Hi Darrell,
I recently got the Roger Williams "Restore your TR4/4A" book too.
Pretty good - I'm half way through a second reading (very comprehensive)
although am kinda dissapointed he's never owned a TR4 (has a TR6 and MGB)
-more on that later *
To answer your question: Wellseal (gasket sealer) is sold by The Roadster
Factory (I paid $12 on sale for an engine rebuild sized tube). TRF says it
was developed by Rolls Royce if I recall. It says 'never hardens' on the
packaging so if you get a US equivalent (like Permatex?) keep that in mind.
Regarding your removed fan extension - I would put it back on - not as good
as harmonic damper but just think of all that weight (flywheel, etc) on the
other end of the crankshaft!
I think the extension would add a slight stabilizing and centering effect
(good for seal and bearings).
I think the fan and extension COMBINED gave the damper effect (with the
rubber bushes in between the two items). Modern dampers seem to be two
weights of metal with rubber in between (but without the fan blades).
Regarding the aluminum radiator especially with an aluminum head: I believe
Roger meant the stock TR4 radiator was 'just adequate' and you would be
risking a very expensive easier to damage aluminum head should the car
overheat (more likely with the stock radiator). So before getting an aluminum
head he is recommending the higher cooling power of the aluminum radiator. BUT
* If Roger had OWNED a TR4 (or had done more research) he most certainly
would have addressed the 'sleaved thermostat' issue, the 'bypass port
function' in the thermostat housing, and options for dealing with the fact
that sleaved thermostats weren't readily available for the last 25 years
(until the recent $35 Jaguar equivalent available at Moss). I was hoping he
would mention 'tried and true' past solutions, for example the 'inserted
washer in the by-pass hose' trick, etc. He doesn't address the TR4/4As
built-in circulation problem (not a probelm with rare sleaved thermostat).
But recommends electric fan, having the radiator 'crank hole' removed,
getting 'double cores' put in, or even buying the expensive 'aluminum
radiator' - all good ideas except that an unattended 'bypass port' can be
part of the cause of overheating. *
He promotes extensive 'cooling' solutions - but doesn't even mention the more
basic and rather cheap 'circulation' solutions.
Otherwise - I give very high marks to this book!
Carl
'63 TR4 since '74
Finally got my copy of "How to restore Triumph TR4 & TR4A" by Roger Williams
(from amazon.com). As I am starting an engine rebuild soon, I read through
those sections, and have a few questions:
- -What is the US equivalent of "Wellseal"? He recommends that for the Figure
8 gaskets and soaking the felt "rope". (Also for other tasks, but those are
the two that RTF and/or hylomar seem unsuitable)
- -He states that the fan extension acts as a harmonic balancer. I've never
heard that, and had removed mine last year when I installed an electric fan.
I was planning on installing the harmonic damper kit from BFE, but Ken G.
basically said don't bother except for racing. Am I risking anything by
leaving the extension off?
- -In talking about cooling, he mentions an aluminum radiator (apparent
available in England), and says you should fit one before giving "any
thought to fitting an aluminum cylinder head". He doesn't explain why, I'm
not sure if it is in context of cooling (recommending that you spend the $$
on the aluminum radiation first) or if he means you need the aluminum
radiator is you are using the aluminum head. Since I have an aluminum head
on order, I'm curious. Is there some incompatibility with the stock
radiator and an aluminum head?
Darrell Walker
66 TR4A IRS<<
/// triumphs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// To unsubscribe send a plain text message to majordomo@autox.team.net
/// with nothing in it but
///
/// unsubscribe triumphs
///
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
|