Further stripping of the Pi engine revealed more damage than I had hoped. I removed all of the pistons and when I removed the cap from number three piston, the bearing just fell out. It was also badly scratched and grooved. Both halves of the bearing were a very loose fit and wouldn't push back into their locations. This would indicate that at some stage the bearing has spun on the journal and caused excessive damage.
The remainder of the engine was stripped and the crankshaft was removed. It looks like the main bearing journals on the crankshaft are ok, so they may get away with just a polish, but we'll have to see what the engineering firm says.
The cam sprocket and rear crankshaft seal housing both had a fair amount of gungy oil on them, so it looks like both oil seals had failed as well. The camshaft does look to be in good condition though, so hopefully this can be used again. (I haven't had a chance to clean it or inspect it fully yet though.)
So, the pistons are now on the work bench and the engine block itself is pretty much stripped for cleaning.
Friday morning 23rd October, I met Colin Wake for breakfast to swap some other bits over, then took the crankshaft over to Thurston Engineering at Ongar for them to carry out the work. They are an established engineering company that have been operating for many, many years and have a very good reputation.
It was a nice sunny day, so I decided to take Gertie2 for a drive over there. The crank is now in their possession so I now just have to wait for their report on what work needs doing.
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