breather pipe

[tr4-thomas]

hello forum,

i want to fit the original breather pipe to my earlty tr4 motor, now the question is: what is the best way to get the now fittet plug out of the motor-block ? motor is in the car.

regards

thomas from germany

[bob-menhennett]

Thomas

Plug removal with engine still in the car......Hmmmm!! Not easy.

The fuel pipe supply from the chassis to the fuel pump cuts across the already very limited space you have available.From the top the fuel pump blocks off much of your view.The car would have to be safely jacked up on axles stands to get access from below / remove fuel pump ?

 

The plug is not unlike a core plug and needs to be levered out, once you have punched/ drilled a hole in the plug.Second alternative, drill a small hole for a large self tapper screw.With this screwed in, a Mole wrench would have something get a grip on, to lever out.Levering space is at a premium.

A right angle drive fitting to an electric drill might get in the space, take it slow and put plenty of thick grease around the drill bit/ plug to collect the metal swarf.Clean up the worse of it just before the drill breaks through so that it doesn't fall into the sump.A small magnet alongside the drill might help

I guess it's possible to do ( never having done it myself ) but not without considerable potential problems once you have started the exercise.

 

Is it essential that you fit this breather pipe ? Experts I spoke to, several years ago, when starting my restoration said that it was not considered

that the breather pipe "did...not a lot, which was why Triumph dropped it and just fitted a blanking cap".

 

Bob

[tr4-thomas]

Bob

thank you for your promt answer. Yes , very limited space, and of course you are right, once started there is no way back. So maybe i`m better without the pipe!

regards

thomas from germany

[TR 2100]

Is it essential that you fit this breather pipe ? Experts I spoke to, several years ago, when starting my

restoration said that it was not considered that the breather pipe "did...not a lot, which was why Triumph

dropped it and just fitted a blanking cap".

 

Maybe the original breather pipe didn't do a lot - I'm not convinced that the alternatives

do much more. The alternative breater is smaller diameter, though aided by suction from

the inlet manifold. At least the original breather was fitted directly into the crankcase.

 

That being said, the experts who rebuilt my engine were so adamant that I had to fit a

breather to the rocker cover (not fitted to my early TR4) that I gave best to their advice,

although I did retain the original breather as well.

 

AlanR

[ianc]

A breather fitted to the rocker cover is the easy answer, as you can either fit an alloy cover with a breather pipe (available from numerous suppliers, or take the steel cover to your bench and fit a pipe yourself. I have a rubber hose connected to the rocker breather and this hose is routed over the top of the rocker cover and down the lefthand side of the engine, past the fuel pump and finishing at the same level as the original breather pipe.

With a breather at high level, water vapour (one of the components of combustion, some of which will get past the piston rings and into the crankcase) is driven out of the engine and you won't get any of that horrible oil/water emulsion inside the rocker cover.

Ian Cornish

[BrianC]

With a breather at high level, water vapour (one of the components of combustion, some of which will get past the piston rings and into the crankcase) is driven out of the engine and you won't get any of that horrible oil/water emulsion inside the rocker cover.

Perhaps there's a good case for using Ian's high-level, direct to atmosphere pipe plus the original crankcase breather.

[svenjauhe]

Hello,

 

Here's some jargon about the crankcase breathing from the

Triumph Service Training Notes "Emission Control Systems; Spitfire MK3, TR4A-GT6, TR250"

 

 

 

--

Regards, Juha

[Tr4Tony]

Hi Thomas

 

Ive done this and actually its quite easy as I remember, so long as you do it correctly.

 

1. Jack the car up at the front and remove the sump so that any metal parts fall on the floor, not into the oil ....

 

2. Remove the fuel pump assembly and anything else to give you more room to work from above.

 

3. Take some cling film and cover the exposed parts of the crank and rods where you can get to them to afford at least some protection.

 

4. The hard bit .... using a punch and a hammer make a indentation in the core plug, denting it sufficiently so that firstly there is a neat punch mark which can direct a tool blow and secondly to break the bond between the edges of the block and the core plu.

 

5. Using a CORE PLUG EXTRACTOR (and you MUST use this tool which has a hook on the end ....) force it through the core plus surface to pierce it, twist and extract. Thats it.

 

But as Ian C says ask why you are doing this. The original vent pipe had a nasty habit of spilling oil out on hard cornering and unless you are running a high performance engine with a big head that is absolutely sealed (which is unlikely) then its a lot of trouble.

 

Another solution if you want better lower block breathing is to fit an electric fuel pump and use the hole where the mechanical pump is mounted as a exit to a breather into a catch tank

 

Ive done both and prefer the fuel pump mod for simplicity.

 

Hope this helps

 

Tony

[tr4-thomas]

Tony,

thank you for this very usefull information.

regards

thomas from germany