Bfg
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Posts posted by Bfg
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^ Thank you David. It was pretty cold to work outside yesterday, but I was satisfied to take even that little step ..in the right direction.! Perhaps you are fortunate insomuch as your car doesn't need this sort of correction and preventative care ? I think it might be rather nice to be able to park the car up and know that it will be good to go in the springtime. I could instead be working on the boat !
Today I painted the driver's-side footwell, bulkhead and side panel ..again while access was easier for me to climb inside and invert myself. My being right-handed makes this footwell all the more awkward to twist around to . . .
^ Painted to the same extent as the passenger side, again until I've dropped the gearbox back in and bashed its cover to shape.
And then back onto the gearbox . .
^ reassembly of the thrust-bearing & its fork mechanism, this time with a liberal application of grease in its bearings, and also cross wire-locking of both the standard pin and dowel.
Next job then . . .
^ reverse procedure of blocks to slide the gearbox on as when I removed it. Lifted over the door step first, with the overdrive resting on a 3/4" thick block resting on the sill's upstanding flange.
^ slid forward on the blocks as I lifted the back end around. The aforementioned 3/4" block was then moved from the sill to now protect the edge of the floor. From there the gearbox was slid forward onto the waiting board, still with jack and timber column support under it.
Blocks are positioned over the propshaft's forward UJ. Lifting the overdrive onto this bridge tilts the bellhousing under the car's heater. From there it is slid forward on the under-supported piece of plywood. Without drama, with lumber not strained, and all fingers and paintwork intact.
^ getting to this stage was fiddly, insomuch as the I made things difficult for myself.. because I had left the gearbox mount / bolt-on chassis cross-brace in place, and then also my extra-long (extended forward) T-shirt plate under the chassis prevented the propshaft from dropping lower (..had it just been an extra 1/4" lower that would have made life easier). Nevertheless with jiggling around the task was done, without loss of composure. From door sill to thus far took 40 minutes, on my own.
But then getting the input-shaft spline to engage with clutch ..so that the gearbox would push forward, proved a time consuming business. I was just about to give up for the evening ..to come back to it afresh in the morning, and gave things a last half-hearted shove, and lo n' behold it clicked forward. I cannot explain why it did so, as nothing had changed from my pushing n' shoving and twisting n' levering five minutes earlier.. but it kindly obliged and just slipped in.
^ Gearbox back in ..still with paintwork intact and flanges straight. The gearbox mount is now back in place and I've a few bolts in the engine, and so it's nearly done. Tomorrow I hope to get things all bolted up, with the starter and clutch slave-cylinder back in place, and the gearbox top cover on again, so then I can move forward with reshaping its steel cover.
Progress., as well as footwell rust-protection and colour-correct prettiness ! Hopefully soon the gearbox will now be oil-leak free, and it'll all be brushed under the carpet !
Pete
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If I might.. I note some confusion here because of the repeated reference to 'flow ' of oil, whereas the real issue in our older engines is one of oil 'pressure''. This is why our cars have an oil pressure warning light and often a gauge too ..and not a flow meter.
Plain bearings, including your big-end-shells, rely on the engine-oil being forced into the tiny tolerances between a loaded bearing and its journal. That pressure needs to be continuous, as this maintains the film-of-oil which the plain bearing rides on. Plain bearings, in effective, hydroplane on the oil.
The excessive capacity of the pump, is regulated within the lubrication system by its pressure-relief-valve (note again pressure ..not flow) and that accommodates, to a reasonable degree, wear in any of the plain bearings. As a bearing, or bearings, wears then the to-journal tolerances increase and whole system's pressure is lost, so the pressure-relief-valve operates to open less ..thereby maintaining the designed oil-pressure throughout the whole lubrication system.
Conversely ; ball, needle and roller bearings do not require their oil to be under any great pressure, in fact most are lubricated by the constancy of splash within the crankcases or gearbox. Often that splash is guided (but not under pressure) to dribble down on top of bearings. In other places there may be a machined scroll to proactively draw oil in to a plain bearing. Again these simply require a steady flow of oil.
Altogether a very low pressure lubrication system is very much more reliable ..because if one bearing is worn (or fails) then the others do not suffer oil starvation ..they are still getting splashed. And even when an engine is first started from cold - there is usually some oil sitting inbetween the rollers, even though oil pressure in the system is, at that instant, very low.
An oil pump is still required to draw the engine-oil through filters and then to take it to high points and very hot places within an engine (..to avoid all the oil draining down to the sump) and for cooling of those hot spots. And sometimes bearing surfaces are supplied with a jet of oil (..for example the camshaft lobes) but that again requires pressure, which the designers prefer to avoid. It's better then to have the camshaft lobes dipping into their own trough of oil. Other places require a jet of oil to cool a particular hot spot. But again this is a matter of much increased flow of oil over those places. In this design, the oil level is carefully monitored and low-on-oil warning lights are in place to advise the driver.
