Finally got the car on the road after engine swap. Its so good to have some fun again. Doing a few miles to flush out any little niggles before track
day. Just found a couple so suggestions please. (Engine (bottom end) is std 2.0l Pinto from injected Granada)
1. Dipstick tube - not had this happen before but the tube is loose fitting. Tried to secure it in place with JB weld but it hasnt held. As a result
it weaps a little around the base. Any other suggestions for sealing it in place?
2. Oil breather pipe. On engine there is a small can shaped bit secured in. Around top a rubber seal. Ive modded the breather bit that pushes into
this (removed spring plunger). On old block it was a snug fit and i just placed a tie around it to hold it down. On new block its not such a tight fit
and rubber seal seems softer. The bugger came out today and i lost a bit of oil (and have a mess to clean up). Should i just simply be able to bond /
seal this in place with sikaflex or similar??
I should also ask would you expect to have an oily mess if the breather popped off? (It probs came off as a result of vibrations etc and also as it
now has a rubber pipe leading to catch tank which tends to pull it to one side slightly).
Cheers,
Darren.
on my crossflow the breather, a small rectugilar box on the block that has this valve thing oushed into it. there is a rubber seal/grommet that has
hardenred over age so I use a bit of bicycle inner tube (road bike so quite small dia).
Seems to have kept the thing in place.
should the rubber tube disintegrage, ti will fall into the breather, perhaps even ino the sump but should get past the strainer I hope. I can send
you a short bit of you thinl that is a good idea.
It shouldnt blow that much oil out of the breather really, if any, all that should come out is a bit of vapour. I just have an elbow on mine ready to
connect to a catch tank. You could just seal it in though.
I am guessing the dipstick tube didnt hold because there was still some oil on the mating faces. Might be quite tricky to get it clean enough to get a
good bond. You could always try the good ol' sikaflex on top of the JB after a bit of a spray with degreaser. Might be enough.
David 
you want to be careful with the dipstick. It can come out and you can loose all you oil! This happened to me on the M1... total engine rebuild!
I think we ovaled it slightly and tapped it in with some kind of sealant. don't really remember now. sorry
quote:
Originally posted by flak monkey
It shouldnt blow that much oil out of the breather really, if any, all that should come out is a bit of vapour
Ref dipstick - ovalling it and then sealing sounds like a decent idea. Iam curious as to why it is loose in the first place. Before JB welding i tried
to clean very thoroughly, used emery etc first (when engine was out so kept everything dust free). Maybe the JB fatigued and cracked off. I have
noticed a lack of top bracket to stop leverage at the top end so tjis may have contributed.
Ref Breather - The bit i call the can is well secured to the block. the elbow that had the valve is the bit that popped out of the top. This probs
wouldnt happen in std application but as i have fitted catch tank and hence relatively heavy tube it seems to want to pull over to one side. I reckon
ill bond it in place and then support the tube. Cant think why i would ever want to remove it.
Any other ideas or pitfalls with my plan?
I found the root cause of the breather problem - the grommet had perished and weakened. Ive refitted the grommet off the old block and sealed it with
bond and seal for good measure. Hopefully that will fettle it once and for all.
Ive also refitted dipstick tube and sealed it in the same way.
dipstick tubes on pintos always come loose.
I have just loctited them in the past