Well, it finally happened, I started the Jeep this morning and it missed and coughed and blew white smoke. Bugger, the gasket finally gave up the ghost. After I used it to haul some stuff I put it in the shop and started the tear down. All went well until I tried to get the head off. Won't budge so I put the plug wires back on and tried to start it but no luck, the head had released enough that I had no compression at all.

So I put the nuts back on even with the top of the studs and sprayed them at the head and began tapping on the side of the nuts to loosen the studs. This may take a few days but I hope not weeks.

The temp gauge sender refused to come out and after trying a few tricks I cut the stem off at the sender. I wanted an original looking gauge anyway and my patience was running short.

I wish I could find a trained monkey to spray the studs and tap on them every hour. He would also be handy to remove stuff in close quarters. I would have to be careful he didn't drink up all my beer though.

I have put this job off for over a year now and planned to do it before the Utah trip.

Yes, I bought that gasket and the copper coat over a year ago.

Gunslinger, I pried that head up and down so many times I started to think it was a yo-yo.

The head is off. I pestered it every hour or so until it decided I was more hard headed than it was. It fought me all the way until the last 1/4" of studs was still in the head. I used several pry bars and wood blocks and a lot of PB Blaster. I had to pry it up and tap it down until one of us got tired of it and the head lost. There was two studs that just didn't want to let go and slide out.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to remove the studs so I can clean the deck. It's a good thing it had a head gasket with copper on both sides or the deck could have been damaged. I will probably surface the head.

I will check the cylinder walls tomorrow but it doesn't burn oil and the comp is good so everything should be good. It finally blew between #2 and #3 and was easy to see on the head, gasket and block. I could see where some other possible comp and water leaks were so a close check of the deck is needed. I sure hope the deck is flat.





It just took a few tools to get the head off and a whole lot of patience of which I seldom have much of. For some reason I never got angry, I just got more determined to pester the hell out of it.

   I'm back, not that I wanted to be back so soon, it's something I found that was somewhat disparaging and hoping not to find. Hell, the beers and I didn't even get to finish our bears. I don't have to think about the valve guides now and it's a good thing I have a spare bare block and another complete engine to fall back on. Well, I don't intend to fall backwards over them, there just backups.

I know your just dying of curiosity about what I found so here's the picture. Look at it and weep with me or laugh if you so desire. It's your call.



I have to admit that I suspected as much because with the radiator cap on tight it would hydraulic lock in the mornings so I just left the cap loose since I have owned it.

I'll be hauling the block down to the shop to check it over and if it's good I need to find a shop to put bushings in the two cam bores that don't have them. This engine is supposed to be a short block ready to build so we will see if it is. I only want to do this once so I will do it right.

Calvin, do you think I should bore it to the max and put a blower and two carbs on it so I can climb to the top of the Blue Mountain faster than you can?

Yes, I won't toss it, it can be repaired and I don't know yet how good the spare block I have is. I'm trying to remove the studs now and clean the deck and bores and check it out.

Yes, this may turn into a book but that's part of the fun and work. When I get through with this rebuild I will have an good knowledge about the L134 engine.

BTW, each cylinder on the engine in the Jeep has a letter stamped by the bore. They are #1-C #2-E #3-E #4-F and what do they mean. It seems I have read about that but I guess it didn't interest me at the time.

Carl,
There is something seriously wrong here, or maybe I just don't understand.. I thought bears drank Honeyweiss?

Too bad about the motor, hope you get her fixed up.. My mechanic will sleeve an engine for $75.00 a hole, that includes the machining to size.
Todd

Spent the day tearing down, pulling plugs and cleaning the spare block a little and it doesn't show any cracks so far. I pulled the crank and can say for sure you can't roll the upper bearing shells out of an L134. All three upper bearing shells are pinned in the block. What a stupid thing to do. If they had pinned the bearing caps you could do an in chassis overhaul without dropping the crank. Oh well, the engines come out pretty easy.