In practice, an engine's lubrication system is designed with both high pressure and low pressure / high flow. High pressure to the big end shells, and high flow to camshafts and with a lot of splash to other bearing and friction surfaces. If the oil pressure is contained within a few parts, such as the crankshaft, and its design avoids going through gasket faces ..then the engine is likely to be oil tight.
How does this relate to 50-year-old Triumph engines ? Well firstly it is necessary to know that the engine's plain bearing require pressure, and as importantly that the pressure is within a (restricted by design / semi-closed) lubrication system. Take away any part of that system and the pressure (within the whole lubrication circuit) will be reduced. That is unless the feed to those ares is otherwise restricted or blocked off.
Will the replaced mechanical parts need alternative lubrication ? ..yes if the oil path has been blocked off to retain pressure throughout the rest of the system, or else is not specifically directed at any new part needing lubrication, then an external oil route (restricted by bore size or jet, to preserve the oil pump's pressure) might used to provide the necessary constant-flow of lubricant to those parts. It is however a bold move to make such changes, unless for racing tenths-of-a-second-per-lap is the overriding criteria, as it risks greater damage to other parts. Arguably reliability wins races as much as a quickest time.
Hope that helps,
Pete
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Happy Sunday.. where I like to wake a little later than usual, make myself a cup of coffee with toast & marmalade, and then go back to read in my still snugly-warm nest.. Luxury !
As a consequence I don't do much work on such days. In fact today I just did a couple of hours ..not because of any great urgency, but simply because I wanted to do this task while access was still easy, and again to allow the paint to dry before I continue playing around with the gearbox cover. . .
^ the first hour was more cleaning and wire brushing, solvent wipes, etc.,
^ second hour painting with POR-15, as I had done previously in the passenger side footwell.
Finished at 3:30, and that was it for today.. I bid you a good evening.
Pete
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Thanks Mathew, I felt this paint covered very well indeed, it's just a single coat. I finished painting the floor soon after 3pm today (stormy, 5 to 6-degree c., 92 - 95% humidity, with blustery rain outside ..so very glad I now have the poly-tunnel). At ten past three I put a fan heater inside the closed car to warm it just a little ..not that the side windows or hood presently fit to seal it very well ! And of course there's no gearbox tunnel fitted so warmth would just drift away, and then the metal of the floor and bulkhead will be cold on their outside.
The fan was on its lowest fan speed and thermostat setting (so is mostly not on) and the new paint (on the floor) was dry but tacky to the touch two hours later when I stopped for the day. Freshly painted acrylic tends to feel tacky anyway. It feels much the same now at 9:50pm. I haven't reached further in to feel if the paint feels any harder higher up the bulkhead ..where there may have been a little more warmth.
Triumph engineers were fine fellows, insomuch as they placed a bunged hole in the floor of their cars to drop the heater's plug and lead through.. I'm inclined to think that was very considerate of them
Tomorrow's forecast is for 2 to 3-degrees c. temperatures, so I'll not expect it to harden very much in that.
Pete
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Slight change of plan today, I decided not to drop the gearbox back in yet. Last night, I noted in one of my photos that the other RHS gearbox-top-cover's threaded hole was also damaged. So, while the task is easy to do, I decided to fit a thread insert in there too ..not least because when I bought the car, its overdrive's earth lead was clamped under that bolt ..and so that thread may get a little more use than the others.
Therefore, in planning my day - I opted to repaint the gearbox cover's flange on the bulkhead, the underside of the battery shelf, and a section of the passenger's footwell.. Again while access is good. And then while that paint was drying.. I'd work on the gearbox again. . .
^ I'm very pleased with how this paint applied by brush and covered. It's thin enough to brush into the cracks of panel overlaps, but just about thick enough, even on this chilly day, to not run. It came from Johnstone's trade store and is their Smooth Metal Paint (Acrylic, so that I might thin it down with white spirits should I need it very thin / for wicking into joints). The colour is RAL3001 Signalrot (red) which is very close to this car (I took a piece in to be colour matched).
The rear half of the passenger footwell I'll repaint after the gearbox is slid back in and my bashing of the steel gearbox cover is done. The driver's footwell still needs a bit more cleaning up before I paint it with POR-15 (as I'd already done on the passenger side). It'll then get painted body colour whenever anon.
As intended, I then fitted another 5/16 UNC thread-insert into the top of the gearbox, before cleaning off the black paint and giving it a light blow-over with aerosol silver. . .
^ the (exchanged / reconditioned) overdrive was already bright n' shiny silver, but the gearbox and its bellhousing were patchy / flaky black paint with a smear of oil. Although I hope not to see it again very often, I'll now be able to more easily tell where any other oil leak may be coming from.
That's it from blustery wet Ipswich tonight. I bid you warmth in your home and a pleasant weekend.
Pete
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In the meantime . . , aside from sometimes being idle, I'm taking the opportunity of clearer access to do a little more inside the car. . .
