Around '82, when I was 20, I finally rebuilt the motor of my TR 4A which I
had restored in almost every other way since I was 15... All my friends
were aware of the fact that my car was down for weeks... and I mentioned
that this particular Saturday, I would be putting the motor back in... I
never asked for any help. I remember that day very well for two reasons...
The first is... It almost brought tears to my eyes to find that all my
close friends, without being asked and without coordinating amongst
themselves, had all chosen to simply arrive at my house that day to help.
There I was, with my engine, bright and shiny, hanging on a motor lift...
surrounded by all my best friends... It was a wonderful day....
As I positioned the motor over the engine compartment... I noticed
something I had not seen before. If I remember correctly, it was next to or
just behind the flywheel... but it was there... this hole... a threaded
hole! "What was this?", I thought... I had not removed anything from
here... It didn't take long for me to figure out that the stripping
process may have disintegrated this plug... Well, I thought... just a
matter of getting a new plug... the day is not a total loss... but then...
As I studied the whole affair, I noticed that the hole was part of an oil
gallery... one that ran from one side of the motor to the other. If there
was a hole in the back, there must have been a hole in the front... yes,
behind the front motor plate, behind the installed (carefully timed!) chain,
behind the timing chain cover, behind the front pulley, behind the fan and
hub assembly... I turned to my wonderful friends... thanked them calmly...
and asked them to leave. (As I held back a primal scream.)
Later, without so many witnesses, I did remove all these components, only to
discover that I had overlooked that hole in the front also. I just wasn't
looking for a hole there as I had not removed anything from there. I
installed the motor the following weekend...
--Justin
Matthew Wilder wrote:
> Hi,
> So in between welding in rust holes and letting fiberglass dry I've
> gotten the motor on my TR4a stripped down to the block. The motor shop
> wants the bearings and any plugs out which I was planning on doing
> anyways before boiling out the block, but there's a plug in the front of
> the block where the oil gally hole was drilled through. Will boiling out
> the block hurt this? Can I also have the head or the crank done?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matt Wilder
> '67 TR4a E-prepared Solo 2
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