Engine mechanic for 289 HiPo in 65 Tiger

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gripdad

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I am looking for a mechanic who can repair a 289 HiPo that I believe has a bent rod in my 1965 Sunbeam Tiger. The car runs but the engine feels out of balance. I am located in the SFV. Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks.
 
gripdad said:
I am looking for a mechanic who can repair a 289 HiPo that I believe has a bent rod in my 1965 Sunbeam Tiger. The car runs but the engine feels out of balance. I am located in the SFV. Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks.
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If you had a bent conrod it would have ventilated the block in very short order.

1. do a compression check, check spark plug wires, the #7 and #8 wires need to be at opposite ends of the wire retainers. This is a recognized issue with early Ford engines as when the wires get old they can cross fire.
2. check cap for carbon tracks, pull valve covers and inspect... you're looking for a loose or bent push rod... this could indicate a lifter issue.
3. inspect the harmonic balancer, OE balancers can shift the outer ring on the inner hub when the rubber gets old and cracks. this puts the engine out of balance.
4. remove oil pan and look at the rods


everything else is an "engine out" prospect for a full examination
 
I will do a compression test. I had just replaced the cap, plugs and wires, adjusted the valves and replaced the fuel lines. I primed the carb with fuel and think I might have overdone it. The engine stumbled on the first crank and that's when the problem started. I think I will pull the heads and pan to see what's up. Hopefully I can just replace a bent rod and bearings. Thank you for your help.
 
I seriously doubt you have a bent rod... In any event, pulling the heads with the engine in the car is massively difficult. I'd just drop the oil pan (very easy) and have a look. You never want to replace a single conrod for a couple of reasons... there will undoubtably be a weight difference and I've seen rods lengths slightly differ...

If you really do have a rod that is bent, then a full rotating assembly balance would be required along with accurately measuring the length of a replacement rod..... and making sure at the same time that the crank wasn't damaged. An engine out job.

Make sure on the left hand valve cover spark plug wire separator the #7 wire is in the front location and the #8 wire is in the rear location. This is because 7 and 8 are next to each other in the firing order. This was noted by Ford and Rootes to be a potential for cross-firing and it is called out in the shop manual.

Over priming would not have caused this issue. even if you hydro-locked the engine it wouldn't have bent a rod. The only way that happens is when you drop a valve...

I suggest you go back and check the valve clearances again as well. In any event, if your clearances are wrong, it'll show up with the compression test.

If it was the balancer slipping on the rubber core/ring the engine would run very roughly...

I restore these cars for my living... and have owned Tigers for 30 years.... before that I was heavily into to Mustangs... over 45 years of experience with Ford engines!
 
If you just did plugs and wires, are you sure they are all seated, and you are not having intermittent misfire issues from a loose connection?
 
If the engine stumbled on first crank and then ran fluky after that I wonder if your timing chain skipped a tooth?
 
hottigr said:
If the engine stumbled on first crank and then ran fluky after that I wonder if your timing chain skipped a tooth?
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that could happen on engine with the nylon tooth cam gear, but it's really uncommon.. in any event the 289 hi po wasn't built with a nylon toothed cam gear. the two things changed were ignition and valve adjustment... I'm leaning toward the valve adjustment being off.
 
The engine is not a HiPo but a mixture of parts. I pulled the heads and found out they are 1969 C90E heads and the pistons are Speed Pro L2482F30. The timing chain is a dual row with metal gears and looks fine. The camshaft looks like a HiPo unit with the wide balancer and solid lifters with .320 lift. The rods are C80E-A with 5/16 nuts, definitely not HiPo but they look straight. The crank journals are -.010 but look fine. I think I will replace the main and rod bearings and rings. Replace the heads with AFR 165's. Flex hone the cylinders, clean everything up and hope for the best.
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that one cylinder has been steam cleaned pretty good- leaky something?
 
Front cylinder has all the indications of water getting into the bore. I'd certainly have the head magnafluxed and checked to see if it's flat. at the very least a blown head gasket. Between the top of the piston and the exhaust valve I'd suspect a blown gasket at the very least.

looks to be the #4 cylinder... back on the passenger side.
 
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