Looks like there's a good chance that it's the oil pressure relief valve.
Several reasons:
1. One side of the lower portion of the spring is shiny - possible due to
excessive use.
2. I don't have my micrometers at home, but the spring appears to measure
about 1/8 short. ( Don't need a micrometer to see that!)
3. The plunger itself has some shiney spots that could be worn.
I've ordered a new spring, plunger, and washer. I'll let eveyone know the
results.
Bill Mantz
Roanoke, Va.
1958 Bugeye
1971 Midget
Frank Clarici wrote:
> Bill Mantz wrote:
> >
> > Here's the problem. Car has good oil pressure at startup, then after
> > about 5-10 miles the pressure starts to drop and temperature starts to
> > rise.Car had a complete head job in March according to previous owner -
> > invoice shows valves, guides, seals, and machine work. I dropped the oil
> > pan with the intention of replacing the main bearings. Although outside
> > appearance means nothing, the whole bottom end looks new. Spotless, the
> > pickup filter even shines. Before I drop the caps on the bearings, is
> > there any thing else I might check first that could be the problem?
>
> If you are talking about a 1275, check the oil pressure relief spring.
> I put a new one in my Sprite when I rebuilt it. Little did I know it was
> of top asian quality. It lasted a few months and I lived with low oil
> pressure on the gauge. Peter C sent me a REAL, non taiwanese spring and
> I now have 60 psi when hot even after cruising for 3 hours on the
> turnpike.
> I rebuilt my own engine, I trust my machine shop too, I thought it was
> just the gauge calibration so I replaced the gauge. After some thought,
> I checked the OPR spring, it was shot. A spring from a pen was stronger
> then this whimpy asian crap I pulled out. I had a helluva time getting
> the the new spring in and I knew that was my problem.
> --
> Frank Clarici
> Toms River, NJ
> If you are not living on the edge,
> You're taking up too much space!
> http://www.exit109.com/~spritenut
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