Oil pump or Relief Spring

[dn010]

Kind of a funny thing to be looking for, but it seems ALL my pressure relief springs are broken (I have 2 spare pumps I checked)! Does anyone have a used oil pump or spring they can part with?

[jangell]

I'm pulling apart more of my 2.8L engine this weekend to get the pistons, crank, and other related hardware out so i can put them on eBay. I can see if I can find the oil pump bits and pull those as well. I haven't had an engine this far apart before, so first I have to figure out what it looks like. :) The engine had 80k miles on it, but it's scrap now due to a hole in the block.

-- Joe

[dn010]

That sucks! I'd offer to sell you my original engine assembly but I still feel the need to hold on to it for some reason - AND that engine has a good pump and spring I just don't want to tear into it since I pulled it "running".

Once you pull the timing cover, the oil pump is the part that has the small chain going to it, the other 2 chains will run to the cam gears. This request is no rush by the way, I am still working on the top end of my engine but it's been something on my mind as another thing I need to get taken care of eventually.

Thanks in advance

[jangell]

Ah, yes, I remember that chain. I'm planning on taking the rest of the engine apart tomorrow. At least this way I'm learning how all this stuff goes together. :)

I've decided to do a 3.0L swap. I got the new engine without too much trouble, and I'm just waiting on some gaskets so I can re-assemble the bottom of the 2.8L onto the 3.0L. Since I only get a few hours most weekends to work on this, I'm hoping to have the car running again by fall.

-- Joe

[dn010]

Since I only get a few hours most weekends to work on this, I'm hoping to have the car running again by fall.

-- Joe

I'm with ya on that one, I had a B280F/LH jet conversion but decided to rebuild the engine and add MS instead of the LH. So, it will be a while + I need a frame so even longer! Thanks again.

[jangell]

I have two 4-ish inch holes on the bottom of my frame under where the upper link arms on the rear suspension attach. The rest of it seems pretty good, so I'm going to try to weld that up and hope I can keep the frame for another decade or so. I'd love to find a stainless frame someday...

-- Joe

[dn010]

That doesn't sound like too bad of a fix if you've got sheet metal and can weld; when mine went bad the first time it was the front "crumple zone" and I had to completely cut off the first few feet of the frame and weld&bolt a new portion in/graft. Now the rear end of the frame is bad, way beyond I can deal with so its trash. I definitely wish I would have spent the 10K back when Pierce was making them stainless, now I'm kicking myself!

[jangell]

The right pontoon (or whatever it's called) of my front crumple zone snapped off as well a few years back -- I had a local shop weld it up for me, but I'm no longer local to them. I'm trying to lure a friend up to help me weld it, but I bought some welding gear in case I can't. I just need to practice a lot first.

I once found a rumor on here that some company in Ireland was going to make stainless frames again, but I haven't heard anything about that since. Not that I have $10k lying around or anything. That's why I decided to go with the 3.0L engine -- it was $250 for a 36k mile engine on eBay, and it looks like selling the old engine's parts and fuel system components will cover a lot of the costs of Megasquirt EFI.

-- Joe

[dn010]

With some practice, I'll be fine on a non-critical part of the frame; I'd offer to help if I was closer but don't plan on being up that way at least until November.

I used to weld a LOT years ago - this is what I had to do to my frame:

27733

I too heard the Ireland rumor, I think I was part of that frame thread years ago but it seems nothing ever came of it [yet]. Then I heard Josh@DPI "may be" working on a stainless frame. As I always say "I'm probably wrong" but I'd imagine that there are a limited amount of folks who need a frame, let alone fork over 10K for one [and this was the price years ago, who knows what it would be today]. Taking that into account, I'm not sure how much it would cost to produce stainless frame taking materials, jigs etc but with a limited amount, it might be a tough one to create, test, sell, break even and then go into the black in the books. I still hold onto hope that there will one day be a stainless version available again, maybe by then I can afford one.

Good score on the 3.0, I think that the even-fire PRVs are one of the most smooth running engines I've ever come across. It's just the painstaking process of getting it tied in and working with the rest of the car - that which I'm also undergoing myself. There is plenty of help and support here though, so I for one am not worried :D

[jangell]

I got some oxy gear, but I haven't actually welded anything yet -- I've barely lit the thing. The holes are in non-critical locations, so I think they can be patched without too much trouble, in theory. I'm hoping to get this taken care of before I put the engine back in.

