tooth and someone had filled it with white paint. Looks like I may be able to use this crank after all.

With everything spread out all over the garage, the enormity of the whole project hit me - I have a lot of work ahead of me. I also realized I that really need to get a parts washer. I've been making do with the bottom cut out of a fabric softner bottle filled with mineral spirits and a bristle brush, but I think I finally need to step up and invest in a washer with a pump.