27-08-2018, 11:28 AM
I might try Ruairidh's suggestion and soak in water for a couple of days - we have plenty to spare here in Yorkshire at the moment. I greased this one with copperease before fitting and it was very easy to remove without any distortion, so will repeat this method once it's dried out!
Colin, the halved section of the tab washer was resting on the gauze when I removed it. I could find no trace of the other half anywhere within the crankcase. It might have slipped off into the drained oil when I removed the gauze. I was using a pukka oil drainage can rather than the usual washing up bowl so it might have been lost within it, and now recycled.The pinchbolt itself showed signs of having twisted against the gudgeon pin's indent and I can only assume I had not got it positioned correctly when I first fitted it. No damage detected anywhere else.
When I rebuilt the engine I fitted the oil baffles after having snipped the sides so they could be opened out and closed as necessary, just as Ian Bancroft describes in the Practical Classics series of engine rebuild articles - no need to remove the block as I could work from underneath the car. I have fitted pistons into the block from above before and it is not a job I would wish to repeat.
Thanks everybody - very encouraging advice. I'm sure others will have wondered about re-using head gaskets and what cash might be saved in the process will eventually channel its way back to our cherished suppliers in other ways.
Colin, the halved section of the tab washer was resting on the gauze when I removed it. I could find no trace of the other half anywhere within the crankcase. It might have slipped off into the drained oil when I removed the gauze. I was using a pukka oil drainage can rather than the usual washing up bowl so it might have been lost within it, and now recycled.The pinchbolt itself showed signs of having twisted against the gudgeon pin's indent and I can only assume I had not got it positioned correctly when I first fitted it. No damage detected anywhere else.
When I rebuilt the engine I fitted the oil baffles after having snipped the sides so they could be opened out and closed as necessary, just as Ian Bancroft describes in the Practical Classics series of engine rebuild articles - no need to remove the block as I could work from underneath the car. I have fitted pistons into the block from above before and it is not a job I would wish to repeat.
Thanks everybody - very encouraging advice. I'm sure others will have wondered about re-using head gaskets and what cash might be saved in the process will eventually channel its way back to our cherished suppliers in other ways.