Tim---Your compression readings are good, and even. You didn't say how
much oil you're using, and 58,000 isn't that many miles, if they're
verifiable.
Raising compression by squirting oil down the sparkplug holes will seal
the rings better. It doesn't do anything to indicate that the valve
guides are worn. (Smoke out the tail pipe on deceleration is a better
indicater of this.) Or if you have the head off, remove one of the valve
springs to see how much "wiggle" you can generate between the valve stem
and its guide. If you have the head off, you've done most of the work. A
couple hundred bucks at this point for a valve grind and new guides, and
you can forget about it for another ? years.
New rings aren't difficult to put in either. Shoot, when you are doing
this job, why not new bearings, too!?
It all goes back to how much oil you're using, and how much it means to
you to not have to do this. (Personally, I hate to leak or burn oil, and
go to extremes to keep this as low as the design allows.)
So far as where to get the parts, I'm partial to TRF, but lately find
that about everything I order is "temporarily" out of stock. I'm growing
weary of this, and complaining to their leaders doesn't help.
Moss, on the other hand, is right there with the parts, which aren't as
good in many areas, and is why I still prefer TRF.
The staff at BV seems uninterested in anything about the TR6, and is
last on my list.
Dick Taylor
'73
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