Hello all,

I have removed the cylinder heads on my saloon and sent them off to Andrew Carpenter to be attended to.

As always plenty of other work to be done while awaiting their return, I thought it a must to remove the tappet chest / block cover at this point to take a look in there, remove old oil, sludge etc and clean up.

I have searched this and the old forum for advice but have not found all the info I need, perhaps one or more of you can help :

What are the main points if any to observe on removal?
Remove distributor from tappet block cover below Rev counter drive assy? - set timing marks on crank and timing chain cover indicator for cylinder 1L. before removal?
Note position of rotor arm before removal
Is it advisable to ensure the distributor and oil pump drive is not disturbed when removing cover? It would appear so according to workshop manual.
Following a recent thread about oil remaining in cam gallery ("Draining engine oil") , should that be topped up up again with oil before refitting cover to ensure sufficient oil is available for cam lubrication on start up?

Thats enough, many thanks.
Rob c.

You will need to remove the Dynamo bracket and the four studs that screw into the tappet housing, remove the distributor and rev counter drive all in one, this has a offset drive so you will not lose your timing when re-fitting this way. using a thin knife cut down between the tappet housing and timing this is to prevent breaking the timing cover gasket using two of the securing bolts screw them into the the two threaded holes in the housing to jack off the cover. NOTE check there are not two small bolts in the centre of the housing or it will break. reverse the procedure to re-fit, applying some sealant on the front surface of the housing to help seal the gasket would help. good luck

Use a saringe or something of that sort to suck all the oil out. Depending on how much grey/silver cack you find in the bottom is an indication of the amount of wear and or abuse the engine may have had in its life. The chamber can let a lot of sediment sink to the bottom and the grey/silver cack is generally reminents of the white metal bearings.

Whilst no wanting to hi-jack this feed I have two questions, first what are the two small bolts for in the center of some tappet covers and are they model specific?
Second why such an amount of oil retained in the cam chest of the dart block, as they have a trough to collect the oil , would a drain hole venting into the timing chain cover aid the oil changing, I don't like the thought of adding fresh oil to the engine for it to become contaminated by two or more liters of old engine oil especially as i'm putting running in oil in on my first fill on a totally rebuilt engine.

oh I can't find the 'changing engine oil' feed hence asking on this one

I think the two screws you mention may be something to do with an extra bracket for automatics but to be honest I don’t know. The oil in the cam chest lubricates from initial startup. Some have been modified to lower the level but the jury is out on that as to if it is effective. I suppose if it is too irritating then a small hole could be drilled in the aluminium plate for syphoning and then put a cork in it

the two screws in the centre of the tappet housing was Leylands futile attempt at quieting the tappets along with the glass fibre and tin plate cover. they bolt down into two of the cam bearings housings because they thought it was distorting and chattering, I cannot understand why every one is obsessed with draining the cam housing, the small amount of oil that gets pushed into the sump is so minimal compared to the 12 pints the sump holds. you would be better off changing the oil at no more than 3000 miles to prevent soft carbon saturation in the oil and certainly not drill holes to lower the levels which will reduce dramatically lubrication to the cam followers which already suffer from wear from long standing

John, here is a link to the topic I mentioned, some sound advice there worth observing :http://forum.dloc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=4122

Russ, some good tips there, thank you, of course the seal to timing cover, could not see that for looking as they say! Seems like I'm asking for trouble if I remove the cover just to have a look inside. Colin's idea is a sound one, I can hear no untoward noises in there when engine is running so I'll remove filler tube perform inspection with endoscope, syringe oil and hopefully nothing else out, or not much anyway, then top up gallery with as much new oil as I removed.

I shall then carry on overhauling and rebuilding wiper motor, wheel boxes and drive cable, thats also a good topic for the forum, not nearly as fiddly and involved as the workshop manual suggests...another story another time! Oh yes looks like I may have to replace the exhaust manifold studs from the 4 stud flange to down pipe, another good mechanical fitting exercise.
You see lot of other jobs to do , I'll remove the tappet chest another time....unless I find a mess in there!!

Thanks again to those that answered or showed an interest.

Regards
Rob C