Nick Jones

Manifold gasket making marginal contact - sometimes air leaks, sometimes not? 120 psi is a bit low though..... is it known what the cam is? Nick

Low compressions (if the gauge used is known to produce normal readings on other engines) and generally poor running suggest the following checks are needed valve clearances (tight tappets due to seat recession) Valve lift (worn followers/lobes) Valve timing. Nick

20 psi at hot idle is fine. Mine is the same (now done 10k but been like it from the beginning). I'd prefer another 5 - 10 psi but it is what it is and the engine has taken some pretty aggressive use without issue. Hot idle actually more like 10 psi after 15 minutes on the track......... Provided the pressure comes smartly as the revs rise and holds at least 40psi at 2k rpm I'd say nothing to worry about. Nick

The small 4s and 6s are non-interference engines (except possibly seriously tuned 1300/2L with mega valve lift and shallow combustion chambers) - your pistons will be fine. On a car that hasn't run in 20 odd years the problem is probably due to rusty valve stems. When you have the head off, have a close look at the bores for signs of rust. Even if not rusty there is some risk of stuck rings - which may or may not free up the first time the engine warms up. Maybe worth putting a few mls of ATF in the bores (perhaps you have already) to help with this. Good luck! Nick

You need to be a little careful with that inlet manifold. While most of the Mk2 heads have the same port spacing, some years of US models (TR250? TR6? not sure exactly) are different. I have no idea why! They would have been for CD175 carbs though have a feeling that stud pattern for CD175 & HS6 is the same. The other point to watch is though a manifold from a 2500S saloon will definitely fit the head, the face that mates to the head is machined at an angle so that the carbs sit more or less horizontal in a saloon - which has the engine tilted at ~ 6º. This means that the manifold tips up at about 6º when mounted on a vertical engine (like Vitesse) and adds to carb/bonnet clearance problems. If using SUs you need the shorter dashpots from a Dolomite Sprint. The ideal is probably the right US market TR manifold with the normal port spacings - I have no idea where you'd get one though. They must be about as a fair few TRs have come back this way and some get converted to PI - creating spare carb manifolds in the process. The head number you quote is the cast-in number. There should also be a stamped number, probably 218225 http://www.triumphclub.co.nz/?page_id=653 Engine number suggests the early 132 bhp spec (same cam as Mk2 Vitesse/GT6). The best one. Strange rocker cover - from early Vitesse 6 or 2000 saloon? Nick

^^^^ exactly that. The factory considered single row chains adequate even for the 2L, 6 cylinder. Nick

GK engine will go straight in using the existing manifolds/carb/linkages/ exhaust etc. The GD is a 1200 and uses different manifolds etc and swapping will be much more involved. If the GK is a runner - it's a no-brainer - use it! Unless the GE has an external rocker feed pipe fitted, the oil burning pretty much has to be a ring problem. As standard they don't get enough to the top end to loose much that way. Overheating can certainly cause ring/piston damage but it much have been quite severe. Nick

4 cylinder doesn't need a duplex chain. Decent quality single row will be fine. Decent quality means (among other things) having a ground finish on the outside edges so it doesn't chew through the tensioner. Not replacing the bearings is false economy IMO - especially on a 1500. Possible exception is if they are proper VP2 bearings, which will be stamped on the back. If they are stamped AE or Glacier then they are aluminium/tin bearings which don't have a copper layer to show through. VP2 big ends are NLA (may still be possible to get mains in some sizes) but tri-metal bearings are available from Revington TR and County (King). Agree that there is something strange about the oil control ring shown. Also the top ring looks very slack in the groove? Nick

Eminently restorable Nick

Dependent on the depth of the crack it might possibly be resolved with valve seat inserts though made difficult by the closeness of the valves and a bit of a desperation measure! Another head is the best option. Suitable heads can come from a range of cars; this useful list on the New Zealand Triumph Club site shows the various possibilities http://www.triumphclub.co.nz/?page_id=653 It is possible (usually) to skim down the heads from 2.5 and domed-piston 2L engines though best avoided if you can as quite a bit has to come off and there is some risk of break-though into water ways. These are more common these days. You could try Chris Witor. Nick

Sorry....... welcome to my world! Herald 13/60 GE engine makes a perfectly reasonable start point for a snorty 1300 - maybe no easier to find though. I have the basics of a GE bottom end here (needs full rebuild) but not much use to you in Melbourne! In fact, for everyday drive-ability a 1500 is probably the best - provided the car is geared right. Needs at least a 3.89 diff + overdrive, 3.63 diff better. Nick

All too easy to do. I've never actually done it to point of the running the engine but early in my engine building career, standing next to a 1500 I'd just built up, a good friend casually joked that I'd probably put them in backwards. I swore I hadn't...... but it niggled me..... so much so that after he'd gone I actually took the sump back off to check....... and damn me, so I had! So now I'm absolutely paranoid about it and check many times! I actually found one in backwards in a 2500 I dismantled - had been like that a while and had lasted because it was the front one, with the rear one being correct. That engine also had the some of it's main bearing caps from another engine - shimmed with bits of coke can - so it would actually turn presumably! It was in my PI briefly but made scary noises when hot. Went in the bin! Nick

