Now it's the head gasket....

[Phil Wright]

OK, well the distributor is sorted, but the head gasket has gone! What is the benefit of having an 'extra thick' head gasket rather than a normal one?

Also, there is a tab / steady bar which obviously should slip over the top pulley on the camshaft, but it is too short to reach. I also notice that the head gasket looks pretty thick as it is. We havent stripped the engine down as yet, but is there any reason why this should be the case? Also, does anyone have any good advice or hints for changing the head gasket?

By the way, incase anyones wondering, Ash and I are here helping Ally to sort her TR7!

Cheers!

[Phil Wright]

Right, found the problem.....

Took the head off and there's 2 head gaskets fitted, so we suspect that the head is warped - someones probably put 2 on as a bodge, and it looks as if its been done fairly recently. On the plus side, the bores have recently been honed and there is no wear evident, so the bottom end looks to be ok.

There is also a temperature tell tale on one of the core plugs on the head, so this may have been done by a 'professional'

Don't you just love triumphs!!!!  :o

[Raider]

Thankfully I haven't had to face this problem either :-/

You have obviously had no problem removing the head tho which in itself is often a major trial - in this case because someone has done it recently ::)

I have the feeling that the head won't stand much in the way of machining to fix it but I am no expert. I suggest you call S&S Preps in the morning and ask Steve or Simon's advice - they are experts and are happy to offer advice without forcing an unneccasary purchase on you ;)

[Beans]

Beware with the head, try to find out why they put 2 headgaskets in between;
First thorougly clean the mating face than check for signs of it being skimmed or not. Check if it is warped (mirror/glass plate + feeler gauges).
Could be that it was skimmed sometime ago and that the head needed a thicker gasket and "they" had only two standard gaskets ??)
If it has been skimmed (to much) it's possible that it can't be skimmed any further.
I know all not very helpfull. But than it's better to do the job properly once you aer at it  8)

p.s lucky buggers that you got the head off without a problem  ;)

[Ash]

Ok Guys, thanks for the advice.

Head as said was fairly easy to remove - the only problems we encountered were separating the timing chain from the sprocket and also removing the head studs.

We have tonight tested the head for flatness, it appears that there is no uneven wear or warping on the surface at all. This is of course good news, however we are still concerned why there was two gaskets and also where else the large clouds of blue smoke were coming from.

Will contact S&S in the morning, does anyone know if there are rubber valve stem seals on these heads - maybe they have perished - we believe this engine has not been properly run for 10+ years.

[Ash]

Yey, happy days!  ;D

[Raider]

You guys need a factory workshop manual I would suggest.

Thanks to Malcolm Paris we can all download one from his website at http://www.zen21606.zen.co.uk/tr7info.html

But broadband would be an advantage :o

Good luck with it all tho cos the car looks pretty good otherwise :-/

[Ash]

Downloaded it, cheers for the link - very helpfull.

Car is very sound, been off the road for a long time and has many teething troubles, once we get it up to scratch should be a nice TR7 - Quite rare colour i believe?

Havent got any history all we know is that its been completley stripped and restored at some point but never quite finished.

[Beans]

Well no valve stem seals on a TR7 8V as you probably found out in the workshop manual.
As for the colour, looks like Triton Green (HAG),  was a  standard colour only not very popular, at least never seen one over here. Only (on the pic's ) it looks  slightly brighter than it should be.

Good luck (and lots off fun) with the car , looks quiet reasonable (edit )OK good 8)

CHECK FOR SIGNS OF SKIMMING

[chris turner]

Triton green is my favourite colour for the convertibles, doesnt look as good as the solid colours on the FHC.

[Ally_H]

Hi All

The first thing anyone says to me when they see my TR7 is 'it's a bit green isn't it?!' I quite like it, won't be losing it in any car parks.

Beans, you say to check the head for signs of skimming? How do we do that/what am I looking for? Possibly a silly question but I've never been this 'up close and personal' to my TR7 engine before!!

Cheers

Ally

PS Thanks Ash and Phil for coming up to help me dismantle it!  :) Please come back and put it back together sometime!

