SA 200 F 163 Continental rebuild

Do you have copies of the docs generously hosted by Iggy?

--Winston

Thanks. Good manuals. I couldn't find what the compression should be on a compression test. Anyone?

Steve

I don't have the manual but I'd be happy with around 110 psi or so. Even across all is more important. And for any engine used under continuous load, I'd expect the valves to be quite burned. I know you LOVE spending money but new seals and a valve job might make the old baby run for a lot of years at far less money.

I like that. Take it to the machine shop. Pick it up. Slap it back on there. Quick and easy. Steve W suggested that I might just change the front and rear seals without having to totally disassemble. So, we'll see which way to go. I got to do the compression check first, and that should tell me a lot.

Steve

These are simple very low tech engines and are not difficult or tricky to repair or rebuild, but I would advise against 'overfixing'. They are low speed engines that will run for a long time if given clean oil and coolant. I have rebuilt several of these, some of which were very badly damaged.

IIRC, Your old Sally has done a lot of sitting around and no doubt the seals are getting hard and maybe brittle. IIRC the front case cover is aluminium and also is the front engine mount. One of my machines developed a front leak that I thought was from the crank seal but turned out to be a cracked case cover. I probably could have welded up the original cover but the crack was in the high stress area of the mount and I was able to obtain a new (maybe used?) cover and new seal which seemed like the better option. I kept the (unrepaired) old cover 'just in case'. IIRC, the front seal was a common one piece circular rubber lip type.

IIRC, the older engines used a jute packing in the rear main seal but suspect that later engines use a two piece rubber seal similar to the two piece Chevy engine rear seal. I would expect yours to be the jute type. The seal is mounted in a removable lower filler block but I cannot remember if the upper seal is mounted in a removable block or in the iron engine block. Replacing these jute seals is easy with the crank removed, but I think it is possible but more difficult with the crank and weld generator in place. I suggest you will need to remove your pan to see what you have. At this time you will probably want to check the condition of the main and rod bearings and roll in a new set if required. Some people have had good results by just changing the lower jute and trimming it a little long and carefully compressing the upper seal using a plastic or wood tool so as not to damage the crank.

I am not a big fan of leak stop additives and IMHO they really only work in machinery with these jute type seals. I doubt they will help your front seal problem but may help the rear seal.

If you are not burning engine oil and/or making smoke (after warm-up, lots of these engines smoke a bit at start-up when cold, and will continue to do so for years) then I would not bother with cylinder or valve work. You should do a compression check with the engine warm and cylinders dry then again after adding a couple of squirts of oil to better seal the rings and give you a good check of valve sealing of compression. Don't be too concerned about the actual compression measured but rather pay close attention to the variation between cylinders and between dry and wet tests. If you have access to a bore scope then have a look in the cylinders (through the plug hole) to check for scoring and compression ring sealing or blowby.

If the upper end checks out then I would just reseal the crank and check the crank bearings and hopefully not even need to remove the block or the generator or the crank. This will all be a lot easier if you can drain the liquids and roll the welder so you are not doing all the work overhead. A hot roder's body roll frame would make this easy and you could make one easily out of old pipe or get an electrician to bend you one out of electrical conduit. They are very handy for any type of positioning.

Good luck, YMMV

IIRC, we used to use PlastiGauge to check the journal wear. Is that still standard?

Steve

PlastiGauge is not as accurate as we would like to believe, but is better than nothing if used correctly, and it will make you feel better. The crank must be held against the block side or the readings will not be accurate at all. If the engine is inverted this is easy as gravity is working for you, but if you are inspecting overhead then the crank must be held up against the block with a jack.

IMHO, PlastiGauge is best used as a final check to catch big problems like installing the wrong sized shells. The old shells should be size marked on the underside but you need to mike the crank to check for regrind size. Usually? you are safe just installing the same size that came out but if you want to install .001 undersize then you had better mike the crank and the block and the rod bearings and not depend on PlastiGauge.

Continental cautions that " TC and Y crankshafts MUST be nitempered after regrinding." I am not a big fan of routine regrinding unless necessary. (KISS, I also prefer plain cast iron rings when re-ringing as they will break in much easier and are much more tolerant of bore finish.(and are cheaper))

IMHO visual inspection is the best indicator of not only wear but also of prior maintenance quality. Visual inspection can also show evidence of fatigue. Main bearings are easy to inspect visually because most of the wear is likely on the cap side but con rods are the opposite as the loads from both the compression and power strokes are on the rod side. The wear patterns can also tell you a lot about alignment. In the big picture bearings are cheap and easy to roll in. Some people do not like to reinstall bearings as they claim the required crush has been compromised.

Cat truck engines recommends rolling in new main brgs @ ~500k as routine preventative maintenance, as the upper engine will outlive the bearings but bearing failure usually scraps the entire engine. Diesel engine bearings are a lot more heavily loaded than most gas engines but the thinking is similar. Your Continental will run for years with leaky valves and rings as long as it has clean oil and coolant and the crank does not fail. Lots of welders run for years but need to have one or more plugs cleaned of fouling periodically when they start miss-firing.

It will also run a long time with leaky seals as long as you keep checking the oil and do not run low. Do not lengthen your drain intervals very much or at all. A catch can strategically placed or hung with wire can solve a lot of messy type problems if the leak is not too severe (and you do not need to worry about getting oil on a clutch disk) but you should carefully inspect the front gear cover for cracks at the motor mount.

Good luck, YMMV

"Private" wrote

It is cloudy outside, and drizzly. Tomorrow it will be a high of 32, and a low tonight of 13. I think I'll wait a couple of days to go check anything. My BIL brought over a forklift assembly for me to weld yesterday, which was when I noticed the leak. I'll just keep it full of oil until I can figure out what's going on.

Steve

I have to book on the Lincoln welders. i'm currently rebuilding one for my personal use. the problem that i'm have is the i cant pull out the camshaft. Does anyone know how to?