More stripping down

I’ve now got pretty well everything off the engine I want to get off, and the engine is now accessible ready for cleanup and painting.

Another drama with a stud – or at least, someone has previously had a drama with a stud. One of the studs is missing, and someone has replaced it with a bolt. The bolt looks like the right thread (1/4 UNF), but has managed to strip the thread on both the bolt and the hole. I could just leave it and force a bolt in, but I’ll probably drill and tap it to 5/16.

I’ve been replacing nuts and bolts as I go. I prefer to use stainless, unless HT is mandatory, so there’ll be a bit of a mix in the end. When it goes back together, all the studs and bolts going back into the engine will have some Copatec grease on them – hopefully that’ll reduce the seized bolt problems in the future.

I did a serious cleanup on the engine and gearbox – scraper and wire brush to start, then kero and a stiff parts brush, then degreaser and the pressure sprayer.

The gearbox in particular has come up better than I expected.

When I get the engine and gearbox out of the chassis, I’ll have another go and clean up the bits I couldn’t easily get to this time.