Wilsons Sandbox

For anyone interested here is an update on TC2285's first test trip: After fitting the new side curtain frames to 2285 on Wednesday night I rushed home from work at 5 on Thursday, tossed baggage into the boot and was off. I have been looking forward to this trip so much that even the deluge of biblical purportions didn't stop me. This car is a home model which probably hasn't seen any rain since coming to the US and as it is rot free/rust free I didn't relish a dousing with rain. You have to be firm in your commitment to making a trip in a TC to talk your spouse into such an adventure. Fortunately I have a wonderful wife who is going along with it all so far. The plan was to make a stab at getting to the coast and then take a run down the California coast from Clint Eastwood to Al Moss. First night everything went well, the car cruises out well at 60 mph to comfortably and safely keep up with freeway traffic in the rightmost lane. A highway patrol cruiser hung in my blind spot for a while before blasting on down the road, aparently just scoping the TC. Surprisingly in the 297 miles to our first stop we did not come upon any other TC's on the road. We pulled into a hotel lot in Gilroy, our only complaint that we had been overdressed for the amount of engine heat retained in a closed TC cabin. The wipers were adequate and the little splashes of rain sneaking into the driver's position offered a welcome bit of refreshment. Terrie was dissapointed that the California roads are in too poor of repair to allow her to make any progress on her needlepoint project... bounce, bounce, bounce! Friday morning dawned with a low overcast and weather service predictions of steady heavy rain all the way down the coast. The last time we did the coastal drive was on our honeymoon just 29 years ago, then we had predictions of clear but had solid fog. That time we never did see the ocean. It was with a bit of trepidation that I chose the coastal rather than the inland route, but passing that we were committed. The overcast was lifting so things were looking great. Cruising out at 60 mph we were passing Fort Ord and approaching our first heavy traffic just outside of Seaside near Monterey when FLAP FLAP FLAP FLAP. Terrie immediately wanted to know what had happened, all I could say was it sounded like a fan belt and I didn't bring a spare one. The bluish smoke coming out the tail pipe didn't bode well for fan belt failure being the cause. I pulled off to the shoulder and inspected. I had bveen watching temp and pressure, and they remained good. The fan belt was intact...l everything looked fine. So I cautiously started the engine. It started right up and seemed to run fine, no noises, the only hint of a problem was that persistant slight smoke out the tailpipe. I gingerly drove into the next town less than a mile distant. We stopped for breakfast and to have a good think. While masticating a Jalepeno bagel I spied the next street... auto repair row! Within three blocks there were at least 6 repair shops. I picked the most promising... Miatas, Jaguars, Land Rovers etc. were lodged in the bays. I poked my head in and was met by an incredulous stare...1947 MG!!! At least they did direct me down the block to a sign I had missed, "Autotorium". Upon pulling in there I knew I had found a home.... out from behind a 60's Morris Minor and a 60's Jaguar came a tall distinguished looking English man from London. Leslie Goode just shook his head and said he was all jammed up. Then the magic happened, he looked over my shoulder and said "Oh, a TC", then sauntered over and asked me to lift the hood and start the engine. Everything on the near side looked ok so we bopped over to the off side and he commenced pulling off spark plug wires just to test. "It's running on two". Next he pulled off #1 and #2 plugs, I could see that the ground contact on #2 had been smooshed flat against the electrode...BIG bummer! Leslie stands up and says "well you busted a piston skirt, they do that sometimes". Choices: go home (300 miles) and get the trailer, or just sit and whine. I chose the former. We loaded up into a rental car and Leslie offered to PUSH the car into his shop for the weekend at the end of the day. I suggested he drive it in and he insisted that the engine could be ruined at any moment if you run it. So off we go in the rental Ford for a wonderful run down a clear and sunny coast... perfect hood-down weather on a perfect TC road...darn! By the time I got to Moss in Goleta I purchased head and sump gaskets and decided not to fly home from the next stop: Burbank. Instead I rang up Leslie and talked a bit. Amazingly enough the jam in the shop was just today... he can get to the TC on Monday. So now I am visiting with my daughter near L.A. and waiting for a report on Moday. After Leslie pulls the head and sump off he will report if we can just pack in a new set of pistons and be on our way. If so I will probably run back to Moss to obtain proper sized pistons and then run back ujp the coast to get them to him. If my luck holds I will be able to salvage some vacation driving time in the MG.... no Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, or Death Valley, but maybe back up to Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite... or something else fun. I'll have to drive carefully to seat the rings, but that's part of the fun. Of course, bad news of a buggered up cylinder will require me to go get the trailer and fetch the TC back home so I can pull it out and rebuild it. Oh, well I will know tomorrow. If it has to come out then I will bump up the compression a bit, maybe go with a new cam and prepare for the installation of a blower when one drops into my possesion. I have a beautiful gear set from Bob Grunau all ready to put in anyway so having to do some work isn't a problem. BTW stock Bishop cam steering is just fine for 60-65 mph on a California freeway, I am not at all sorry I passed up a chance at a Datsun and a VW box. Tune in later for further updates! FUN!!! Terry Horlick TC2285

I talked to the mechanic on the phone today. He says a valve broke off and dropped into the cylinder. It didn't do good things in there. It scarred up the head and poked a hole through a piston. He can have the machining done and the engine running in about a week. I am on vacation for a few more days so I flew home tonight and will hook up the trailer tomorrow and drive the 300 miles to retreive the car. I can get the machining done here and assemble it here. That way I have the fun instead of him. The cost of a mechanic doing the job will more than pay for the parts I need.... pistons, rings, gaskets, valves, seats, guides, oil, gloves, coolant. I am considering trying to replace the head with another... anyone know how to port an XPAG head? If I am going to end up adding a blower eventually do I want to have it all ported out now? I am acually happy about this, this really sounds like an easy in- car engine repair. It even gives me a chance to get into the bottom end to check on rods and mains. I may pull the radiator off again as I have a good timing cover waiting for installation... maybe it is time to think new cam... I do have a new chain waiting. For sure if I do the timing cover I will go with a new modern front seal even though my new felt seal in front isn't leaking... yet! This is fun... but driving the car is more fun still! Terry TC2285

Terry I believe that conventional wisdom on porting cylinder heads with cars that have blowers is not to do it Joe Curto [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Terry, Finding your adventure very interesting...thanks for keeping us updated. Gene Gillam Saucier, MS -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.9 - Release Date: 5/12/2005

Hi Terry, Your picture of the fractured valve stem suggests that the valve is made in two sections, the head and stem, and then friction welded together. This process relies on forcing the two parts together and then rotating just one part such that the friction raises the temperature to allow the surfaces to weld together. This is usually a reliable process if set up correctly, clearly not so in your case. If a faulty batch has been made, then it might be prudent to change the other valves. Regards, Eric. -----Original Message----- Well it is time for another update. Rather than bore you here I have posted a note up at the following link . Terry TC2285 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]