Triumph TR6 Engine Rebuild - Part 5 - HEADaches

As we are waiting for the head to come back from the machineshop we continue with the assembling. Everything goes well, except.... We are having some HEADaches...
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[@edwardlocke874]

With your exceptional knowledge and detailed videos I feel confident I can rebuild my engine myself. Thank you !

[@timmarsh6754]

Thanks for another very instructive rebuild. I rebuilt an engine 30 years ago and don’t remember half of what you are doing with copper washers on bolts and clearances on distributor pedestals! I wonder how long it lasted! I’m just about to build another, so obviously this is pure Gold for me.

[@pbysome]

Whoever gets this engine will be pleased. That head is repairable, it would need new seats on that cylinder and may e quite expensive but definitely repairable.

[@RustyBeauties]

Both machine shops refused to install hardened seats on the intake valves as both seats will overlap. They are not OK with cutting into one sat for the other.... No idea why as I know it's been done before. Also the second machine shop believed the crack is deeper than the thickness of the seats.

[@pbysome]

@@RustyBeauties just covering their arse in case the repair fails, IV done this repair on high compression racing motorcycle engines before with great success but if the machine shop won't do it that's pretty much that.

[@mikebills9343]

Great work Elin , enjoying you working on the TR 6 as I may be buying one soon 🤞

[@johngallagher6004]

Thank Elin for another informative video.

[@davidberlanny3308]

Hi Elin, Dont worry about getting the order of your videos out of sinc, they are always enjoyable to watch on there own, especially if Rusty gets in on the act!! Bad luck with that head, did that show after using a crack detection process? As for the CAM followers you would hope that a reputable company like Moss would source from the OEM if possible and have access to enough information to have them manufactured to the corect standard. You would need to know the precise hardness value as well if you were to check them. Good luck from Spain!!

[@dandare1001]

Good work, again, Elin. Thank you.

[@philtucker1224]

Hi Elin, it’s interesting to think that the front crankshaft sleeve that slides over the nose of the crank is a good interference fit, but the actual front cover oil seal only works on the sleeve’s outer diameter, not on the internal part of the sleeve that locates on to the keyway. Hence I guess, the need for the oil thrower disc to discourage oil eventually creeping through…

[@RustyBeauties]

Yes, I thought of that many times before, but just like you I believe the oil thrower is there for that reason.

[@orlandopereira6708]

diferent things: position of cameshaft and crankshaft

[@garysweetland32]

Don't scrap the head....... That crack between the valves is a common issue with the Triumphs and the waterways are much lower and well out of the out of the way. You need to fit inserts, Put the inlet insert in first, then the exhaust insert cuts slightly into it where the crack is. The reason for inlet first is the exhaust is the hotter insert, so needs to be more complete. Where I worked in the 70's-80's we did hundreds of Triumphs and Mini's like that and never had a problem.

[@johnmoruzzi7236]

To be honest it is worth a try... if it fails then it is just a cylinder head swap anyway which is pretty straightforward... some money and effort has been spent anyway so if possible see it through...

[@RustyBeauties]

We suggested that to the machine shop, but they are afraid the weld will be harder than the head and they might break their cutter. And that is the only machine shop that was willing to take the head, so... Anyway we have a line on a few heads and I am sure soon we will have a new/another one.

[@garysweetland32]

@@RustyBeauties We never welded the heads. The crack if any was left, was below the inserts. But usually it was completely machined away for the inserts. It is important to ensure you use inserts large enough that the exhaust just cuts into the inlet one, but not into the seat area. So basically you are cutting a figure of '8' piece out of the head. This trick we also had to use a lot on Mini heads, that quite regularly burned a groove between the seats.

[@omphaloskeptic4989]

Elin, if a machine shop had a part for two weeks and then said they would not do the work, I would be mad as heck! Did they give any reason for what they decided? For myself, I have no problem with delays in your video sequence. I would just view the entire series prior to my work on a similar project. Keep up the good work!

[@RustyBeauties]

It was quite upsetting, but I tried to stay calm as they are a good machine shop and are very close to me so I'd like to use them again in the future. Initially they said a week, then a week later they said they were short on staff and need another week as some guys were coming back from vacation, and then a week later they told me they are still short as some people were sick and they were so overloaded that they won't be able to do the job at all. They gave me the contact for the other machine shop though, so I was OK with that.

[@johnmoruzzi7236]

I think that the hardening process on tappets / followers etc will show as a discoloration at the surface due to the heat treatment.

[@RustyBeauties]

I've never seen discolored tappets. But I know that they are hardened, otherwise they will wear much faster. I might try the old ones with a file.

[@johnmoruzzi7236]

@@RustyBeauties There's a channel called Car Wizard, he has a shop in Wichita Kansas and he made a recent video about engine rebuilds failing and trashing the engines because of the terrible quality of replacemet camshafts and followers, even from recognised brands,,, stuff just wears away because it's not treated properly.

[@jabberwockytdi8901]

Maybe check that's not a chain tensoner for the simplex chain on 2l and 4 cyl engines? looks narrower?

[@RustyBeauties]

I thought so, but it was marked as a double row and it was the exact width of the chain...

[@philtucker1224]

Elin, if a replacement head was not available, would it be possible to machine and insert two very oversized valve seat cores and then re-cut them in to the standard valve size? Would that alleviate the crack?

[@RustyBeauties]

It is a way, but both machine shops refused to install hardened seats on the intake valves as both seats will overlap. They are not OK with cutting into one seat for the other.... No idea why, as I know it's been done before. Also the second machine shop believed the crack is deeper than the thickness of the seats.

[@philtucker1224]

Elin, what please, is the difference between a core plug that you have to hit the centre to get it to spread to seal, and these (frost plugs?) that you have to insert the other way round but are just an interference fit?🤔

[@RustyBeauties]

I am not 100% sure, but my opinion is that the dished plugs are used only for oil galleries with low pressure, like the rear end of the camshaft on this engine (I didn't replace this one). The cup shaped ones are for the water jacket where the pressure might be significantly higher sometimes. They have a lot more "mating" surface and supposedly hold better. I always experience a little coolant leak in the beginning though. Then it just seals itself. That is why I am using gasket maker, trying to avoid that, but I still have issues sometimes. Again, that is my opinion, not a statement.

[@markrobinson8539]

Elin, I think the BMC A series engines fitted to Minis used the domed type of core plugs on the water galleries.

[@saublejohn1444]

Elin - is this engine the same engine for a GT6? Curious to know if it would fit in the GT6.

[@pbysome]

I asked this last week, think it will fit, GT6 is 2litre tr is 2.5 same bore longer stroke.

[@RustyBeauties]

There are some differences. Like Pbysome said, the major one is the displacement, due to the shorter stroke on the crank. Other than that it is the same engine with some different ancillary parts like water pump, oil filter and engine mounts. There are many GT6s with TR6 swapped engines.