I like the idea of adding another oil pressure indication. I'll do that
next week. For now I think I'm just going to rip out the Accusump. I like
them, but I'd rather not worry about it first race of the season.
I don't know why or how many blocks have the small, angled drill holes and
plugs. I've looked at two other blocks I own and both of them have the
larger plugs that go straight in. On this block it's a funny little plug
that sits in a recess with a stepped nose like a retainer screw. Very odd.
I wouldn't dream of drilling it out without having the engine all apart.
Even then I'd be a little scared.
I have to admit I have never looked at the plugs in the crank. This engine
has a steel crank. I didn't build it, and it's been running fine for a
full season. After the weekend of the 19th I'm going to look at the
bearings, but I don't want to even think about it until I have a good set
in hand. What you don't know...
-----Original Message-----
From: WEmery7451@aol.com [mailto:WEmery7451@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 4:15 PM
To: Bill Babcock
In a message dated 4/10/03 11:23:25 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
BillB@bnj.com
writes:
<< I'm still using the stock banjo connector for the oil pressure. I
should probably connect it directly to the oil gallery instead, but until
I'm sure that my plumbing is O.K. that would make me nervous--changing
too many things at once.
>>
Hi Bill,
This is a long shot and may not help. I installed my hollow Greg screw on
the oil galley, hooked it up to a pressure gage on the dash, and left the
original setup installed. This gave me two pressure gages, one to show
what the pump was putting out and one to show the oil galley pressure. I
also installed a bigger Aeroquip line to the Accusump, and connected this
line directly to the oil galley. My older setup was hooked to a sandwich
plate between the block and filter housing
After firing up the engine, I had pressure at the pump and very little in
the oil galley. This problem brought on hours of fooling around and
missing a
race. I finally disconnected the oil cooler and Accusump, which gave me
some pressure in the oil galley Two laps on the track, and the oil
pressure started to go away. The result was that I ruined the number two
Carrillo rod, and probably the crank.
Someone in the Triumph club mentioned that he had the machinist take out
the 1/8" pipe plugs in the crank and clean out the crank. I decided to
try to take them out of the crank that came out of the engine to see how
hard it was to get them out. There were no plugs in this crank. Someone
had taken them out and left them out. After my fooling with this engine
for 38 years, how the Hell could I miss something like that? Must be
getting senile. I was also told that on rare occasions, one of these
plugs might work itself out while using the super slippery synthetic oils.
I am sure that you checked many times that these plugs were installed and
tight when you assembled your engine.
My accusump may be different, but the instructions say to use only 12 psig
of air in the bladder. As far as connecting your 1/2 inch line to the oil
galley, I bought the right drills and taps for 3/8" pipe thread and for
1/2"
pipe thread. Presently, I drilled and tapped the block (center port) for
3/8" pipe thread. Henry Freye told me that he had his machinist tap two
of his blocks for 1/2 inch pipe thread. I have never seen a block with
angled oil galley ports, but I guess they make them.
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