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Changing a piston on a TD question

To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Changing a piston on a TD question
From: BobMGT@aol.com
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 21:23:35 EST
I removed the cylinder head on my TD to have it rebuilt by a local shop. (By 
local I mean it's in the same state, 120 miles away.) With the pistons 
exposed I discovered number four had a chunk along the edge missing. This 
left a hole though which one can see the top ring, or a piece of the ring. 
I'm not sure if the ring is still in one piece. The chunk was nowhere to be 
found, but evidently it was too big to fit between the piston and the 
non-recessed part of the head that overlaps the piston. There was a perfect 
pattern of this overlap pummeled into the top of the piston. This explains 
the terrible racket that occurred on a couple occasions that I attributed to 
a sticking valve. (I'm a rank novice gearhead.) Fortunately there seems to be 
very little damage to the cylinder wall, just a few faint scratches. Here's 
the question: Can I change the piston by dropping the pan without removing 
the engine from the car? The engine was overhauled a few thousand miles ago 
(just before a long period of storage) and from what I can see the other 
three pistons and cylinders are in good shape. Do pistons have to be changed 
in sets? They seem to be sold in sets. How can I tell if the connecting rod 
bearings are ok? I would normally leave this type of job to my mechanic, but 
I don't have access to a truck and trailer. Thanks in advance.

Bob Donahue (Still stuck in the '50s)
EMAIL - BOBMGT@AOL.COM
52 MGTD - under DIY restoration NEMGTR #11470
71 MGB   - AMGBA #96-12029, NAMGBR #7-3336

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