Spare Engine

[whitenviro]

I started tearing down my newly acquired spare engine and trans this weekend. What a greasy mess. But BL's patented corrosion protection system worked well; everything on the outside is very well lubricated! So far all of the nuts and bolts have been a charm to take apart.

I separated the trans from the engine to get at the clutch and fork mechanism. It was just about as messy inside the bellhousing, so the rear main seal of the engine is probably bad.


The clutch and pressure plate look dry, so the oil seems to have come from the front and sprayed off the front of the flywheel to coat the inside of the bellhousing.


It's all coming apart anyway.

My other parts are finally starting to arrive too. I got a package today with a beautiful set of 0.040 over Mahle Sprint pistons, Sprint timing chain cover, crank pulley, spark plug tubes, and some other odds and ends. Anxiously waiting for my Sprint head, intake and carb set-up next. I already have a distributor with an electronic unit in it.

Now I just need somewhere to work on it. At the moment its still riding around in my van!



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1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.

[Workshop Help]

What about the exhaust header? Do you have the exhaust header? It will be different from the standard 8 valve engine. The rest of the exhaust system can be easily fabricated down at your favorite muffler shop.

Don't forget to order the head to exhaust manifold gasket, in fact, order several. That is one spare part you can't have too many of.

Mildred Hargis

[nick]

It does appear that the oil is being slung to the outside and back. Last one of these I had apart looked about like that. I changed the gearbox input and output seals as well. And since it was easy, I changed the gearbox oil pump also.

Looks like a fun project. Where did you acquire the Sprint head?

[img][IMG]http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt234/nickmi/TR7%201975/Yellow.jpg[/img]
nick
'79 TR7 DHC
'76 TR7 FHC

[whitenviro]

Mildred; the header is last, but not too hard to come by. There are several I have been looking at including one already in the states. Robsport carries one for about $300 plus shipping. I am also tempted by a local fabricator here who can build one. It would cost more but he would build it to fit the car. That might be able to avoid the clearance problems that most people have had with the off-the shelf versions.

I have been pulling together the parts from various places, but the Triumphdolomite forum people have been very helpful. Shipping is a bit pricey but not too bad.

I still haven't found main or big end bearings that I am happy with.
Canley Classics has Vandervell mains, but only in standard size. I haven't wanted to order them until I get this crank out and have it checked over. I expect it will need to be ground, but finding good oversize bearings isn't easy. I'm just taking my time with it and getting things together as they show up.




[/img]
1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.

[Workshop Help]

About the big end bearings, and I do not want to stir up a hornets nest about this. However, depending on the condition and how the crank journals mike out, don't give up hope on being able to use standard size main bearings, particularly if they are NOS Vandervells.

Bear in mind the purpose of main bearings is to wear out before the crank journals do. That is why they have layers of soft metal veneers to, in effect, meld themselves to the hardened crank. Yes, they also hold an oil film and imbed minute particles to protect the crank journals. In September 2004, my stock bearing shells exhibited the expected wiping of the veneers from 114,000 miles and some 27 years of service. But, the crank journals showed no perceptible wear or damage. So, I fitted my set of standard size Vandervells with a gob of assembly lubricant and have chugged down the yellow brick road ever since. It is important to realize a new set of bearings are built a tad oversize to compensate for normal crank journal wear.

Please consider carefully any recommendations by machine shops or engine rebuilders to go whole hog when it could well be NOT necessary.

Remember, our engines are not high revving screamers. They are designed more in the line of tractor engines with a lot of the torque curve coming in at low RPM's. That is why our cars are so easy to drive, the power is there at low speeds as we merrily chug down the lane while cars such as BMW's with four cylinder engines like the E36 series must rev it up all the time, frequently need shifting to find a comfortable gear ratio to match the weak torque patterns.

Granted you want to build up a Sprint engine. It, like the a fore mentioned BMW E36 318I, is a revver with comparable power output. Even so, the crankshaft and bearing load will not be that much beyond our U.S. 8.0:1 compression pistons and 8 valve torque loading on the crank. I favor your seeking the Vandervells as the current selection of bearing shells does not measure up to these out of production bearings.

If worse comes to worse, haunt EBAY like a possessed poltergist and pray the oversize shells you need pop up. I just had good luck finding two NOS rear axle bearings last week for $8.00 + shipping. Mystical miracles still occur.

Mildred Hargis

[FI Spyder]

The better bearings are three layer ones like the Vandervells. The cheap county bearings are only two layer. a club member unknowingly had couny bearings in his Dolomite Sprint and only got 10,000 miles on them before oil pressure dropped below 8 psi (idling in a traffic jam south of San Francisco. He redid the engine with Vandervall's.

British Parts Northwest down the road from you sells King Engine Bearings. Not sure if they are Bi or Tri metal (I think they make both). They have a pdf file. BPNW seems to think they make quality stuff. Might want to check it out. Mind you if you can get Vandervall, the higher cost will be small compared to money spent on engine.

http://kingbearings.com/tech_materials.php

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[Hasbeen]

The main thing about bearings is the name & grade on the oil bottle. I'd find out what that bloke was using in his sprint engine, then seriously avoid the stuff.

I was using Vandervell bearings in my Morgan +4, [TR3A engine in them in the early 60s], & to start with I would be down to copper on the copper led indium big end slipper in the rod cap in about 15 racing miles.

Using moly, then STP progressively got this up to 4 meetings & well over 150 miles.

The people racing these things in historic today, on stock mechanicals, are using a good semi synthetic multi grade oil, from a few top oil companies, & having no trouble with bearings, despite revving higher than we did back then.

Yes you should use the best bearings you can find, but they won't last long if you use any old SAE 30 in the sump.

I doubt there are any new old stock bearings for the Renault engines in the Red Bull F1s, & they do appear to work OK.

Hasbeen

[Stag76]

These are the best bearings I can find in Australia.

http://catalog.acl.com.au/aclwebcatalog ... listtype=0

Some of the ones you can buy are only rated at 3000psi, whereas 12000 psi is what you really need, with a moderately long stroke and heavy pistons.

TR7 Convertible
Sprint Motor
MegaSquirt EFI

[Beans]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Stag76</i>

These are the best bearings I can find in Australia...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Thx for that info, as I am (still) searching for good quality bearings for my new Sprint engine.
See if they are available over here in Europe.

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<font color="blue"><i>1976 TR7 FHC (needs some TLC ...)
1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, a.k.a. Kermette)
1981 TR7 FHC (Sprint engined a.k.a. 't Kreng
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