Busy day today, but all done and dusted. Having borrowed the engine hoist I
was able to remove the undamaged sump off the spare engine and put it on
the Tiger. Sounds simple but it took hours, with the associated skinned
knuckles and frustration. Turns out Ford designed the sump so that
you couldn't take it off without removing the oil filter mounting. We
are only talking about a 1mm overlap here, you would think they could
shave 1mm off the sump to enable it to be removed easily. Body is
aching all over from having to adopt weird positions under the car to
access everything.
First problem was getting the gasket to fit. I had a new one but I could not get the little mounting pegs to line up. Again we are talking about 1-2mm. So I decided to reuse the old gasket off the spare engine as that definitely fitted. Then getting the holes lined up took a long time. I suspect that the sump had bedded in on the old engine and distorted slightly (I had the identical problem putting the old sump back onto the spare engine). I eventually got one bolt in and that enabled me to work my round the engine. Occasionally there was a 'ping' as the sump settled into position and probably 'stretched' a bit and I thought I had cracked it when bolts 12-17 went in quite easily. Then the final bolt refused to go in and it took 15 mins to get the thread to catch.
Just after doing that I got a phone call from my mechanic, saying my sump was ready. Turns out he couldn't fix it so he passed it onto a mate who was an expert welder and he has done a lovely repair. And he refused to charge me for it.
First problem was getting the gasket to fit. I had a new one but I could not get the little mounting pegs to line up. Again we are talking about 1-2mm. So I decided to reuse the old gasket off the spare engine as that definitely fitted. Then getting the holes lined up took a long time. I suspect that the sump had bedded in on the old engine and distorted slightly (I had the identical problem putting the old sump back onto the spare engine). I eventually got one bolt in and that enabled me to work my round the engine. Occasionally there was a 'ping' as the sump settled into position and probably 'stretched' a bit and I thought I had cracked it when bolts 12-17 went in quite easily. Then the final bolt refused to go in and it took 15 mins to get the thread to catch.
Just after doing that I got a phone call from my mechanic, saying my sump was ready. Turns out he couldn't fix it so he passed it onto a mate who was an expert welder and he has done a lovely repair. And he refused to charge me for it.
I wondered about
swapping them back but then remembered the hours I had spent so decided
not to do it. It will mean that for the first time in years I won't
need a drip tray under the car. So oil filter mounting replaced and
all 18 bolts tightened up as per the Haynes manual and the new, stronger
sump guard fitted. It actually sits 2mm below the sump so I might take
it off tomorrow and redrill the mounting hole.
Finally started the engine and as expected there was a bit of a rattle for the first 3-4 seconds while the oil filled up the filter and all the other spaces, then the pressure gauge went up to 90psi and she sat there idling nicely. No obvious leaks with the oil under pressure, time will tell though.
So another lesson learned, but not something I enjoyed doing, very frustrating all round. Hopefully I won't have to do it again.
Finally started the engine and as expected there was a bit of a rattle for the first 3-4 seconds while the oil filled up the filter and all the other spaces, then the pressure gauge went up to 90psi and she sat there idling nicely. No obvious leaks with the oil under pressure, time will tell though.
So another lesson learned, but not something I enjoyed doing, very frustrating all round. Hopefully I won't have to do it again.
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