[reggazz312t]

Heck,Trainman at least some pickup yahoo didnt wreck you and your fine Car.Best Wishes Gene,reg

[a1exander]

Originally Posted by Trainman

He had to install a longer plate and it took an hour more than originally planned to get everything in order. This means a slightly longer recovery period to regain stability before I can start serious rehab.

I'm off the goofy pain meds now, and ibuprofen is all I need to keep me comfortable. However, it does nothing for the frustration of not being able to do a lot of stuff.

Gene glad to hear that you are feeling better and that you are well on the path to recovery.

Is the plate and fasteners SS?
Did you manage to take pics of the installation?

[ferraripilot]

Glad everything went well and it wasn't any worse. A blessing. Best, John

[Trainman]

Thanks again for the get well wishes. Yes, there's a great number of ways it could have been worse, and I'm grateful it wasn't. One need only look as far as Sarah Burke to see that some don't survive their accidents when out having fun on the snow.

Car vs. me? Hmmm.... I'm not typically superstitious, but I found it a bit odd to learn that my clavicle was broken into the same number of chunks that I cut my 308's head into.

Coincidence, or automotive Karma? Hopefully the ledger is even now.

Peter: The fixation device is titanium... I asked for carbon fiber with a snarky message to the TSA, but couldn't get one on such short order.

Pictures? Of course!
Bail out now if you're squeamish...




















Show above is the "finished view" of the new plate Visible are the six screws fixing the two ends of the clavicle, three on each end plus the one screw holding the largest segment in place, center. Two smaller segments plus some bone graft are filling in the intermediate spots where there are no screws.

[a1exander]

Looks neat...........
Time to change to Titaniumman from Trainman methinks

[Trainman]

OK, after a small "distraction" last week, I finally was able to visit Dave Helms at Scuderia Rampante and pick up my freshly rebuilt sinistra head for my 308.

While there, Dave refitted a spare cam journal cap for one that went missing ten years ago. A subcontractor fabricated and installed all new valve guides and did the valve work. Add in a thorough inspection and cleaning and it's all set to go!

I can't say enough about how knowledgeable Dave is when it comes to these cars. It is great to have such a highly skilled, independent mechanic so close to here.

Since lifting heavy stuff is off limits for me for a while, I'll have to enlist the help of my wife or kids to get these mounted on the block. Once they are on, I get to learn to use my left hand to work the torque wrench.

I can do a lot of the fine detail work like checking and setting shim clearances and even degree the cams with my left hand and limited mobility with the right.

[Trainman]

Woohoo! After lots of delays, I finally managed to get all the little bits needed to start reassembling the engine. I spent some quality time with the rear head today and it is now firmly attached to the block. I plan to get the front head mounted tomorrow.

Here is the rear cylinder deck cleaned up, dry and ready for assembly.


Head gasket in place:


Add one rear head:


And start turning those nuts:

[tazandjan]

TM- Looking good. Keep us appraised of how you are doing. Great photos.

[a1exander]

Sure looks neat

[Pizzaman]

Yes indeed.

[Trainman]

Thanks for the support gang! I had my six week checkup with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday. The x-ray confirms things are still in good shape for my collar bone. Doc gave me the green light to start doing some light therapy, as well as limited wrench turning, as long as I'm pulling toward me...still no heavy lifting.

Installed the left head last night. Had a little help to lift up that one big chunk of aluminum, then I finished the rest.


Even with the doctor's OK to work the wrench, I still had to resort to a cheater to get the final 120 degree turn on the head nuts.

The engine hasn't been this complete in 10 years!

Next up, cam phasing. I'll also give all the valve shims a final clearance check.

[JayG]

The final countdown, Congrats! I can't help but flinch thinking about you torqueing down stuff with a broken collarbone. Easy does it

[Trainman]

Friday night and a good portion of Saturday were spent in the garage working on the 308!

Friday morning I picked up a few more tappet shims from Dave Helms at Scuderia Rampante. (Thanks Dave!) That evening, I had all four cams dialed in and the clearances all set. Torque all those cam pulley bolts in place and set the tensioners.

