Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rdover]

6 to 8 weeks. In plenty of time to have the car ready for Biggar
_________________
Richard

[Rdover]

and the final inspection info is in .... one broken piston ring and no doubt the others are suspect. The bores are in great condition and will only need de-glazed once new piston rings have been made (for a measly £50).

I am delighted that there are no major nasties.
_________________
Richard

[kevin2306]

cant wait to see this rebuilt and running!

kev

[Rdover]

A month on and things move slowly.

The valves have been reprofiled, the new piston rings are en route and the cam and followers are in production. All should be ready to assemble early/Mid in July. This means that the car will be a static exhibit at Glamis Castle on the 11th-13th July for the Strathmore Transport Extravaganza.

The cam is going to be 'warmed over' with 10mm of valve lift and extended duration. This will give maybe 2 or 3 extra horsepower but given it only made 12/14 new and much less than that recently a 20% increase will make it into a racer!

The Piston rings are possibly the most interesting subject of late. Rings of that era were not very efficient at either sealing nor scavenging oil and there were instances of only 2 rows of rings at the top meaning the piston rattled around a lot. Alldays built their engines for reliability and fitted 3 rings per piston, 2 at the top and 1 near the bottom but they were almost 6mm thick! In modern times, most engine rebuilders would simply fit 2 rings per groove with the gaps opposite each other but for authenticity and effectiveness I'm fitting clupet rings which look like key rings. Originally developed for steam engines these rings make the piston much more stable in the bore and have excellent scavenging and gas sealing properties which are even more important in such a low revving, low compression engine.


Clupet rings on a steam engine piston


A pile of clupets

Rings are being made by Alan at http://www.craftsman.me.uk/company-clupet-piston-ring-gauge-co-in-maryport-62448

I'm trying not to get anxious at the lack of parts appearing ..... I'm hoping that the clutch will be able to cope with all the extra power - I may have to get a stronger clutch spring!
_________________
Richard

[Rdover]

Good news!

The cam followers have been restored and the cam will be ready to send back to me by Monday (30th June) at the latest. The pistons rings should also arrive by then and I've just had the valves reprofiled.

I dropped by the workshop to look at the dismantled engine and inspected the bores, who were having tea at the time so I joined them We looked at the cylinders first ...




Nice and clean and smooth but not yet glaze busted.

Then came the pistons and block. Remember that to check the pistons and bores etc the 2 'pots' or cylinder blocks had to be lifted off ....




The [1980s] original piston rings are in great condition but one pair had been broken on assembly so the new ones will give an even better seal.



The cylinders will be paint stripped and repainted, the whole engine steam cleaned before reassembly. You can see odd casting marks on the blocks





In theory, and if everything arrives on time, there is a possibility of having the engine complete and installed before I head to Glamis for the 40th Strathmore Transport Extravaganza but I'm not going to rush Keith. It needs careful commissioning and tuning and then some decent running time before I'm ready to use it on a proper long run.

I can now get a little excited
_________________
Richard

[Rick]

Not long 'til firing up time! thanks for the updates, and to everyone else who keeps their running/rebuild etc threads alive

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[kevin2306]

looking superb!

Kev

[roverdriver]

Nice progress. Good to feel excited, may the feeling (and progress) continue!
_________________
Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[peter scott]

Whilst clearly difficult to make those Clupet rings look really effective.

Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Rdover]

What everyone looking at the engine is amazed by is the excellent condition of the engine internals. It was rebuilt in the 80s in South Africa but there is no information on what was done. As far as I can see the main bearings were replaced/renewed, the piston rings replaced with modern ones and the external oil feed pipes repaired and not much more. This means the pistons, rods and cylinders are original or near as dammit.

I know the car has done a decent mileage, all Alldays cars were sold as commercial traveller type vehicles and although it would have been quickly superseded by a newer one it still would have done many thousands of miles before spending 50 years or more lying in a barn which makes the internal condition all the more remarkable.
_________________
Richard

[Rdover]

One step forward and all that ....

The cam and followers arrived back just before Glasgow went on 2 weeks lockdown for the Commonwealth Games and assembly started. The parts look excellent and you can feel the difference in the cam; the lobes are a couple of mm higher and just a shade fatter to the engine should breathe a bit better.

The valves had been reprofiled and lapped in but just as the inlet valve on cylinder 4 was being dropped in Keith noticed the seat had a bit of dirt on it Oh no, it wasn't - the seat had collapsed! So today a took it out to a specialist who thinks we may be lucky and it should only take about 10 days and £150 to fix it.

I damn well hope so, the next runs are on 16th and 17th August which only leaves a few days to fully assemble and get some test running in. Far too close my liking.

All that said it is clear that the South African idea of fully rebuilding an engine is not exactly to UK standards! By the time I'm finished it will be a bit better than last year:

refurbished carb
reinstalled carb heating
new custom inlet & exhaust gaskets
repaired and fully polished manifolds (fully gas tight)
reprofiled valves - exhaust ones were not ever sealing properly
repaired valve seat(s)
reprofiled cam with extra lift and duration
restored cam followers
new/restored oil pipes

It will start to look like all those cars that have been too polished for my taste and I'll have to keep the damn thing properly cleaned!
_________________
Richard

[kevin2306]

cant wait to see the results

Kev

[colwyn500]

It'll look, sound and run great and your frequent use will soon give it the mellow and carefully used look we admire.
It certainly seems to be emptying your pockets.

[excels]

Hi Richard

In defense of South African standards, the following:

Winston le Roux was at an advanced age when he built your car from a pile of scrap parts in a very short space of time.
I do not think that it was his intension to cover great distances in this car.

I can assure you that the majority of restorers in South Africa rebuild their vehicles to the highest quality of engineering and workmanship, myself included. I have no problem in taking a Veteran car on a tour of 800 miles over mountainous passes and gravel roads.

I have no intent in offending you, but feel that I should protect our reputation!!

Regards

Tom
_________________
1914, 1918, 1923 Ford "T"; 1928 Ford "A" Roadster + Phaeton, 1922 Maxwell, 1926 Chrysler, 1927 Velie, 1928 Chevrolet, 1928 Whippet 96, 1935 Armstrong Siddeley 17HP, 1950 Morris Tourer, 1951 Morris, 1953 Morris,1958 Morris (All Minors), 1957 Austin A95

[Rdover]

A fair point Tom and it was not my intention to offend either. My sole source of information is the SAVVA article from 1994 which described the engine as having been fully rebuilt.

It seems to be harder to re- restore than start from scratch!
_________________
Richard