Tear Down and Reassemble Unstarted 1.7 built to 2270, 1.7 to 2270 Unstarted 10 Year Old Build Options

[Robroe]

Moved from topic of first start of 10 year old build to tear down, inspect and reassemble. The 10 year old build is from a 73 1.7 to a 2270. Stroked to 78 mm and 96 mm cylinder diameter. Heads are Ham/RAT with 36 mm exhaust and 44 mm intake. Both are nicely ported.

Have torn it down to the case and checking crank end play before I split the case and pull the cam and crank. So far, everything is new and looks in good order. I'm concerned about oil passages being blocked with old assembly lube so a complete tear down and reassemble is happening. Discovered stacked cylinder spacers (4) totaling .150". So looking to replace those with single spacers. So far I can only find .160" spacers from type 4 store and may just use them as impact on compression appears minimal. Was shocked to discover crank end play is .450"! Sure glad I didn't try to start this thing. Will check again in the morning to make sure I'm checking it correctly, but I'm doing the same thing on the videos such as Ian Carrs YouTube engine builds so pretty sure I'm checking it correctly. Now to figure out what to do about that huge end play.

Any thoughts about what to watch out for?

[Superhawk996]

Personally, I’d check at least one rod for clearance.

As an alternative you can check the split main bearing with Plastigage and if that is good, maybe feel safer that rods are OK?

Cam bearings seem to just have had the tin protective plating wiped off based on appearance. Again, those can be measured with Platigage if there is any question on clearance.

The issue is that now is the time to be 100% sure. It would be a waste to have done all this, start the engine, hear a rod knocking and then have to tear down. Agree - not likely, but at this stage it’s easy to be sure.

Case doesn’t appear to be clearanced to me. Those grind marks at lifter bores are typical of casting flash clean up. Just mockup and make sure you have clearance to all rotating / moving parts (crank, cam, rods, lifters).

Note: don’t assume oil galleys were previously cleaned or that hot tanking will clean them. Galley brushes and brake cleaner until you are sure they are clean.