^ starting off with cleaning away the old gearbox-cover gasket, and straightening the (supposed) sealing flanges, which had been battered (..not by myself I might add). After all, if I hope for a reasonably pleasant car one day - then I really ought to avoid engine & transmission noise and fumes from simply wafting through the gaps.
^ Use a hammer & dolly where I can, but in places where the access is limited then an adjustable spanner, closed down to the flange's metal thickness, provide an excellent lever for bending the metal back into shape. Note, the sealing / fastening flange for the cover, on the later cars, projects from the bulkhead. There are no fastening holes through the bulkhead itself.
^ I also took the opportunity (easier access) to start cleaning up the bulkhead and then the driver's floor of crud, surface rust and rock-hard carpet-felt goo.
My keenness was to get back onto a task that I started half a year ago, and that was to replace the thin fibreglass gearbox-cover fitted, with a steel one from a TR3. . .
^ I'd already cut it in two, so that rear of the dashboard support / H-frame would be detachable without disturbing the forward (bulkhead / under dashboard) section. But I'd never got as far as cleaning it up nor to straighten its flanges. As you can see this cover's end flange (left hand side of photo), is designed to sit flat against the bulkhead of the side-screens cars. It is fastened through this to the bulkhead.
^ that's very much straighter, sitting flat on the floor and its forward (bulkhead) flange sitting nominally upright and square. But there was still some repairs to do where this 60+ year old cover had cracks through a couple of its slotted bolt holes.
^ When fitted into the car this TR3 cover mostly fits the, 10-year later and massively revised body design of my TR4A. This is particularly amazing insomuch as the cover's fastening and seal flanges are different. Nevertheless five of the fastening bolts (1/4" UNF) around its bottom fitted without alteration (three on the RHS and two others on the LHS). This cover's height at the rear end (where I cut it off) is very much taller and wider than the TR4 type (which has to fit under the dashboard support / H-frame), but its fit to the body tub and along the floor edge is very convenient for its reuse.
^ From the inside you can see that the floor width is very good. NB, the TR4 floor-edge lacks a bolt hole in that front left hand , so the corner of the cover is not yet being pulled down fully). Otherwise, the cover's overall height around the front flange started off being about 8 - 10mm too tall. The steel cover has a hard corner shape on the LHS which needed a smoother curve. And a similar place on the RHS (at the top of the starter-motor's bulge) likewise needed a little easing and squaring to the TR4's sealing flange. Otherwise, the bulged shape around the starter motor was a little too rounded. . .
^ Although it took a while (..and an embarrassing show of bad temper when I ran out of welding wire ..just as the day's light was fading !) - the task of getting this cover to sit even better / flat against Katie's bulkhead, and down onto both side's floor edge, really wasn't that difficult a task. The width was already accurate, and the height at the front has now pulled down to about 6mm (1/4") too high. This is relative to the TR4's bulkhead sealing flange, but that really isn't too important to me as I can easily fill that with foam rubber.
all in all, good progress and a very pleasing fit (..all things considered) ..but then it was dark again and I couldn't see to continue.
If I get the gearbox back in the car in tomorrow, then that'll give me the height I can taper the cover down to towards its rear.
Pete.
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Thank you Gentlemen for your continued support and good advice.
I've been otherwise busy these past couple of days, but this afternoon I refitted the front seal cover. As it was., I had already tapped and thread-inserted two of the four fastening holes with 3/8" UNC threads, while the other two remain as 5/16" UNC. . . . . .
^ of course, due care was needed to ensure that no coil wire end, nor bits of swarf, dropped into the input-shaft bearing or gear case. And, as before, the thread-inserts were Loctited in place and fitted just a little below the gasket face. Thankfully the length, the back-end of those through to the gear-case, were excellent. They are, I feel, now noticeably stronger than the original tapped threads.
Today I started off with a little shopping, to Suffolk Fasteners, Ipswich because I needed just two 3/8" UNC bolts and a couple of copper washers to fit those. Because I wanted a plain-shanked bolts for these ..I bought longer and cut them to length. I'd also cleaned things up, made a new gasket, and annealed the two copper washers I'll reuse. . .
^ Parts all but ready. The inside of the cover's tube was water-proof greased to prevent surface rust. And the seal was given a liberal coating of synthetic lubricant containing Teflon. I used Wellseal on one side of the gasket (..which is first fitted around the bearing's retaining circlip) and a smear of grease on the other face.
^ another little minute job - done.
Hopefully tomorrow I get a chance to refit the thrust-bearing assembly and perhaps drop the gearbox back into the car.
Pete.
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I guess someone made a mistake ..and pulled the wrong size drill out of their kit.. ^ The drill supplied in my UNC thread-insert kit, when tapping for a 3/8" insert, is in the hole, whereas that for the 5/16" UNC (the correct bolt size) is in my fingers. So someone over-drilled them, and then instead of finishing the job with oversized bolts, they simply used goo.
