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Re: Rebuilt engine

To: "Paul Dorsey" <dorpaul@negia.net>, "tri" <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: Rebuilt engine
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 20:55:36 -0500
References: <013901c47691$af778e40$69a33745@charter.net>
It may be overkill if you're doing your own work on your own car because if 
you need to solve a problem, your labor is "free", but my opinion is that 
it's a good thing to do. I've built quite a few TR engines for vintage 
racers and for cars being restored. I always fill the whole system by 
turning the pump over  with a drill.  You can do the same thing with a 
crank-type spin-on wrench but by using an electric drill and 30 weight 
startup oil, the speed of the drill will produce 50 to 60 psi. For cars 
with oil coolers and sometimes remote oil filters and lots of hose 
connections, I like to get the whole system full, check for leaks prior to 
startup, and make sure that the pump is primed.

But then, I also run each engine on a test stand before giving it to the 
customer. This is especially important to me since about half the engines I 
build are installed by the owner, not me. I started running the engine on a 
stand after I shipped an engine from my shop in Illinois to a customer in 
Colorado. He had a massive oil leak at the rear of the engine, and I went 
to Colorado and fixed it.

I've run into some really goofy things and saved myself and my customers 
from a lot of grief by running each engine on a stand, and pressurizing the 
system will uncover some but not all of these problems. For example, the 
aftermarket rear seals don't work 100% of the time. Occasionally I have to 
replace them (but since I've found out what to alter I've had a 100% 
success rate). I had an engine that had a timing cover leak -- the pulley 
seal was misidentified by the vendor. It had the right OD but an incorrect 
ID. I didn't notice that there was no lip seal tension when I put the front 
pulley on - one more thing to check. I particularly like the ability to run 
in a new camshaft myself and retorque the head, something that customers 
cannot be trusted to do, I've found out the hard way. Water pumps are 
troublesome too and some are leaky, and rather than try to justify to a 
customer a policy of replacing them all, I use the customer's present pump 
and replace when necessary.

At 07:02 PM 7/30/2004, Paul Dorsey wrote:
>At VTR recently, I was told to prime a newly rebuilt engine by using a drill
>motor to spin the distributor shaft and temporairly produce oil pressure prior
>to starting the engine.  I thought this sounded like overkill, is it?
>
>Thanks, Paul Dorsey
>            60 TR3A

uncle jack 





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