mpbarrett

Success! Now have a nice quiet engine. Fitted new rockers and shaft (complete kit from James Paddock), filled the shaft with oil, torqued it up, reset the valve clearances and started her up. Lovely sweet noise no more rattles, valve clearances need a small tweak but all is good! I am surprised that the old shaft caused some much noise, it was quiet before I rebuilt the engine. But its got a new Newman camshaft (the old one had signs of wear on the lobs and followers) so maybe this is producing more lift and putting more stress on the rockers, and with the wear on the shaft, allowed them to move around. The camshaft has different valve clearance settings as well. Will see if I can measure the wear on the shaft and rockers just out of curiosity. Probing the engine with the rocker cover off and a metal rod was very useful as it meant I could localize the sound. One to remember for the future. Just want to double check the ignition and valve timing and then put bonnet back on and take her out for a drive, that's tomorrows job. If all goes well, and I get a few miles on her, I plan to take her to the TR register meeting in Lincoln on Sunday. Thanks for all the comments. Mike

Thanks. seems to be working correcting the mixture well, it can always be tweaked a bit to stop it going too lean. Enjoy the wine and keep the blog going cheers mike

Yes seems to be plenty of oil, shaft and all holes free. No goo on head gasket. mike

looks lovely, enjoying the journey! How did the EFI cope with the altitude? cheers mike

thanks Pete yes pedestals sitting properly, not new valve guides but new valves which I lapped in until I got a nice even grey contact area. Didn't change the guides as they did not seem worn (no play between the new valves and guides). Springs seems to be sitting correctly. It has a new camshaft and followers. Have taken the rocker shaft off and pulled it to bits. The oilway and feeds to the rockers seems to be clear. There are visible wear marks on the shaft (you can feel an edge with a finger) and free play between some of the rocker arms and the shaft but I am not sure whats acceptable/normal. As there is some wear I am very tempted to replace the rocker shaft and arms.... I don't like throwing money at a problem without understanding whats going on, but it is the last moving part of the engine that has not been replaced! Mike

thanks for all the suggestions. Have taken the rocker cover off and its not so loud (I think the cast ali cover is acting as a sound board). Put my metal probe (long rod and ear...) on the rocker pedestal and you can hear a knocking, put it on the front end of the rock shaft and its very loud, quiet at the other end. Putting the rod onto the top of the head and you cant hear any thing, which is good as the noise seems to be coming from the rocker gear and nothing from inside the engine, phew! Tried putting a feeler gauge under the rockers and it didn't make any difference to the noise. The plan is to take the rocker shaft off and split it and have a close look at the rocker bearings. cheers mike

had another play with it. Used a steel rod and the noise seems to be coming from the head rather than the block (cant hear it if I put the rod on the block but can if I put the rod on the head) and seems to be at the front end (No1 cylinder). I have checked the tappets but will take the rocker cover off tomorrow and have another look...... cheers mike

Clive The file is a big big...... yes to the head gasket, a Payen (sp?) one. Cam sprocket was tight and has the locking tabs on it. Now watching the football which is going well, must be a first for England! cheers mike

Just done a compression test. This is with the engine cool all 4 cylinders are showing 105 PSI, this seems a bit low but maybe due to the new rings not bedded in? I have only run it for about 15 mins. I would have thought a head gasket problem would show up on the compression test? Might go and lock the garage and watch the football and get really depressed! cheers mike

Help. Any suggestions whats causing the noise from my newly rebuilt engine. It has had a re bore, new bearing shells (crank was ok), and a new camshaft and followers. Checked the valve clearance and they are all ok. Oil pressure is about 70psi at 1000 rpm. Noise has got worse as the engine has warmed up.... Noise seems to be coming from the top end of the engine but have tried listening with a wooden rod but cant really localise it. cheers mike WP_20180624_12_05_06_Pro.mp4

No maybe I should have done.... just started the engine, warmed up, good oil pressure but the engine has a really nasty knocking noise. will see if I can put up a video of it. Feel like going down the pub.... mike

