Milwaukee Midget

[Tman]

Maybe not Snookie or JWow - but I believe that Tonya Harding has some association with LSR.

Steve.

And that annoying Model A that warms up every five minutes in staging! Makes the midget sound soothing.

[fordboy628]

midget,

300 pages? ? ? ?

What the hell happened? ? ? ?    And why isn't there more info on important stuff like   Beer! ! ! ! !

I guess I have to share some of the blame . . . .

300 pages? ? ? ?

I'll set the total at 500 pages for this "Build Diarrhea Diary".

                                  
Roverboy

BTW, I'll also take the "over" on the 500 pages prediction . . . . . . .      How many days until SpeedWeek 2016? ? ?

[Jack Gifford]

... Can this website software handle 4-digit page numbers?...

Nobody knows?

[jacksoni]

I think MM needs a new build thread for the K motor. 

[Milwaukee Midget]

I think MM needs a new build thread for the K motor. 

Actually, I'm wondering if a "child board" can be set up under the existing thread.  Slim, any ideas?

And today, the K-series will start in earnest. 

Wisely, I think, I just cleaned it up and put it into the basement when I received it last spring.  Today, I'm going to disassemble the head and create a steel plate to attach a dial indicator.

Fordboy and I will be doing some data collection.  The first thing we want to determine is what kind of clearance we can run with the valves.

As with the A-series, we are destroking a larger engine to make it class compliant.  The downside to doing this - as I discovered with the Grenade - is that when you make a larger engine smaller in displacement, you limit your opportunities to increase compression ratio.

The "Kettle" - which is the name we'll be giving the K-series in honor of its notorious reputation to overheat and produce furious wisps of steam, blown head gaskets and warped heads, actually has a solid racing record in Europe.  It was the first engine offered in the Lotus Elise when it was introduced, is a common site under the bonnet of Caterham 7's, and was the basis for Terry Kilbourn's MG EXF in 1997.  What's going to be required is a huge dedication to careful and precise build techniques and tolerances.

I expect Mark will once again be both the "mentor" and the "tormentor" with regards to seeing I do this one right.  I'm very glad he's in at the beginning on this one.  His experience on small displacement Cosworth, Ford and Renault eurotrash fours will likely make this build a lot less arduous than the Grenade build.

Although I expect it won't be any cheaper.       

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Well, yes, I can make a "child board", Chris.  See below -- it's not all that difficult -- even for me.

But when I was looking through the admin. pages I realised that the Build Diaries are located in the Bonneville Salt Flats Discussion general area -- and not all of the builds are for Bville.  I might just create a freestanding topic for builds - or maybe not.  I mean, after all, everyone has been finding the build stuff right along for a bunch of years, but then -- maybe it'd be wise to break away from the implied Bonneville stigma (?).

Any comments, girls and boys?

[Milwaukee Midget]

I guess the question is if it can be done under a specific subject, or would it have to be under a specific board?

[Milwaukee Midget]

Okay, a die cast head -



Huge tappet surface –




Cam girdle/ladder –




I didn’t just fall off of the turnip truck, but gut level, if I were to have designed this engine, I think I’d have gone with a different surface for cam bearings than just the die cast aluminum itself – Maybe this is the way it’s done today, but I don’t much care for it -


I’m seeing some wear in the bearing surfaces on the ends – they don’t quite pass the fingernail test, but the cams look fine.  Maybe a surface machining of the head and the girdle and an align hone?  Or maybe not worry about it.




I’ve got to figure out how to bypass the hydraulics in the tappets to get some accurate valve to piston measurements.

[RichFox]

My Lotus and Nissan both ran on aluminum and seemed alright. On the Nissan I dumped the hydraulic insides and made spacers to length after the valves were ground. Was a pain to adjust. Pretty much the same deal on the Lotus except it came that way. Since I had the cams reground, twice, the factory shims were to thin and I had to make my own. I made them from 4130 HT. Not good for 100,000 miles but fine for 3 down and 3 back.

[manta22]

OK, let me say up front that this is a harebrained idea. What about cleaning the hydraulic lifters thoroughly and then injecting them full of a hard epoxy? It's OK to laugh but tell me why it won't work 

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Milwaukee Midget]

OK, let me say up front that this is a harebrained idea. What about cleaning the hydraulic lifters thoroughly and then injecting them full of a hard epoxy? It's OK to laugh but tell me why it won't work 

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

Neil, I'll never discount one of your suggestions.

The cam is directly above the tappet, the hydraulic piston-spring combination is built into the tappet, and it's the hydraulic piston that actuates the valve.  It's the cushion of the spring and oil that takes up the slack in the valvetrain.







Right now, we don't know what the base circle on the cam is going to be, the amount of lift we'll be needing, the valvestem length, or the seat pressure.  What we would have to do if we follow your suggestion, would be to get everything set and then set each lifter with epoxy.  The cams would have to come out - what, 8 times - and if one is screwed up, well, I'm looking for replacements.

And honestly, I'm looking at these pieces and asking myself, "It this a component I'm going to trust on a 10,000 RPM 1-2 shift?"

It'd take a lot of really good glue to get me to that point.

This is all new to me, and while I'm certain this valvetrain will, in the end, be much less problematic than the OHV arrangement of the Grenade, it's going to require "a huge dedication to careful and precise build techniques and tolerances."
 
It's a 33mm diameter tappet - I'm wondering if there's anything commonly available in the US of a similar size and can be had in a performance adjustable solid version - possibly GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda?

I'm heading over to eBay to see if I can find a valve spring compressor for this thing.

[Stainless1]

Personally I think you should just continue this thread... It is still the Milwaukee Midget... you are just putting in a new bullet....errr.... grenade

fairly normal to see aluminum heads with aluminum cam caps in modern bike motors, the scratches are there to hold oil in the bearing surface  
 

[Stainless1]

A harbor Freight c-clamp with a tube smaller than the spring welded on the end works well... you will need windows in the tube to work the keepers... If you need a picture I will be home Tuesday nite.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Thanks, Bob - I think Fordboy might be able to help me with that, now that I think about it.

Looks like they’ve been converted to solid by others – but my concern is the diaptre one would need to grind on the face of the tappet to work with an appropriate cam, if that would leave enough material on the face to be safe, and how hard one would need to treat them.

The set-up would have to be spot on, or you’re making new shims every time.

I found this on http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=367218





I'm stuck calculating clearances until I can install lighter checking valve springs.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Misspoke earlier - it's a sand casting - it just has the cheap look of a die cast piece.