Independent Start-Up Journey

I've been running a shop here in North Carolina. Started last year around November. Had some previous experience at another independent shop in the area for a little over a year. Left that shop on good terms and pursued some other ideas before deciding I enjoyed what experience I had working a shop setting. My brother had a lot with a large building on it (around 100' x 60'). I went in April of '17 and started a renovation of sorts and cut the building in half with a partition wall. Put two 16' x 16' roll up doors in to accompany the existing 14'. So now, I have a 3 bay shop with plenty of ceiling room. It was a bit of a Frankenstein building to begin. Someone had a metal building and then extended the legs 10' or so, therefore in the middle of my shop I have a roof height of around 25' or so. Have been lucky with the amount of work I've gathered up to this point. A lot has been friends and family. My brother brings a lot to me. Just wanted to start a thread for my own satisfaction and hope to engage some viewers on the forum that may want to see the journey throughout its life. I'll post some pics of the building and some work I've completed.

A guy brought this chipper in and it was "Fix whatever is wrong with it." type job. It had an older model 4-cylinder Ford gas engine. I took off the carburetor and cleaned it out, changed the oil, services the machine, put on a few hydraulic hoses for the feed wheels, and a few other odds and ends. I do not know how long it sit, but after all that and a fresh battery, it fired right up and it was ready to go. I built this mobile hay feeder for my brother off of a design we came up with from seeing a few online. Came with a few issues, but mainly it's that the axle we used wasn't hardly heavy duty enough. Came out great other than that.Built this ladder rack for a local refrigeration company. Came out great after a flat black paint job.

Nice looking work. It will carry you forward.

Good Luck!

Nice work Jesse. Get up and early and surely you will be successful.

I got a vehicle lift moved into the shop and set it in the back. Didn't plan on using for customer work, but had a transmission swap come in and used it. They are hard to live without if you ever use them. I put a new camshaft and lifters in this 2000 Mack. It had the E7 350. Don't know too much about them still, but can do a camshaft install now. The bearing removal and install was probably the most tedious of it all. Tasked with putting new sleeves and rings in this little 4-cylinder Ford engine. Had a local guy make me a driver to drive out the old sleeves. Yet to put the new ones in. They are in the freezer at the shop. Does anybody have much experience with installing dry sleeves?

I think I read on here about someone putting sleeves in a bucket of solvent with dry ice, to get them much colder than the freezer ever would. -100 degrees or so.

I see, Birken Vogt. I have read to use dry ice as well. I have never had any experience using it myself. I will probably have to give it shot though.

I put dry ice in a cooler and put the liners in that fora half hour or so. Be gentle with them when you take them out of the cooler. They can be brittle.

I've always pressed them in. Easy if the engine is out and you have a big press. Harder in frame. A hollow ram is best. Some fine pith all thread works, you'll need patience.

Do you have the sleeves? Many have to be bored and honed after install. Not sure on a Ford, but some Internationals I have done are pre finished, some have to be bored and honed. I did a Perkins 4.108 recently that had to be bored and honed.

I do have the sleeves. I ordered an in-frame kit from AgKits.com. Supposedly, the sleeves are the same ID as the originals and the pistons and rings came pre-packaged in the sleeves in the box. I should be fine in regards to the ID. The only question I had is, is it possible that I'll have to shave the tops of the sleeves that may extend beyond the head?

I haven't gotten the chance to get started on reassembly yet.

I spent today working on the Ford self-loader. Had to service the engine and grease the truck and loader. Installed a new pressure hose from the pump. Question for you guys, the pressure hose that was on the pump had writing on it that said, "For Mining Applications Only". There is no mining in this area. What makes those hoses different than something I would get made at a Napa or Carquest?

Spent, the second half of the day trying to get the dump bed all hooked up on the Mack that I put a camshaft in.

If the sleeve protrusion isn't right usually the bottom is shimmed or the counterbore in the block is machined. It's not much different than a wet sleeve engine in that regard. Do the best you can to measure before you press the first one in to see how close you are protrusion wise. You could measure the old vs new as well to see if they match.