That welding job looks nice, from what little I know about welding, and it seems you had to do both arms (pontoons, whatever)? The local shop who fixed my front frame extension welded new metal over it while still in the car. A side effect of this is that I can't use use new radiator mounts, as the welded-up part isn't QUITE in the right place and the old mounts had bent before the repair to accommodate it. Someday I'll have to replace the front frame extension as well, I suppose.

I know Josh has front control arms in stainless, as well as various other smaller pieces. Hopefully that's the first step to a stainless frame. :) It would seem that more frames would need to be replaced as time goes on and the cars get older, but there may be enough donor cars to stave that off for 20-40 years, and by then we might just be able to get one 3D printed. :)

I'm hoping the even-fire engine does provide a smoother feel to the car. I'll certainly be asking a lot of questions about EFI once I get to that point, but at least I have fuel rails as part of the 3.0L. Honestly, I'd like to make it whisper quiet as well (the car was even before I put the SPEC-I exhaust in), but that'll have to wait until the next time I need an engine and there are enough inexpensive electric motors and battery packs for me to salvage. Then I can get rid of the unreliable automatic transmission as well.

-- Joe

[dn010]

I cut the whole front section of my frame off, down to the Y portion where the fuel tank sits. I did mine with a MIG welder. I welded steel plates over both sides of the weld pictured, then drilled holes and put 8 large bolts [per side] through the frame and plates: since this seemed to be a critical place to have a graft and didn't want the 2 parts deciding on a divorce while driving 80 down a highway. I don't even know what year I did this, probably around '04 - my alignment ended up perfect which is really hard to do with grafting, and nothing has moved, broken, cracked etc at all to date. The only problem I encountered was running the AC lines - with the plates and bolts there was not enough room to squeeze the lines between the frame and fiberglass so I had to run them below the frame which was a PITA when it came time for speed bumps.

That is the other problem with upgrading to stainless frames - there are too many used donors out there and when you compare a bare frame for ~1K to a stainless for 10K, these days - which would use choose? I had my frame out on two separate occasions for repairs, IF I hadn't driven this car through countless upstate New York winters I'm sure I wouldn't even be typing about a frame right now... Given a good used frame, which I actually have a line on a few hours away from me thankfully; I think it will outlast me down here in Florida.

As far as how smooth it is - my stock D engine had a lot of rock n roll to it, with my 280F I can't even feel it running behind me. It is well worth it. I'm not sure how much of a variation the 3.0 and B280F had between them, but I have at least 2 extra engines worth of parts if you ever find yourself needing something - just let me know.




I got some oxy gear, but I haven't actually welded anything yet -- I've barely lit the thing. The holes are in non-critical locations, so I think they can be patched without too much trouble, in theory. I'm hoping to get this taken care of before I put the engine back in.

That welding job looks nice, from what little I know about welding, and it seems you had to do both arms (pontoons, whatever)? The local shop who fixed my front frame extension welded new metal over it while still in the car. A side effect of this is that I can't use use new radiator mounts, as the welded-up part isn't QUITE in the right place and the old mounts had bent before the repair to accommodate it. Someday I'll have to replace the front frame extension as well, I suppose.

I know Josh has front control arms in stainless, as well as various other smaller pieces. Hopefully that's the first step to a stainless frame. :) It would seem that more frames would need to be replaced as time goes on and the cars get older, but there may be enough donor cars to stave that off for 20-40 years, and by then we might just be able to get one 3D printed. :)

I'm hoping the even-fire engine does provide a smoother feel to the car. I'll certainly be asking a lot of questions about EFI once I get to that point, but at least I have fuel rails as part of the 3.0L. Honestly, I'd like to make it whisper quiet as well (the car was even before I put the SPEC-I exhaust in), but that'll have to wait until the next time I need an engine and there are enough inexpensive electric motors and battery packs for me to salvage. Then I can get rid of the unreliable automatic transmission as well.

-- Joe