FHC resto nr. 88; A new heart: or a change of plans!

When a car’s restoration takes as long as this one, there is a very high risk that plans change as time progresses. And in this case it is the plans for the engine that have changed significantly over the past few weeks. Initial plan was to use one of my top spare parts; a brand new Sprint head still in the box.

This would be either used to crown one of my best spare engines, a rebuilt Dolomite Sprint engine (VA prefix, Mahle pistons and honing marks still visible):

Or I’d use one off the more worn engines in the shed and have it re-bored to fit these oversize JP pistons ...

Then there was the offer from a friend who was willing to donate one of his RV8 engine’s … mmm …tempting. But then that same friend pointed me to an advert on the internet (Marktplaats.nl) for a second hand Sprint head that needed a bit of work. But I clicked the wrong advert and found some other items from the same seller. Including a brand new Sprint short engine fitted with Mahle pistons and an also NOS Sprint head (still in the box). A few emails and phone calls later a deal was struck. As a result of which I am now the proud owner of these parts. These items didn’t come cheap, but it might in the end be more cost effective than to rebuilt one of my spare engines. Time will tell! Biggest advantage for me is that I can now build up the engine when I want to, and without the need of specialist help. Because this would add at least 6 to 8 months to my time schedule (yes good quality engine builders are busy these days!).

And this afternoon (with a pair of hired hands) the pieces where dropped off at the shed. Time for a little photo shoot. First some overview pictures of the engine itself.

And a few details, to start with the engine’s number. As you can see it reads VA3437ESS, which confirms it is for a Dolomite Sprint. But so far I haven’t seen the “ESS” suffix on an engine. But according to some input from Belgium 😉 and a quick search on the internet, ESS probably stands for Exchange Supplied Spare or Exchange Service Spare?

But probably the best thing is that the engine is fitted with brand new Mahle pistons, all with F-tolerance mark. And this corresponds with the markings on the engine’s block!

And a few pictures of the head. As you can see there is a little bit of (what turned out very light) surface rust on a few parts. So that will get a proper oil soaking and clean before it is fitted to the engine!

The sale also included a new distributor set consisting of all three sprockets, proper quality distributor chain, original chain tensioner (in the small box) and original chain guides.

But this new addition brings its own disadvantages, or should I say challenges? As I now have one brand new “surplus” Sprint head. So it might well be that all my three TR7’s will get Sprint power in the end 😏. On the other hand that could mean that the original TR7 PI system I have lying around could become surplus somewhere in the future … choices indeed!

The search goes on ...

Could have found this much earlier but I wanted to give the engine and all ancillaries a good check. As Cylinder number 1 is slightly down on compression next on the list was the valve gear. But removing the cam cover didn't reveal any horrors. No broken rockers or shattered cam followers. And the valve clearances, though not spot on, didn't need immediate adjustment. Even the (adjustable) cam sprocket hadn't slipped and still was in its correct position. So no major thing wrong in that area. Rather glad about that, although I'll probably adjust the valve clearances this winter when the car needs to be stored for three months. This is due to a new and rather stupid politically inspired legislation regarding cars aged between 25 and 40 years.

And while over at a friend's work shop last week he pointed me to a probable mistake I might have made regarding the ballast wire. It turned out he was correct. I had taken a wrong measurement, with the dizzy timing in the wrong position. As a result I wasn't measuring the current over the ballast wire but the battery's voltage. Another of his tips was to start the engine with the fuel supply shit off to clean out as much fuel from the engine as possible. So after starting the engine with the fuel pump switched off, I did another check of the ballast wire. With the ignition switched on and the dizzy's chopper disc in the correct position I got a reading of approximately 6 Volts. Result, both ballast wire and my rewiring for the switch panel OK. And to rule out any other ignition problems I compared the fitted coil with a new one. With readings of 1,8 Ω for the primary winding and 13,1 KΩ  for the secondary winding this turned out to be fairly close to the fitted coil. Again no problem there.

After that I removed the spark plugs, so any remaining fuel could evaporate over night. Biggest advantage of starting the engine for a short time, is that it soils the spark plugs a little. As a result of this, the clean washed number three spark plug, now clearly showed what was wrong, a cracked insulator tip.

And this matches nicely with the symptoms of the engine. At this point I did start the engine and it was a big improvement, though not brilliant. But as the last item to check was still on the "list" I decided to wait for that to be finished before going for a test drive. So this morning I started replacing the fuel filter fitted between the tank and the fuel pump. I had high hopes this job could be finished before noon, but a few things decided to put up a fight. In the end I managed to renew the filter and clean up the pump. For good measure I opened the pump to see if there was any dirt in its filter, but it was immaculate inside.

