Thanks for the tip, Joe. As luck would have it, I have indeed
removed the emissions hardware (well, one of the DPO's did, and I
have added none back), and I do have an electric fuel pump. Today, I
took off the blanking plate, drilled a hole and fit a tube to it as
you describe ... cured the oil-on-the-header mess very quickly (just
as soon as what was left burned off!).
However, I am getting a LOT of moisture in the crankcase, enough to
cause the oil coming out of the tube to be the color of coffee with
lots of cream. I fear a crack somewhere, or, in the best case, a
blown head gasket.
So ... given my lack of working space, limited finances, the general
poor condition of the Spit, and my desire to finish my TR3 before I'm
an old man, the Spit is probably going to be tucked away in a
friend's barn for the next few years. After that, it may well become
a Spit 6 ... will depend on my mood when I bring it out of mothballs.
Thanks again for the advice; it is greatly appreciated.
Dan
>Dan,
>Have you removed any of the emissions hardware, particularly the air pump? If
>so, your problem is likely normal blowby buildup that is not being vented. I
>have a 1500 engine in my 63 Mk and had a similar observation. THe oil would
>blow out the dipstick tube onto the header and smoke like crazy.
>
>See the write-up I did on Tom Shirley's Spitfire Tips Archive
>http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1080/spitfaqs.html
>
>regards,
>Joe
>
>Dan Buettner wrote:
> >
> > 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
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dan Buettner - Des Moines, Iowa - mailto:danb@thelittlemacshop.com
1977 Spitfire, FM64159U, now with an O too. Runs & drives, but the
motor is blown and the suspension is shot. Most likely going to
sleep for a few years.
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickndan/gmachine/greenmachine.html
1957 TR3, TS15098L. Needs an O. Undergoing frame-off restoration begun 9/99.
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickndan/TR3/TR3.html
1988 Honda Civic 4WD Wagon. 178,000 miles. Gets me to work and back
home again every day. No home page. (go figure)
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