I might have sought sleeved inserts to fit into that over-sized hole, or else I was to go up in size to 3/8" UNC.. And that's what I've now done. Very awkward little task doing those two, so close to the input shaft, and within the bell housing, but I'm pleased with the way they've gone in. I guess I was very fortunate in preventing bits from dropping inside the gearbox, (using white grease on multiple layers of bubblewrap poked in, behind the holes, on the gearbox side) as subsequent flushing out with aerosol carb cleaner submitted no bits of swarf.
Copper washers were used, but I see in the workshop manual that wedglok bolts were originally specified.
Tomorrow I'll shop for a couple of bolts and copper washers to suit.
^ I'm equally as unimpressed with the drain plug hole, I'd guess that requires a special tapered tap ?
Pete.
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photos speak for themselves . . .
^ bolts without plain shanks and an apparently reused gasket.
^ two thread inserts, both proud of the gasket face.
^ untapped hole for the thread insert
From cleaning out that hole.. it feels like silicon but with stripped-out-thread-bits to give it a nice crunchy texture.
^ the top hole's thread insert, similarly in a plain (untapped) hole.
^ it's going to rather difficult to prevent swarf from my tapping that hole, inbetween the two gears, from dropping into the gearbox case.
And this is just 200 miles since the gearbox was professional rebuilt by Klassic Transmissions. I don't know if these faults were there before, but still I feel they ought to have been rectified in a professional manner. And although there might have been an occasional drip of oil under the car - it was, when bought, remarkable oil-leak free.
Pete
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Looking forward to this Burlington build Ian .. not least as I know Hayden from way back in the day. Unfortunately because I do not know the intricacies of the small chassis Triumph's suspension, most of what you've written about it goes straight over my head ..so I'm looking forward to seeing photos along with your entertaining deliberations.
Keep moving forward, Pete
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Other little jobs are being done ...
^ as previously spotted, this stud through the overdrive's flange and its nut were not exactly precision fitted. The stud was poking through the back, but lacking threads in the nut. The dilemma then was how to get the stud out ..with damaging it and or separating the joint.? As you can see there's not enough thread for a single nut let alone for locking two together . . .
^ the solution I chose was to remove the washer, to expose more thread, and to loosely refit the nut on its stud with medium strength Loctite. When this cured it undid the stud from the cast flange.
^ although I would have preferred it an 1/8" longer.. the stud is just about long enough. I applied loctite to the thread into the cast flange and screwed it in to be flush with it back face. I let that cure before refitting its washer and nut.
^ Job done ..next.
It was disappointing to see that the clutch release mechanism had been altered from as I'd fitted it just a few months ago . . .
^ several things were apparent. 1. I had left double bushes in the case where the rod passes through ..because those bushes were rather short. 2. there's a glean of oil around the bellhousing. somewhere is leaking. 3. the grease I had applied was lithium based molybdenum-disulphide ..as used CV joints where high shear loads (ie., sliding) and infrequent maintenance access is usual. This has been substituted with Copaslip ..a very different product intended for a completely different job. 4. the lock wire through the release-lever-fork does not go through the dowel pin. The prior owner of this car did that and the pin fell out and then the main pin sheared off, so I consider it necessary to wire that dowel pin in place.
^ where I'm pointing to, there's oil ..as if that gasket face is leaking. Or else the oil has come passed a seal around the splined shaft and has dribbled back. It might better account for the sheen of oil all around the inside of the bellhousing. Either way, it's an unhappy prospect.
^ Both ends of this shaft and their bushes are dry of lubrication. ^^And the bush in the RHS is part hanging out, with its end battered. As the bush is short it ought at least be under the shaft. These were a brand new bushes, that I had carefully drifted into their place. And there was a bolt through the hole under it, which located it.
I'm disheartened by the lack of care & attention.
I'll see if I can get another pair of new bushes, before I refit the gearbox.
Pete
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6 hours ago, Mathew said:
Oh pete, you will be upset with my local ford dealer
This is the state of my new car!!! After a week in there care!!!!!!
Just to fix a small oil leak!!!!!
Why is it not done in a day as previously agreed, the sealant they were supplied was out of date!!!! So the have to have the correct sealant in date!
I know some only use sealant on sumps and the new stuff seals but does not block. I do think however they are swinging the lead on this one. Still i have there large transit, deliveries anyone!!!!
Looks like they're working their way down to the sump plug ..from the top !
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19 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:
... but i prefer stuff like Loctite 574 and dump the gasket for any face to face surfaces ( providing the gasket is not of any dimensional significance )
used on trials to solve truck oil leaks and it was head and shoulders better than any other stuff we tested, so was made a permanent production process
when it goes solid it needs a tap or a lever to split the joint but you are oil free
{Pete
I wouldn't..