Nope, standard half circle type. My block was perfect and the crank NOS. I should check the end float again I suppose (~10k miles on the engine now). There are different types of the "standard" washers available and you can't always predict what you'll get. I've always tended to buy a selection of thicknesses so I can mix and match and what often happens is that some of the selection will be plain silvery grey and others will have a coppery colour. The coppery coloured ones are made by AE I think and seem to be very much better than the others. It doesn't really matter which type the washer on the front side of the bearing is as they see very little force but you should always try to get the coppery coloured one on the back side. When mixing and matching thicknesses to get the float you want, it doesn't matter which size goes which side. As yours seem to to have worn excessively in a very short time, you also need to determine why this happened. Was your crank nitrided/tuftrided? Some of these surface hardening processes leave a slightly roughened surface so the crank has to be polished afterwards - this includes the thrust faces, which might get forgotten! Nick

Could be the original engine. All 13/60 Herald VIN nos start GE but the very late ones (71 would qualify) had the large journal GK engines, presumably because Triumph had "rationalised" their engine production at that point. In standard Herald form I don't think the crank size makes much difference. Start tuning them and the small crank shows advantage. Nick http://www.heraldrestoration.co.uk/specifications.asp

They seem to be excellent. I have them in the Vitesse engine. Scott is good to deal with - only bugbear is the price of shipping - groupbuy makes lots of sense! IMO only the rear facing one needs to be solid bronze as it's the one that takes the thump No, on Sideways. Possibly this one. http://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/434-valve-springs/&tab=comments#comment-5067 Most of the serious tech stuff is on Sideways (all findable though pics may be gone on the earlier stuff) or VERY early CT (probably no longer findable) Nick

Depends what you mean by west Dorset...... I'm in south Somerset (between Yeovil and Chard) which isn't that far away. Vitesse owner 30+ years. Also this one in South Devon http://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/7845-for-sale-1971-triumph-vitesse-2l/ Nick

Water pump pulleys are different sizes. Bigger on GK to match the bigger crank pulley. Probably doesn't matter much but might mess up your fan belt lengths. Healthy GK is better than a shagged GE...... but a good GE is lovely - even better with a mk 3 Spit cam. Nick

From Roger's data I'd be using the the Witor ones (which are the ones I have fitted as I said before). While you are ordering from Chris you might want to order one of his "checked" oil pumps too. You take pot luck with the new ones. When I built the Vitesse engine up I had the choice of three. Two new and one used. The used one was better in every way, so I used it. The Jag springs were very popular for a while (I think GT started that one) as cheap, excellent quality and about the right rate. More on the subject here http://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/6109-ebc4871-springs/&tab=comments#comment-80984 I think there was an earlier thread that kicked it all off too which I've been too lazy to look for. Nick

Don't recognise the numbers on the cam - not one of the usual cam part numbers. Also, original or re-profiled? Sorry, don't remember about the spring spacers - was 2008 I did this - have receipt for the springs but spacers would have been re-used. I'm sure the Newmans springs will be fine. The springs don't need to be very strong unless planning big revs - and this is a 2.5! Nick PS re the springs coil binding, I think it's a question of by how much. If there was a big mis-match then a bent pushrod or broken rocker would be the likely outcome, guaranteeing a quick discovery. However, I reckon in marginal cases (probably more common) you just end up overloading every thing slightly until the first thing gives. Follower failures are quite common and could also be the result of excessive spring pressures or coil binding.

They are an interference fit and not especially tight. But in operation the cam rides on a cushion of oil and should not be trying to turn them. If you've got enough friction to spin the bearing in the block, something is already wrong. If the block is bored right they'll be fine. Yes, I have had one turn. Several in fact, by hand. Removable by hand too. Machined wrong and fitted with loctite - badly. Fortunately I did a dry build, which included fitting the cam and noticed one of the cam bearing oilways was "blocked" afterwards - the bearing having turned enough for the oil hole to no-longer line up. Not a happy saga that one and not the block that ended up being used. Those are the springs I'm using. Nick

Do such things exist? I've never seen any. They are really thin section 2mm -3mm max. Sames as use for Mk3 Spit. Oil hole in them is somewhat bigger than the feed holes in the block which is good as it's tricky to keep them precisely aligned while fitting. Yes, caught in time. Even more lucky that your local machine shop can line bore it! Not many can! Are you going to change or at least investigate the valve springs - would be a pity to have further problems. What cam was fitted before? Nick

Newman PH2? Suggest buying the followers from them also. Valve springs - I'm using the ordinary "red stripe" springs from Chris Witor with my PH2/PH3 hybrid cam done knocking on 10k miles now and all seems ok. You are fortunate to have a machine shop who can do the line boring. Nick

Yes. In fact pretty much all of the Mk2 2L and 2.5 blocks are the same insofar as they are interchangeable. There are detail differences but these vary more by year than 2L vs 2.5. It is even possible to use the later (large bearing) 2L Mk1 blocks if you drill and tap for larger head studs. Nick

"Vastly disimproved other one"..... All too true that...... Nick

Think the originals are chamfered and are made of some strange stuff that crumbles if abused. Doubtless there have been plenty of specials made as the originals have become harder to find. Nick