New belt and Hill Engineering tensioner bearing:


Saturday morning was time to start bolting on other parts. I installed a new pilot bearing in the crank followed by a new rear main seal.


Flywheel & new clutch disk


New throwout bearing in the clutch housing and time for the transfer gears:


Then that pesky ring nut:


Today I'll put the cam belt covers in place. I found all the V belt pulley hardware so I'll have to figure out how that all goes back on. (More visits to the on-line parts catalogs.) Then install the coolant manifolds on the top, fasten the cam shaft covers and install the dizzy mounts and cam end covers... Still lots to do, but most of it is simple bolting parts back on type of work. The hardest part is remembering what goes where after all these years! Maybe by next weekend, I'll be ready to put the engine back in!

[Trainman]

I have two questions, one should be an easy "look-see" type of thing for any QV owners. The second might be harder...

First up, I am missing a fastener for the oil filter mounting flange on the top of the block. What's supposed to go in the open hole circled in red in this photo... a screw or a stud like the other two? Threads are 8 x 1.25. (The open hole on the flywheel spacer is for the coolant pipe support. That fastener is accounted for...)


Second, and perhaps more of a challenge...where does this belong? It's an 8 x 1.0 thread with nylock nut. It will probably become obvious as I get to the part it's supposed to hold in place, but right now, it seems really lonely.

[Pizzaman]

Heres a picture. Mine is a 2v tho. I should had replaced them, but i didn't.

[duck.co.za]

Glad you are well on your way to full recovery . 2V's have another stud in there ! My guess with the other bolt is gear leaver linkage ???

[Trainman]

Looks like a stud & nylock nut are in order for the oil filter flange. I wonder where the old one went???

And the fastener does indeed fit the shift linkage bushing. (And there was no fastener there...) It's now inserted in the chassis side linkage for safe keeping.

Thanks for the quick responses guys!

[bretm]

Originally Posted by Trainman

...What's supposed to go in the open hole circled in red in this photo... a screw or a stud like the other two?...

It should be a stud just like the other two.

Originally Posted by Trainman

Second, and perhaps more of a challenge...where does this belong? It's an 8 x 1.0 thread with nylock nut...

Agreed with Dave... the only place I've come across a bolt like that is in the shift linkage rod. There's one up front by the shifter itself and then another one back by the engine where the shift linkage rod connects to the shift rod (that goes through the sump).

By the way, awesome to see the progress!!!

[Trainman]

Thanks for the support!

I also want to make sure I don't get ahead of myself before planting the engine.

Is there a consensus on if it's easier to install the engine with the intake manifold & plenum on or off? I'm probably going to go with the single web strap around the front cylinder bank method of picking the engine up with the crane. Something tells me that the intake manifolds & plenum will just be in the way of that. I'm currently searching the various 308/328 threads looking for pictures of other engine installs in progress.

I know the exhaust manifolds should be off, and the front one wired in place up against the firewall.

Alternator on or off during install? The A/C compressor is still in the car, so that one's easy.

[bretm]

There's a few different ways to do it, but here's my $.02:
- I bolt two 3"x 3"x1/4" steel angles that are about 4" long where the #5 and #8 intake ports are. ie, in place of the intake manifold on that side. I hook a choker cable up to the two brackets using D-rings and then pull using the chain block. It gives the engine just the right angle to slip into the engine compartment.
- Front exhaust manifold has to be in the car, as you mentioned.
- Rear exhaust manifold might also have to be slipped in while the engine's going in. Even with no heat shields on mine, I couldn't get it back in without jacking the engine back up a bit.
- Remove the A/C bracket as well. The engine wont fit back in if you have the bellhousing and drop down gears assemebled on the other side and also have the A/C bracket on.
- I seem to remember having to remove the alternator to get the engine in.

Here's a pick of me trying with the alternator and A/C on the engine. It wasn't even close with the A/C in place, but that wont be an issue for you.

Like I said, just way of approaching it. I'm sure others go about it differently.