I have never used Loctite 574, but my experience with other gasket goo's ..applied in this quantity - is in rebuilding engines ..from where an oil way had been blocked by a blob of such goo squeezing out from the mating face, and that bead (usually after some time) dropping into the circulating oil. The Sunbeam motorcycles, I professionally restored, have an oil-way drilling from the rear main bearing up through the block and then cylinder-head to the camshaft. Yes even in 1946 it was designed with an overhead cam. And just where the oil way entered the rear of the camshaft a blob of sealant might easily stop the flow and the camshaft would soon be destroyed (see photo below). If a smaller blob got passed that first obstacle, then inevitably it would end up inside the rocker-arm tube to block one of the jets to the cam lobes.
My TR's gearbox shares its oil with the overdrive unit ..which again has fine oil-way drillings that are easily blocked. Although there is a filter in the pick up, I am assured that the usual cause of an over-drive failure (necessitating it to be rebuilt or replaced) is one of its oil-ways getting blocked. I'm simply not prepared to take the risk
Overview description of Loctite 574 says it has "a high oil tolerance". Sorry but in my opinion a high 'tolerance' to oil is not good enough inside a gearbox or engine. Conversely, it goes on to say "excellent water and glycol resistance" which implies where it may be most useful. But then again, I very quickly made a new gasket for the water pump on the TR ..after all it just has three mounting bolts, so why would I want to use this stuff ? At the best part of £30 (inc VAT) for just 50ml - I can't see it as a cost effective solution. Aside from which I'd have to order and wait for it, so why not instead just buy the correct gasket for far less money.?
Sorry Peter, but your professional experience may persuade you otherwise ..but I'll not encourage the less-experienced reader of these pages to try such a shortcut. If they were to home-make a gasket and it leaked a little, then that's one thing ..but it'll not be a disaster. Conversely, if an engine, gearbox, or overdrive is damaged ..due goo being used over zealously, well then I think that would be something else all together.
Just my opinion you understand.
"it needs a tap or a lever to split the joint" Oh no, ye mechanic* with hammer & screwdriver
Pete
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15 hours ago, PeteH said:
👍 Made literally hundreds of Pipe Flange joints with the same process often using Graphited sheet "jointing" material, small ball peen hammer produces a pattern and on the thinner stuff even a cut.
Pete.
"literally hundreds" huh ..so why not just buy / have in a stock of gaskets ? Surely making them individually is a false economy.
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19 hours ago, GrahamB said:
My friend's father was an engineer at Dunlop's wheel division, probably started there in about 1930. To make a gasket, he placed the gasket material over the joint and then tapped gently with a hammer around the edges of the casing. This left an imprint of the surface and the holes on the material which could then be cut out ready for use.
I'll not do that on an aluminium case, but might do the same with an iron casting ..if I thought it were robust enough, such as with a cast-steel water pump. However it often means cutting the centre out first, to clear any protrusion ..so the gasket material lays flat (although to start with, that need only be a localised hole).
Also if doing things that way, then I'd suggest ; marking and cutting two holes first, and placing their bolts in the holes to keep things in line. Otherwise the tendency, particularly for long &/or skimpy gaskets, is for the gasket material to creep a little as you work your way around it, and then you find the last holes are perhaps 1/16 of 1/8" out of place. How might I know it tends to do that ! ?
Pete
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Good morning all, with the gearbox top-cover's threads now all being good, and my friend Rich having a complete set of the correct bolts which I'll collect sometime this week, all I needed was a gasket. Not many pence perhaps but for the inconvenience of ordering just one item and then also its postage cost.. I made one.
To many who read this, a home-made gasket is a huge No, No.! Some may argue that its thickness is critical, and that it's a false economy and so forth. And very often I would agree that those arguments. Conversely, many an Engineer has made gaskets for engines and mechanics that are either unique or else so rare that such things as gaskets are simply not available. Many others will think "why not if you can do it successfully " particularly as in this situation - it's not an engine nor gearbox out again job if its oil sealing is less than 100% successful.
The failings I've seen in home made gaskets (..and I have seen quite a few over the years) is that the card used is inappropriate &/or the cutting out and holes are awful. Regarding the former, there is of course sheet-gasket-paper commercially available. Alternatively, selection of a suitable piece of card comes down to it not having been compressed too much when it was made or printed ..nor is it creased or soiled from use. In my estimation, more often than not, cardboard which has a glossy surface (such as a cornflake box, whether printed or not) is less than suitable. However the brown card envelopes now used by Amazon is really quite excellent for our purpose.
Again.., I am not saying 'do as I do' ..all I'm showing here is 'this is how I do things' if you find yourself caught-short of a gasket . . .
^ with the card cut slightly oversize, and three of the sides square to each other (because the holes will be measured from their edge, the first two holes are easy to mark. The hole centres were first marked as ticks along the edge but then checked with a ruler. Note ; as this gearbox was made to imperial measure, so then the checking of its hole centres was done to 1/16". Btw, that first edge overhangs the side of the gearbox case a little, simply because the card is stronger when the holes are not so very close to the edge. If that is subsequently ugly (such as on a motorcycle engine which is clearly seen) then it is best trimmed after the cover is installed.
