OK I'm tired of waiting on my "friend" to give me a hand getting my engine running for the first time so I'm forced to try it myself. I've never done this before so I was hoping for help from someone with experience but oh well. I'd like to use this thread to post questions for when I get stuck or confused. Thanks in advance for any help!

I've got an A14 rebuilt with dual Hitachis "SU" carbs installed. I haven't cranked it up yet.

OK #1 I didn't fully torque the main bolt when I assembled it. They guy helping me said we shoudl torque it fully later (don't ask me why). So my question is, will engaging the clutch hold the engine enough to fully torque it to spec or is there some other way to hold it? My engine is fully assembled and installed.

#2, I need to fill the clutch fluid. Can someone give me a simple step by step? My manual left me a little confused. Do I just fill the resorvoir and bleed it at the slave, and then fill again? Is some pumping of the clutch pedal required?

#3 What is the recommended fluid for the dampers in the dual Hitachi carbs? None of my manuals mention the SU's of course since they weren't OE on my 210. I've heard somewhere that sewing machine oil is the proper weight???

thansk
michael

#1 If you need to keep the crank from rotating with the engine fully installed, try placing the gearbox in the highest gear & stand on the brake pedal while your mate torques it up. No mate? Then pull the handbrake on firmly & give it a try.

#2 As a starting point, fill the clutch master cylinder resevoir, refit cap, then slowly pump the pedal up & down for a dozen strokes or so. Check the fluid level. If it is down, then top it up & keep going. If not, then get your wife to push the pedal while you expell the air at the end of each down stroke.
I was actually able to bleed my 810 clutch cylinder single handedly this way. It took a week or two of driving before the last bubbles worked their way up.
Two man bleeding is best, but if you are on your own, then give it a try.

#3 I used engine oil because I was too damn lazy to get lighter stuff & the engine ran well anyway. There was always a little engine oil left over when I serviced it so it was used in the carbs as required.
I suppose I was just being an 'individual'

The book says
Gasoline engine oil & carburetor damper oil.
Specification..... API SE [Further details. refer to recomended SAE Viscosity chart.]

Well what do you know, just check the chart in your owners manual for the recomended engine oil in the temperatures that you will be in, & make a chioce from the various overlaping grades.
Hell, I was right anyway. Who'd a thought it.

With the rebuilt engine, before firing it for the first time, pull the coil lead and crank until you get oil pressure so that everythings nice and wet in there.

As for the su's, just 20w engine oil should do for summer (its summer there now right?) when it gets to the colder months maybe try some auto trans fluid for snappier throttle response.

With the bleeding of the clutch, You can do this as dodgeman has said on your own. just dont release the pedal until the bleeders been done up.

Is your slave cyl on the left or the right? If its not on the drivers side, its probably too hard to do it yourself.
I just pump the clutch pedal a few times with my hand, (you wont feel any pressure for a few goes.) hold the pedal down after the final stroke then crack the bleed valve and then tighten again, you should hear a little air come out, repeat this until you have 'pedal'.

Good luck and have fun learning!!

Hope its a stock clutch, wont be no hand pumping with a h/duty beast.

Hi mate! whell. i have a metod thet i think it

Thanks guys. I'll print this all out and take out to the car.

Couple more related:

1. Is Dot3 brake fluid the right thing to use for the clutch (standard automotive brake fluid in the US).

2. The clutch slave cylinder "shaft" is wobbly and moves freely right now. Does it firm up once the fluid is filled or could there be a problem with it? It's a brand new slave cylinder.
Michael

dot 3 is what is used in the clutch.

you mean that the push rod for the clutch is wobbly, they do that, it's got a detent in the cylinder that it sits in.

try to be smarter than me and don't adjust your clutch so that if you pump it it pops the piston out and leaks everywhere and makes you abuse the tranny to get to a safe spot to fix.

OK I got help this weekend finally and we gave it a go. The clutch is filled, carbs dampers filled but still haven't torqued the main. But anwyay we ran into some new problems.

We tried filling the oil and turned over the engine repeatedly with the starte (remote starter thingy). We were hoping to see the oil pressure build up enough to see oil come out of the rocker assembly at the top but couldn't get any oil to come up. We had about 3-1/2 quarts in the engine. So there are a few possiblities:

1. You won't see it come up turning it over with a starter - it has to warm up first.

2. Oil pick-up isn't installed or loose. I did install it and we drained the pan and felt in and could feel it just above the drain hole and it's not loose or anythign so I dont' think that's the problem. I do remember installing the gasket.

3. Oil Pump priming. We removed the oil pump and filled the filter and cycled the pump and filled until it woudln't take anymore. So this doesn't seem to be the problem.

4. Something blockign the passage to the rocker arm assembly? It is a complete rebuild, block and head were dipped, cleaned etc. I can't see how that could be it.

5. Headgasket is wrong and there's no opening for that oil path? Were there different heads with the oil passageway in different locations or is this common to all A series heads? I did get a set for my year model and it's the original head/block I think. I guess to check this we have to pull the head?? Or could I insert some sort of feeler down the hole to feel for blockage (suggestions for feelers?)

6. I'm not 100% sure that I installed the baffle in the oil pan. I have one sitting around but it could be from my spare pan (which doesn't have one installed) but who knows I could have lost one and not installed that one. Could that be the problem?

So any ideas or suggestions for troubleshooting? Shoudl we ignore this and just try to fire it up? I'm worried about all of the new bearings etc not getting oil and I don't want to trash the engine on the first try. Almost everything in the engine is brand new (oil pump, water pump, fuel pump, pistons, rings, bearings, etc..)

Thanks again for the help
Michael

Did the oil pressure idiot light go out after you cranked awhile?

I think the thing to do now with the unknown oil situation is to get a oil pressure gauge hooked up. Then you can determine if you have a head oil problem or a more serious no oil at all issue.

The only time you have head oil issues is when putting a late model head (A12A and up) on an early block. The early A12's (and A10's?) had an oil passage in the head that got the oil into the center headbolt hole. On the later motors the passage to transfer the oil from the oil passage to the center headbolt hole is done in the block and the passage in the head is not drilled out.

All the heads have a oil passage that goes from near the top of the center headbolt hole into the center rocker tower.

I guess if you got the tower order messed up you could end up with out a oil passage to get oil into the rocker tube.

Gary

Thanks Gary. The oil pressure light has been removed and replaced with an oil pressure gauge mounted on the dash. There is a hose for the oil to the gaugethat never filled with oil. Maybe it has to be bled I don't know (it's clear that's how I know it didn't get oil). I never saw a reading on that gauge.

The rocker tower itself wasn't disassembled so I doubt I got that messed up.