I did some measuring and it looks like I'll have to bore it .020" over. Oh goody, I get to use my Kwik-Way boring bar.

I can't count the times I laid under a vehicle and rolled upper shells out and new ones in. If I didn't lay a fender cover over me from neck down I would have a polka dot shirt. That brings back some harsh memories.

Tomorrow it goes to the shop to be cleaned and checked for cracks. I'll have my head checked for cracks too, well, not my head but the Jeeps head. I am trying to decide if I want to yank the engine out of the Jeep while the block is in the shop or wait a while.

Carl,  what would cause a crack like that?

Hey Carl,
I took my block to a guy that makes a living building race engines.  He wanted to put cam bearings in as well cause thats what he does.  Same problem, his boring macine did not have the depth to do the cam seats.  We ended up accepting what Mr. Willys intended, which is pushing enough oil up there to flaot the cam.  So far ,so good.
Todd

I haven't heard from the shop about my block yet, however, I have been busy pulling the engine, putting it on the cheap Horrible Freight engine stand for 750 lbs. that I had to modify some to mount the block as it's not designed for a 4 cyl inline. I will make some permanent changes later but it will do for now.

There is very little cyl wear on this block so the pistons came out easy.

When I pulled the rods the bearing halves looked real good with no worn through spots or streaking on them and looked to have even wear top and bottom through out. When I pulled crank the bottom halves were good looking with no streaking or wear but the top halves are another story. The top half shells had dirt deposits on them right at the top center and that told me the bearing clearance was to much and/or the oil seldom got changed. The rods and mains are .010" undersize.

I then measured the rod journals and found them to be 1.9280"-.9286" and should be 1.9265"-.9275". So, the rod journals were ground slightly over size. I will plastigauge the bearings to be sure of the running clearances that they are in spec.

I measured the main journals and they ran 2.3232"-.3233" and should be 2.3231"-.3241". Since the thrust is downward the lower shell usually shows more wear but there was none. The dark area on the center top shell is probably from the excess clearance and dirty oil. The mains are on the low side of spec. and they will be plastigauged. The pan has a good amount of sludge in it alluding to the fact the oil was seldom changed.

The spare crank is also .010" under and is closer to to the tolerances than the crank in my current engine. There is a possibility I will use the spare crank if I don't like the bearing gap. The oil pressure was always on the high side so the pump is probably good. I found out many of the American bearing, rings and piston companies still make them for these Jeeps and are reasonably priced. American parts will go in this engine if I can get them and so far I can.

So far, installing cam bushings in all four bores is an Urban Legend because Carl Walcks said he knows of no one that can or has done it except for the retired machinist he knew. If the spare block is close to spec it will get used and this cracked block will be saved for experimentation. I talked to my friend in Springfield Mo and he said stiching the block is a piece of cake and I may take it with me when I him visit and we will repair that cyl. if that's the only crack. His cam line boring tool is not small enough to do this block so I will have to make my own. He will loan me a drive unit.

I have started taking photo's of this job and will post a few as it goes along. Here's one of parts and pieces.

Carl, remember if you're going to Springfield, MO the Midwest Willys show in Jefferson City, MO is usually in September sometime.

Good luck with the engine rebuild, that was the funnest part for me (sure beats body work... )

Last week I was told the block is checked and has a small crack between the oval water hole in the center of the block to a bolt hole. The shop said that is not a real issue and Walcks said the same thing about the crack. I will pick up the block when they have the parts I ordered from them. I also ordered from Walcks and Auto Zone so I could spread the wealth around and get the best prices. It is next to impossible to get NOS parts for a rebuild now without spending a lot of time which I don't have. When I get the block I will have to replace the valve guides, bore the cylinders .020" over and grind the valve seats before I can start assembling the engine.

I found out my lube pump is an aftermarket pump with two spur gears instead of the Willys stock pump. I like the aftermarket pump better and Walcks said they may have a cover gasket. If not I will have to make my own gasket.

