No, you won't be able to hear a word over the combined death rattles of your pistons and his replacement engine in the Warty...

This is not not applicable unless you've shortened barrels or reduced combustion chamber volume (along with having the valves set further into the head - exacerbating the problem), in normal engine there is no chance of a piston from Kereven hitting the head.

Cheers Roy
Oh well Chris, crank

Hmmmm. Bugger. Thanks for the tip though Roy.

So I've been back to the Garage this morning while I was supposed to be working and checked all around the engine for physical fouling, flywheel, alternator belt etc. nothing, all seems clear.

No disceranable play at the flywheel fore-aft, nor from the front (float check).

Then turned the engine over very gently and slowly listening intently. And I can hear a noise which I think is the culprit and i think i can hear it making the click or clunk noise at TDC and BDC of the stroke.

Which all points again to the little end on one side being loose, right?

Assuming it is this, and the hole in the little end has play with the bush / gudgeon, is is there anything that can be done to fix that, like a slightly thinker / larger bush to fill the gap? Or some other process?

Or is another new engine the only answer ?? I'd rather fix than replace of course.

This is uncharted territory for me, building up engines as opposed to just replacing them, so excuse my questions if they are a bit ignorant.

Really appreciate all of your responses so far, its been a great help to get feedback from those far more experienced and knowledgable than me.

Chris

If you find the bush cracked a new is needed. Not an easy thing to do for DIY’s but possible. Give the job to a professional it is vital that the bush is reamed to precise measurement. Removing to much by reaming and the diameter is too big. You get a loose gudeon pin and the bush is hammered again only to crack quickly.

Ok Problem is solved, Very Loud Tapping Noise is no more.

Any more guesses, I'm kicking myself about this it was such a daft thing in the end.


OK so got one head off and lo and behold the piston I can see has the arrow pointing the right way, and has a witness mark on the top of the head!



Wasn't expecting that, all symptoms had been pointing to the little end from what was written above.

So what was it - Too Long spark plugs for gods sake! what an idiot I am, I had a new set of NGK plugs still in their boxes alongside 2 purflux 2cv oil filters, a Valeo points and condenser set. Right plugs, wrong length god knows how they got in there or why I've even got them!

What a donkey I am, should have checked this, both plugs were marked from the contact, the one on the noisy side slightly worse than the other.

Nearside:


Offside:


However got it all back together again OK, and started with some new proper plugs and a quick jump start from the Smart.

Then bodywork back on and a quick test drive - super! yay! Goodtimes Next for some gentle running in and a retorquing of the head bolts.

I'm admitting to my idiocy about the plugs publicly here in the hope of helping someone else out who might makes the same mistake as me in the future and stumbles upon this post !

Many thanks for the support and help on this thread to everyone who contributed!

Chris