Holes are not so difficult when you press them out rather than trying to cut or drill them. Here's how. . .
^ the hole centres are marked on the one side of the paper, and a suitable penny washer is aligned to those. It is held in that position as the card is turned over and placed faced-down on a work-bench edge, and then a suitable rounded end of a ring spanner is pushed into it. The steel of the ring spanner pushed firmly and turned stamps a hole neatly through the cardboard. It's very nearly the same as using a hole punch through the edge of a sheet of paper ..but I do find using a washer easier to centre accurately. These simple tools, and a used Amazon envelope, are also convenient for the tool kit when touring.
NB. the penny washer has sharper edges on one side than the other from where it's been stamped, the sharp side is used against the card. The ring spanner has to be small enough, to push into the hole. And the hole in the penny washer (penny washer used because it's easier to hold when turned over) is a size smaller than the bolt size used. ..So, in this instance the bolt is 5/16" UNC. The penny washer used was of 6mm (1/4") hole, and the ring-spanner used was of 8mm.
^ the cut hole is adequately neat (..the pressed out piece of card still within the washer).
^ Although firm pressure is needed to punch these holes out.. accurately marking out their position is very much more time consuming. Again remember to measure in from the edge of straight edges and then check the hole centres correspond to imperial measure, so in this example the centreline of top cover's LHS holes is exactly 5" apart from the centreline of the RHS holes.
^ I had carefully removed the old gasket and with that loosely in position over the new, I roughly traced the line of the inside cut. Using a straight edge I refined my tracing before cutting. Still it saved a fair amount of time, in measuring and draughting the cut line . . .
^ almost done. Although I use scissors to cut the outside shape, I find it easier to cut the inside with a Stanley-knife (cutting through onto a piece of scrap plywood) ..working from each corner.
^ to finish off, I've sealed the card's surface and edges with paint. Here I've used aerosol zinc-primer, which with a finger I've rubbed into the surface and in particular into the cut edges of the cardboard. This was done on both sides, and is akin to fibreglassing, whereby its resin holds the fibres together. Here I'm using the paint to prevent any loose paper fibres along the inside edges from washing away. As you can see I've only applied and rubbed-in a thin / sealing coating of paint.
Making this gasket from scratch, including paint and taking all the photos, took 60 minutes ..so it's not instant. But at the same time buying and getting a new one isn't either. And this is (imo) much better than reusing an already compressed gasket, or else using an excess of goo.
Once the paint is dry, its use is just the same as a commercially available gasket. In this application I'll most likely use a smear of Wellseal between the gasket and gearbox case, and a smear of heavy grease between the gasket and the top cover.
"granddad, have you sucked that egg yet ? "
Pete
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LPG
in Fuel System
2 hours ago, PeteH said:The by product of Anaerobic digestion, or the natural biodegrading of Waste matter is any of various varieties of Methane. The waste matter produced is a slurry devoid of oxygen which is lethal to plant and animal life.
Pete
i was asking re. context to this thread
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No I've never done that Peter. Perhaps I've just been fortunate or else my running the bolt in and out a few times, to clean out the excess Loctite (before I break the wire off) also ensures the coil-insert is sitting securely in its own thread.?
Conversely., I have had a couple of those wires which simply refused to break off. One on the end of a thread-insert through a bellhousing flange on my motorcycle is still there, and can seen from the side of the bike ..as even with long nose pliers wouldn't twist it off. So perhaps it comes down to how well the nick was made in the wire.
Otherwise I wonder if the thread (bolt or stud) you are putting in has a hard cut end and would benefit from a slight chamfer ?
Pete.
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4 hours ago, Paul H said:
Thanks Pete , great practical tutorial
Paul
^ Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad it was of interest and perhaps even useful.
3 hours ago, Mathew said:Looking good. Nice new gasket on the top should seal that leak for good.
A little set square could ease the square drill angle viewing?
Cheers Mathew,
Unfortunately I don't have a gasket for the top cover so will have to make one, not difficult ..but quite time consuming.
Yes indeed, I've used a metal working set square on occasion when I wasn't readily able to set the angle of the gasket face either horizontal or vertical, such as when replacing pulled-out cylinder-head-studs on my motorcycle's engine (while that was still in the bike's frame). The set-square was good for sighting but, because the gasket face was quite small (twin cylinder), it was also in the way my drilling and tapping. I found having the spirit level nearby but to one side was easier and less prone to getting knocked over.
Hope you're now feeling better after your booster jab ..
Pete
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LPG
in Fuel System
4 hours ago, Wagger said:Hi Bfg. Yes, I have noticed the stations are diminishing. However, it will be available bottled for years to come as used in forklifts. Our MD in 1979, had his giant Volvo running on the Blue bottles. We will be producing gas from waste in the future. our local landfill sites have been bottling it for 30 years.
