Appreciate the info i'm sure there will be more questions as
the rebuild continues.

all the books I have just say the liners should protrude "slightly" above the deck to ensure good compression of the sealing ring of the head gasket.

Also they should all be close to the same height and you have to pull them down with washers or a bar across a couple of studs to check them properly

I am looking at different CAT manuals from 1941 (all engines)to the 1960's (D330)

Thanks for the extra info CC

I got the specs out of a D343 engine book but all the engines are basically the same as far as projection is. The correct projection doesn,t always tell the story as the seat in the bore needs to be true & not burned lower in spots from fire getting down under the liner & if it does then they should be bored out to clean it up & there is oversize shims to install if it has shims in it. Later engines came without shims but if you had to clean up the seat then there were shims to use then & they were a metal ring (steel shim) & not a copper like the original early engines used when shims were standard.If the bores were too bad then there were sleeve inserts to install & then they had to be bored back to std. for the projection as I have installed 100s of the inserts while working & the oversize shims where needed.I don,t think it,s the problem with the little later engines as it was with earlier ones probably due to better head gaskets & head & engineering design & stud placement.

SJ,

I put the liners in the D333 I am working on the other day before I realized there is no seal at the top of the liner like there is on the older engines. I had put them all in before I thought about it and checked the parts book to make sure. I haven't gotten the head gasket out to check how it fits yet.

Does the coolant actually go up past the liner into the area around the fire ring of the head gasket and keep it cool(er)?

Man those liner seals at the bottom were sure tough to get in and I didn't have any short bolts to use to push them in. they are CAT seals, well lubed and this is a new block. Wasn't having much luck bumping them in with a sledge and block, but finally found some old wheel studs that would do and it went easier with the mechanical help.

CC no the coolant shouldn,t go up above the liner seat or shims if so equipped. Sometimes a liner will not stay all the way down so just drop the head on & it should pull it down in ok but I always used a bar puller plate & bolts to help set them down in or a block of wood & hammer if they didn,t go in.I (we) always used the white Lubra-Plate to put on the seals & they usually went in pretty easy & with a used block always polish the area down in the bottom with sand paper where the liner slides in & also the chamfer, scrape & polish it up good too.

CC, I forgot to mention that Cat in my later years at the shop came out with a liner installer & was a round bar about 30" long & had an eye on the outer end so you could get a longer bolt in it & then back about 10" more or less & it had a swivel link from the bar that went down to a plate to set in (on) the liner & you pushed the liner down in with that bar & plate that set on top the liner.One could be made up pretty easy out of a round bar & a couple other small items.

Have checked the seats in the bores on my engine
and they are all good, the chamfers and areas where
the seals locate are good also so I should not have
to many problems.
Getting them in should be ok as I have a long 7/8"
threaded bar and a locating plate which fits in the
liner. These were made to get them out with the aid
of a 35 ton hydraulic ram, hopefully won't need the ram
to put them back in.

Another question, I have noticed there are copper seals on the liners where they seat in the bore. When checking liner protrusion
do you check with them fitted or not and is it best to anneal them before refitting.

Cheers Andy

Yes they have to be installed under the liner lip to check the height & just put them in as they come from the factory.If liner ledges in the block are bad then there is thicker shims available to make up the amount cut out but that has to be determined what one is needed & cut the depth to clean up the bore so you have the right protrusion & a shim to match.