Carl,
Are those cracks going from the coolant passage to the head bolts holes?  Its hard to tell, but if that is the case then the coolant will have no place to go, provided they don't bleed across the head gasket to the piston.  Can you clarify that position?
Todd

This is an interesting situation, Carl.  I'll put my full ignorance on display here...wouldn't you want to stick this block in a freezer before you try to fill those cracks?  Wouldn't they open up from the cold so that you could get more sealant in there?  I know from a lot of years of crack filling roads, it was best to do it in the winter when it is cold outside.  Just a question here...I know very little about cracked blocks.

Carl, try this:
Clean up the area around the crack really good with a high volitile cleaner, even rubbing alchoholw ill work but its a little slow.  You want all the grease and oil gone.  When its dry you can put a Kroil or other penetrating oil on it, but just a little, use an eye dropper.  Let that sit for about 2 minutes and wipe the surfaces with a clean rag with a little cleaner on it.  Don't soak it.  when it dries shake some talcom powder over the area.  The talc will pull the oil out of the crack and you will be able to look down the holes and see how deep the crack goes.  Or maybe your buddy at the machine shop has a "liquid Penetrant test kit"  This is the same technique with kitchen tools.
Todd

Okay, here is one of the pics of my original L-head with the cracks I was talking about. Yes, the gasket material is still there, but you can see the cracks came right through it...

Today I set up on the block to bore it. After I refreshed my mind about the use of the boring bar I made a clean up cut to see where I was at and   OMG, the clean up cut was just over the .020" oversize bore. Well that sucks. I should have known better than to expect a cyl with .015" wear at the top to clean up at .020". After I got over the shock I looked lovingly at the pistons I took out of my original engine. They are .060" oversize and are starting to look real good for this engine. I doubt Auto Zone will take the new pistons back or even trade for .040" over but I will ask.

Chasm, I'm still thinking about what you said. When I get the tractor working again I may pull the CJ2 engine, tear it down and have it checked. I can still be boring this block for real or practice, which ever. As I understand it all the L134 blocks are the same, only the parts are different.

The hydraulics failed on the tractor last weekend and it would be my engine hoist among other things.

I'll have to excuse myself now, I'm going out in the shop and sit by the block and cry in my beer 

When the Jeep was designed and put into production for the war they were considered throwaway vehicles. From that point on there were few changes to them when they went to civilian production. I have been told the war time blocks are the same as the CJ2 and on as an L134. I don't know that to be fact but if it's so then the same war time mentality of throwaway was continued on through the L134's life. You have to remember that the need for vehicles at the end of WWII was very high so Willys had no time to age the blocks. I think the other auto manufacturers had the money and time to stock up for post war production where Willys didn't have that option so they continued doing the same old thing.

I went to Auto Zone this morning crying the blues but I left my guitar home. Well, it turned out they had no problem exchanging the .020" pistons for .040" pistons. They were the same price and will be here tomorrow.

When I get the tractor fixed I am pulling the engine from the parts Jeep and tearing it down. I want to know what I have and if I decide to have it magnafluxed I may end up using it. This is turning into one of those, "Geez, why the hell did I ever buy a Jeep" thoughts. Then I settle down and realize it was for the love of Jeeps and to use in the snow. As long as I can keep a laid back attitude about this I can have fun and being retired helps a whole lot toward that.

Today I finally got to bore all the holes out and next is to hone them. I found out that the #1 & 2 bores are siamesed  and #3 & 4 are siamesed. There is a water gap between #2 & 3 and it would be a lot better if water could circulate around all the cylinders. Fortunately they were thoughtful enough to put the exh valves and ports outside of the siamese cylinders and the intake valves between them.

I also measured the wall thickness as best I could and mine are about 3/16" with the bores .040" over but that's only measured in one place by the core plugs some people call freeze out plugs but they seldom come out when the block freezes. The thickness will vary from block to block and all around the cylinder.

