Thrust washer replacement

[Freebird]

Hi All

Joe's 1500 Spitty has top limit endfloat on the crank so we what to fit new thrust washers before taking it to Spa in may.

I assume it's possible, if a bit messy, to do them with the engine in the car?

Any pointers most welcome

Cheers

Glen.

[yorkshire_spam]

Think Wimpus has just done this job on his - photos are on his thread in this section IIRC

[Nick Jones]

Yes, entirely possible if rather messy - used motor oil as hair conditioner........  :-/  Getting the remains of the sump gasket off the bottom of the block is particularly enjoyable.....

All you have to do after dropping the sump is to remove the rear main cap and poke the washers out.  The figure our what thicknesses are needed and fit new taking great care to get the bearing face facing the crank!  The coppery coloured TWs seem to survive better - use these on the clutch side if possible.

Or get some from this fella
http://www.customthrustwashers.com/

Of course, while you are there you could inspect the rest of the bearings - which will almost certainly want renewing as well....... :X

I once did this in a London side street with two wheels on the kerb for improved access.  Pretty desperate and not recommended.

Nick

[WIMPUS]

Did the thrust washers a week ago on my spitfire engine and also done it on my spare engine.
Very easy job once you get the sump off .

Just remove the main bearing cap at the back , push the thrust washers out with a small screwdriver ( they go out very easy when worn).
Just put standard in first and then check for play, if you can feel play you can test the end float with a feeler gauge.
In the manual it says how much play you may have.

You can all do it with the engine in the car (no need to jack up the engine or anything).
You just need to see what thrust washers you need, i bought the 4 sizes and only needed standard ones (snug fit).

Took me 3 hours, incl painting the sump  :P
And yes, you do get very greasy hair for free when you don't watch out.
I did this all in an inspection pit, so  that made it also easy to do !

My thrust washers where from County i believe (made in india  :o ).
But have a look at my thread !
If you have questions, give a shout  ;)

Wim

[WIMPUS]

My old ones !  :o

[Freebird]

Hi Wim

I have read your thread with interest and see you also changed the main bearings with the crank still fitted. Were the top shells difficult to remove and refit or did they roll round nicely?

How many KMs has your engine done?

Glen.

[WIMPUS]

Freebird wrote:

Hi Wim

I have read your thread with interest and see you also changed the main bearings with the crank still fitted. Were the top shells difficult to remove and refit or did they roll round nicely?

How many KMs has your engine done?

Glen.

The top ones where also easy to do, but a bit harder then the bottom ones.
Used a plastic zip tie to push them out & then on the otherside helping them a bit to they turned around.
But if you got a wrench or something to turn the crank nut at the same times that helps a lot for sure !
First we did the rear & middle bearing, then got new bearings installed there and the caps back on.
Bolts in, but not tight..
Then removed the front one.
The front ones was a but of a pain, but it came out.

They do say you can't remove the big ends also, but you can.
But its a lot harder with the engine in place.

But do removed one to have a look at the shell to see how they are.
did this also and seemed mine where pretty good .  :)

On the speedo it says 50.000km now, but if i look in the papers in the year 2000 it had 13000 km (before 2000 they didn't record the km's .. :-/ ).
So i think it will have done 150.000km now, but can be 250.000, 350.000 ... nobody knows ! :-/

But as the state of the engine & co, i honestly believe 150.000 km it has done now  :)

[don cook1]

"Just put standard in first and then check for play, if you can feel play you can test the end float with a feeler gauge."

Well done Wim, can't do it any other way. Takes a bit of time having to order standard washers first and then ordering oversize once you know how many thou is needed.

[Nick Jones]

Thrust washers are cheap enough that you can order a selection.

Mains and BEs easy enough to do in situ apart from the front main as that means removing the bridging block at the front, almost certainly damaging the front plate gasket and risking a big oil leak.  My take on that is that of the main bearings, the one that will be most knackered is the lower half of the centre main as it takes the most thump.  Second worst and usually a fair bit better is the rear.  If the rear looks fairly good then I leave the front alone - probably not best practice but eliminates alot of messing about.  Both upper and lower sections of any shell bearings must be renewed as a pair - as Wim says, they can be pushed out easily enough with a tie wrap.

Nick

[WIMPUS]

GT6_Don wrote:

"Just put standard in first and then check for play, if you can feel play you can test the end float with a feeler gauge."

Well done Wim, can't do it any other way. Takes a bit of time having to order standard washers first and then ordering oversize once you know how many thou is needed.

I actually fit the standard ones and it was very tight.. so couldn't get my feeler gauge between anything !
But i also bought the 4 sizes of thrust washers !

So Glenn you need them ... give a shout  ;)
I know someone in the UK that has a few spares also, as i was first going to buy them of him (should be cheaper for postage to the UK guys then).

[WIMPUS]

Nick_Jones wrote:

Thrust washers are cheap enough that you can order a selection.

Mains and BEs easy enough to do in situ apart from the front main as that means removing the bridging block at the front, almost certainly damaging the front plate gasket and risking a big oil leak.  My take on that is that of the main bearings, the one that will be most knackered is the lower half of the centre main as it takes the most thump.  Second worst and usually a fair bit better is the rear.  If the rear looks fairly good then I leave the front alone - probably not best practice but eliminates alot of messing about.  Both upper and lower sections of any shell bearings must be renewed as a pair - as Wim says, they can be pushed out easily enough with a tie wrap.

Nick

Nick, your right.
The front alu block needs to come out  :-/
I've used gasket sealant between block and front plate , so hopefully that will be good.

My rear main bearing was the worst, the front not as bad.. but still you could see copper.

[piman]

Hello all,

an easy way to remove the upper shells is to use a split pin inserted into the oilway of the journal, tap the head down a bit, then just rotate the crank paying attention to where the shell tab is. Rotate against the non tab end. Replace in a similar manner.

Alec