I had to remove the oil filter kit on this engine, so I could heat the crankcase up to remove the front main bearing, and begin the oil gallery modification.

On stripping the oil pump out, I was surprised to see a slightly lopsided wear pattern to the cam driven oil pump rotor, but this suggests there is a slight bit of play in the oil pump shaft, as it’s a reaction against the thrust forces produced by the gears meshing at the camshaft drive.




One big positive is how fine the scratching is to the baseplate surface, where the steel gears rub against the aluminium. That is a good sign the filtration is working, as I’d normally expect to see heavier scoring, if an original mesh strainer was fitted.