My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[matth825]

Oh I'm quite happy they did it, completely unprompted and pro bono. I did thank them courteously and paid a bit extra.

Nice! It's always good when mistakes lead to more improvements! Takes the sting out of the mistake.


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[Arquemann]

Rotating assembly is in and done.
Even after my fumblings, all oil clearances are under 0.0020". The rearmost conrod journal had tolerances slightly closer to 0.0020" than the others, nothing unexpected.
Crank spun nicely by hand, stiff to turn now that the piston and rings are in. Standard tension rings, I think originals were "low tension"?

Pistons are about 0.3mm / 0.012" below deck. A crude measurement.

Next up, timing chain, cover, oil pump, pickup and pan. Then I need to order more stuff.
I want to paint the engine without the timing cover, but I can't really put the oil pan on before the timing cover. And the masking becomes interesting.

[Arquemann]

A sneak peek of what stuff might end up looking like. I'm going with silver.
Original idea was to paint the engine with a brush, but the metallic in a silver seems to mean I can't get a smooth finish no matter how I try. Well, time to strip the timing cover and start again.
Attempt two was with thinned brush-on paint and a foam brush; runs immediately, shitty coverage and still lines from the metallic.

Third attempt turned out pretty well, I guess I'm going this route. It's generic alkyd spray paint, advertised as gasoline and chemical proof and impact resistant. No mention of heat resistance, but it's alkyd so it shouldn't lose it's gloss or discolour too bad, hopefully.

Bummer that I couldn't find a good silver brush-on paint, since a brushed paintjob would most likely be longer lasting and more robust than a spraybomb.

[87gtVIC]

Looks like a nice aluminum finish.

[Arquemann]

Timing cover is on, I only painted the sides and "backside" bits so spraying the assembled engine isn't as hard. Installed it twice, realized I need to install the balancer to center the cover. Later came to the conclusion that I centered the cover better myself without the damper. Whatever I guess. Not like the slight offset on the crank seal bugs... me... at... all...
Also put on the oil pan, mainly to get it out of the way and keep debris from the insides. Light smear of RTV on the pan as its a bit pitted and one of those fancypants felpro blue gaskets.

I have a problem, my oil level sender leaks internally. RockAuto is out of stock and I'm not spending 70€+ plus for one either. Can I just chop off the sender bit off the sender and plug it with RTV or epoxy? I presume the sender just grounds out when the float drops? I'd like to able to plug the connector into the sender to make things look complete, otherwise I'd just fill the sender connector with RTV or find a plug for the hole in the pan.

[friskyfrankie]

Timing cover is on, I only painted the sides and "backside" bits so spraying the assembled engine isn't as hard. Installed it twice, realized I need to install the balancer to center the cover. Later came to the conclusion that I centered the cover better myself without the damper. Whatever I guess. Not like the slight offset on the crank seal bugs... me... at... all...
Also put on the oil pan, mainly to get it out of the way and keep debris from the insides. Light smear of RTV on the pan as its a bit pitted and one of those fancypants felpro blue gaskets.

I have a problem, my oil level sender leaks internally. RockAuto is out of stock and I'm not spending 70€+ plus for one either. Can I just chop off the sender bit off the sender and plug it with RTV or epoxy? I presume the sender just grounds out when the float drops? I'd like to able to plug the connector into the sender to make things look complete, otherwise I'd just fill the sender connector with RTV or find a plug for the hole in the pan.

Have you checked EBAY or other sources?

[Arquemann]

Have you checked EBAY or other sources?

Like 40 dollars for chinesium ones at the cheapest, all US based sellers so the shipping just kills it. Don't feel like spending closer to a hundo for a stupid sender I don't plan on needing. I have a brain and a dipstick.

[sly]

It's 1/4 NPT IIRC. Could get a brass hex plug for it. Or replace it with a dedicated oil pressure gauge with it's own sender. Probably get the gauge and sender kit for less than one of those senders from this side of the pond.

[gadget73]

The timing cover should have locating dowels around 2 of the bolt holes down low near the oil pan that centers it. There shouldn't really be much ability to move it around if those are present. If missing, get some replacements.


sealer won't hold on the pressure sender, use a pipe plug. Its def 1/4 NPT.

[friskyfrankie]

+1 on the pipe plug. I wouldn't risk any type of sealer for that application. Then you just have to resolve the connector of the sensor issue.

[Arquemann]

I am talking about the oil level sender, I guess I gotta mention that again.
Looking at some mustang forums, there's an internal seal that some have managed to replace and fix the internal leaking, I might try taking the sender apart non-destructively first.

[sly]

Right... Mercury... yeah... brain didn't trigger on the "level" part. No clue why. That one I've never touched.

[gadget73]

Oh that. It unscrews and you should be able to fit a plug in there, but I don't know what size it is. Might be the same size as the drain plug, but thats a guess.

[Arquemann]

I cut the float "cage" off it and squeezed black RTV between the inner and outer bits. Also put some on the threads and screwed it in. It's an interestingly simple non-serviceable design. Works in any orientation. But if it weren't for the internal leaking, the sensors would probably last forever. Mustang guys say it's M20x1,5 so I could get a plug for it, but a plug wouldn't have a plug for my plug to plug into.

[Arquemann]

Among my bag of head bolts, I have one that has a stud on top of it, with a nut. I can't remember where that one goes to. I'm guessing it holds some bracket for something, but where and what?