If you read The Roadster Factory catalogs, you'll find that they make a
big deal about the fact that they only sell Vandervell bearings,
including various anecdotes about racing heritage and Ken Richardson's
ire when he received an engine with some other brand of bearings.
On the other hand, I recently received a collection of article reprints
from the Triumph Register of Southern California (more on that in a
sec), wherein Ken Gillanders claims that he sees a lot of pocketing with
Castrol multi-grade oils and 'Vandervel type bearings', and recommends
'modern multiple alloy bearings such as Clevite 77, Clacier Retinular
and Federal mogul'.
There's little doubt in my mind that Ken knows what he's about when it
comes to the Triumph engine. But I also tend to think the folks at TRF
have a pretty good idea of what's going on. I'm about to replace my rod
bearings -- would anyone care to venture a guess of whose bearings I
should buy?
Oh, that reprint. I happened across a copy of TRSC's newsletter a while
back. And ad for note pads caught my eye -- they have a series with very
nice illustrations of your favorite TR. Also in the price list was
"Technical Talk - A compilation of technical and historical articles
published by TRSC", subtitled "Valuable advice to 'those who may follow'
from 'those who have been there'. What the hell, it was $5. Well worth
it! TRSC is part of TRA, so the articles only cover TR-2 and TR-3*, but
much of what's in here is applicable to my TR-4A (like the hint that the
sleeve on the original thermostat is important because it covers the
water bypass channel, thus forcing all water through the radiator --
this may solve my overheating problem, and be worth the $5 alone!).
If you're interested in a copy, call Steve Hedke at (818) 848-8481 for
details (I've long ago tossed the newsletter).
chris
----------
|