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Phew Double phew. The brakes work. I changed the rear master cylinder for a new one and then bled the brakes again. Just to be doubly ultra sure i positioned the callipers so the bleed nipple was at the best possible angle to release all the air! To change the master cylinder i needed to remove the door bar and the seat so i could get my hand in the correct position under the dash to remove the threaded rod from the balance bar! Any way it all worked, its easy enough to bleed once i get round to that part of the job as i use a pressurised bleed system like this:  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Once that panic was over i drove the car out of the garage to check that the new thermostat was working but didn't get it up to temperature as i wanted to corner weight the car after mucking about with the rear suspension. So with the two apprentices checking tyre pressures or grinning like village idiots we set to work.  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr After about an hour of fiddling the car was balanced with me in the seat and a French Hillclimbs worth of fuel in the tank:  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr I was happy with that. But then whilst taking the car out of the garage to swap the Sunbeam back to its side i noticed a really loud banging as if the prop was loose! We all agreed it was coming from the back. After another 30 minutes of trying to find the source it was definitely coming from the front...... Seems the steering rack has collapsed or something on the drivers side. A lot of play there all of a sudden. Great, at least i spotted it before it goes to France. I was about to whip the rack off when i realised the Rolling Road session is this Thursday............. So it will have to wait till next weekend. Nothing like finding faults to fill the available time window!!!! |
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Jul 11, 2017 20:34:59 GMT
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Ah so where were when a rude amount of having to be an adult broke out? Got the car sorted but it needed a rolling road to bed engine in and sort the maps  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Which went well and considering this is just a straight stroker kit with nothing fancy with a standard bottom end, an old school cam and a decent head it turned out ok. The revs i decided to limit to 7k as its on standard rods but maybe it could do with 7.5k to make the most of the engine. Don't want another blow up......  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Which meant it was time to go to France. Which we did. The St Gurneou hill climb is a fantastic weekend away. The hill takes some learning and it was either blistering hot or raining which meant it was hard to learn where i could lean on the tyres.  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr There was only two problems over the weekend. First one was oil pressure was dropping away more and more each time the engine got hot. 1500rpm and its bit low!  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr And the bonnet flow up because we forgot to fasten it down, it flow up on the 4km trip to the start so the run wasn't affected........  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr |
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Last Edit: Jul 11, 2017 20:44:48 GMT by nevtiger
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Jul 11, 2017 20:42:48 GMT
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Back home and i thought i best whip the engine out to see what the low oil pressure issue was. Considering the engine is only just run in it was a slight mystery. Thinking about it though i realised that this engine was built up out of the bits from my previous spare engine so the oil pump was not new. When i eventually got the engine out and the sump off i checked the mains and big ends and they appeared ok. I even checked with Plastigauge.  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Looks alright! So off with the pump and this is what i found.  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr The feeler gauges show that the rotor clearance is way bigger than the workshop manual allows. I then checked all my spare pumps to see what was what.  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Left to right we go from Bin it to nearly new. Two pumps got binned and the rest are good or very good. Even so i bought a brand new one (OE) as i found one.... The engine is back in but not had a chance to fit the radiator yet. |
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Last Edit: Jul 11, 2017 20:45:50 GMT by nevtiger
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Dec 26, 2017 12:59:13 GMT
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,880
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Dec 29, 2017 11:03:02 GMT
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That cam drive gear looks in a bad way, what went first, the drive on the cam wearing to a stage it smashed the gear off the oil pump or the oil pump drive gear failure - Better lubrication/cooling for the drive gear and a Bronze gear on the oil pump? what is the usual lube method for that drive?
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We think it was the oil pump gear that caused the problem. It has happened to three other engines i know of and the common factor is that the oil pumps were Iranian ones.
It appears that the drive gears are not quite the same pitch as the originals and hence set up localised hot spots etc until failure. But now i know i will not be using the drive gear from that source again. Its not too difficult to change the drive gears so even if i can only get an Iranian pump i can use a drive gear from another original pump.
All i have to do now is build another engine, i have some good ideas of how to improve the spec.......
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the gear looks like its sintered, which might be why it failed
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Good point (not thought of that) - i will need to check an original equipment one and a South American one and see if they are different.
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steveg
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,586
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Looks like you caught the oil pump problem just in time with you latest engine. I'm guessing the need to use the Iranian pumps is because you can't get NOS Hillman/Talbot ones now. Is there any other options, what about an external pump ?
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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..or get your cam profile ground onto an Iranian camshaft? At least they're matching sources (or does that add other problems?).
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Looks like you caught the oil pump problem just in time with you latest engine. I'm guessing the need to use the Iranian pumps is because you can't get NOS Hillman/Talbot ones now. Is there any other options, what about an external pump ? The Iranian ones are brand new but but bring their own problems...... Next engine please! As it happens its mainly the housing that get scored and then you loose flow and pressure. I have found 5 good ones in then garage which can be made excellent. |
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Last Edit: Jan 5, 2018 14:04:09 GMT by nevtiger
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..or get your cam profile ground onto an Iranian camshaft? At least they're matching sources (or does that add other problems?). Short answer = yes :-) |
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I forgot to upload my stunning fibreglass skills!!!  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Bonnet is repaired. |
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921 
Club RR Member Number: 40
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At least the screen didn’t take a hit !
(or the car in front for that matter....)
No evidence = can forget it happened !?
Thanks for the updates
James
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After the oil pump issue and then re-doing the bonnet i thought all things were good and that i would be back to Sprinting and Hillclimbing in a jiffy. But no. I had an invitation to go to Rally Day at Castle Combe with the car but when i started it up after the oil pump change everything was fine until the engine got warm. It then started to make a banging noise. One that i heard before sadly. It sounded like the pistons were hitting the head. Only when warm and only now after changing the oil pump. I was perplexed and annoyed. So the car was put in the corner of the garage for the winter and the Sunbeam was got on with. This week i had a return of mojo, my boss - who has a RS1800 and Mexico - kept badgering me to do something about it. So i did. Head off and i found this:  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Great! This engine was one given to me by Welsh Dave after he blew up my spare engine. He didn't build it but we knew all the bits were new that went into it as we supplied them between us. Weirdly the engine has made no noise at all up to this point and i am quite sensitive to noises having had so many engines have problems......... SO, in best positive mental attitude i decided this was an excuse to buy tools. I bought my self a small air die grinder and a set of cutting heads. You can see where this is going can't you!!!  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Not one for the purists and if Big Jim sees this post he will no doubt have lots to say BUT:  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Then a quick check with plasticine to make sure i have taken enough material out. Back on with the head etc  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Head off and it turns out a bit more work was needed but once done:  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr Back together and a nice normal sounding engine again!!!!! |
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,880
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Apr 27, 2018 15:54:12 GMT
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Did all the valves and the guides come out of that contact unscathed ? Good job you found it now rather than finding it after a valve head had dropped off and destroyed another engine
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Apr 30, 2018 10:26:28 GMT
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I inspected everything and it seemed ok so i am hopeful its all ok.
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May 21, 2018 18:21:14 GMT
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First time out of the garage this year for some insurance photos  Untitled by Nevtiger, on Flickr |
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Sept 10, 2018 10:24:34 GMT
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I was lucky enough to see this beauty in the flesh last Friday while working out next steps on my car with Steve J.
She is a real credit to you.
Peter
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