RogerH Posted May 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 Hi Paul, perhaps I will be able to get on with the TR4 and finish it. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 Hi Folks, well, after a couple of days faffing around, a little frightened of something nasty happening, I turned the key and the engine build came to life. I had already spun the engine over to get oil and petrol where they needed to be. It started with no hesitation or anything untoward. It sounds quite smooth. It ran at about 2000rpm for almost 10 minutes then I stopped it as the temp was going stratospheric I need to do a fair bit of tinkering now to get the spark timing and tick-over sorted. Phew - this is the first time I have had butterflies about starting an engine.. Roger Roger Jobs a good un no leaks? then run again and enjoy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted May 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 Hi Neil, on the road tomorrow - see what happens. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 Roger Do not treat it kind , but then let it rest, short run. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted May 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 ...the umpire struggled into his Souwester, slid his feet into his galloshers opened the door to the club house. He dipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew various weather forecasting implements and his note pad. The note pad got wet. The umpire declared 'rain stopped play'. They all had a cup of tea and went home. Today I draped a blue tarpaulin over the car with the foolish idea of working under it. The moment it was up the rain came down harder then wind started to blow. I was getting seriously wet. Logic and common sense was then engaged and abandonned the car as a bad idea till tomorrow. Yuk!! Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fremont Posted May 10, 2016 Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 Tenterhooks! It'll pass in a thousand miles or so ! Cheers, Tom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted May 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 Hi Tom, i could have done with some tenterhooks to hold the tarp down with. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted May 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 Hi Folks, the car is now finished (except for the rad cowl - tomorrow) An interesting thing I found was that the OD brass nut underneath was covered in oil. This had not been disturbed during the rebuild. So, off it came, gave it a good cleaning and put it back with some Hylomar. This was possibly the source of the serious oil leak I had all last summer. Everything appears to work. So after tea tonight I shall take it for a short spin. It must be the end as the 'shed' was taken down this afternoon for a new home tomorrow - there was a nice false widow spider lurking. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TorontoTim Posted May 13, 2016 Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 Nice, Roger Road test report to follow...? Now, about that TR4 rebuild................ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Harvey Posted May 13, 2016 Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 Everything appears to work. So after tea tonight I shall take it for a short spin. It must be the end as the 'shed' was taken down this afternoon for a new home tomorrow - there was a nice false widow spider lurking. No way to talk about the missus..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted May 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 Paul you are asking for a good slapping if Sue reads that Sue has seen the spiders in the garden - they look seriously wicked. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SuzanneH Posted May 13, 2016 Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 (edited) Not as bad as the mahoosive spider in the hotel room in Brecon two weekends ago. To think I walked through its web the night before and was very brave and didn't wake the whole place up, I just got back in bed. If I had seen how big it was then, there would have been one hell of a shindig in the middle of the night. When Roger trapped it in a glass with TR Action underneath, it ran round and round in circles stamping its feet. Boy was it angry. Spiders in the shed? I've never set foot in it. I expect now that I can have the pool re- erected the summer will be over! Edited May 13, 2016 by SuzanneH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted May 14, 2016 Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 Well ????? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Les Posted May 14, 2016 Report Share Posted May 14, 2016 I just got back in bed. If I had seen how big it was then, there would have been one hell of a shindig in the middle of the night. I think Roger and Sue are busy! Les Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted May 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) Hi Folks, hopefully this will be the final installment of the 5 week engine rebuild that started in November. Having got it all together the engine, although running, wasn;t happy. I could only get a low tickover if the spark was retarded to about 10'ATDC. Something clearly not right. The front carb would not return to its bottom stop on a gentle throttle. So I took the carbs off and dismantled them. Only to find the spindles were quite worn - 0.005" at the lever end and 0.002 at the plain end. Today I popped along to the TRShop to see about new carbs (£500 ) Thankfully they didn't have any - nobody has, it appears. So Lukas the cunning salesman convinced me to buy a rebuild kit (£58 ) rather than a lonesome spindle (£10 ). As all the parts on the carb are 17years and +170Kmiles old I bought the rebuild kit. The original bushes were still in good order. All the wear was on the spindles. So