Of course, you have put the conrods on the pistons the right way round.
I recently went through the same exercise you have completed (my
gudgeons/wrist pins did not seize) and put 3 conrods on the right way
and three the wrong way (I blamed my wife who was talking to me during
the process!!). Of course, I found "my" mistake when I put the pistons
in the block (the first two were OK and the third was where I found my
mistake) and the nuts on the lower end of the conrod hit the block when
I tried to turn the engine by hand after each piston was installed.
I used a lot of assembly lubricant on all the bearings and
gudgeons/wrist pins to negate any seizing on startup, etc.
David Robinson
1970 TR6 (undergoing RHD conversion)
>----------
>From: placroix@magi.com[SMTP:placroix@magi.com]
>Sent: Thursday, 26 September, 1996 7:09 PM
>To: triumphs@autox.team.net
>Subject: BIZARRE MYSTERY SOLVED
>
>Hello fellow TR enthusiasts.
>I wrote recently detailing the seizing of my pistons on their con rod/pin
>assemblies after being cleaned with everyday parts cleaning solvent. I
>described a crystalized residue which had the appearance of dryed pine sap
>which was all around the inside of the piston skirts, and had plugged many
>of the oil ways leading up to the wrist pins.
>
>Firstly, thanks to all who posted WARNINGS regarding my "not so" bright
>idea to have the assemblies hot tanked. I'm still not sure what I was
>thinking. Of course the aluminium pistons would melt.
>
>Secondly, I have since completely disassembled all pistons from their con
>rods. This process required an industial strength penetrating oil, and a
>good deal of elbow grease. What I discovered when all was apart, was that
>despite the distasteful appearance of the crystalized goop...what had in
>fact seized the pistons on their pins was nothing more than good old
>fashioned RUST. It seems that the cleaning solvent had gotten in and
>removed much of the lubricant from between the piston pin and the con rod
>small end bearing. Once the remaining solvent evaporated, it left bare
>metal which quickly corroded. The clearance tolerances for the piston pins
>is very small, so it didn't take much rust and "voila" seized piston/con
>rod assemblies. I'm happy to report that after a light cleaning of all
>parts with 440 grit emery cloth and re-lubricating everything prior to
>reassembly, the piston assemblies are now ready to go back into their
>bores.
>Thanks to all who took the time to respond.
>
>Paul Lacroix
>1973 TR6
>Ottawa,Canada
>
>
>
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