SonexBuilders.net

I've hit an immediate brick wall on the very first step of my Aerovee assembly. How in the heck does everyone get the snap ring (that secures the timing gear) into position? I ended up buying a set of snap ring pliers from Harbor Freight to get the process started, but they did not open the snap ring nearly wide enough to clear the detent, not to mention the pliers broke apart in my hands after half a dozen tries.

I've ordered some more robust snap-ring pliers online and hopefully they will do the trick. I'm just a bit frustrated by the very first step in engine assembly since it doesn't call for any special tools, yet I can't find a tool anywhere in my shop that could possibly get me through this step.

My VW Rebuilder's book says to use a "hefty pair of expanding ring plier" for the job. I think you just need a better pair of pliers.

these are what you need, the common ones from harbor freight are for the small clips like the circlips in the piston


http://www.sears.com/craftsman-lock-rin ... ockType=G9 .

Hi Ryan, I have just finished my engine to the point where the rockers and pushrods are done. Everything went pretty well.
The few things I would do the next time...It sound like you are doing your own prop hub. Let it heat a long time. My first attempt
I heated an hour and twenty minutes, it went on only 1/2 way. The second time was two hours plus and it slipped on with ease.
When you install the small pins in bearing journals that keep the bearings from spinning check to be sure the bearings fit
down and seat easily, as the crank assembly is a teadious job to install in the case half, be carefull.
There are two places where you may likely have clearance problems: the connecting rods at the bottom of the crank case
and the cylinder stud bolts hitting the rocker shaft assembly when your setting up your valve train. The manual mentions
these item as you "might" have to rather than you Will have to. It bothered me to clearance these items(by grinding and or cutting) in my nice clean engine with an oiled up crankshaft. I would probably mock the block up and check rod clearance and fix if needed
and then go on and temp mount the cylinders and heads (no need to have the pistons in for this) and slide the riocker shaft on ther bosses to see if the cylinder bolts clear the rocker shaft, you will need to slide the rockers on as well. I had to cut a 1/4 inch off three of the four studs on each side of the motor. Then you can take things back apart and reclean stuff and go. Just my thoughts.

Thanks for the tips, I got the tool from Sears and the ring went on first try. However I'm now worried with all my fiddling to get it on that I've bent the ring out of shape, because I can easily spin the ring around the crankshaft with my fingers and it has a small amount of wiggle room. I'm guessing this is not normal?

I've ordered a new ring from Sonex ($4.50) and plan to replace it.

Boy...I was really sorry to see your hub did not work out. The snap ring can rotate on the shaft, but wiggle is not good.
I think it would be OK to close/bend the the ring tighter and try again as long as there is not anything crazy with it.

Ok, so it's been a week now and I'm STILL stuck on this step. I received a new snap ring from Sonex and went to install it tonight. I used proper pliers and only opened the ring just enough to get it over the "hump" and into position. This second ring also apparently deformed enough to be very loose on the crankshaft. What am I missing?

Here is a video of my result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFOgqM9 ... e=youtu.be

I've emailed Sonex Tech also to try to figure out what's up.

Well, apparently this is normal. I sent Aeroconversions an email with the video, and this was the response:

"The timing gear snap ring never fits very tight. There is always free movement if the gear is installed correctly. The only reason the snap ring is there is if the gear starts to move on the crank, which wouldn’t happen unless the gear were to crack (a very rare occurrence indeed). There’s really nothing to be concerned about with the snap ring being loose."

I guess the question would be have other builders watched the video and experienced the Samething ?

I just looked at one of my photos and it confirmed my memory. I had about an 1/8" gap at the ring split after the ring was seated. I don't remember how freely the retainer ring turned on the crank but it wasn't loose like in your video.