Just a quick update. Got the engine back from Cambridge rebore and the gearbox from its rebuild. Both now fitted back in the car, strange how there are always a few bolts and nuts left over... Have done a few other jobs on the car while everything was out of the car and with visits from the daughter and grand children it has taken longer than I wanted.... Had a bit of a scare when I noticed a front engine plate gasket on the bench, even checked the engine that I had fitted one and then remembered that it was a spare one...! Filled the engine and gearbox with oil, fresh water and antifreeze and turned the engine on the started motor and after about a while the oillight went off and the pressure went up. No sign of any leaks yet.... As it was getting late decided to clear up the garage and will start her up today. As I have had all the fuel pipes off need to check everywhere for leaks, as it injected and running at 3 bar really don't want a leak. If its runs I will refit bonnet and take her out for a run. I want to take her to the TR international next Sunday. cheers mike

thanks guys. When I looked carefully at the spare lead I think its only been connected to the engine side, the lug on one side is dirty and oily, and not the body. Anyway connected it up as I have it mike

Just fitting my rebuilt engine to my Herald. Its a 1500 unit. But I have ended up with a spare earth strap. Have one fitted between the engine and the crossmember where the steering rack is, but cant remember where the other one should go (maybe there was only one on the original engine). Looked thru the Herald parts list but cant find any sign of the earth straps.... cheers mike

good luck with your trip lovely part of the world. Will be interested in how the EFI manages the high passes. Enjoy the trip Mike

ok so a quick bit of Goggling brought up a post on a USA Spitfire site by John Davis. "Then, use "Equal lift on overlap". This refers to the four stroke cycle. At the end of the exhaust stroke, the inlet valve starts to open before the exhaust valve is fully closed, so that at a certain point, they are both open and lifted by the same amount. This point should be at TDC! So set the crank to TDC, and then rotate the camshaft until the inlet and exhaust valves are equally lifted. Then install the cam sprocket and chain. Your cam is correctly timed! Do this on No.4 (or 6) cylinder and then you know that No.1 is timed for the ignition stroke. It's easiest to do with two dial gauges and stands. but they aren't very expensive these days. This method works with any camshaft that is 'symmetrical', with cams that move up and down the same way and are evenly positioned on the shaft. Good luck! John" As the new cam is symmetrical I will give this a go. Mike

I am starting to rebuild my rebored engine for my Herald. its got a new camshaft to go in and new drive gears and chain. I have realised that I don't know how to setup the timing/position of the drive chain to the camshaft! I can rotate the crank round until its at TDC but I am unsure what the valve position should be at the point. At the moment the engine in on the bench and it doesn't have a head on it but I can measure the cam shaft lift by using a dial gauge onto the cam followers (by using the push rod and centralizing it in the block). There must be an easy way of doing this. Will have a Google but all suggestions welcome! cheers mike

see http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/legislation-and-fuels/vhi-declarations-and-advisors/ list of clubs that can advise on VHI declarations, for Triumph its the TR reg. Hope they know about small chassis cars! Mike

Dropped the engine off to Cambridge Rebores today, seem like nice guys and lots of interesting engine bits around and are familiar with Triumph engines, they know all about Cam bearings or lack of them and can line bore the block to fit bearings if needed. They comment on the pistons were that they were complexly buggered! the oil control ring has worn away and seized in the groove, the upper rings have worn and have lips on them and the grooves in the pistons enlarged! Good news is that the crank is good (the mains have been ground to +0.03 and the piston bearings to 0.02), no scratches and or marks so just needs a light polish and new bearings. They suggested that some of the damage could be due to the engine running very rich, could be the old carbs I had on it or when I started playing with the EFI, but I don't think I had done enough mileage to cause the damage to the pistons. As it managed over 37MPG around Scotland I don't think it was too rich then, and the AFR readings was ok but I will be careful when its all back together. So its getting a rebore, new pistons, rings and crank bearings. The cam followers were knackered (was going to replace them and the cam anyway) and had worn thru the hard facing. So new cam, followers, chain and gears. The "New/replacement Bits" list is growing rather rapidly.... should be like a new engine by the time its finished... Mike

