A finished rolling chassis is just begging for an engine and gearbox so at the end of March 2013 I started the process of assembling parts and getting the necessary machining taken care of at my local machine shop in Nashua, NH. Len Kingsley at Kingsley Automotive has helped me with many projects over the years and while he doesn't specialize in old British engines he runs a very competent machine shop and is happy to take on these projects.

The block was cleaned inside and out and new cam bearings installed. The head got new hardened exhaust valve seats and new guides. Everything got new aluminum and core plugs. Here's the block as I collected it.

I sent the cam and lifters (cam followers) off to a refurb shop on the west coast who turned them around very quickly at a fraction of the cost of new repro items. I was told that the original cam and lifters were better made and would have no problem with the regrind and resurfacing process.

The machine shop also balanced all of the individual components as well as the rotating assembly including the cooling fan.

As part of a job lot of spares that I bought back in 2010 there was a set of NOS liners and pistons that looked in as-new condition so they also went into the engine.

The wet liner engine was new to me so I went very slowly and did a lot of research into the various options for figure of 8 gaskets and sealant. Got lots of guidance from the folks on the sidescreen forum. I used washers and bolts to clamp the liners down.

I added the new timing gear and tensioner after welding up the large void that the old tensioner had carved in the front plate. The timing gear came from TRF and had the timing marks stamped on the gears. I double checked the timing in the usual way with a timing wheel and dial gauge. The extra two punch marks are a mystery, even the guy at TRF that does the stamping had no idea why they were there.

The oil pump got a new screen and I used a sheet of glass and some fine wet and dry abrasive to remove the light scoring off the bottom plate.

I had several timing chain covers so I tested them all to see which had the TDC pointer closest to TDC mark on the pulley. Little did I know that the one I selected had a small crack that only leaked when the engine was hot and that I would have to take the front of the engine apart again later on to fix that leak.

The gearbox had been rebuilt and an A type overdrive added by John Esposito at Quantum Mechanics in Monroe, CT, about three hours drive for me. I had the tranny on the bench for several weeks trying unsuccessfully to eliminate the last of the leaks. Here it is still slowly leaking just as in the Spinal Tappets song "While my TR gently leaks".

The engine was ready for the gearbox so I hooked the engine up to the crane to help with that process.

It would be several weeks later before the engine and gearbox were reunited with the frame and eventually run for the 20 minute cam break in but that is coming up soon.