Banjo

Lovely Simon ! Love those dishies. Looks all sooo clean, you could almost put your bake beans in those dishes & have breakfast, whilst working on it ! https://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Food-on-Your-Car's-Engine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQCrDOq-oY Love your work. Cheers Banjo

Hi James, Very common problem, with the cheaper type of ring compressors, most of us have. This video explains the issue perfectly, if everything else you have done so far, is as per the book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1bKOQWVOaE https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=tapered+bore+ring+compressor&_sacat=0 There is also an adjustable tapered ring compressor, which are a lot cheaper, but I've never used one, so can't vouch for it. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-000-4-060-Aluminum-Adjustable-Piston-Ring-Compressor/311749924622?hash=item4895be570e:g:hosAAOSwK~RaBQLn:rk:3:pf:1&frcectupt=true Maybe someone else on here that has used one, might like to comment. Cheers Banjo

Hi Tim, Personally I would not try to prise the seal out, with it in situ in the engine. Too much risk of scoring the seal journal on the crankshaft. By removing the seal holder, without lowering the sump, again, you will probably damage something. Just clean the whole sump pan gasket mating area, & get all that accumulated rubbish off, then lower the sump itself, at the back, & take the aluminium seal housing out. Cheers Banjo

Well, finally got a couple of hours over the Christmas break, to complete the 12mm dia. return coolant line from the back of the engine, to the thermostat housing, from the little "Tee" adaptor I fitted to the head rear access plate. Normally the heater return coolant line runs down the distributor side of the K series engine.. With the COP conversion, I am doing on this 5K, I wanted to keep the distributor side of the engine as clean looking as possible. I decided to run the return line down the manifold side of the engine, as there are a couple of unused mounting points, provided on the aluminium inlet manifold casting. It turned out perfectly, so am very pleased with the end result. I was originally considering fitting two (2) off return coolant lines; one for the head only, & the other for the heater, when in operation. That's how I did it on my 4K-U in my daily drive. However, as the heater is used so infrequently, here in "sunny" Queensland, I have decided to let the one return line carry both return coolant circuits. This results in a lot less complication, & a cleaner uncluttered look. Parts Required: 1 meter length of 12mm copper pipe from Bunnings. 2 off the shelf metal brackets, which I cut down to suit, from Bunnings. 2 off 1/2" pipe saddle mounts. 4 off 5mm bolts, nuts & washers. 2 off 6mm x 25mm bolts, for brackets to manifold. 6 - 8 off 11-22mm screw type hose clamps. 1/2" hoses off a Commodore or Hi-Lux. 1 off SpeedFlow 16 x 1.5M 1/2" hose adaptor, to plumb line into thermostat housing. Bit of hi temp silver paint This is surely one of the easiest & best mods you can do to your K Series engine, to overcome the inherent issue of the rear cylinder no: 4 running hotter than the forward cylinders. P.S. Although I advised it is an easy job, it is best carried out, when you happen to have the engine out of the car, or the head off. Undoing the four (4) off bolts that hold the little access plate can be fraught with difficulties, if they are corrosion welded to the aluminium head, as it is virtually impossible to drill & tap new threads with the engine in the car & the head on, as the distance between the rear of the head & the firewall, is so limited. Cheers Banjo

Most definitely leaking; & probably for some time. Remove the aluminium seal housing & replace. A very good idea to replace the gearbox spigot bearing in the crankshaft, while you are at it, if it feels in any way a bit "dry". or you can sense any movement, with your little finger. Good luck ! Cheers Banjo

Hi Tim, Is the 5 speed G/B you've got, originally from a KE55, or a later KE70 ? Cheers Banjo

