Pinning isn't so hard

ezzzzzzz

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2010
604
7
SE Va
I picked up a '96 P38 HSE with 176k for the 4.6 to go into my wife's D2. Good fortune shined on me because I bought it without hearing it run (rotted fuel lines on a northern truck). The Reader's Digest version is I got it fueled and it runs great. While the 4.6 sat on a engine stand for swapping over the Bosch bits I noticed all the signs of a rebuild (bonus points here!). I decided to pin the liners since I was there. It was with some initial trepidation that I drilled the 7/32" holes into each liner and tapped to 1/4-28. A quick measurement revealed .3" hole depth. The liner thickness is approximately .150" thick. I ran over to Graingers and picked up some 1/4-28 x 1/4" SS cap head bolts. These were cross drilled for lock wire in the Bridgeport. I installed them with red loctite and never worried about protrusion because these sit recessed about .050" from the interior surface while the .10" insertion into the liner would be more than enough to keep things in place. I used an extended 1/16" drill bit (for flexing) to drill holes into the adjacent block webbing. Falling back on my days of lock-wiring hardware on too many navy weapon systems I secured the bolts in place although the likelihood of the red loctite failing is minimal. All in all, it took about an hour to complete the task.
 

rovercanus

Well-known member
Apr 24, 2004
9,643
244
Nice job! I had my block pinned before I rebuilt it by my machinist when he had the block to clean it. Also let him replace the freeze out plugs since it was there.
 

JohnnoK

Well-known member
Mar 19, 2017
190
19
Cape Town, South Africa
Every Rover owner should own a pair of Milbar safety wire pliers.

They are great, aren't they? I'm quite fond of my Snap-On reversible ones, too..
When I started as an Apprentice Aircraft Mechanic my Journeyman insisted that I did ALL lockings by hand, with only diagonal cutters to nip and fold the tail. Quite interesting with .041" wire at times....:ack:
 

ezzzzzzz

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2010
604
7
SE Va
They are great, aren't they? I'm quite fond of my Snap-On reversible ones, too..
When I started as an Apprentice Aircraft Mechanic my Journeyman insisted that I did ALL lockings by hand, with only diagonal cutters to nip and fold the tail. Quite interesting with .041" wire at times....:ack:

Sometimes that's the only option. Been there....