[Beans]

Normally if the head isn't skimmed you will see a very fine pattern off round machining traces on the mating face. If it has been skimmed these traces will be gone and the surface is completely smooth.

[Beans]

Looking at the picture off your car I get the impression that the sill and rear valance aren't fully painted (as in primer shining through). Might be that the previous owner intended to paint them black and just lost interest  ??)

In your blog I see you removed the camshaft sprocket instead off mounting it to the support. You will now probably not get it back together without removing the chain tensioner because that popped out. To get at the tensioner you need to remove the timing cover ...  ::)
But than maybe you're lucky (hopefully, but don't rely on it)

[Ally_H]

Hiya

Yes - you are exactly right about the painting, I'm now trying to decide whether to go for black or body-coloured to finish it off.

We couldn't attach the camshaft sprocket to the support as at some point the support had been bent and the 'peg' on the end of the cam wouldn't go through it. Also, the two gaskets were raising the head up too much so the whole lot was slightly too high to fit through the support - aargh!

We were making it up as we went along, the guys haven't worked on a slant four before and I'm a total beginner. Hopefully we shall be lucky, otherwise its more dismantling for us it seems  ??)

Thanks!

Ally

[Beans]

[quote by=Spitfireally link=Blah.pl?b=tr78,m=1143378522,s=13 date=1143539794]Hiya

I'm now trying to decide whether to go for black or body-coloured to finish it off. [/quote]

Satin black as in original will suit it best i.m.h.o. Also breaks the green a bit (change-over between black and green under the sill strip)  8)

[Phil Wright]

[quote by=beans link=Blah.pl?b=tr78,m=1143378522,s=12 date=1143494091]

In your blog I see you removed the camshaft sprocket instead off mounting it to the support. You will now probably not get it back together without removing the chain tensioner because that popped out. To get at the tensioner you need to remove the timing cover ...  ::)
But than maybe you're lucky (hopefully, but don't rely on it)[/quote]

When we took the head off, we were very careful to keep the tension on the timing chain so that it didn't fall off the lower sprockets. We have cable tied the timing chain to the alternator bracket to keep everything aligned while we sort the head. It'll be a pain getting it back on I know, but hopefully will be easier than stripping the front of the engine down! Next time I do it i'll mount it to the suport - so 'THATS' what it's there for......... ::) 8)

[Phil Wright]

We've also marked the chain and top pulley with tipp ex to make sure that goes back together properly - I learnt that last time I did OHC!

[Beans]

Well not as bad as I thought than  :P

Bear in mind the construction of the tensioner though . It only needs very little room to come out another notch. But than you'll find out whilst putting every thing together  ::)

[Phil Wright]

All fingers and toes crossed!!!!

[Beans]

[quote by=philwright link=Blah.pl?b=tr78,m=1143378522,s=18 date=1143580742]All fingers and toes crossed!!!![/quote]

That's some very good advise  ;D

[Ash]

Echo Phils comments, we were fully aware of the implications of the timing chain arrangement.

Im not concerned if the chain has slipped off the bottom wheel, surely cant be that hard to whip off the pulley and bottom timing cover arrangement?

Or am i being completely naive with this slant 4 setup?

Fingers and Toes crossed too!!!!

[Beans]

[quote by=ashmeson2005 link=Blah.pl?b=tr78,m=1143378522,s=20 date=1143582181]surely cant be that hard to whip off the pulley and bottom timing cover arrangement? [/quote]

You are right, it's fairly staightforward to remove the pulley and timing cover. Only problem is that you might damage the sump gasket ...  :-/
If that happens you have to put a new one offcourse, and there really is only one decent way to do that, lift the engine ou off the car :'(

Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Maybe you're lucky, as the head came off easy due to the fact the engine didn't run very much, there's a fair change the gasket will survive. Good luck

*edit* The pulley assembly for the fan can be a real pain in the a.. to get back on. Especially the bolt behind the actual pulley is very difficult to get back in. You'll need two pair of hands for that one