Only "scary", if you have an "aversion", to K Series engines falling on your head. phobia an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. "she suffered from a phobia about birds" synonyms: abnormal fear, irrational fear, obsessive fear, fear, dread, horror, terror, dislike, hatred, loathing, detestation, distaste, aversion, antipathy, revulsion, repulsion; More aversion a strong dislike or disinclination. "they made plain their aversion to the use of force" synonyms: dislike of, distaste for, disinclination, abhorrence, hatred, hate, loathing, detestation, odium, antipathy, hostility; someone or something that arouses a strong dislike or disinclination. "my dog's pet aversion is visitors, particularly males" synonyms: abnormal fear, irrational fear, obsessive fear, fear, dread, horror, terror, dislike, hatred, loathing, detestation, distaste, aversion, antipathy, revulsion, repulsion;

I just remembered, I once changed an oil pump, & a set of big-end bearings, in my KE55 coupe, without removing, or lifting the engine, but just supporting it, & removing the front cross member altogether. As Altezzaclub, suggests. It is not such a big job, & you have very clear access to the bottom of the engine, as the following pics display.

Hi Tim, Is the oil pan gasket leaking in just one place, or in several places ? I've come across leaking oil pan gaskets, that can be fixed, by just going around & tightening each & every sump bolt & nut, without the pain of replacing the oil pan/sump gasket in situ. If the gasket appears to be leaking at the rear, there is always the possibility that it is really a leaking rear oil seal, which can appear to the untrained eye to be a leaking oil pan gasket. If the sump area is a big oily mess, I'd run the front of your car up on the ramps; tighten every sump flange nut & bolt; give the whole area a good dousing of "aerosol degreaser"; hose it all down with a bit of pressure; let it dry; start up the car & take it for a 20 minute run; run it up on the ramps again, & see if it really needs the gasket being replaced, or is just isolated at one point. If the oil leak is right at the front, (quite common) then the leaking oil gets "blown" back over the entire sump, & looks a lot worse than it really is. Let us know how you go. I can assure you "Altezzaclub", above is quite correct, that replacing the sump gasket, with the engine in the car is a "dog of a job", & you'll finish up swearing a lot ! Cheers Banjo

Very sorry to hear of your wife's brain bleed. Really trust you get a "Good Christmas News" that She is showing great improvement. Being Christmas, which is really for kids, & lots of fun, I can imagine, how you & your kids feel. As Dave says . . . It sucks ! I really, hope that in a couple of months, She is making a full recovery, & that you can look back at this period, as a very bad dream, in the past. I'm sure the thoughts of all of us here on Rollaclub, are with you & yours, at this time. Please yell out, if we can be of any practical assistance. "We are family",. . . . . although many of us, have never physically met. Cheers Banjo

Another steamy Summer already in Queensland, and a boy's thoughts turn to . . . . . Air Conditioning. I know, some KEs had A/C factory fitted as standard. However, my KE30 2 door sedan, was not one of them, as originally with a 2 speed auto, & a 3K engine, it would never have got up hills, whilst the A/C was on. (It probably even had trouble getting up hills without the A/C on) My better half always complains, when it is hot & sticky, . . . . "can you put A/C in this car ?" My standard answer, is . . . "It already has A/C, just wind the windows down, to start it up." Unfortunately, that retort, is starting to "run thin", so as I have a 5K going into it soon, I thought maybe it might not be that hard to retro-fit A/C. Now I don't want to go find an olde KE Rolla, that had A/C, & pull everything off, & swap it over, as a compressor that olde, would be pretty cactus, & not worth reconditioning. Modern auto compressors, I would hope, would be a lot more efficient, & more plentiful. So my question is this . . . Has anyone on here, successfully retro fitted an A/C system into their KE Rolla, that originates from a "modern car" (<10years old around 1.5 - 2.0 litre) ? There is plenty of room down on the front of the installed 5K Rolla engine, to fit the compressor, with good access. A compressor mounting bracket could easily be fashioned, I would think, & there are two (2) mounting points on the block, similar to the alternator mounting on the opposite side of the engine. So if anyone has done this, please post & provide some details, as I'm not interested in "reinventing the wheel", if someone has been through the exercise previously. P.S. Now the 5K engine I have, probably came out of a Toyota forklift or similar, as it had three (3) pulley grooves, on the crankshaft pulley. One for the alternator, & two for power steering pump & some sort of hydraulic pump; so an A/C should not be too hard on it. Cheers Banjo

