assembly ofAuburn 898 engine

Thanks Josh! I will be looking for it. Hope the mail delivery is on time. Ken

The article that Stan refers to will appear in issue 2-2004 of the Newsletter, due to be mailed next week. (Great timing --- pun intended

Hi Stan. Thanks so very much for the reply. I will check out that newsletter also. I was a little skeptical of the "timing the oil pump" theory. Thanks again! Ken

The oil pump doesn't require any timing. The distributor drive shaft has a screw and tapered fitting on top that can be loosened and then reset the distributor to fire on number 1 cylinder. I ran this in the newsletter 3 or 4 years back and Josh said he was going to rerun this data for slow readers, ha, ha.

Stan

I am resurrecting an Auburn898 and am in the process of reassembling the engine after checking the cylinder taper, bearing clearances, the general condition, and doing a valve job. I am wondering if there is specific procedure, other than trial and error, in installing and correctly timing the oil pump. I lined up the flywheel 3 1/2 teeth before tdc, as the Manual states, installed the oil pump, then set the distributor in to see if the rotor lined up at or near no. one terminal. I did this three times before I got the rotor to line up. I am am not sure if I have done this correctly. It seems there must be a more direct way to do this. I am not a mechanic, but several years ago I did an 898 and an 851, and they ran great. however I cant remember exactly how I did it! I have a lot of technical data to which I refer frequently, including ACD newsletters back to 1956. This particular project has raised a world of questions, along with some rather unique problems. Often , specific information cannot be found in old manuals and one must resort to trial and error or infer specifics from the limited data available. I have a long, long way to go on this Auburn. Can anyone offer suggestions on this particular problem, other than packing it all up and sending it all to a professional restorer? Is there some source of information I have overlooked?