The 3000 Forum

Bob, Peter and Raymond,
Thanks for the input - very helpful. The manual shows tool 18G391 for removing the starting dog nut, which is a manual impact wrench. Picture below. I've had success in the past using this technique to remove very tight nuts/bolts. Socket on a 1/2" breaker bar and small sledge hammer for striking - just like an air or electric impact, the turning force is great.

Bob stated earlier in the thread his recollection of the socket size was 1 11/16" - can anyone confirm?

The manual does not give a torque spec for the starting dog nut (that I can find at least). I'm assuming all of you use the "feels about right" method?

Good point about centering the seal before tightening the timing chain cover.

Thanks again.
Bill

Hi,
Yes, it's 1&11/16ths". I've also heard that it's 43mm. Don't know which is better. I quote from someone else, "A 1 11/16" may work but it's actually 43mm. I purchased a deep well socket
from Sears and used an air impact wrench to break it loose."
Personally, if you're going down the socket route, I'd get the 1&11/16ths. Make sure it's 6 point.
We've got a funny old place near here that sells masses of tools. Plenty of them are Army surplus. I measured the nut with calipers and went down to this place. In a big box of ugly old rusty spanners I found a massive, single ended, spanner. It was a perfect fit. (Must have been used on something fairly lumpy....Challenger MBT or similar).
I'd made a crude tool to hold the crank still, stuck the car in 1st and whacked that spanner with a club hammer. Hard as I good. One really sharp, quick whack. Worked a treat. My big old spanner would have been much like the so-called "starting dog-nut spanner", just a big lump that will survive being hit really hard.
Do it up good and tight.
Have fun,
Simon

Thanks Simon - do you remember if it was a right or left hand thread. Seems like it should be left hand since the engine spins clockwise when standing in front looking back...
Bill

Hi,
I guess it's just a regular nut, not reverse thread or whatever you call it. I'd remember if it was. Nothing in my files and I just checked the manual...no mention of any funny business there. And the "tab washer" is supposed to keep the nut in place.
Simon

Hi Bill,

Yes, it is a regular nut. Put the gearbox in 4th gear and use a piece of wood or a slegde hammer to whack the nut.

I allready did replacing the seal last november and I could lift the engine far enough without loosening the gearbox from the chassis. Indeed a lot of work for a small seal. But it’s done!! And the most important thing is to center the seal before tightening the nuts from the chaincover.

It’s too cold now for a drive, so I still have to wait a month of two....

Peter



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-02-16 09:33 AM by pkoot.

Thanks Peter and all for your great input. It's been fairly cold even here in central Texas, but we've had a few nice days that my wife and I have taken advantage of with a pleasant drive through our "Hill country".

I took our insurance agent out for a drive (with top off) recently. He said that he's always been neutral about convertibles (take 'em or leave 'em), but that riding in the Healey was totally different from anything he'd experienced before - sweeping around the curves at speed, at one with the road and wind, exhaust note, etc. I thought for a minute he was going to make an offer (grin)...

Best to all!
Bill

Don’t sell! Enjoy!

Peter

Lots of good advice on how to do the job but what caught my eye is that the old seal only lasted two years. We all know the old saw about oil leaks being the rust prevention process. That seal should last longer than that. When you do get it apart check the damper shaft carefully where the seal runs on it. They do wear and even a slight groove will have you doing the job again much sooner than you'd like. Replace the damper if you can detect any issue. Also, when you put it back together leave the bolts securing the timing cover loose. Tighten the cover bolts with the damper in place thru the seal. It may not look like it but there is a little play in positioning the cover. This helps insure the seal is centered on the shaft. It may be a (royal) pain to tighten the bolts with the damper in place but it's worth the effort.

I'd love to find that pulley/crank holding lever (or make one of my own.) I had trouble figuring a search description of it that would produce a result, though. The best (but really crude) alternative I have found is to feed a thin nylon rope into Cylinder 1 and run the piston up to TDC.

Interesting read so far. Doing the same at the moment on my BJ8 rally spec with Super Damper.

Just removed radiator and side exhaust silencer. Removed fan belt and contemplating removing triple webers and exhaust manifold.

Have been assured removal of pulley is possible with engine in car but raised after releasing engine monts. However I've removed whats required and next week the car is going in to John Chathams for the engine lift and pulley removal. I'm hoping its only the keyway thats causing the damper to move about 5 degrees on the crank. Damper itself seems okay, looks to be moving on the crank. Will know move next week.

Will report back on how easy it is to lift engine once done.

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https://www.facebook.com/5975-KR-566868896797593/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-03-15 06:44 PM by Captain.

Okay it appears it is possible to remove pulley by lifting engine in car. However my pulley / super damper would not come off. Therefore engine had to come out and super damper cut off !

All sorted now and back in my workshop to finish putting back together.

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https://www.facebook.com/5975-KR-566868896797593/

i have replaced more than a few front seals and i always shoot penetrating oil in on the threads of the dog nut for about a week before i start. i have also found that if you have an old mild steel exhaust the flexible part may crack if you do not take exhaust down at the manifold.

I made an engine lift device and thought you all might be interested in the details. Pictures below.

The device is made using 4 pieces of 2 x 4 stud material from one 2" x 4" x 8' stud (straight with no bow or twist).

Cut one piece exactly 14" long
Cut one piece exactly 10 7/8" long
Cut two pieces exactly 5 1/2" long

Glue and screw together as shown in the picture.

Find the exact center of the 14" long piece and drill a small depression the size of your floor jack lifting pad using a Forstner bit, or a hole saw and clean out with a chisel. This helps locate the jack lifting pad in the exact center so the engine will lift straight up.

I used ONLY one long bolt as a guide on Only one side as the lifting device lifts the engine very evenly and straight up. When putting the bolts back in after finishing the job, the engine can be lifted very slightly (still barely touching the frame to provide a small amount of friction). This will allow the engine to be nudged around very easily with a pry bar or short 1 x 2 stick to line up the bolt holes.

The lifting device pushes up on the bottom of both front rubber engine mounting plates and is snug against the sides of the oil pan (no pressure at all on the pan). By cutting the 10 7/8" piece a little shorter than the 11" space between the two vertical pieces, when you screw the two upright pieces to the ends of this piece, it pulls the tops of the two uprights slightly together, which results in enough tension to actually hold the device snugly to the edges of the oil pan and ensure the two uprights will contact both bottoms of the engine mounting plates firmly. Two of the pictures show the device in place, but don't show the it very clearly - you have to study the pix to see the contact points.

The harmonic balancer was rebuilt by damperdudes.net and sleeved where the oil seal contacts. Since the sleeve was a slightly larger diameter, I had to relieve the timing cover hole, which is shown in two of the other pictures, for it to fit properly over the balancer shaft.

Let me know if you have any questions - it worked perfectly.
Bill



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2018-06-30 05:45 PM by bjmay5.

Great idea. What is that arrangement on your Hyd reservoir?

The square white piece on the hydraulic fluid reservoir is a plastic laminated notice that the reservoir contains DOT 5 Silicone brake fluid. Moss Motors (and maybe some other suppliers) sells a yellow stick on label, but I wanted the notice to be more prominent. You can't take the cap off without clearly seeing the notice. After laminating, just cut out a circle with slightly smaller diameter than the reservoir neck - fits snug and won't easily come off.
Bill