Merry post-Xmas (and Happy post-Xmas for our British Friends),
I just got back from my TDY to Albuquerque.... and when I got back I
had no mail. I guess the mailer screwed up again. If anyone sent me
a note, I missed it. I will soon get the archive and catch up on what
I missed.
When last I left you, I put the GT6 engine on the engine stand and
began to dismantle it....
First question: I used grade 8 bolts to attach it. Grade 8 = better
in tension but worse in shear. Someone on the list voiced concern
over the ability of the engine stand bolts to take shear loads -- My
freshman physics class tells me that the bolts whill be mainly
undergoing a tensile load, at least the ones bolting the engine to the
metal arms on the stand. Anyone want to comment?
I pulled off the head and looked in my handy dandy Bently book. The
head does not look at all like the early model head, which would make
sense since the car is a 1972. The head does look like the later
head.
Second Question(s): This means it is a TR5 head, right? If it is a
later model head, does that totally define its characteristics or did
the GT6 use Later model heads with different chamber volumes, valves
etc.
The reason I ask is that I am interested in obtaining a TR6 crank and
other goodies and rebuilding the engine as a 2.5 liter. I would like
to use the same head, if possible. If not, I might as well just buy a
used TR6 engine and rebuild that one. (BTW, does anyone know how much
a used TR6 engine would run? Ballpark is sufficient.)
While dismantling the engine, I opened up the coolant drain plug on
the block and it was plugged up with some goo. (I knew this a while
ago but I hoped if I waited a few months it would magically go away!)
Well, the bad thing is that the goo is sort of charcoal-grey or black.
I guess I should take a sample, let it dry and see if it dissolves in
solvent -- that would point toward it being oil. I didn't notice any
oil in the coolant passages or in the coolant when I drained it.
Third Question(s): Is this oil? Is a crack btw coolant and oil
passages a common occurance? If it isn't oil, what could it be?
This may be old-hat to many of you, but this is my first watercooled
car.
Final question: I am going to be in Florida from 7 January to 14
January. Are there any SOLers in the state (I'll be at a ceramics and
composites conference in Cocoa Beach) who would like to show off their
cars? Help me out -- I don't want to be bored. (I think that's a crime
in Florida!)
--Tim Radsick
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