Thanks. I will replace the bearings, I want to enjoy the car for a few years without stripping it down again so happy to replace anything that's needs replacing! I wonder if someone has rebuilt it but just put the engine back with new rings. Certainly the crank has been reground.. BTW where is the best place to get new bearings? Will go for a single new chain and gears. Dave don't know the answer to your question, I have a deep scratch but don't think that was the reason for the loss of compression but I could be wrong! I was hoping to find something really wrong with the engine but I think its just down to a combination of lots of little things that has made it smoky and low compression on No4. I will try to measure the bore tomorrow and see it is over size or oval. cheers mike

finally got the engine apart. The crank has been reground (+0.020) but the conrods bearings look almost new (still silvery grey colour) and no scoring. Havent got the main bearings out yet. The pistons all look like they have been blowing past the rings. I had expected No4 to be worse as it had low compression and a scratch on the bore) but it seems similar to the rest. I am assuming the scratch down the bore maybe caused the loss of compression. I have borrowed an internal mic so will try to measure the bores. The cam is worn but I had planned to replace that and the followers and the chain and gears (both worn). The engine has been apart before as it has lots of Red Hematite on any gasket face and quite a lot in the oil pump filter... My plan is to get the engine rebored, fit new pistons, new cam and followers and drive chain. Is it worth going for a duplex chain or stick with a single one? Do I keep the existing bearings shells as they are not worn or replace them. Comments and suggestions welcome! Cheers mike

Anyone have any experience of Cambridge Rebores ltd in Burwell or Meridan Engine services Barton, again in Cambridge? cheers mike

check the size of the tyre, if it has standard wheels I think they should be 155 not 175. Have a look at the side wall of the tyre that are on the car at present. mike

Nick the mark half way down is real. Its a mark on the surface, but cant feel any thing with a finger nail! I brought the engine second hand about 5 years ago, put it in the Herald but then the car has not been used very much (due to GT6 and TR6) so could be rust marks. The other bores all look good with no marks or scratches but quite a lot of coke on the top of the piston. When I put the engine in the car I changed the head, I don't remember the scratch in bore of No4 or any coke on the pistons. It never ran very well on the SU's I did play with the needles but the spindles were worn so could never get it working very well. Nice to know its got its original pistons don't know the history of the engine, I brought of a trader on Ebay he told me it came from a Herald (estate?) owned by someone very active in TSSC. I cant remember his name but I think he was a retired policeman, used to write good article in the magazine! But who knows where it has been over the years.... I might see if I can borrow some internal bore callipers (from where I used to work) just to see if its round and parallel, just our of curiosity. We have visitors over the weekend so wont be able to pull the engine out until next week.. My thinking at the present is to get it out of the car, check the bearing and get it rebored. I will pull the cam shaft and change it if needed. The plan is to go for something fairly standard. Cheers mike

Quick update, I have got the head off. The bore on No4 cylinder has a nasty score mark down the bore, thick at the top so I guess a ring has broken and damaged the bore. Piston are Stanpart with some numbers on them, 308103, ID7, E75 and they have a F or G mark on them. Don't know if that means any thing to anyone as I was curious to know if its been rebored and had oversize pistons. I plan to lift the engine and gearbox (the gearbox needs some work as well.....) and then strip the engine down and pull the pistons to have a look. I am hoping the crank is ok as the engine had very good oil pressure and no nasty noises.... There is a lot of coke on the piston and valves but cleans off ok, the head looks ok. So the plan is to get this engine rebored fit new piston and check/renew the bearings and then rebuild her. Re the above discussion I think I will stick with a standard cam either a standard Spitfire of the PH1 from Newmans. regards mike