Surely bottled gas is fine for those vehicles easily adapted to carry them ? ..but then bottle gas has always been very much more expensive than LPG direct from the filling stations. Aside from that I'm not going to have a couple of gas bottle poking through holes in my TR's boot lid.
4 hours ago, PeteH said:One of the Biggest issues with Methane fuel from waste. Is it`s High Sulfur content which necessitates it being "scrubbed" before it can be used in I-C engines and or Burnt in Boilers. To bring it to a C-Value acceptable for the National Gas grid it is most often "Sweetened" with Propane.
I know very little about the subject, but I understood that blue bottles were typically for butane. Where does methane come into it ?
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LPG
in Fuel System
I had LPG / petrol (dual fuel) on my Scimitar SE6A (Essex 3 litre engine with downdraft Weber carburettor) ..and I would given the choice go that way again, as it was excellent. Easy starting, smoother, VERY MUCH cleaner running, totally reliable and noticeably more economical. However there are many less LPG fuel stations now, and I wouldn't know if it's still practical.
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This afternoon my focus was on the threat-repair of five of the eight holes, for the bolts which secure (and seal) the gearbox's top cover. Again my apologies to those who have seen these thread repairs / inserts a dozen or more times before. . .
^ after being stood on end and slightly inverted overnight ..to drain the last of the oil out (of gearbox and overdrive), I cleaned / degreased the case and my stainless work tray this morning, covered over the exposed gears and prepared for drilling.
^ I'd bought this kit of UNC thread inserts off an e-bay seller a couple of weeks ago specifically for this task, and having used the same sort (but Whitworth threads) on my Sunbeam motorcycle engines - I had a fair idea how to do it. As you can seen the kit comes with the correct size of drill, and tap, a good number of thread inserts (coils of the replacement thread) and the tools to insert them.
The difficult part of the task is drilling and then tapping squarely into the old hole. A stripped out thread is very nearly the right size already but a sharp drill-bit will tend to cut at an angle if you're not really very careful. I use a spirit level to sight against . . .
^ the gearbox was set, with spacers under the bellhousing flange, so that its top face (where the holes are) was sitting vertical. Alongside the gearbox, and set at a convenient height, a spirit-level was leveled. Then, as can be seen in the second of these photos, the drill can be sighted to be level with it. Yeah Ok., so while taking the photo I was having difficulty holding the drill perfectly horizontal ..but I'm sure you get the idea. During the drilling - my head was alternating, like a nodding-dog in a car's back window, from sighting at this angle to looking down on the drill ..to ensure that it wasn't going in at an sideways angle. The blue masking tape is simply a depth gauge, so that I knew when to stop !
The modus operandi is likewise used when tapping the oversized thread ..into which the insert will be fitted. . .
^ tapping the oversized hole is more difficult than drilling it, and although the first part of that is its chamfered end - I take as much care with this stage as when the tap bites and starts to cut (seemingly very crudely with a coarse thread into cast aluminium). Great care is needed at this stage., as the tap bites a chunk of aluminium out of one side and then at 90-degrees ..which tries to throw your direction off true. But if I can do ..then so can you
During this tapping, I stop to brush-clean the tap, and to clean out the hole, two or three times. This is because the chunks of metal being cut out need to be cleared out rather than their snagging and binding. My marker tape might tend to prevent some bits from clearing, but I still prefer to have it there as a depth gauge. Personally, I don't use cutting paste or lubricant either while drilling nor when tapping, because I want that hole and the freshly cut thread to be bare-metal clean for its insert.
^ The thread-insert is a coil of stainless steel, although not of marine grade because it's slightly magnetic. The outside of the coil winds into the freshly cut oversized thread, and its inside is the right size and thread for the bolt. In this case 5/16" UNC.
The forks, on the end of the tool provided, engage with a wire across the coils inside end, and is used like a screwdriver to fit the insert into the threaded hole. It very simple to do so. I liberally apply Loctite 2400 both onto the insert and into the threaded hole, before winding it in to about a mm below the surface.
I then screw a clean bolt in ..to first ensure that the insert has gone in correctly, and also to collect / clean out the excess of Loctite. I do this two or three times, inbetween times removing and wiping the bolt's thread clean with tissue paper.
The wire inside, used to screw the insert in, has to be broken off and removed. There's a straight rod within the kit to do this with, which when inserted into the hole is tapped on end with a wooden block. . .
It's then very important to retrieve that little piece of wire ..as you wouldn't want it floating around inside with the mechanical gnashing of teeth or otherwise restricting an oil gallery. A small screwdriver, temporarily magnetized can help retrieve those which are broken off in a blind hole.
Job done . . .
..except I had two others to do . . .
etc., etc.
^ here I clamped the spirit level to the side of the case so that it was again at a suitable height for sighting the drill, and tapping, level. With those done and all the bits carefully swept up and disposed of, and the newly re-threaded holes picked clean - all that remained was to ensure any bits ..that might have got passed or around the barriers were blasted out . . .
