Donal Posted December 13, 2019 Report Share Posted December 13, 2019 Just signed up to your site, im beginning to overhaul my triumph spitfire 1500 1977 engine.. might need help along the way. Donal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted December 13, 2019 Report Share Posted December 13, 2019 Welcome Donal! WD40, hammer, saw, all the right tools! Although I'd recommend a bigger hammer. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglefire Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 One serious suggestion I have is to have lots of small containers to put the various bits in for the main components - for example, a box for the rocker shaft and nuts/bolts, box for carbs etc. Makes it a lot easier when you come to put it all back together. Even if you plan to replace most, you will know what should go where! And buy good quality parts - particularly bearings and the internal bits. Don't buy stuff just because it's cheap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 To add to Mark's excellent advice get the small magnetic containers and nothing ferrous gets lost. Also for parts, look at the club shop, often more expensive, but chosen for quality. Doug 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Anglefire said: One serious suggestion I have is to have lots of small containers to put the various bits in for the main components - for example, a box for the rocker shaft and nuts/bolts, box for carbs etc. Makes it a lot easier when you come to put it all back together. Even if you plan to replace most, you will know what should go where! +1 on that; I have a pile of old carry-out containers - the plastic ones with lids - all sitting in a corner from my Herald engine rebuild, and labelled with black marker, otherwise I'd never remember where all the bolts go. Plus - take lots of photos if you can. Even remembering how little brackets fit, or if they go on the fourth bolt along, rather than the third, makes things a lot easier. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 2 hours ago, Anglefire said: One serious suggestion I have is to have lots of small containers to put the various bits in for the main components - for example, a box for the rocker shaft and nuts/bolts, box for carbs etc. Makes it a lot easier when you come to put it all back together. Even if you plan to replace most, you will know what should go where! And buy good quality parts - particularly bearings and the internal bits. Don't buy stuff just because it's cheap! +1 for all the above. Welcome! As for containers, plastic trays from Chinese takeaways are great for smaller stuff like studs and bolts. Plastic pet litter trays are cheap and useful for storing or cleaning larger stuff like the oil pump or timing gears. Clean everything scrupulously, preferably three times over! Paraffin is a useful cleaning fluid as it dissolves oily dirt and leaves a thin film of oil after drying so components don't rust so easily. That said, store stripped out engine components somewhere dry. Consider spraying any parts likely to be stored for more than a few weeks with WD40. If you need advice during the rebuild, just ask. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qu1ckn1ck Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 Hi and welcome Donal. Good luck with the engine overhaul. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 ask away. bear in mind some answers may drift into some obscure places but we're all here to help Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 Hi Donal, Welcome to the Forum. It's been a while since I stripped an engine down, I used lots of containers plus sealable sandwich bags for the smaller stuff. I just wrote what the items were on the bags with an indelible marker. I put the bags in containers but you can put multiple bags into one container. Don't forget to mark up the mains and big end caps, rods, pistons up 1, 2, 3, 4, and just incase I had a senile moment I think I wrote 1F for Front and 4R for ???? I can't remember..... As Colin said take loads of pictures. Have fun! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixasStandard Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 When it comes to plastic storage containers you can't have enough of the things, and try to get them in various sizes if possible. I get the ones with 2 part hinged lids as they are much easier to get in and out of. If you have a Wilko store nearby they are an excellent source for these...…..particularly just after the Christmas period when they tend to sell them off cheap. Resealable plastic bags are also great for small parts and can be bought in bulk very cheaply on E-Bay. I don't tend to write on the bags themselves, as the writing can become smudged or illegible, whereas putting a slip of paper inside the bag with the relevant description has proved more successful for me. I take digital photos of everything and keep them filed on my laptop, grouping the pictures together logically in files with specific names...…….Engine...….Gearbox...….Ignition.....Fuel...…..etc etc. Take a picture of each component in place first, then removed, then dis-assembled. Good luck. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 Also, digital camera/phone, and a sketch pad. As you dismantle, sketch how it comes apart, which bits go where and in what order. No need for drawing skill, any shaft is a line and any part is a line across it, labelled of course! Labelling. I used to label in biro on pieces of masking tape, but that fades. A Sharpie, on white gaffer tape, is more permanent. Or, Dymo tape, but be prepared to make the strips really long, as a short strip, folded around, say, a wire from a loom, will unstick over time and fall off. If it's just (!) the engine you're doing then a storage unit with lots of drawers/compartments is useful, as finding the set of bolts you need next in a plastic box (You'll need those too!) is frustrating. Something like this? https://www.bigdug.co.uk/storage-boxes-containers-c363/small-parts-storage-c366/plastic-small-parts-drawer-storage-units-p19434 But as Iain says each set in its own, labelled(!) plastic bag. And, big plastic boxes, 'storage boxes', for the larger parts Try to spend a bit more than rock bottom proces - those can be very fragile! Me, I like to clean each part and its fixtures as I remove them. Avoids mixups in the sink, and ensures that reassembly isn't disturbed, or made less than clean by dirt from another set of bits. Wash each part, dry ( an air line is great with WD40) and store in a bag, with a little spray of WD in there. Enjoy! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 I would make a couple of suggestions.... 1. Use either a set of number stamps or a centre punch to number parts before you remove them. eg bearing caps etc. And mark the caps so they go back the correct way round. 2. Once you remove something, reassemble the sub-assembly. eg put the caps back on the con rods etc. I have just rebuilt a TR7 engine using a "new" (to me) block/crank/pistons/rods but re-using everything else from the old engine. Been a faff as some parts are more complex than the OHV engines, but generally keeping things in sub assemblies and a few plastic storage boxes has done the job. A handful of tie-on labels would be useful, along with a decent manual. Plus as above, using pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 If you've got the room to have parts sitting for a while, lay them out in the order they were removed and mark accordingly; this is the top of an old washing machine and I can write on it with black marker as the parts are removed, and indicate the order in which they go. Helps a fading memory very well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglefire Posted December 16, 2019 Report Share Posted December 16, 2019 A friend of mine mother had a reliant kitten. And the gearbox has to be rebuilt. So he took it apart and had it all nicely laid out ready for rebuilding. his mother came along a tidied it all up. 😳 hadn’t a clue what bit matched what bit. So he had to beat guess. Did work again - though he wasn’t happy. 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted December 16, 2019 Report Share Posted December 16, 2019 aha the joys of using the dinning table ha ! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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