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TR3 engine & box re-build


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Well the time had come, no more excuses, before cranking with plugs out to oil pressure, I removed rocker cover, & poured the remaining cam lube (about half the bottle) down each of the pushrod holes to get as much on the cam lobes as possible. The replaced cover, & cranked till I got good (50 PSI) pressure on gauge.

Then it was plugs in, prime float chambers, & go for it. It started reasonable easily, but was running quite roughly with a lot of missfiring, set the carbs up for a fast tickover, & checked the ignition timing - it was much too advanced, so backed that off, & the engine sounded much happier.

Took the revs up to 2000, re-set advance to 30° BTDC. left it running for around 20 minutes to "bed in the cam " not sure how necessary this was, but did it anyway. then dropped the revs down to a smooth 800.  It sound a bit clattery, but I'm sure that's just the rocker clearances opening up a little. they are set at 14 inlet & 16 exhaust which is quite a lot wider than the ST spec of 10 thou. I'm not clear on why they should be set wider ?

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Anyway, flushed with success (& more than a little relieved), After lunch I refitted the front panel, & reinstated all the bits & pieces around it (horns, lighting connections etc. I also took the opertunity to add a relay in the horn circuit.   In neautral the gearbox seemed a lot quieter than before it's rebuild, so hopefully that will also be a success when I get to do the first test drive. Tomorrow it's replacing the gearbox tunnel.

Bob.

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BRILLIANT Bob

congratulations you should be proud of all you have achieved.
thank you for documenting it as well. 
 

a great Christmas present to yourself :D
 

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Great progress Bob, you've pushed the rework along at a pace.

Mick Richards

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Gearbox level is fine thanks Peter.

Yes Iain it did quieten down when warm, but still a bit more tappetey than I would like.

I don't understand why different cams need different clearances, surely the only items which are likely to change dimensions when hot are the push rods, & rocker pedestals.

Bob

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Excellent stuff Bob,I am sure after your minor adjustments it will run superbly. You will have a good Christmas now for sure, if slightly different like the rest of us. Can’t wait for the first road run results.

Merry Christmas

  Paul.

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Well done Bob.

I've been following your posts from the start and I've learnt a lot. Some of it a bit daunting to say the least, particularly the machining you've done, I wouldn't be able to do that. The tappet clearances are a lot compared with standard and causing the 'tappety' engine running. Perhaps you can experiment/reduce the clearances after you've run the engine for some time.

As you say,  relief it's up and running, a nice Xmas present.

Merry Xmas

Rob

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I didn't  (forget the antifreeze)

Finishing off day today, started by modifying the overdrive inhibitor switch loom to include my new switch for O/D on 2nd gear (only 3 & 4 on a saloon box, but my O/D is uprated to TR spec)  Then moved on to adding a second earth bonding strap chassis to gearbox.

   38148900_2ndgearoverdriveswitchwiredin.thumb.jpg.b1cec4e145ab7f471c55526b42c0d6de.jpg   824451260_Extraearthstrap.thumb.jpg.0fd717393b155a9b1074b1a8511d3732.jpg 

Then probably the most difficult job of all, fitting the gearbox cover. I think I would rather fit the engine to the car again than do this, nothing lines up without a great deal of abuse !  anyway, got there in the end.

Then  --  no more excuses, off for a test drive. Happy to report that everything is fine, engine is much smoother, & quieter than before, & seems to have a fair bit more grunt. only did about 15 miles, which included filling the tank with Esso's finest. There is a rattle from under the car at tickover which is I'm sure, the exhaust pipe touching the chassis. Will sort that out when I get a chance. The gearbox also is greatly improved with it's new bearings, layshaft, & counter gear (3 bearing type).

Another short run out tomorrow to deliver prezzies to my family (socially distanced of course), then no more TR work until at least Boxing day !

Bob.

P.S.   Happy Christmas to you all,  & a special thank you for all the good advice I have had on this project, without which I would have been in all sorts of TRouble.

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12 hours ago, Dave I O W said:

Well done Bob you've done a marvellous job really enjoyed the thread, 

Happy Christmas,

Dave.

ditto BOB 

good to keep up with you along the journey .

What will you do now ???????

withdrawal symptoms setting in yet ?

still if your like me a couple of days re tidying up the garage

well done Roy

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2nd run out today, took it for a couple of runs up & down a local hill, lots of throttle in 4th O/D up hill, then on - off throttle down hill.

Certainly pulls well. It did run on for a couple of seconds when I got home & switched off.

Bob.

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Put a few more miles on the clock today (since weather is downhill from now) went up the motorway to junction 6, turned round, went to junction 10, then came back through Cobham, around 55 miles. all going well. oil pressure holding up well at 70 at 2000RPM, dropping to 20 at slow tickover (very hot by then) & it is only running in oil.

Just done a compression check -  209  200 203  206  PSI  was around 180 before the rebuild.

In tidying up, I took the rings off the old pistons, & noticed that the top ring on one of them had worn extremely thin

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Edited by Lebro
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Just reading an article in "Muscle Car DIY" about compression ratios, and it says a healthy engine is normally between 150 and 180 psi at cranking speed, but some GOOD high performance engines can be over 200 psi.

So well done.

It is amazing really that you were still getting 180psi with that top ring so worn, but must have still been doing its job.

Ralph.

 

 

 

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Only just I think.  It was on No.1,  & readings taken before the head upgrade in May were  151,  168,  88,  173  I then worked on the head giving it new valves, guides, & exhaust valve seats, also re-shaped combustion chamber & skimmed head by 60 thou.  Compressions on re-fitting were  172  179  188  188

So No 1 was still down a bit. 

Bob.

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