Restoration Diary
21st November 2001 to 4th January
2002
Firstly, happy new year to you all,
hope you had a completely excessive festive season - I did!! Lots of happenings
since the last update, which does seem like a lifetime ago. The chassis was
completely stripped down in the last update, and since then it has spent two
weeks up with Adrian Venn at Exactly TVR for a complete refurbishment. The
result are stunning - all repaired and coated, looking as good, if not better,
than new. The chassis is now stored up against the garage wall waiting for
re-assembly. When we went to Coventry to pick up the chassis, we also took an
entire trailer of other bits and pieces out of the garage for an opinion or for
work to be done; the radiator has been left for re-coring, all the wishbones are
being shot blasted and powder coated, the inlet manifold is being cleaned up,
the carb is being checked over, one front upright was shot so will be replaced
along with a trunion, and our anti-roll bar is being straightened and shortened.
We also picked up a complete set of unleaded cylinder heads and a set of
refurbished rear uprights complete with pivot bars.
Back
in the garage, with the engine on the stand, I took the main (large) timing gear
off. This took some persuasion, but with the rubber handle of a mallet behind
it, and continuous turning, it came off eventually. It seems in reasonable
enough condition, judging by the edges not being worn at all, but it is likely
to be replaced with a steel gear. This will add noise, but if we do come to
sprint the car, then it will add a lot more strength to the set up. The last
thing you need blasting round a circuit is to lose a tooth! The heads were next,
which, when unbolted, refused to budge at all. With a strong steel bar in one of
the water channels, and lots of vigorous tapping with the mallet, they came
loose. The gaskets seemed fine, so I don't think that is the source of our
emulsification. One theory is that while the car has been in and out of the
garage, and getting washed and whatever, water has entered the engine somehow,
and has mixed with the oil in the sump when turning the engine. Lets hope
that's all it is!! Next came the sump. Held on by what seemed like an endless
number of small bolts, this was taken off and put to one side. There seems to be
some emulsification in the sump, which is a worry, but there are no signs yet of
anything majorly wrong with the set up at all. The bottom of the sump appears to
have been damaged at some stage in the past, as it is badly dented, and has what
looks like a bronze repair to it on one side. Is this likely to warrant any
concern, or expected on these cars? The oil pump was next, simply secured by two
bolts to the crank casing.
So,
a block, complete with pistons, a cam shaft and a crank shaft, was all that
remained on the engine stand. The cam shaft came out next after some teasing and
wiggling. This is definitely going to be replaced, but was kept and stored just
in case. Anybody want one? Finally for the engine, the small bearings for the
connecting rods were unbolted, and each of the pistons removed from the top on
the engine. Bearings themselves looked ok, although some were on their way out,
having worn out the white metal. Similarly for the main bearings, these were
getting worn and will be replaced during the rebuild. When the rear crank plate
was removed, the crank rod was lifted out easily.
We decided to get the block cleaned
up ready for the rebuild, and I bought a can of gunk to work on the outside of
the block, which was particularly mucky. We had intended to gunk then pressure
wash down the unit, but due to the weather, all my hose pipes had frozen solid,
so out came the paper to clean up the block while applying small amounts of
gunk. I had obtained a freebie jo
b
lot of napkins from work, and these proved to be ideal for cleaning off all the
old oil and gunge. With a little work, both sides of the engine came up
beautifully. I used the blade from a Stanley knife to remove traces of the head
and sump gaskets, although I have yet to work on the front of the engine.
Finally, and quite honestly forgotten until now, the cam followers were removed.
the Haynes manual said these could be removed with a magnet. No chance! I tapped
them down into the cam shaft channel then removed them with a screwdriver
through the front of the engine. I've been told that as long as these aren't
dish shaped, they should be re-usable, so that's what the aim is.
Meanwhile
Chris has been working on some of the other parts of the car. We have obtained
two rocker box covers and an air filter housing from Justin Forwood from our
local TVRCC meeting which just need a good clean up to be usable. Chris'
girlfriend Georgie worked on one of the rocker covers, while Chris has taken the
other and the air filter housing home to work on. Both are looking very good
now, and with a lick of paint, can be put back onto the car. The gearbox has had
the same treatment as the engine, and given a good clean all over. This will be
pained up too, ready for re-fitting.
So, it's all officially in bits!!
We're in the process of working on some mass shopping lists for the car ready to
put it all back together again. I've contacted a local engine company who will
measure and install new bearings as necessary to the engine, and hopefully
re-build it for us for a small fee. We've also decided on a cam shaft, the Kent
Cams V62, which is not an over the top cam, but will allow us some extra power
between 2500 and 5000rpm. One concern about this though is will it just slot in,
or will we need the kit to include the uprated valve springs? The heads have all
been built up so if we can avoid taking them apart again this would be
preferable. Any advice in this area would be appreciated. Also we're looking for
a steel timing gear to replace the nylon one. Does anyone have a good source of
these? I've found a good web site lately that supplies a reasonable amount of
kit for the Essex engine, which may be worth a look for anyone doing similar
work. It can be found at http://www.sapmotorparts.com/
Next
installment to come when we get the wishbones etc back from Adrian, then we can
start on the build of the rolling chassis.
Back
in the garage, with the engine on the stand, I took the main (large) timing gear
off. This took some persuasion, but with the rubber handle of a mallet behind
it, and continuous turning, it came off eventually. It seems in reasonable
enough condition, judging by the edges not being worn at all, but it is likely
to be replaced with a steel gear. This will add noise, but if we do come to
sprint the car, then it will add a lot more strength to the set up. The last
thing you need blasting round a circuit is to lose a tooth! The heads were next,
which, when unbolted, refused to budge at all. With a strong steel bar in one of
the water channels, and lots of vigorous tapping with the mallet, they came
loose. The gaskets seemed fine, so I don't think that is the source of our
emulsification. One theory is that while the car has been in and out of the
garage, and getting washed and whatever, water has entered the engine somehow,
and has mixed with the oil in the sump when turning the engine. Lets hope
that's all it is!! Next came the sump. Held on by what seemed like an endless
number of small bolts, this was taken off and put to one side. There seems to be
some emulsification in the sump, which is a worry, but there are no signs yet of
anything majorly wrong with the set up at all. The bottom of the sump appears to
have been damaged at some stage in the past, as it is badly dented, and has what
looks like a bronze repair to it on one side. Is this likely to warrant any
concern, or expected on these cars? The oil pump was next, simply secured by two
bolts to the crank casing.