The T piece is copper & brass combo type. The bottom of the "T", that is silver soldered to the plate, is very thick brass. It is very solid & strong. It is very tight down there between the back of the head & the firewall. No room for a 2 way valve. The pipes coming out sideways, is so that any movement, will be absorbed by the hoses. This way, the existing heater tap, on the rear of the firewall, will still be used to turn on the heater. The return to the front of the engine, of coolant from the back of the head, will flow all of the time. P.S. I did have a look at 2 way valves on the net, but they are all four port, & it would result in it being a plumbers nightmare down there, & very messy. I'm using the K.I.S.S. principal. (Keep It Super Simple) Cheers Banjo

Earlier in this thread, I suggested improving/lowering the coolant temperature differential between the front & the rear of the head, by taking hot water from the back of the head, & feeding it back to the underside of the thermostat, in the thermostat housing. It worked perfectly ! I did this on my 4K-U, in the car, but was hesitant to remove the plate on the rear of the head, in case one of the bolts was frozen, & snapped. To "prove the effect", I simply removed the heater hose, from the spout on the rear of the head. What I really needed, was a dual outlet, on the rear of the head, one for the heater inlet, & the other for the return to the front of the engine. I've got a "distributorless" 5K, that will be going in the KE30 soon, for some road testing, so thought, now is the time to fabricate a dual coolant outlet on the back of the head, before the engine gets levered into the KE30. This is how it turned out. Just a simple Tee tap plumbing fitting , from Bunnings, silver soldered, to the rear head access plate. Thought I'd just post a couple of pics, in case someone else, wants to do the same, or something similar. A really worthwhile simple mod, that provides great results, & may even save you a blown piston, or broken rings on no: 4 cylinder. Cheers Banjo

In theory, the fuel pressure, which is quite low, in the order of 4-10 PSI, has a slight effect, as higher pressure can allow the float cut-off needle, to only close when the fuel level in the bowl is a bit higher. As your fuel pump has a return or bypass outlet, it should be pretty constant. I wouldn't worry too much, as your engine's idling & driving performance, are to your satisfaction. Carbies as old as ours, suffer from a build up of "fuel gum" & lacquers, in the tiny passages internally. A good idea, is to dissemble the carby completely, & soak in a carby cleaning fluid, & then reassemble. Not really recommended, unless you really know what you are doing. A quick fix, is to remove the air cleaner, & give the carby a good dousing of carby & thottle cleaner, in a spray can. Sometimes running the engine at 2000 rpm with the air cleaner off, & spraying thottle & carby cleaner straight into the throats, can often, get rid of annoying stumbles in the carby's performance. Cheers Banjo

Yes ! When the idle mixture adjustment screw is wound in as far as it can go, it completely blocks fuel coming out the "idle port hole" at the very bottom of the primary venturi. As you unwind it, it allows more fuel to be sucked out of the idle port, & renders the idling mixture less lean. A very good check is to make sure that the electric solenoid valve on the carby is working. It is powered by the ignition circuit. It prevents run-on, once the ignition has been turned off, as it allows fuel to flow to the "slow" & "idle" ports only. Once you have the idling good, & to your liking, simply disconnect the wire to the carby solenoid, & the engine should starve & stop, or at least get very fluffy. That proves the solenoid is working You can usually hear the solenoid clicking, if you turn the ignition switch on & off. Surprisingly, the idle circuit it still in play, & contributing to the overall A/F ratio, when you are driving. I learnt this once on a long trip. All of sudden, the engine was not "as strong", & I didn't know why. At the next small town I passed through, I had to pull up, at a pedestrian crossing, & the engine cut out. That gave me the clue. I pulled over, & found the green connector, for the single wire to the carby solenoid had gone o/c. Cleaned it up, & it then idled properly, & the engine was back to full power. Cheers Banjo

