Hello Triumph List folk,
The only Triumph content here is the fact that all this happened in relation to
our
purchasing expedition to Team Triumph. This is my follow-up to the Land Cruiser
List. Hope
you get a chuckle out of it.
(To the melody from "There's A Hole In The Bucket")
There's a noise in the engine
Dear Andy, Dear Andy
What's that noise in the engine
Dear Andy, Dear Andy
Fix the noise in the engine
Dear Andy, Dear Andy
Order parts for the engine
Dear Andy, Dear Andy
Pull the head on the engine
Dear Andy, Dear Andy
It looks strange in the engine
Dear Andy, Dear Andy
There's a hole in the engine
Dear Andy, Dear Andy......
A HOLE?!?!
Holy Wrist Pin, Batman! Is it supposed to look like that?
That's right folks, there's a hole in the engine. To be precise, there's a
1-1/2" wide by
6" tall slash in the back of the #5 cylinder sleeve. It is truly amazing to
gaze upon.
Perhaps more amazing is the fact that the engine continued to run and didn't
lock up. The
Grey Ghost limped off the highway to the nearest service station before giving
up.
When we got the head off, the top of #5 piston looked pretty chewed. "Drat" I
thought. No
chance of just popping in a head gasket and flushing the systems a few times
(sure am glad
we didn't hang out in Warren Ohio waiting for a head gasket to arrive). Oh
well, how bad
can it be?
Dumb question. With all the belts off, we hand turn the engine. Excellent! It
turns
easily, no resistance, maybe it's not so.....uhmm.....isn't #5 piston supposed
to bob up
and down with the rest of them? Yeah? I kinda thought so.
#5 is just sitting up there, wiggling a bit each time the connecting rod nudges
it from
below. It feels loose, so, just for fun, we apply suction to the piston using
the trusty
shop vac. Low and behold, out pops piston #5. Excuse me. Out pops the
decapitated head of
piston #5. The top of the piston is all that remains.
The connecting rod and wrist pin glare up at us from the chasm of the mortally
molested #5
cylinder. "Sorry guys. That must have really hurt." Razor sharp fragments of
the cylinder
sleeve wait in ambush, partially concealed in the now visible water jacket. The
whereabouts of the rings and piston fragments remain a mystery, for I doubt we
shall pull
the oil pan.
So much for thoughts of a rebuild on this engine.
But, all is not lost. I've got a line on a freshly rebuilt 1981 2F. Should be
here in
about two weeks. And, we'll take this opportunity to try out Downey's Cruiser
TBI kit (see
separate post). Looks like a couple of busy weeks ahead. "Tote that barge, pull
that
engine". Hoo boy. Does it ever end?
Andy Litkowiak
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