^ copious amounts of carb cleaner jetted into and around the gears and all around the inside of the case, which itself was tilted so that any bits would wash out of the open top.
^ ,,and left it was to drip dry. I had very carefully cleaned the tray out before doing this, and subsequently.. I found one small piece of aluminium from the thread cutting in the tray. whether that came from inside the case or from its outside, I will never know. Still better be safe, in the knowledge that reasonable precautions had been taken, than miserable.
Tomorrow I'll address a few other issues before trying to refit it back into the car.
Bidding you a good evening,
Pete.
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Btw., those blocks are mostly screwed together, so is more stable and robust than might first appear from this photo.
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...it's all been done before, but briefly.. this is my taking the gearbox out on my own, despite my dubious back ..which tends not to bear well with twisting and lifting, particularly at the same time as stretching. . .
^ From what I learnt in removing / refitting the gearbox to replace the clutch.. I cut a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood to aide doing this job on my own. It's 22" x 14" wide, but for the last 10" which taper down (equally on either side) to 11" wide. This clears the chassis rail on the LHS and the exhaust pipe running down the RHS on my car. Exhaust clamps are off the 2:1 downpipe connection and at that at the gearbox was loosened, so the engine might be tilted slightly up at the back. The long 5-1/2" wide block of timber supported by the trolley jack, lifts under the very back end of the sump. The cut piece of 3/4" ply sits on top of this, immediately behind the sump, and is the right thickness for the bellhousing to almost rest on.
I'll check when I put the gearbox back in place whether the thickness is exactly right to align the gearbox shaft back into the clutch.
The back of the engine, together with the gearbox, is lifted and tilts. Only a small lift is required, in fact just enough to align the top of the bellhousing to just below the rounded cutout of the body shell, under the battery tray. I'm sure when we remove the gearbox before, my helping mechanic was a little too enthusiastic in jacking it up (too much) and the bell-housing's flange then wouldn't come backwards through the bulkhead's cutout.
Thereafter plywood makes it very easy to simply slide the gearbox back and inch or two off of the clutch spline. Only then, the back end of the gearbox can be lifted onto blocks inside the car . . .
^ The blocks inside the car are a bridge over the prop-shaft UJ., which wont drop lower without removal of the exhaust pipe. And I didn't want to disturb that any more. The gearbox rubber mounting has been removed but the steel brace across the chassis is otherwise untouched (still bolted tightly to its chassis brackets). Sliding the gearbox back on the piece of plywood is safe n' secure and low enough to clear the heater and dashboard. The heater flap has an Allen key lightly pinched in place of the control cable, to keep that flap closed.
^ Under the car, I added a support tower, just in case ..as a safeguard. But as the long timber plank was sandwiched between the sump and the jack, the top of this tower and that plank didn't actually touch, even as the gearbox was pulled back. Btw., those blocks are mostly screwed together, so is more stable and robust than might first appear from this photo.
^ next was another block which I lifted the clutch lever onto. I'm very wary of pulling my back again ..and then being out of action for a month, so this maneuver was more a matter of rolling the gearbox over to the right hand side onto a block, and then sliding the bellhousing end across to the left, together with the lever arm over the lip of the floor.
^ slid across on timber blocks.
^ sill / door seal rubber lifted off and another bridge placed to lift the back end of the gearbox onto.
By then the gearbox was out of the car sufficiently to avoid stretching while lifting and so dragging the gearbox out and onto the backless-office-chair (covered in thick plastic) was easy.
^ task done, with body and each finger intact... Tbh it was far less drama lifting it out on my own, than with an enthusiastic professional helper. Admittedly it took me 100 minutes, including making a cup of coffee, removing the top half of bellhousing bolts (the bottom ones I did yesterday evening), removing the starter motor, removing the gearbox mount, measuring and cutting the 3/4" plywood, positioning the trolley jack and in general being very careful.
Having bought a UNC thread repair kit, specifically for this task (albeit I only expected to be doing one or perhaps two), tomorrow I hope to repair the five. All being well, I'll collect the full set of (correct) top cover bolts next week. That's not a problem as I hope to have the gearbox refitted over this weekend, and the cover can be loosely refitted until then.
Pete
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Rocker feed kit
in Engine
Posted
"there must be flow through the bearings" I never said otherwise, as far as I'm aware very few plain bearings are fitted with seals, and so flow is inevitable ..and indeed essential for replenishment with freshly filtered cooler oil, and for the splash lubrication / cooling of adjacent parts.
And to counter your counter, and to see you.. flow can be a dribble "in the absence any pressure at all "
..save that of gravity. Or flow may be circulation within a closed reservoir where even gravity is negligible 
A hole which oil pours through would "register flow in the absence of any pressure at all!" ..but what's that got to do with the price of fish ? And splash lubrication does in fact have considerable inertia, at higher engine speeds, and therefore quite some pressure upon impact
..but surely such quibbling (what a lovely word !) is out of context with preceding posts regarding the effects of fitting an external oil feed to the rockers - no ?