If it's a gasser, the liners may be flush with the deck. Some don't even have a shoulder. You just push them in until they are flush and away you go.

Wes J said:

If it's a gasser, the liners may be flush with the deck. Some don't even have a shoulder. You just push them in until they are flush and away you go.

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Good point. I zoomed in on the pic and can see a set of plug wires..... smh! Haha

I gotcha. Well, I will be giving it a shot tomorrow. I have to get back on that thing and get it done. Owner is starting their paving season and needs it soon.

Had the pleasure of working outside today in a neighboring town. Took the air compressor off of this 631D Water Wagon around two weeks ago and just getting the time to put it back on today. It has a 3208 Cat in it and there is no way to get comfortable down in that engine bay, that's for sure.

OK guys, I made a mistake today. I had my dry sleeves sitting in the freezer at the shop and I went in this morning and decided, "I'm going to go ahead and assemble that engine. If I can get the sleeves in I'm good, and if not I'll just drive them back out and get some dry ice.". So, I went and ahead and wheeled the block over to the fridge and pulled a sleeve out one at a time and drove them into the block as gently as I could with a small block and then finished them with the driver I used to get the old ones out. I got all four in started assembly. I cleaned up the crankshaft and put it in with new bearings and put the caps on. Torqued them down. Then I stuck the oil pump on and bolted it down. Then I started the pistons. I did 1, then 2, then 3, and was driving 4 down through the sleeve when I noticed what looked liked an oil ring about a 1/4" from the top of sleeve. I attempted to wipe it off with my finger and quickly realized it was a crack. So, after that I checked the other and seen that #2 was cracked as well. I don't know why I did not check them after install, just didn't think of it. So, now I have to pull the pistons, oil pump, and crankshaft back out to drive out my cracked sleeves. #1 and #3 were not cracked that I could see, but I'm thinking that it would be best to just replace them as well. They may have a crack on the backside or it may so small I simply can't see it. I would hate to have it all together running and the compression open them up.

I guess I'm trying to ask an opinion on where I should go from here. I'll have to put the order in for new sleeves on Monday. Should I go ahead and get four on the way?

Here's a few pictures.

Hmm. How Chinese are those sleeves?

I'm not sure what to say about the non cracked liners. I'd try some dye penetrant to be sure there were no cracks.

I always do dry sleeves in my hydraulic press. It's tough to horse a big block up in the press, but it's very controlled and I've never had an issue. Put a little oil on the outside and push them in.

Don't feel bad. Last week I was working on a Continental flat head and I spotted cracks in two of the valve guides I installed. No choice but to replace them.

Do those liners sit on a counterbore or are they straight all the way. I'm guessing they thermal cracked when they warmed up to block temp. You might check them with an inside micrometer to see if they are actually round. You could also check taper from the top to mid way down to near the bottom. When you get them back out look of the outside real careful.

That is just a shame. They shouldn't have cracked in that plane when you were pushing them down.

They are Chinese made, Wes J. You say that you use your hydraulic press. Do you cool them at all or just oil the bores up and press them in?

John C., they do sit on a counter-bore. I'm thinking that's right where they cracked. Right where the shoulder that sits in the counter-bore meets the smooth side that slides down in the block. I haven't gotten one out yet to make 100% certain.

It's a pain and it makes me feel like a dummy, but I have to change them. Hopefully be able to look back on this post in a year or so and laugh at how worried I was. Thanks for both of your suggestions!

Did it take a great deal of force to drive the liners in? Did you measure the interference? And if so, what was the crush?
I think if you could source a service manual on the procedure to set you straight would be great (I always figure that the people that built them know more than me).
Have done plenty of dry liners with a block of wood and a big wacker! You don't always have the sensitivity when using an electric over hydraulic 100 ton press.
Regards Bob

I never used any cooling in the press. I just pushed them in. Interference should be around .004.

It's a bit tedious in my press because the ram travel is only about 5 inches, so I have to push them in as far as I can and then lift the bed to push them the rest of the way.