Lots and Lots of Parts

The previous owner of the car had said the engine had been disassembled in an attempt to track down a problem. He wasn't kidding. This engine was well and truly taken apart. The parts weren't packed well for long term storage, so I was worried that I was going to find damaged parts, and worse, I would not find the one or two Very Expensive parts that I would eventually need to put the rebuilt engine into the '83 Esprit. One by one, I emptied the boxes onto the floor. We had some rainy/snowy weather on the way back from California, so many of the boxes had started to come apart, opening up gaps where things could fall out.

Armed with my trusty parts manual (THE most important document you can have for any car, in my opinion), I dove into the pile. Most of the big pieces were easy to identify and as I marked them off the list, I organized them as they would go together. This way I would be able to identify parts that might be missing quicker. It got a little harder when I got to the head, as there are a lot of little bits holding the valve train together. The bigger pieces went to a local machine shop to take a trip through their parts washer to remove all of the oil and grime. Smaller parts got a soak in my parts washer.

All of the little bits, like valve keepers, shims, bolts, washers, tappets and anything else that looked like it could get lost easily was stuffed into ziploc bags and labeled with an indelible pen. Then everything that could fit went into a big plastic bin and put on the shelf . This will make it easier when things go back together.


I was very pleased and quite surprised to discover that everything was there with the exception of the rear air conditioner compressor bracket and the bolts that attach the sump to the bearing support. These bolts were going to get replaced with stainless parts in the rebuild, so they aren't a big deal. I'll turn to the web to find a replacement bracket. There is still a lot of measurements to take, and there are no markings on the pistons or bearings to indicate which piston goes with which liner, or how all of the valve train matched up. There is no indication that there was piston to valve contact, which is a Very Good Thing with these engines. I'll probably never know why the engine was dismantled in the first place, but as long as it goes back together well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. And it makes the story better.