tommy red shoes

In honour of this amazing Club Triumph event and the spectacular effort put in by the Americans of Team Torpedo in attending this year's 10CR, the TSSC are throwing them a good luck barbecue with an open day at their museum. After consultation with Ellis they are now extending the invitation to everyone who is attending the 10CR, regardless of club membership. This is a free barbecue with an open day at their museum on the Saturday before the start at the TSSC headquarters near Market Harborough. The club shop will be open for any last minute spares, although hopefully by this point you should all have your cars sorted! In order to gauge the catering requirements the TSSC would ask that you give an indication of your intention to visit with a brief email to info@tssc.org.uk What: barbecue and museum open day When: Sat 3rd September 12pm to 3pm Where: TSSC HQ, Main St, Lubenham, LE16 9TF Booking: info@tssc.org.uk Cost: Free!

Hi I have the same damage, but I've taken my piston out .. don't look if you want to carry on with the hope that your piston is going to be all right ...  :P Cause of mine was a blown head gasket (Goodwood - woo-hoo!) which I was still able to drive for a half hour or so - what I didn't realise is that the heating from the loss of coolant has shagged my #2 piston - see below (I don't think it 'swallowed a fly' or washer/small stone). The bore is discoloured slightly in vertical lines but no scoring that I can feel with a fingernail, which may mean I've been lucky Symptoms were compression down to 4bar in c2 dry, 12bar wet (with a tablespoon of oil as temporary ring), rest at 11bar - the cylinder metal that has been scraped down has 'peeled' over the rings trapping them in their slots and stopping the rings from touching the bore - hence the crappy compression. Looking very carefully I have now managed to convince myself that other pistons are also damaged (although as they get 11bar on the compression tester they may be ok) Question is: do I take the other pistons out (engine's still in the car) and see or do I just take the whole engine out and take it to some professionals who know what they're doing? I have a set of new rings, so I _could_ replace just this piston, take a chance on the bore being OK and put it all back together and pray .. what do you reckon? tom

Hi guys Tried those suggestions - they were good, but it only proved the nuts weren't the whole problem I cleaned them up, wound nuts down them (this helped more than I'd thought) and was eventually able to do all but two down to the washers by hand (one was the new stud, and if the compression was good I intended to replace the other). Thanks for the suggestions - if this had been the problem it'd have been cured by you guys But compression was still only 3.5 on cylinder number two .. tried it wet this time and compression stayed the same, so it aint' the rings Going to take the head off, turn it over and fill the dips where the valve heads sit with petrol (outdoors) and see if it leaks through. Then I'm going to take the gasket off and throw it, put the head back on the block direct and shine a light through to see if there is a gap at all I'll let you know what happens when I get a warm(ish) evening free

Ta guys Carbonised engine oil sounds right to me. Can you suggest a good solvent/wetter to help wash it off as I brush them? I don't have a grinding wheel, sadly I think you're right about the head gap being bigger but I put that down to the new gasket not being squashed yet. The tappets were 40-45 thou when they should be 15 I think (from memory) It suggests the studs weren't pulling down tight enough to compress the gasket. This fits with the dirty threads / binding nuts theory. So: what to clean the studs with? A friend had some magic carb cleaner spray that helped get gunk out when I overhauled my CD150s . Would that do it?

Thanks for the input Checked the head with the side of a metre long steel rule and it's flat If its the nuts binding (don't you just hate it when that happens) what is the best way to clean off whatever the black dust is?

I'm scratching my head now with my head gasket replacement on my Vitesse Mk II. I've made a couple of wrong turns on the way but I'm struggling to see the wood from the trees and need some proper help. I blew my head gasket at the amazing Goodwood Track Day last November after flooring the pedal when she was already pinking one too many times - it really was Glorious Goodwood and although I know I shouldn't have pushed her so hard, I couldn't resist .. Despite the billowing steam she still ran and with copious re-fillings of water I managed to get around an hour up the road before I'd used up the battery's goodwill and she wouldn't start any more - the AA took me home on a big flatbed Stripped the head off and wiped out the mayonnaise that passed for oil (I really am very sorry old girl). Had lots of problems with the studs as they were all coated with fine black powder that bound the studs inside the head. The other half of the studs came out with the nuts on. Stud 14 refused being severely talked to (no complaints from the neighbours - they must have been away at the time) until I bought a lovely bit of stud removal engineering - £35's worth of thing like a drill chuck which finally got it out. So: new (yucky shiny) stud and hardened nut in stud 14 With all the studs out I finally managed to get the head off. Had blown between cylinder 1 and the front water channel. Amazingly small tear but that perhaps explains why she carried on running for so long Torqued the head down, put all the bits back on, filled her up with water and new oil and found she wouldn't turn over. Suspected the battery but it finally turned out I had been stupid: I had thought I would only adjust the tappets once it had got warm but the new gasket was different enough in thickness to the old one that the valves were barely opening. That's the trouble with trying to be clever with cars - they'll bring you back down to earth soon enough Feeling sheepish I adjusted the tappets and she turned over fine now but wouldn't fire. Fuel on the carb needles, spark was (not fantastic but was) there. Finally decided to check compression with all the plugs out: hey presto - only had a 3:1 on two of the cylinders, and 4 or 5 on three more, just cylinder 6 had a more reasonable 8.5:1 (dry - results were so bad I didn't think to try with oil) Checked the tappets (needed minor adjustment), checked the stud torques (all fine) but still no joy and same compression ratios. Finally decided to take the head back off and see if something was fouling the gasket or if it was the wrong one. Nope - block is smooth and clean, head is smooth and clean, no indented rings around the cylinders that might require a more fancy gasket As an aside: when I took the head off this second time water was trapped in the block even though I'd drained it and removed the side drain tap (it was too stiff to open - nothing came out when I unscrewed it). I had to siphon out the water - a good half a litre or more came out I'd say. Assuming something's blocked, which might explain the original pinking and overheating, what do I need to poke in where to clear it out? So my question is: which of these four scenarios is the culprit, or is the answer E: none of the above: A The valves are not sealing properly (which would be odd given she wouldn't turn over earlier) B The rings have gone (the mayonnaise was salad cream yellow, not black so I'm assuming no ring failure) C The nuts are binding on the studs and I'm not getting it torqued down properly (my current thinking) D The head is warped / bent / buggered (trying really hard not to think this might be the problem) E None of the above (actually I'm feeling pretty beaten so now thinking this is the most likely) tom

Four more cars booked in at Hotel Kyriad, Calais Wed 4th and Holiday Inn Singen Sat 7th  8) Me+Ian (13081), Chris+Nigel (13073), Vinnie+Carol (13054), Toby+Matt (13070)

GT6_User_and_Abuser wrote:Ya, I think I have some more of you on my other camera, you were very entertaining! ... I like the ooooooh, nearlys! lol ;D More? Fantastic! I was so busy concentrating on keeping her between the cones (sideways is best) I don't have much reccolection of my drives now Email me: tom.hartley AT homepages.co.uk or perhaps I can mail you a blank CD/DVD?

GT6_User_and_Abuser wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js57pWdLihw Thanks GT6_User_and_Abuser - through that link I found the '...[spitfire]... insane Herald Vitesse ...' video and found myself in my little red (MkII 2litre) Herald from 25 seconds in, tyres a-smokin and a-slidin - check it out   8) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GLlu8IqRDk&feature=player_detailpage#t=25s If that doesn't demonstrate how much more fun some really mullered tyres can be, you need to get out more 8)