it was a simple task to install the spindles and fit the new butterflies. I then attempted to fit one of the feed pipes from the float chamber - the plastic receptacle did not align with the choke actuator. Amazingly the other pipe was also out of alignment with the other choke actuator - for a moment this left me scratching my head Then a little bird suggested why not swap them over (thank you Sue ) (I would have got there ) Having fitted the pipes I then tugged one of them and it came off. It is a very simple compression fitting - always test after fitting The kit also has the new Viton float chamber valves - so these were also fitted. Carbs fitted to the engine and blast off. An amazing difference. The engine must have been bad before but the gradual decline covered up the worst bits. The new head and sorted carbs make a big change. Tickover can be as low as one needs, the timing can be adjusted as required. All in all a result. So if you find you are requiring extra springs to help close the throttle or the revs can't be reduced from being too high then take the spindles out and see how they are. Extra air leaking in will cause chaos. Roger Edited May 16, 2016 by RogerH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Good result Roger, I'm glad you did not go for new carbs, I was thinking that should not be necessary. Will be nice to see you turn up at our meetings in a TR for a change Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevo_6 Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Great news Roger, now you can get a few miles under your belt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Good result Roger! Now soon you'll need another excuse for avoiding the decorating! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted May 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 Shhhhhhhhhh Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Hi Folks, I thought I would add one final note to this thread. I've just come back from a 2400 mile trip around the Scottish Isles and have done apprx 4000 miles since the rebuild and it hasn't conked out yet. It did apprx 30mpg overall - scottish Islands are generally slow and hilly. Scotland can be fast and hilly and 70+ on the motroway- all guzzle fuel. My only concern is whether the valve timing is spot on. I've read John Davis's article in TRAction and may well take the head off during the summer and give it one more go. What could possibly go wrong!!! So my 5 week target was just met - once I adjusted the figures Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peejay4A Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 That's good news. When can we expect to see new crankshafts on the shelf? Or is that tempting providence? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 (edited) Hi Pete, the crank is performing well - cranking away all day long. I did various speeds - up to 85mph (on private land of course). Various acceleration - I dropped out of overdrive to put the revs up to about 4500 instantly (that was quite a fright). I've been waiting for others to get things sorted but it is slow. It would be nice to see some action before the year is out. I'll probably strip the engine sown in the autumn (another 5 week overhaul) to do a visual. So far so good for the actual lump though. Roger Edited July 1, 2016 by RogerH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Yes but will it stand redlining in top overdrive for hours on end? (Asking for a friend ) Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Hi Stuart, that is a very good question that may never be answered. Would a new original ST crank, back in the day, survive such a test. There are many broken cranks around so it would be reasonable to say that eventually it would fail. The new crank is virtually identical to the original with the exception of a simplified oil gallery in the crank webs. The quality of the machining is top notch - equal to or better than ST. From a pragmatic point where would you drive red lining in 4th OD for hours on end. A race track would be your only option due to the high speed. For this you would invest in a modern steel billet crank. Why would you red line in OD 2nd or 3rd for any lengthy time? So if the new crank is used for normal use - touring, everyday shopping etc - then it should perform as per the ST product. As mentioned I did 70 - 85 mph from Glasgow to London (on a private road) apprx 7 hours with no issue. As for a production crank I believe the basic plan is to get the blank castings rough machined in India and then detail machined in the UK This should reduce the manufacturing costs significantly. The UK machining for the two prototypes was frightening and would make the exercise uneconomic. As an aside to get things on the move we bought a new Fergy TRactor crank. It was quite impressive. The only major differences from the TR are the plain journal at the back where the scroll oil seal would be and the lay-out of the oil galleries. Fergy used a mighty great lip seal - quite effective, cheap and would work OK on the TR. Careful measurement showed it to be pretty close dimensionally but not perfect - but usable. It would be nice to think that things could be progressed and that we have a crank on the counter within a reasonable time frame. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Harvey Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Roger - if a brand new crank can't stand continuous running at 5,000 rpm and occasional running at 5,500 rpm it is not TR Gold standard IMHO. Original cranks were designed for such used and proved to be completely reliable in creating the TR2/3/4 reputation in rallies and events. If you frightened yourself when the engine went to 4,500 rpm then we need a new engine tester for assessment of high speed use. :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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