That is the idling mixture adjustment screw, i've highlighted. If you screw it right out, you'll see it has a "pointed" tip. The idle speed adjustment is the big thumb screw to the right & up, in that picture. It usually has a large screwdriver slot in it. Cheers Banjo

This is the idle adjustment screw. It has a spring behind it. Hope that assists. Cheers Banjo

The two gaskets are supplied, as they are both needed. 1. One gasket fits between the engine block & the mounting spacer. 2. The second gasket fits between the mounting block & the fuel pump flange. You probably only fitted one, because you did no remove the mounting spacer, from the the engine block. The spacer is that dark bit in the picture below. It stops the fuel pump getting too hot, & vaporising the fuel. Cheers Banjo

I'm assuming this is new mechanical fuel pump, fitted to a K Series engine ? The first thing to check is what volume the pump is delivering. Remove all spark plugs. Disconnect metal fuel line at the carby. Run a hose from this fuel line into a container, & turn the engine over for 10-15 seconds. Measure how much fuel is collected. You may have disturbed something, during the changeover. The smallest crack on the suction side of the pump, in a rubber hose, can cause horrible delivery issues. Did you refit the stand-off "gasket shaped" mounting block, between pump & engine ? Let us know how you go. Cheers Banjo

Love it Mate ! Great pictures ! I nearly split my cornflakes out whist reading that caption ! I'm a bit worried about those ramps you used to get the Hi-Ace on the back ? Lovely selection of cars there. My late brother had Hillman like that ! Good heavens ! Chrysler, Hillman, MG, BMW, Rolla, Foulcan, Volvo, Merc, Landy, I can't see two vehicles from the same stable. Does your club have a rule, one of each, or something ? I'd give you more than one (1) if this website allowed it. Cheers Banjo

You are so right. kHz is slow, relatively. The microprocessor handling all the counting & switching is running at 32MHz. The only limit is the sensors themselves. That's why I use Hall Effect sensors, as they have the ability to switch very quickly, & produce nice clean square wave pulses. Here are the ones I am using for trigger & synch pulses, off ebay. They are built into a threaded tube, so are very easy to install & adjust the distance between the "blue" tip & the rare earth magnet. Believe it or not, these are about $ 4.00 ea. delivered, stocked in Australia. Better still are the specs. It can switch at 320 kHz, which means it could handle the 106 flywheel teeth counting application up to 18,000 rpm ! All good ! Cheers Banjo

