Engine problems

First post of the year and it’s already August! Once again the need to earn a living has prevented me getting much time on the car. Added to that a prolonged attack of gout meant the Marcos had to be neglected. The time I did spend was on the engine, back in February, cleaning and leak investigation.

A dirty job

The exterior of the V8 was quite oily, But I think a lot of that is lack of care when filling the oil. Possibly the rear crankshaft oil seal needs replacing as there is evidence of oil in that area too. I spent several hours cleaning it all off so it’s in a much better sate now. I drained the oil and removed the sump too.

The state of the oil rang alarm bells. Yes very black as to be expected but I wasn’t expecting the sticky black sludge at the bottom of the sump. It was still oozing out after 20 minutes looking like something from a cheap 50s horror film!

With the engine on its stand I cleaned it up, but found that it won’t turn-over. It seems to be locked solid, what to do? Maybe this engine wasn’t such a good deal after all…

After that I wasn’t able to do anymore on the car due to a very heavy work load and an inability to walk!

Oilslick

While I recovered I didn’t realise that the bucket containing the old engine oil had a leak, so imagine my delight to be greeted with a shiny black garage floor last week. It took hours to clean up, what a drag…

While I was immobile I did manage to start the design for the chassis modifications. More on that next time.

Ian