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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2004 9:51 pm Post subject: 16V conversion - A warning about the crankshaft pulley |
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In the process of fitting a 16V motor into a series 2 33, I decided to take the opportunity to machine a couple of the grooves off the crankshaft pulley.
The pulley on the 16V has grooves for 3 V-belts, for the alternator/waterpump, power-steering and air conditioning.
Of those, I was only going to be running the alternator and waterpump.
So, I took the pulley to a local engineer and got the 2 outer grooves machined off to free up a bit of space between the motor and the radiator and remove a tiny bit of rotating inertia from the crankshaft.
I'd seen a picture on the net where someone else had done this when they put the 16V into a Sud.
I got the pulley back from the machine shop and it looked fine, so I gave it a coat of heat-resistant paint and put it on. Installed the motor in the car and it ran fine. However, the motor had to come out again (long story....cambelt), anyway when we went to put the 16V motor in the car the second time, we were manouvering it into place in the engine bay and the pulley fell to bits.
It looks like the rubber vulcanising does a good job of holding the pulley together when it's in its original form, but machined-down it loses its strength. I've taken the pulley to a retired engineer who's going to either machine a new outer section and pin or press it onto the centre section, or machine a tapered steel band to replace the rubber vulcanising strip.
If the pulley had come off while I was driving, it probably wouldn't have done much harm, unless I'd kept driving with the water pump stationary. However, it would have meant pulling the engine out again to get to the nut, due to the tight fit in the series 2 engine bay. And, if I have to take the motor out of that car again.......I'll push it off a cliff and buy a Toyota!
Regards,
Matthew |
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