I have a 1978 Spitfire with a bad engine block (the infamous thrust-washer
defect) that I'm attempting to switch out with a new short block I bought a
couple of months ago. The one thing that's holding it up is this --
the bushing for the old engine's oil pump drive is now toast. The new block
didn't come with one, and so when we tried pulling the old one out to use it,
the thing broke into lovely little chunks. None of the major Triumph places
(Roadster Factory, Victoria British, Moss) seem to carry any onhand, the
machine shops won't make one, and a search for all this time has led me to
the conclusion that this little bugger is gonna be next to impossible to get.
I've found a guy that had two at hand in unusable blocks, but his -- like
mine -- broke when he tried to pull them.
Obviously my car's gonna be unusable without one, so I'm feeling pretty
screwed at the moment.
IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME FIND ONE OF THESE THINGS INTACT, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT THE
FOLLOWING ADDRESSES: FatherWill@aol.com
or
74363,3231@compuserve.com
Here's the part description.
Look on p71 of the Victoria British catalogue for summer 1994 (SG.13)
The part is unnumbered in VB's book, but it does have a number in Roadster's
(which I don't have onhand). In VB's SG.13, you'll see the bushing right in
between the two studs [which are labelled part #62 (aka 12-2707)] on the
distributor pedestal. It looks very vaguely wine-glass shaped, being wider
on the ends and narrower towards the lower-middle. Small hole in the top,
and it's slotted across the top (as if a large screwdriver would fit it).
This part is sunk into the engine block under the distributor, so that
when it's in place, it looks simply like a disk with a hole and line across
it. If I'm right, the oil pump fits in underneath it, and the distributor on
top -- as if it were an integral part of the block, in fact.
Once again, the Roadster Factory calls it the "bushing for the oil pump
drive" (I quote). And if ANYONE PLEASE knows where I can get one that's
actually in one piece or knows some shop that could really find one for me,
please email me at one of the above addresses. Thank you so very much.
William Gillis
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