Distributor Rotor Arc Just doing some calculations on where to allow the ECU output to switch on each COP, with their own inbuilt ignitor. My 5K flywheel has 106 teeth on the flywheel, so there are effectively 212 teeth being counted over 2 revolutions, which is a full 4 stroke cycle. As 212 teeth span a rotational angle of 720 degrees (2 revolutions) the distance between teeth of each count is 720 / 212 = 3.396 degrees. So the synch pulse is generated, & that starts an 8 bit counter (can only count up to 255), to start counting from zero, and at count number, say 22, Cylinder no: 1 is at TDC. The second cylinder to be at TDC will be no: 3, which 180 degrees further on in rotation. The 8 bit count at that time will read 75, ([180/3.396] + 22). Cylinder no: 4, will be the next one at TDC, which again is 180 degrees further on in rotation. The 8 bit count at that time will read 128, ([180/3.396] + 75). The last cylinder to be at TDC will be no: 2, which again is 180 degrees further on in rotation. The 8 bit count at that time will read 181, ([180/3.396] + 128). At a count of 212, a full cycle is completed, & the counter can be reset, & it will then await the sync pulse again, to repeat the full cycle count gain. So I want an "arc" or period of rotation, where a cylinder can be fired, anywhere between TDC & back to a point lets say 40 degrees BTDC. Most K Series distributors, limit the advance to about 35 degrees. So lets be generous and allow a cylinder to fire anywhere between say 50 degrees BTDC & say 10 degrees ATDC. That is an arc or period, of 60 degrees of rotation, during which the spark plug can be fired. This got me thinking, as the arc on the end of the rotor in the distributor is made that way, for the same reason, so the tiny gap between the end of the rotor contact & the post in the distributor cap are always opposite each other, throughout the entire advance period. However, the arc on the rotors I have here don’t appear visually, to be anywhere near 50-60 degrees ? So I collected about 3 or 4 rotors in my box, from 3K, 4K, & 5K distributors, and all arcs were exactly the same, when I held them against each other, back to back. So I decided to measure up a rotor, & determine what angle or arc, the rotor actually was. The picture below was a 1:1 drawing I made. The angle was then measured with a protractor at 35 degrees. Then the penny dropped ! The distributor rotates at half the speed of the crankshaft, so every degree of distributor rotation is actually 2 degrees of crankshaft rotation. All degrees for BTDC & ATDC are in crankshaft degrees. Therefore the 35 degree arc of the rotor end contact, is actually 70 degrees of crankshaft rotation. So my 60 degrees allowance, which I thought was generous, is not even as great as what Toyota designed all those years ago. Maybe there was a bit extra in there for “tolerances”. So now with that 60 degrees nominated, that translates into a count of (60/3.396) = 17.67 say 18 counts. From the above calculations at an assumed count of 22 before TDC of no: 1 cylinder, we can set the limits of firing for each cylinder, in counts. From the above calculations, we have already the counts for TDC of each cylinder. TDC no: 1 = 22 TDC no: 3 = 75 TDC no: 4 = 128 TDC no: 2 = 181 So the count for the beginning of the allowed firing period, is each of those TDC count numbers, less 50 degrees which equates to (50/3.396) = 14.72 (say 15) The count for the end of the allowed firing period is each of those TDC numbers, plus 10 degrees, which equates to (10/3.396) = 2.945 (say 3) So now we have a set of counts based on flywheel position, for a particular synch pulse position, prior to & after the TDC positions of each cylinder. They are . . . Cylinder No: 1 Start of firing period 50 degrees BTDC = 22 – 15 = 7 counts TDC = 22 counts End of firing period 10 degrees ATDC = 22 + 3 = 25 counts Cylinder No: 3 Start of firing period 50 degrees BTDC = 75 – 15 = 60 counts TDC = 75 counts End of firing period 10 degrees ATDC = 75 + 3 = 78 counts Cylinder No: 4 Start of firing period 50 degrees BTDC = 128 – 15 = 113 counts TDC = 128 counts End of firing period 10 degrees ATDC = 128 + 3 = 131 counts Cylinder No: 2 Start of firing period 50 degrees BTDC = 181 – 15 = 166 counts TDC =181 counts End of firing period 10 degrees ATDC = 181 + 3 = 184 counts So the count of 184, is well before the end of the 212 tooth of the flywheel. 212 -184, means there are 28 counts, or (28 x 3.396) = 95 degrees of crankshaft rotation left. This will help us determine what the design limits are. as to how far before the beginning of the first firing period, the synch pulse can physically be. We can just take all 12 points we have calculated in counts, and move them backwards or forwards in rotation around the flywheel by adding or subtracting a particular count (angle) to every count number listed. So lets work backwards. We know the last count on the flywheel is 212, because that is how many teeth there are. Lets say we reset the counter on count 210. Lets say the last count for the "switch off" the cylinder no: 2 is 208 counts. As our calculation above was 184, that is effectively rotating everything (208–184 = 24) counts, or (24 x 3.396) = 82 degrees. So our new set of switching points are as follows by simply adding a count of 24 to each previously calculated number. Cylinder No: 1 Start of firing period 50 degrees BTDC = 46 – 15 = 31 counts TDC = 46 counts End of firing period 10 degrees ATDC = 46 + 3 = 49 counts Cylinder No: 3 Start of firing period 50 degrees BTDC = 99 – 15 = 84 counts TDC = 99 counts End of firing period 10 degrees ATDC = 99 + 3 = 102 counts Cylinder No: 4 Start of firing period 50 degrees BTDC = 152 – 15 = 137ounts TDC = 152 counts End of firing period 10 degrees ATDC = 152 + 3 = 155 counts Cylinder No: 2 Start of firing period 50 degrees BTDC = 205 – 15 = 190 counts TDC =205 counts End of firing period 10 degrees ATDC = 205 + 3 = 208 counts So the earliest that the synch pulse could physically be located is 30 counts, (lets say 28), before the earliest possible firing of cylinder no: 1 (50 degrees BTDC). A count of 28 correlates to ([46 - 28] x 3.396) = 61 degrees BTDC no: 1. This is ample room to achieve a result from any physical position of the synch pulse relative to the first cylinder to be fired thereafter. So off to do some programming now, & then attach the CRO oscilloscope & see if the theory all works out in practise. As I have a timing light, I can trigger it from any of these individual 8 points, I have noted above ( 31, 49, 84, 102, 137, 155, 190, 208 counts), & see what the degree wheel on the flywheel actually reads. Cheers Banjo

