I have the bottom of the A apart now. All four rod bearings were in
similar condition- almost all babbit gone, copper showing everywhere.
Luckily, the copper had not worn through anywhere so there was no serious
damage to the crank.
The back two main bearings looked pretty good- nice medium gray, no copper
showing, smooth bearings and journals. Because of this, I chose not to
mess with the front main. I will replace the back two and the thrust
washers. To pull the bearings, I used a device made from a hammer dent
puller, a 7/16 chain clevis, and a 1/2" manifold stud- looked stupid but
worded fine. Stupid move of the day- I was lying in bed that evening
proud of my accomplishment when I realized that I had left all of the
weight from the crank/flywheel/clucth hanging cantilevered from the front
main bearing! Muttering a quick curse under my breath, I told my SO my
problem, got back out of bed and threw the middle cap/bearing back on.
I bought some fine crocus cloth. It took me about five minutes per rod
bearing to polish the roughness away. Because of this, I feel pretty good
about the condition of the crank. The other good news found was the
condition of the oil scroll at the rear of the crank. These are notorious
on A's for getting damaged as the main bearings wear. Mine is perfectly
smooth and all of the original machining marks are still on the bearing
cap. So the amount of oil running out the back is consisten with original
factory specifications!
The emergency brake cable wasn't too bad to get off. I did have to cut off
one small screw. The left hand motor mount has been a little less
pleasant. However, working 1/12 of a turn at a time I have gotten all of
the fasteners off. I did have to resort to using Vise Grips to hold the
back of one bolt but the job was done. It will be interesting to see how
the new mount slides in.
Based on recommendations from the list, I also bought Amsoil synthetic
75W90 for my transmission. I would have preferred Red Line but this is
what I found so we'll give it a try. My parts are due today or tommorrow
so I hope to be back on the road by this weekend!
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