Pistons Off

The weather was dreadful today and so it was a choice between slouching in front of the television or wrapping up warm and heading out the garage. I chose the latter and spent a pleasant couple of hours tinkering. The main task was to remove the pistons - the rest of the time was lost to tidying and boxing old parts.

Removing the pistons was very straight forward. Only three tools were needed: a blow lamp, a small hammer and a "punch". I didn't have a punch with a diameter that matched the pin so I improvised and used a 14mm socket and short extension. The method is to heat the piston until the pin is loose and then tap it out.

As I am buying new pistons and cylinders these are destined for the bin. Here is a picture of the engine after the pistons were removed.

The final jobs before splitting the case are to remove the distributor and the oil pump. However if the rear brake backplates I ordered arrive this week I will probably rebuild the rear axle before splitting the engine casing.