So with everything back in place it was time for a little test drive. The engine started promptly but settled at a slightly lumpy idle. Driving of clearly showed an improvement, but once the engine had warmed up it started to misfire under load at lower revs. Ones the revs rose it behaved reasonably well, though still lacking some grunt and struggling slightly. At least she idles fairly normal once on temperature, so clearly there is progress. The search continues!

Christmas period shopping

Been a while since my last update. And I have to admit that I have done nothing physical to one of my Triumphs. Mostly caused by other commitments, like starting work full time again after my illness and playing around with my new version of Photoshop. Which means I have been going over some old RAW images in my spare time, to see if there was room for improvement. Actually there was, as these pictures, shot during the maiden trip of the DHC into the Alps in the summer of 2010, clearly show ...

But that doesn't imply I have been completely idle on things TR7 related. Over the past month or so I have been busy sourcing parts for my new Sprint engine and the rejuvenation of 't Kreng. First parts I received were a brand new matched crown wheel and pinion set for the back axle I will be building and a set of +0.040" Sprint pistons from Australia ...

But then one of my friends spoiled it all, by pointing me to an advert on the internet for a brand new and ready to fit Sprint head still in its original box, and not that far away from home either.

So maybe the DHC will get a Sprint engine too somewhere in the future. And it turned out that the guy advertising the head also had some original (Austin/Rover) TR7 panels for sale. You never know when you are going to need them ...

And with the shiny bits done it was time to start sorting through my spare parts in search of an engine block suitable to use for the new Sprint engine. I wanted to use the original Dolly Sprint engine I took apart some time ago but as this is in such good condition I will probably put it back together as a spare engine. So I choose the engine block and parts from a very low mileage Californian spec DHC. The added bonus with this engine is that it does need a light rebore, and there is no way I am going to use those silly low compression pistons (indeed no plans for a turbo or blower yet) ...

With the engine removed from the storage shed I went through my spare back axles. Because I have decided on converting the rear suspension of the car to four parallel links with either a Watts linkage or a Panhard rod, I will have to weld some new mounting brackets to the axle. Which is why I choose the worst looking axle from the three I have lying around ...

This immediately explains why I bought a new CWP set, all three axles have a 3.45:1 ratio and for 't Kreng I really want the shorter 3.90:1 ratio as it suits the car much better. The remaining 3.45:1 axles and parts will be kept as spares for the DHC. But at the current rate of wear they might be in the storage shed for a very long time yet.

On closer inspection the worst axle (from a fairly low mileage Solihull FHC that had been lying abandoned out in the open for over 4 years) it turned out to be in pretty good shape too. Internals are very good with no noticeable play. And even all the brackets are in pretty good shape, with only surface rust on them. Almost blasphemous to cut them of ...

And of course I wanted to change the DHC's gearbox during my Christmas holiday but that is postponed for another few weeks.

New Sprint engine (part 4)

It's been a while since I dropped of two Sprint heads for some old fashioned modifications. But last week I got a message on my mobile phone saying that the head was ready. Needless to say I couldn't wait to pick it up! Have to say that it certainly has been worth the wait!

But before the actual work on the ports started, first thing to do was decide which of the two heads would be used for the treatment. So to start with they were pressure tested to check for cracks and porosity, and they both passed this test. Next test was checking if they were warped. This showed a clear winner, the head that came from my spare Sprint engine turned out to be completely flat. The spare head I acquired many years ago turned out to be slightly warped (0.25 mm concave). This is certainly re-usable but no point in not using my best parts.

The chosen head after it had been removed from the engine ...

And when I entered the work shop last Saturday this clean and very shiny cylinder head greeted me ...

Work that has been done to the head includes opening up the ports slightly and polishing them, blending in the valve seats, re-cutting the seats and grinding in the valves.

Also the inlet manifold I acquired over a year ago (how time flies) was matched to the head and doweled for a smooth flow from the throttle bodies into the cylinders. And the manifold's ports received some extra attention.
And last but not least the head was skimmed to increase the compression ratio from 9.5:1 to about 10:1. Added bonus was that this skim got rid of all the pitting caused by corrosion.

More machining

Together with the gearbox’s rear end casing, I also picked up a few bits and pieces for ‘t Kreng last Saturday. Some bits for the rear suspension ...

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts I will use four adapted rear upper links to locate the rear axle a bit firmer. I will first make a set of suspension links using the original four link mounting points on the car’s body. This will give me an opportunity to see how this works and if I will need a rear ARB or not. If so it’s time for the next challenge, a new location for the ARB.

