On Wed, 1 Nov 1995, Scott W. Paisley wrote:
> Can someone enlighten me as to the difference between a wet cylinder
> liner and otherwise? My guess is that the wet liner comes in contact
> with coolent. I was under the impression that the liners in my late
> TR6 block were pressed in place, and quite difficult to move. Is this
> true? Are the liners on the TR4 different?
The early TR engines are based on a farm tractor engine. Wet liners
are not uncommon in this application. What makes a "wet liner" engine
different from, say your TR6 mill is this. The casting in your TR6
has created water passages to flow around the cylinder walls which
have been bored out of the casting and then sleeved. The Wet sleeve
engine is designed so the cylinders (sleeves) are cast and machined
separately from the engine block. When joined together the block
becomes the outside of one big waterjacket, while the outer cylinder
walls are the inside (hence, "wet sleeves"). Coolant is kept away from
the interior of the cylinder by the the seal of the head gasket and
head (the sleeves are slightly taller than the block itself. The
figure 8 seal is at the bottom of the cylinders and keeps water and
lubricant from mixing.
OPINION:
I think for a vintage car this is the ideal set up. Cylinders are
easy to replace and easier to remanufacture than whole blocks. You
can "bore out" a wet sleeve engine without a trip to the machine shop.
Finally unless you catastrophically destroy your motor (and we're
talking great gaping hole in the block here, it's an easy (and cheap)
repair.
Now you know.
Greg (lighting a candle) Petrolati
gpetrola@prairienet.org 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
"That's not a leak... My car is just marking its territory!"
Greg Petrolati, Champaign, Illinois
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