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Spitfire first drive - bad news

To: triumphs@autox.team.net, spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Spitfire first drive - bad news
From: Dan Buettner <danb@thelittlemacshop.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2000 12:49:13 -0500
Well, I got new tires for my '77 Spitfire today, put them on the car, 
and took it for a slow cruise around the neighborhood.  All was well, 
except for a stutter when applying a lot of throttle -- but that's 
been there for a while.

When I rolled to my first stop sign, I noticed some oil smoke, but 
thought it was probably just burning off drippings after sitting for 
two years.

It got worse with every stop, though, and when I got back into my 
driveway I popped the hood and saw that oil had been coming out of 
the dipstick tube (dipstick is still in).

I checked the valve adjustment on #4, and it's right at spec.  My 
breather system is a single hose running from valve cover to air 
filter on a Weber DCOE, and the hose is not blocked.

So ... compression check.  #4 cylinder is at 89 lbs., with the other 
three ranging from 119 to 125 lbs.  Ouch.

I'm thinking at least one broken ring on #4; this was the situation 
with the first motor in this car -- oil spewing out of dipstick tube, 
and it turned out that there were broken rings on two cylinders after 
the DPO rebuilt it.  I took the current motor out of a parts car, and 
it ran reasonably well until now.

Anyone disagree with my assessment?

And now for the big question ... what to do about it?  I guess I'm 
inclined to do a full rebuild on this high mileage (100,000+) motor, 
but if this is not strictly necessary, I'll consider other options.

(and what would a full rebuild cost?)

Dan

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