When I get the cylinders honed out and the tractor fixed I will take the block to the barn and pressure wash it then brush out the oil galleys, spray it with WD40 and start building it.

Oh, the tractor, well, the hydraulics failed last week. When it rains, it pours.

Siamesed means they are cast together with no gap between them. No water can go between #1 & 2 or # 3 & 4. That can cause over heating between those siamesed cylinders. What ever the water temp is in the engine it's hotter there.

Carl makes a very good point with this picture.  Remember....Safety first!
Always wear ear protection while drinking 

Haven't I been told by a good source that when these Willys Jeeps were used in WWII they had a life expectancy of 90 days?  I would think that Rocketeer would be the authority on that.  Possibly that's where is heard it.  

With all the problems so many of us are having with our L-134 engines I wonder if they weren't built to be overhauled so many times and kept running for so many years.  

Good Luck, anyway Carl, and to all the rest who are trying to keep these old engines purring.

It looked just this good when I took it back out just one summer and 1000 miles later!

I covered the cyl bores and did a three angle seat grind, checked the valves for contact, assembled the springs and adjusted the valves yesterday. Today figured out how to time the lube pump so the distributor rotor is where I want it. Then I installed the head studs, sprayed the head gasket, put the gsk and head on and started torquing the nuts. I got to 60 ft lb and was almost through the pattern and  one of the stud threads went soft.  ohhh that sick feeling I have had before when this happens.

I pulled the head, the gasket, the studs and cleaned the head and deck up, called Walcks and ordered 15 studs and nuts, called MSC and ordered 6 Keensert inserts. Tomorrow I will order another Victor 1023K head gasket and do a torque test on each head stud thread in the block to find any others that may fail. To be honest I was tempted to do that before I put the head on but thought, they all look good and I removed the studs from them when I had the block cleaned and checked. I should have listened to my inner feeling, something always goes wrong when I don't.

Well, I have a lot of things to do to it while waiting for the parts.

I don't really know why it failed. The problem is it's the spare block and not all of the studs were in the block when I started to use it. There is a chance it was all ready stripped but it did pull down to 50 ft lb and felt a little soft at that point I didn't think much about it but when I started toward 60 ft lb it just gave up the ghost. There was one or two that felt a little funny so I will test each one before I try to put it together.

I went to the Auto Zone store today to get a Victor gasket and they couldn't find it on their 'puter. I came home, got my old invoice when I bought it there, and then they found it. I should be here Tuesday.

I'll have to make a drill guide tool so the hole is straight. If it ain't one thing it's another.

Two reasons, the helicoil is an open spiral and is hard to seal. The next is since you should use a solid insert so it can be sealed on the exterior and interior it can also be locked in the hole with the four pins you drive in with the special tool.

It's mainly to be able to seal the threads. On the CJ2 site someone used a helicoil and I pointed out that it may be hard to seal and suggested he use a Qtip with Permatex 2 to force it into the helicoil or remove it and use a solid insert. I don't know what he finally did.

I have a long thread going on the CJ2 site about this thread failure under the line The Head Stud Blues subject line you may want to read.

EDIT: There's another reason I just remembered, a solid insert will hold more torque than a helicoil. The helicoil is still dependent on the strength of the material it is installed in.

Oh Carl.......you are starting down a slippery slope if you paint the engine and make it all nice and pretty.   That is how my frame off started!  You will install your pretty engine and then think, "I'll just freshen up the fender wells and firewall also."  Then your front end looks bad and needs to be painted..........before you know it your jeep will be in 600 pieces!

Good luck!  Maybe your will power will be stronger than mine!

PS, great info from you and calvin on the inserts!

Well folks, the engine is done. Here's a photo of it and it's ready to go in the Jeep.

