This weekend was supposed to be a mountain tour of the fall leaves in
Cloudcroft, N.M. , but it turned out to be a disaster! I want to warn
listers to beware when replacing your radiator cap, get the right one. I
replaced one on my TR3A (has the long neck) and it was too short to seal
properly, which I did not notice at the time. It did just fine until I hit
the high altitude(water boils at a lower temp in the mountains!), when the
coolant boiled out and before I could shut it down, the head gasket blew
and that was the end of the trip. I got the car home Sunday evening and
spent Monday pulling and tearing down the engine. No major damage done,
but compression rings shattered, and there was water in the oil, so am
replacing all the bearings and currently have the cam, pistons, liners and
crank as well as the block in the shop for tolerance checks and cleaning,
etc. I was going to tear the engine down this winter anyway, so it's no
big deal, but I really feel dumb, not checking the cap. So, please,
listers, don't buy a new cap "off the shelf" without checking for
suitability of operation! BTW, does anyone have good tips for
pulling/replacing the cam bearings without the Churchill tool, "just in
case"?
Richard Triplett
Technical Services
Midland, Texas
915-683-2781
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