Nearly there ! The logic is that once the synch pulse is noted by the ECU, it indicates to the ECU, that the very next "trigger signal", (derived from the crankshaft trigger sensor) will be to fire at BTDC No: 1 cylinder. The next three (3) following trigger pulses must be 3 - 4 - 2, as that is the firing order. With the COP system, where we have a separate ignition ignitor/coil per cylinder, it doesn't really matter if the synch pulse comes along before another cylinder, as each ECU cylinder ignitor output lead can be allocated/wired permanently to any particular COP. If the synch pulse happens to be located before cylinder No: 2, then it will fire cylinder number 2, and the next three (3) pulses must be for 1 - 3 - 4 in that order. If the synch pulse happens to be located before cylinder No: 3, then it will fire cylinder number 3, and the next three (3) pulses must be for 4 - 2 - 1 in that order. If the synch pulse happens to be located before cylinder No: 4, then it will fire cylinder number 4, and the next three (3) pulses must be for 2 - 1 - 3 in that order. I've also used a similar technique when replacing a dissy on a K series, without going through the whole process of determining when the crankshaft pulley mark lines up with the zero mark on the timing chain cover; is either TDC no: 1 or TDC no: 4 ? I simply line the marks up without determining above. Put the leads on the dissy cap in the standard rotation position. You have a 50:50 chance of getting it right the first time. If it back fires when you try to start it, then just "swap" the leads directly opposite each other, on the dissy cap, & it will start. Great when you are working in the dark. Cheers Banjo

Hi Michalis, Plenty of videos on the internet, on how to do this, but is a lot of work to get it right. A quick way is to remove the orange & red plastic lenses, & clean them thoroughly inside & out, then paint them on the inside with special spray paints for plastics, for plastic tail-lights. A bit of research should find it for you. I did it like that, years & years ago, & it worked fine. Cheers Banjo.

You are correct, but a commercial tachometer is internally "scaled to count" 2, 3, or 4 pulses per revolution of the crankshaft, if they are 4, 6, or 8 cylinder engines respectively. Think of it this way. The turns ratio between camshaft & distributor is 1:1. It takes 1 turn of the dizzy/camshaft, to produce 4 pulses at the coil -ve terminal. If the pulse is derived from the fuel pump lobe, it takes 4 turns of the camshaft, to produce 4 pulses, from my synch pulser. Therefore, the tacho would display a rpm 1/4 of what it actually is, if using a tacho that would normally be fed a signal from the coil.