This is a thing of beauty!  Now, will you "bench test" the motor first or completely install in the jeep without running?  Not that I would have any doubt it will run like a sewing machine - just wondering.

Thanks Calvin, I'll just stuff it back in and go from there. I put the engine together with White Lubriplate grease and it should be able to run for a few minutes at idle without oil but I will prime the oil galley and prefill the oil filter before I try to start it. I will visually time it using the flywheel mark before I start it.

Actually the engine looks to good for the Jeep. The Jeep is kind of rough looking and in need of serious body work.

I plan to put it in today.

EDIT: made the tube clamp and will install it. Decided to make a engine lifting device to balance the engine to the angle needed so may not get the engine in today.

I hope everyone enjoyed this thread and it was never meant to be a detailed engine overhaul. I was simply trying to detail some of the problems and issues I encountered and the tools I made to do the overhaul. I hope that it gives others ideas to use on their overhaul. There are several very detailed overhaul threads and videos so I saw no reason to compete with them since overhauling an L134 is new to me.

I haven't tried to do a video post but I will try to video the engine start up and post it.

I almost have my engine lifting tool done and will post a photo of it. It should be easy to copy just by looking at the photo. I will tell the dimensions I used to assist in copying it.

Thanks but actually I like making tools more than I like working on something. I have more fun making the tools to do the overhaul than doing the overhaul. It really kicks my interest up when I see I need a special tool and then I step back and start working out the details. It doesn't always work the first time and I may have to redo the tool.

I have the engine lift tool done and will test it tomorrow and post a photo. I'm not really looking forward to sticking the engine back in because I know just how much trouble it can be to get everything lined up by myself and that's why I made the lifting tool. I know it will test my patience so I want to do it early while I'm not tired.

Thanks Bill, I doubt if it will be leak free for long, Jeeps just like to leak fluids. It's amazing how many mechanics will use a Rube Goldberg setup to keep from making a tool to do the job right. I have seen some people hurt doing that and since I don't like to get hurt I usually spend time doing it the safe way. Like you said, you may spend a lot of time making a tool but from then on it will save you time and keep you safe. Then everyone wants to borrow the tools you make rather than make their own. I always figured I made it on company or customer time so it was really a shop tool anyway.

Looks great! It's been quite an adventure for you. Glad to see it all come together. Thanks for keep us all posted.

I will be very happy to have a small oil leak, congrats Carl....

Even though there were a lot of set backs and issues it was still fun and a challenge. While I have built a lot of engines in and out of the frame I have never built an L134. I took it for a 16 mile shake down drive and it ran 160-170 deg, about 58 psi oil pressure at 5 deg advance and the only leak was at the oil filter cover and screw. Tomorrow I will re-torque the head and take another trip to help break it in.

It has about 40 psi oil pressure at idle. I double checked the engine temp with an electronic thermometer and the dash gauge is about 6 deg high. It runs real smooth, quiet and steady with no lifter noise and I set the lifters to a loose .016" and tight .017" to allow for the valves to seat in. I was surprised they didn't click a little. When it gets a few hundred miles on it I will check the gap.

Oil pressure is a long debated thing. Yes you can have the oil pressure to high in some engines and not enough in others. Having built this engine and dug up all the tolerances and specs I could find I don't think an idle pressure of 30+ and running pressure of 50-60 is to high for my engine. my lube pump is a gear pump not the double rotor pump and I think the relief valve spring may be a little strong but it's not shimmed.

The cam has only one bushing and the rest are cast iron block and the measured clearances were on the high side of the limits so it can use all the oil they can get. I also brazed the .070" hole in the cam gear lube fitting and drilled a new .040" hole and that may have increased the oil pressure.

The pistons have the proper clearance because I bored the block and gave them a .003" easy pull feeler gauge not the 5 lb pull on the feeler gauge mentioned in the manual. I don't want it to tight.

My crank is the one from the engine that was in it when the block failed and having plastigaged it on the mains and rods it is on the high side of the clearance limits and again, it can use all the oil it can get.

