Johnc

Morning Johny he mentioned that there had previously been a repair on the main bearing cap and that it was probably that that had led to the failure. Joef - I agree with your diagnosis of the price and condition of the mk3 engine - it would be my first choice due to location- the block and crank are going to have to be reconditioned regardless so my main concern is that the crank is in good condition. I really need to have a look at it first to make sure that I’m not buying another engine with a ton of trouble built in. cheers john

So I took the engine to the guy that rebuilt it to have a look at. Whilst I was there we drained the oil which had some worrying silver swirls in it! he called yesterday to say that the crank is scrap and it has also damaged the block, bit of a choker when only 10 months ago it was all re ground balanced and the cylinders bored etc. So the question is do I continue down the road of Old triumph engines or swap to a modern probably MX5 engine? I think I've answered my own question in as much as I don't have enough enthusiasm, skills or time for the MX5 swap. So I'm looking at replacement 1300 engines, there are 2 on EBay at the moment a spit 111 (11584581167) which is described as rebuilt and dry stored. It looks clean and has obviously been painted with a grey primer and left to attract some surface rust. Or a 1360 engine (38572400958) This one looks un molested and genuine item. The first might be a genuinely well built engine or be a bodged mess and the latter might be a genuine low miles good engine or a completely knackered pile of scrap. Should I play EBay roulette or is there an alternative. Cheers John

Thanks Johnny - engines going to come out and go back to the guy that re-built it. Hopefully there will be no damage to the crank. I’m just a bit concerned as you say as to how they have dropped out in the first place. john

So my love hate relationship with this car continues. I replaced the head gasket, retorqued after running the car up to temperature and it has been running really well including a faultless 30mile journey in the recent hot weather. Over the last few months I’ve been struggling to get it into reverse without any crunching of the gears, checked fluids - all OK. Bled the clutch and the old fluid was dirty and had a silvery appearance. (Time for a master and salve cylinder replacement I thought) Bleeding the system seemed to cure my gear selection problems. The day after my 30 mile run I went to use it and there was a horrible grinding noise. I thought that maybe there was a problem with the clutch thrust bearing so decided that the gearbox should come out. (Ford type 9 5 speed) With the gearbox out all of the clutch components were fine - my problem lies in the 10mm movement forwards and backwards of the flywheel. My assumption now is that the crank thrust washers have dropped out ( the engine was re-built at the end of last year) rather than worn out. Is it possible for the thrust washers to drop out and if it is what is the cure? Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help John

Thanks Steve might take you up on that . But I’m not going to be able to look at it for a while.

It wasn’t Johny - I decided to leave be. The engine was rebuilt just before Christmas and I should have re torqued the head nuts - but I didn’t. So I’m hoping that some slightly loose nuts are the culprits. I’m not going to have time to take head off for a while though.

oh why did i have to look under the bonnet - after all it was running fine! I took the Herald to Reigate (from Staines) to look at next weeks job , there was a a small possibility of a shower but I thought I’d take the risk. All was well the M25 is either limited to 50 or goes no faster than 50, heading up hill towards Reigate I went to overtake a lorry gave it some beans up to 70 then started loosing power pinking and getting hot. I managed to get home OK and did a compression test this afternoon 160psi on 1+2 but 10pm i on 3+4 , suppose i better order up a head gasket.

Thanks Johny - I had thought that it looked that way - i’ll lean it off a little.

Hi Johny no additives but I always use a premium fuel.

Afternoon people can I have some advice please on my spark plug colour - too rich or too lean? many thanks in advance John

Thanks Colin - I tried it the other way but it wouldn’t clear the engine block. i have an adaptor that i bought from SC Parts - part no. 285643 that fits the starter motor and can be rotated. should now fit with no more issues. That’s once i’ve got the engine back in the car. john

Does anybody have experience of fitting a Powerlite starter motor (RAC401) to a 1300 engine. Mine appears to only fit one way, but is tight up against the manual prime lever of the petrol pump. Now I've never had a reason to use the manual priming lever but sods law is that once the starter motor is fitted I will. Thanks in advance John

i’ve just bought some belts for a couple of projects from these guys: https://www.simplybearings.co.uk/shop/ The service was fantastic and prices were keen as well.

Thanks Nick and Johny PH1 it is then - my gut feeling was for the PH1 but it’s good to have confirmation. I will check the oil pump next time i’m over at the workshop. Cheers John

Update Having double checked everything again and still coming up with the same answers, I realised that whilst the thought of taking cylinder 3 out with the engine still in the car and the car in the drive seemed like a good idea (cheap) it was not going to be. The engine is now out and returned to the engineer who built the head. It’s stripped down and the rings on cylinder 3 fell out as the piston was removed. Initial inspection shows that everything is tired and bordering on worn out. So an easy decision has been made to completely recon the engine - cylinder bore, new pistons, camshaft, timing chain and sprockets, and oil pump, existing crank re grind and balanced along with the pulley, flywheel and clutch. I have spoken to Newmans ref the cam and it’s a toss up between the PH1 or PH2- the car has an SU HIF44 carb on a dolly inlet manifold and a stainless extractor exhaust manifold straight piped to an R1 box. Does anyone have any experience with the PH1 cam in a 1300 Herald, is it happy in normal driving about town or does it need loads of revs to be happy? Oil pump - whilst i’ve had no problem with the existing oil pump is there a source of good quality ne pumps and is there any real benefit to fitting a 1500 pump? thanks in advance for your help John