Rob, forgive me if this is obvious and you already checked, but are sure the
starter gear isn't jambed in the flywheel? It seems very much like a seized
engine when that happens. You should be able to turn the end of the starter
armiture with a 1/2 inch wrench. You may have to remove an end cap to get at
the armiture.
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Blubaugh" <robblubaugh@netscape.net>
To: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 12:57 PM
Subject: TR2/3 Rebuilt Engine Still Stuck
> Hello again to my many TR advisors!
> I beg your pardon again for a rather long posting, but I am "up a
stump" so to speak.
> With all accessory items removed from my engine and the timing chain
removed, my engine is still stuck tight. (New cam and new valve train are
working fine.)
> I have dropped the sump pan and removed the oil pump screen. I looked
and looked and everything seemed ok. Then I spotted what looked like a
small (3/4") crack on the edge of the center main bearing cap. The crack is
in the "lip" that holds the thrust washer in place. It extends from near
the surface where the cap contacts the block downward in an arc about 3/4 of
an inch. On removing the center main cap bolts, the cap came free easily.
It was definitely cracked. At the widest point of the crack a thumb nail
will fit in the crack.
> The bearing appears to be worn excessively for only 300 miles on the
engine. I can see and feel groves in the bearing shell. The thrust washers
(bottom only) appear to be ok. BUT THE ENGINE IS STILL STUCK TIGHT. The
crack and the roughed bearing still shouldn't be enough to have seized the
crankshaft.
> I showed the cracked main bearing and the roughed up half shell of the
bearing to my local machinist. He says I will have to pull the engine and
tear it down completely so that he can machine and "true" the bearing caps
to the block. (Wish he had said that the first time.) He says the engine
will have to be completely disassembled so that it can be tanked in solvent
to wash out the dust and the filings after the machining to "true" the main
bearing molding in the block and the bearing caps. As much as I can
understand of what he has described of the procedure he intends to do, it
sounds much like what he did to the rod end caps during my recent rebuild.
ARE ANY OF YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE PROCEDURE HE IS SUGGESTING BE DONE? He
really is a knowlegable fellow and he is trusted and respected for his work
in the machine shop.
> On the first assembly of the crankshaft during this rebuild I ruined a
set of thrust washers and the center main bearing. Before I continued I
bought and installed a second set of new bearings and thrust washers. My
original crankshaft was too far gone to regrind so I got a "donor"
crankshaft from an engine I was given. The crank from that engine had never
been ground so I had that one machined (.010" on the mains and .020" on the
rods). It may be possible that I have used the center main cap from the
donor engine instead of the original one from my engine. I cannot see any
difference in the center main bearing caps. My engine # was 15848 (early
TR3 run - maybe 1957) and the donor engine was a true TR2 engine # 7257 (my
car is #7690). CAN THE MAIN BEARING CAPS BE DIFFERENT ON THESE ENGINES?
COULD THIS BE THE SOURCE OF MY "STUCK" ENGINE? (It did run well for about
300 miles from the finished rebuild. It seized whild cranking to try to find
an ignition fault.)
>
> This whole episode is turning into a big lesson and when it is
finished I think I will be a veteran of the Triumph School of Headaches. My
old and tired TR2 was a marginal, "rough" candidate for investing in a
rebuild to begin with. NOW I KNOW that there IS ecomomy and value in the
certainity of a factory rebuild from TRF or one of the other vendors who
would provide this service. I thought I could save money by doing most of
the work myself. I badly overestimated my skills and I underestimated how
much the separate parts costs and machine shop services woul be.
>
> SHOULD I CUT MY LOSSES AND RUN? I am not sure now when I am done if
I will really be confident in the reliability of the car. (I know, we are
never DONE when it comes to owning and maintaining an old car.)
>
> I will trudge on and I WILL get this thing working, but it sure hurts
to be paying insurance and working around the car to get the mowers out to
ow the yard now that some nice weather has arrived.
> I SHOULD BE OUT DRIVING IN MY TRIUMPH!!
>
> Frustrated,
> Rob Blubaugh
> Rensselaer, IN
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