Hey! Wash out your dirty minds. Its for my car.
Turns out my "blown motor" is just a 1/4" burn-through between cylinder 3
and 4. The top end clattering that sounded so bad was most likely the
blow-through from the firing cylinder slapping the valves shut on the other
cylinder.
On the even brighter side, I was going to lead-free the head this winter
anyway. The bores are smooth with no ring ridge, the pistons are snug in
the bores with no sign of unwanted slap. No burned valves, cracked head or
block. So it appears that shot peening, magnafluxing, surfacing and
installing hardened exhaust seats with stellite valves will be all I need.
(yes, I will check the deck and lower end)Good chance to paint the block and
head and swap out the cracked timing cover. I should be able to get it all
done for under $300. My friends with 'normal' cars can't believe it. In
their world a blown head gasket often means totalling the vehicle instead of
paying the cost of a shop repair of that magnitude.
Finally getting a chance to examine the head carefully, I can see that the
PO did the full Clymer on the ports and combustion chambers. Once its
cleaned up I'll post a few pics of it. He must have spent weeks with a
dremel to shape and volume match the combustion chambers. The porting is
extensive and looks to be taken to the limits suggested by Clymer. No
wonder this sucker goes like stink. Well, all of the above and a little
help from the turbo. The turbo was undamaged, spins smoothly and the vanes
have a good color suggesting my needle choice was a good one. In about a
month the little green rocket will be back on the road.
Regards,
Glen Byrns
'59 bugeye
'59 Morris Traveller (Winifred)
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