But after having driven the car in earnest with the rear coil overs during the “Nacht van het Oosten”, I am not so sure if it is worth the effort to adapt the rear axle’s mounting points to 5-link (Panhard rod) or 6-link (Watts linkage) configuration. On the other hand it is an interesting challenge ... Luckily more than enough time to make up my mind.

Also had another set of spark plug tubes made in preparation for the new Sprint engine ...

And I can finish with some real progress on the DHC’s new paintjob, the car has been re-sprayed! Only a few minor blemishes need to be rectified after which the sills will get a new layer of satin black. So the car should be back home somewhere next week. Can’t wait to see the final result, as the paint that’s been used seems to have a more saturated colour and a deeper gloss.

Preparations for the IAE

Been busy with all sorts of smaller jobs on ‘t Kreng since fitting the coil over’s two weeks ago. As she’ll be used for next week’s International Auto Ecosse it was time for a full service. First thing to tackle was to change the original spark plug tubes for some proper engineered ones ...

Took slightly longer to fit them, as I had to remove quite a lot of old sealant from the cylinder head, which was needed to keep the oil away from the spark plugs. But after an hour and a half all of the old sealant was removed from the spark plug holes. So time to fit the spark plug tubes, needless to say that they fit perfectly ...

As I found a set of brand new NGK BP6EFS spark plugs which I had completely forgotten, these were also fitted. The old ones had covered almost 20.000 kilometres, so they had seen more than enough action. The same could be said of the hydraulic fluids, I usually flush them every one or two years, depending on the car’s use. This is to get rid of any moisture and rubber particles from the seals that gets trapped in the fluid. Flushing the clutch system clearly was necessary, the fluid that came out was very murky indeed. The old brake fluid looked much cleaner, but that only tells something about lack of rubber contamination, nothing about trapped moisture.

Next on the to do list was changing the left hand front wheel bearings. When I fitted the front struts in 2009 I over tightened these bearings. As a result of which it was an MOT failure one year later. I fitted new bearings to that side from a front wheel bearing kit supplied by one of the TR7 specialists. But it turned out that the quality of the supplied bearings wasn’t very good. Till date I had to retighten the left hand bearing every 500 kilometres, which isn’t as it should be (other side still hasn’t been touched and still is OK). So it was time to contact a friend to find me some proper quality bearings ...

While removing the old bearings I found something strange. The spring of the hub’s oil seal was badly damaged, while the rest of the seal was in good condition. Luckily I found an old seal with a good spring ...

The bearings that came out didn’t look to bad, but the overall impression of these wasn’t very impressive. Although not very clear in the pictures, there were already clear signs of wear on the bearing’s outer races. And they have covered less than 3000 kilometres so far! ...

With the front sorted I changed my attention to the rear suspension. When driving the car last weekend under certain conditions, there was a very light but clear knock from one of the rear upper links (felt like the right hand one). So just to be sure I removed all of the bolts on the body side of the rear suspension, fitted new (and thicker) washers and re-torqued them. Have a test drive planned for early Monday morning to see how she behaves. And to end a weekends work on the car I checked all fluid levels, as expected no surprises there.

Will check ignition timing and carburettors balance after the test run tomorrow. And re-check the right hand front wheel bearing of course.

New Sprint engine (part 2)

Collected my two spare Sprint heads recently and took them to a friend’s workshop to get them cleaned a bit in preparation for flowing, polishing and rebuilding the best of the two. All in preparation for the rejuvenation of ‘t Kreng.

After cleaning, it was time to remove the valve gear from the second head. With the proper tools that wasn’t too difficult. The exhaust valves were removed rather quickly ...

Sadly though the valve spring compressor tool couldn’t be used on the inlet valves. So I had to revert to a slightly more robust approach, a correct size socket and a hammer! Worked pretty good and was even quicker than with the valve spring compressor!

With the valves removed it was time to inspect both heads. Overall they are both in fairly good condition, but it looks that both have been skimmed somewhere in the past. There are also some minor dents in the edge of a few chambers. These need to be filled in with some welding ...

Also one of the valve guides is damaged, which means all need to be renewed, but that gives me the chance to look for some slimmer lightweight valves ...

More can be gained by opening up and polishing the ports ...

And to finish, I at last got round to find someone who could machine some nice and shiny alloy spark plug tubes. First sample (to double check the measurements) looks really good, can’t wait to get them fitted to ‘t Kreng’s engine, as the (still original) spark plug tubes are starting to leak a little oil ...