Thanks for all the kind words-- We just got back in town today after
our house-hunting trip in Norfolk. There's something to be said for
having alternative non-British transportation. Riqui's 1986 Honda
CRX has 166,000 miles on it, the engine has never been touched except
to replace timing belts, and it got 35mpg average over the whole
trip! Going 80 mph with the engine turning 3200 rpm was pretty nice,
too.
As far as the MGB goes, I'll have to wait until Monday to call him,
but when we left last Monday, he had it up on the lift, looking at
the bottom end before pulling the engine. Hopefully he's found out
something by now.
So far, we've determined that there is a problem in the oiling
system that existed before and after the rebuild. It's not the
relief valve spring, since that was replaced, but it could be the
valve itself or the valve seat in the block. I'll have him replace
the valve and lap it into the seat with some grinding compound. The
opinions have been unanimous that the oil pressure relief valve
should not have been opening at 55 psi, and that a newly-rebuilt
engine should be putting out 70-80 psi.
He is honoring the warranty fully, parts and labor. He seemed
personally and professionally offended that one of 'his' rebuilds
failed, and said he'd give me a different block if we can't find
anything wrong with this one. He suspects that whatever caused the
first failure caused this one, too, and is very motivated to find the
problem, because he doesn't want to see the car back a third time!
The only out-of pocket costs I'm looking at this time are for parts
I didn't have him replace last time, such as the relief valve itself
and new oil cooler lines. The oil cooler lines flushed out fine last
time, but he just ran solvent through them using gravity, not
pressure. It's possible that they may be failing under pressure,
kind of like old brake lines.
While he's at it, I told him about a few tiny oil leaks that sprung
up since the rebuild, and he'll fix those. They weren't enough to
cause a problem, the total seepage was probably a few ounces over
1200 miles, but while he's at it, I'll have him check it out.
To answer the most frequent question other listers have asked--yes,
the crank was turned and the block was line bored. The crank went
from .010 under to .020 under. I just hope we can go to .030 under
if need be, so as not to have to buy a new crank.
I'll post more Monday after I've talked to John.
Scott
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