My 04 D2 rebuild adventure by knightmetro

By diyauto
( 3 )

4 minute(s) of a 35 minute read

3-7-2014

Well, I've been told my bro in law dropped off the cheery picker, so that's one less thing to rent until I'm done.

It's Friday finally and I'm so ready to dive back into the engine tonight.

Now to get through the work day....coffee me.


I didn't break anything when I pulled the cooling lines, BUT, I found pieces of itself floating on top of the t/stat. A whole lock ring had deteriorated and come off at some point and traveled down the line and a big ol chunk of rubber from somewhere. I'll inspect every fitting in the long run and replace anything that looks funky.

I'm aware that Rover didn't use Loctite to secure the liners, and that ultimately top hat liners are a bomb proof way to solve all my problems. For a hefty price tag.

But I don't want to throw that kind of money on the block if I can try this theory first for $100. THAT BEING SAID, if all my pinning/loctite aspirations fail, I'll be getting a top hat lined block from ACR or Q&E. In the long run it would be hard to invest more than what the car is worth as I paid nearly nothing for it.

The Loctite idea came from a tried and true practice I found Lotus uses on their blocks, and consistent testimonies from diesel mechanics that use this stuff to lock in their liners all the time.

So I figure I add this to my pinning plan for a double combo to give my block a fighting chance at solving the problem without it costing me 2 grand.

All in theory. We shall see if it works or not.

I figure pinning + loctite all liners + a 100% working/upgraded cooling system = best possible (low cost) chance this Rover lasts me long time.


Oh yeah, and when I pin/loctite the liners in place, I'm going to have them sit just above the deck of the block.

That way when I get the block decked, it shaves the top of the liners flush with the block surface, and creates a mating surface for the liners to have contact surface to the new head gasket.

Figure that'll add to the peace of mind.


The head gasket kit that came with the car is a Victor Reinz kit. No clue on what that ranks in quality. It's German made. 

I'll have to mock up the HG and see if there is any point to deck off the top of the liners. If the diameter doesn't cover it, then there is no point. I'll check. 

The plan I have come up with is about as good as it's going to get without boring it out for new flanged liners. Now this whole plan only moves ahead if the pressure test I run this weekend doesn't uncover any compromises in the block. If I find any cracks or holes in the cylinder walls, then I'll be picking up another block. 

I know you can tig weld it and repair the cracks, as far as I hear, but I just can't see being comfortable with that in the long run. That and the place I have a warrantied block quote from is only $500. I'm sure a machine shop would bend me over tig welding and boring out my block. Just the quote for installing liners was $1,560. That was with ME supplying the liners. 

Now as far as the overheating is concerned, even new fanged liners wont solve that. So no matter what direction this finishes in, I'll be overhauling the entire cooling system. Full flush, new hoses and fittings. New t/stat upgrade. Also, if I find the radiator to not be up to snuff, I'll put in a better one.

After I put all the work into the block, I'm going to make sure the cooling system supporting it is rock solid. That being because of how susceptible these are to overheating damage.



Comments