Budget 2.0 (2L) build

[Daniel]

Ital Motors in Edmonton had a set of 85mm pistons available.

No Longer in stock nothing but 3 sets of Stock size Pistons ! I called them .

[maytag]

So I've got the motor broken-down now, to a state where I can start cleaning.

I could use some direction here: I read on another thread that I should skip the hot-tank treatment when I take the block to the machinist, because the aux shaft bearings won't take it. Am I to understand then that these bearings are not readily available as replacement items?

And as long as we're discussing the aux shaft, can I just use a cut-off wheel and take the lobe off the end to avoid an issues in the future? (I can forsee no instance where this motor would get a mechanical fuel pump again)

Additonally:
Standing at the front of the motor, on the left-hand-side, about halfway down the side of the block, there's a round "rib" running the length of the block. I think this must be an oil galley? In which case, can I pull out the lugs that are in it to clean? And then should I tap and plug with a threaded plug? What's best practice here?

[narfire]

I have read the same regarding the aux shaft bearing/bushing with the hot tank. I believe if they use a caustic material you'll have issues. The fellow I send my block to uses a soap or some kind of solution but not the caustic stuff. I bought a spare set of bushings a year or so ago, but not sure from whom, I think it was Ital Motors in Edmonton.
Yes you can buck the end off,but the oil passage has to be plugged. Some tap and screw in a plug(best) and some will drill out the passage and use the plug or a new plug and friction keeps it in place. It was friction to start so I'd guess if you have the diameter correct a new plug should work just as well as the original.
Chris

[digitech]

On the issue of plugging the left side oil galley.....you can tap & plug the opening on the front face of the block but DO NOT ATTEMPT to do the same with the one on the left side of the block. That one is more complicated than it seems and cannot be tapped & plugged. It also requires a special plug, not just one to fit the hole diameter, which is 18mm if I remember correctly. Don't ask how I know - a long story, but I finally was able to get the proper type from Guy Croft.

[fiatfactory]

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[kbee00]

PM Sent

[manoa matt]

Steve,

With a flat top and large valve reliefs on both intake and exhaust, how is this a high compression piston? (via the 0.56mm overbore)? The piston skirt looks a bit odd in the 3rd photo.

[maytag]

Steve,

With a flat top and large valve reliefs on both intake and exhaust, how is this a high compression piston? (via the 0.56mm overbore)? The piston skirt looks a bit odd in the 3rd photo.

Wait.... LEMME TRY! Let's see how much I've learned here, and see how much I screw-up.....

So, as I understand it, the hi-compression comes from the compression height of the piston. Yes, it is in fact a flat-top (no dome), like others out there. BUT: because of the compression height (distance from the pin-bore to the top-land of the piston) it tops-out higher in the cylinder. this one will actually stand-proud of the deck by .05mm (did I get that correct?). So not only will it provide HC, it also is effective in improving the o-so-crucial squish band.

And the skirting is clearly assymetrical. My suspicion is that they are manufactured this way to clear crank counterweights? Maybe for a shorter-rod motor? I dunno. We may find that these pistons have taller skirts than a piston we are accustomed to? Steve? Help us out here... how'd I do?

[fiatfactory]

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[fiatfactory]

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[maytag]

Just a brief update here.
I received a package of goods (airmail) from Fiatfactory (Steve). He packaged them well, but it looks like the package got kicked off a dock into the water!! It's very sad. The box was mildewed and the packaging destroyed. The Pistons took the worst of it though.




There's crud growing on the ring lands and in the pin-bores.

I've been unhappy so far with the dfficulty of an international insured-freight claim. Neither the originating country nor the receiving post office want to take responsibility for beginning the claim. This is of course exacerbated by the strange shifts that Steve wrks. (He seems to not have visited this forum since the 19th... leaving me uncertain of the status of my claim).

In all: I'm beginning to think that there is some merit to the original position I took: that some of these parts are just not available to us here in the US.

I don't know how this'll turn-out.... but now we are seriously impeding the prgress of my project.

[So Cal Mark]

geez, that level of corrosion is hard to imagine in such a short time. Even claims for domestic shipping are a pain. Most of my int'l claims have taken a year to resolve, domestic claims 6-9 months. Sorry to see your build has taken a turn for the worse

[fiatfactory]

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[maytag]

Well...... :sigh:.....

I came back to this thread to put some closure on it, and on this interaction with fiatfactory / Steve. I was going to be really nice about it, and just close-it-up and start a new thread that didn't remind me of this every time I went to it.....

But after reading through the thread again... I've got to admit to being pretty pissed-off. So I'm going to say so:

Steve, if you're reading this: I'm pissed-off.

this thread is full of your condescension and patronization about how readily available these (non-US spec) parts are, and you even go so far as to call me lazy.... and look what all of that has netted us?

You've proved once-and-for-all that these parts are NOT readily available to us in the US, because we must depend on someone like yourself to sell them to us... and then trust that you will keep your end of the bargain. Since YOU haven't kept your end of the bargain, how could we expect others elsewhere in the world would do differently?

SO:
my $1500 to you has been chalked-up to the cost of the lesson you've taught me.
And now I'll be done, and I'll go start a new thread elsewhere to REALLY and TRULY build my motor.... instead of being distracted like a dog chasing squirrels by your pithy posts about doing things "right" instead of actually DOING THINGS.


I sure hope to never see another post from you saying that Aussie-spec parts are available to folks in the US. 'cuz I'll call bull-shit in really large font, and ALL CAPS.

peace-out.

[So Cal Mark]

if nothing else, you could use those pistons as a mock-up to have your own pistons made. A set of custom pistons is about $450 these days, and the piston mfg will keep your specs on file for future orders. Heck, you could even supply them to others in the US that want them and eventually recoup your investment