Now I have glued the degree wheel to some thick plastic, shortened the wire with the pointer and sharpened it into a point, I feel I have a more accurate way of measuring the cam angle. It's definitely 108.5
So, everything off and back on again with piston 1 at TDC, timing mark on cam wheel pointing at the centre of the crank, and the crank wheel fitted onto the +2 keyway. Now it's 106.5
All off again and back on using the -2 keyway, 110.5. This was measured from 90, so I checked it from 100 and got 110.6, and also just to make sure from 80, which went to 141.3, giving me 110.65. Pretty sure I'm not getting any closer to that, so job done.
After talking to V8D I have decided to fit cam retainer plate as the holes are there and it will fit the cam. I have also cleaned up the timing cover bolts and they are rather corroded, worse than the picture shows.
If I have to wait until I get the plate, I may as well replace all of these at the same time. So, no more work on the front until I have some parts, onto the cylinder heads then
I have kept all of the bolts in their correct order. Quite surprised at how clean they were though, left hand one has been on the bench grinder (wire brush) and solvent wiped. Right hand one as removed from block.
There didn't seem to be any residue of any sealant, but I did clean them all anyway.
I managed to get some 3M EC776 which appears to be a fuel resistant urethane coating used in aerospace, but also conforms to MIL-D-17951E as a sealing compound? A bit weird but used it anyway
It only comes in a 1L and cost me too much, so if anyone wants any, let me know and I can fill some off for some beer tokens.
Both heads on, popped the rocker covers on to see what they looked like and keep everything dust free, I am in a working factory doing this rebuild.
The cam isn't coming out again, so I coated the the followers with some red treacle that came with the cam. This stuff isn't very nice so gloves on
I have heard from various people that the adjustable pushrods are too long and need trimming off before fitting
Fully shortened they are shorter than the standard one in the middle, and will adjust far longer than standard, so another possible problem averted.
All pushrods in and rockers on. I haven't rebuilt the rocker shafts as they have very little wear and I can easily get them out to do so if I need to in the future. I checked to ensure the notch was upwards as per the manual, but there are no notches on them
The baffle plates are supposed to be at the front on the left hand bank, and rear on the right, but as my PCV out/inlets are both on the front, I have fitted the plates under them.
Nice to see those awful shims gone
As it was
The heads were fitted with a stud kit when I sent them off, but they had to remove them when doing the porting, so an other little job - refitting them. I possibly should have used studlock, but I already had some nutlocker open and there isn't that much difference.
Now gaskets. I know that Rover V8s don't usually need exhaust gaskets, but my engine came fitted with them, possibly because of the aftermarket exhaust manifolds. Thing is, they don't fit too well. The port may have been opened up a little but they cover the top of the hole by around 1/4".
I had a good look at the old ones, and noticed from the carbon build up, they really were a bad fit.
They are going to need some careful thought, before I refit them, as well as checking how well the manifolds line up.
This is what the engine looks like now, valley gasket, and inlet manifold just there to stop any dirt/dust ingress. I have covered the trumpets as well before leaving it