TOOLS
Rear rope oil seal sizing tool
2-piece rear oil seal is graphite-impregnated rope over a rubber filling. I built a sizing tool using a 3 1/4" OD piece of scrap aluminum with 3/8" wall that I turned in my lathe. One end is turned slightly smaller than the rear crankshaft journal, and acts as a guide when rotating the sizing tool. The other surface is sized .005" smaller than the reverse-screw journal on the crankshaft (that mates with the rope seal). The screw threads turn counter to the direction of the crankshaft, with the idea being that excess oil will be "screwed" back into the crankcase.
I soaked the rope in oil for a few days. Then, I placed the rope in the top and bottom half of the seal, and used a 1" round piece of aluminum and gradually worked the seal into the groove. When I felt it was seated, then I bolted up the top half of the seal (note engine is upside-down), inserted the sizing tool, then loosely attached the bottom half. By turning the tool, and tightening the seal, I was gradually able to seat the top and bottom halves of the seal together.
The idea is that when I finally assemble the crank in the block, the seal will exert a little pressure on the reverse-screw journal (.0025" all around). Too little pressure and oil will leak. Too much pressure, and the seal burns, which cooks the crank, and that's no bueno either. Only time will tell if I did this correctly.
Head-pulling tool
Here's a handy, cheap, reusable tool to help pull your head off the block. Weld nuts onto the base of a couple of old spark plugs. Now you can attach a lift, and slowly, carefully lift off the head.
Valve spring compressor
Another home made tool, this time a valve spring compressor. Buy a 10" C-clamp from HF, and some appropriate-sized pipe from Home Depot. Cut out an access hole to access the split-collets, and you've got a Jaguar tool. I've used this several times on several engines, and it believe it will work on 2.4L, 3.4L, 3.8L and 4.2L engines.
Valve adjusting pad holder
Valve adjusting pads tend to wear in the middle where the pad contacts the end of the valve stem. You can flip them over to mitigate, but sometimes you need to shave the pads by a couple of thou to get a perfect fit. It's hard to hold them securely while you rub against 600-grit paper on a piece of glass. If you have access to a lathe, you can make up a small pad holder, just to save your fingers. I made mine out of aluminum, but mild steel or brass would work as well.
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