Engine identification

[Yorkie]

Hi 

I am in the process of buying a TR3A. The engine number on the heritage certificate is TS 47164 -E but the number on the block is S60030 E.

I am reading a very good book by Bill Piggott. Bill advises that buyers should be careful to ensure that you do not buy a TR with a Standard Vanguard saloon engine since the block is not as strong as the TR derivative. How can I tell the difference between the two engine blocks, are there any physical differences?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Regards

Al

 

[John390]

The head bolts on the Vanguard engine are a smaller diameter from what I remember.

 

Cheers John

[Malcolm Tatton]

I think that the Vanguard block has the dipstick on the 'wrong' side of the distributor, more towards the middle.

[Motorsport Mickey]

Al,

Dig into the TR Technicalities Cd you received when you joined the Register. If you didn't get one phone the office they are normally very helpful.

Ian Cornish did a great job in the early years and listed loads of mods that TR owners were using then just to keep their cars on the roads. Amongst the listings of crankshafts, pistons, conrods that you can mix and match and suitable for TR use is a small section on Vanguard, Sportsman, and TR blocks.  I used it myself, I prepared a Vanguard block to take a TR4 head when winning my first TR Register Race championship on 1987. It used normal sized head studs and apart from the dipstick being in a different position was identical as I can remember.

Mick Richards 

[ianc]

Almost all that early technical information on Interchangeability which I put into the magazine in the 1970s and 1980s came from that incredibly knowledgeable member, Ian Gibson, who is a fellow member of the committee of the Spares Development Fund.

I'm sure that Mick is not the only early member who was able to use Ian's advice to keep his/her TR on the road - and even to be able to race it.

Ian Cornish

[Yorkie]

Thank you everyone for all your knowledgable advice.

Much appreciated.

Regards

Al

 

[Bill.P.]

It is my guess that this IS a TR3A  block (from a later car) , but that the "T" that should be in front of the "S" is very feint.....I have seen similar cases over the years and suggest minute inspection with a torch and magnifying glass after cleaning that part of the block may reveal traces of it.....Vanguard blocks usually commence with a "V" prefix not surprisingly, Bill P.

[Yorkie]

On 10/31/2018 at 7:35 AM, Bill.P. said:

It is my guess that this IS a TR3A  block (from a later car) , but that the "T" that should be in front of the "S" is very feint.....I have seen similar cases over the years and suggest minute inspection with a torch and magnifying glass after cleaning that part of the block may reveal traces of it.....Vanguard blocks usually commence with a "V" prefix not surprisingly, Bill P.

Bill - Thank for the advice, sorry for my late response. I have not been on the site for a while.

All the best

Al

 

[roger murray-evans]

I have a Phase 1 Vanguard with it's original engine and the

dipstick is as per a TR , i.e. in front of the distributor.

Roger M-E

[Yorkie]

Thanks Roger. This is interesting because I thought that the dip stick on the Vanguard saloon engine was closer to the block than the distributor, and on the TR3 engine the dipstick was further away than the distributor.

Regards

Al