I prefer using Rotella T 15w40 oil and have done so since Cummins had issues with Chevron in the late 1970's.

The deal with oil pressure is clearances, rpm and load. NASCAR engines use high flow low pressure and the oil is like water. The idea of thin oil is it flows easy and doesn't have drag on the bearings and likes high rpm's. Thicker oils do better at low rpm and high loads and a lot depends on bearing clearances and bearing surface area. The thing is you will find arguments on both sides of the oil pressure issue.

Since I consider the clearances on my engine on the loose side and I like the pressure on the high side. The relief valve limits the pump pressure at speed but it doesn't control it at idle. Before the rebuild the idle pressure was about 25-30 psi. I checked the lube pump clearances and they are tight and no wear was on the housing or gears. I also made my own gasket for the cover and the clearance was about .005" there so my guess is my pump is real good.  

I too hope you can make it to Blanding, if only to ride along with us on a few trails if you can't bring your Jeep.

Now, I have to tell of an issue that bothered me as I built the engine. When the shop found the two cracks and he said he didn't think they would be a problem I had mixed feelings about it but decided to go with it. When I had the bad stud issue and was prepared to install inserts I still thought they may not help after finding it was the studs and not the threads in the block. Well, all this leads up to the leak that has surfaced after 40 miles of shake down drives.

Yesterday I noticed something seeping from the #1 head bolt nut. I put my cooling system pressure tester on at 7 psi and the seepage was coming up around the thread of the nut, not from under the nut or thermostat housing as I had thought. After some over night thought I decided to put Permatex 2 on the nut thread and bottom of the nut surface to seal the leak there. With as much Copper Coat I put on the Victor 1023K double sided fiber head gasket there is no way the gasket is not sealing all the water transfer ports and the metal seal rings around the combustion chambers will do their job there.

While what Linus told me and what I believed that the two cracks will not be detrimental to the engine, it has reared it's head as a leak that in the bqck of my mind I imagined may happen. If I ever have to pull the head I will pin the block in those two cracks and dress the pins down to the deck and install thread inserts. I don't expect the head gasket to fail because of the leak at the bolt hole but a head gasket can fail at the combustion chamber seal and since the block deck and head surface were both machined flat I don't expect a problem there for as long as I own the Jeep. Only another crack in a combustion chamber would cause an issue.

Now in conclusion, I recommend having your head and block hot tanked and magnafluxed before rebuilding it. I strongly recommend having any cracks in a head or block be pinned no matter where they are or replace them. I also recommend making a torque test sleeve like mine and torque testing the threads in the block to be sure they are solid and will hold the full torque. I recommend the block deck and head be machined flat. I also recommend that you buy a new full set of studs and nuts to eliminate any issues with a failing stud or nut and having to pull the head and replace the studs, nuts and head gasket.

While my leak at the head stud will not cause an engine failure it is an issue in that it leaks. I should have listened to my intuition and had them pinned. Use my experience with this crack issue to eliminate any issues you may have with your rebuild. Since you can't really do an in chassis overhaul of the L134 because the mian bearings are pinned in the block it has to be removed. You will have the opportunity to do it right and not take a short cut as I did.  

Well, it didn't bother me to much because I knew it could possibly leak from one or both cracks. After I stopped the leak at #1 stud a day later I noticed a few other leaks at the nut threads. They are just moist so rather than sealing each one I am going to let them seal their selves.

It's just a Jeep and just an engine and a leak like those don't affect the performance of the engine in any way. The engine looks nice when it's freshly overhauled and painted but they never stay that way if you drive them everyday and off road in the water and mud. As long as it performs well I am happy.

Hmmm, that may be a good idea.

The truth is, I will have to pull the tub next year to replace the top hats and other repairs. I was going to give her a little paint but other things got in the way. The thing is, if I make her look to pretty she may not want to play in the mud and water again.