I recently had the head rebuilt for my '60 TR-3A. Had it done at one of
the better shops in town, not LBC, but does work for local LBC shops. Had
them put in hardened seats and I supplied valves and bronze guides from
TRF. (Someone at TRF said the exhausts were Stellite, but they seemed
awfully reasonable in price for that quality).
My original complaint was fouling plugs. The old guides and intake
valves were too worn for reuse. I replaced them and the exhausts as well.
This would seem to indicate at least part of the fouling problem was
topside and that maybe my rings are ok. So I decided to button it up and
see if it solves the problem.
Another problem was exhaust gases in the cooling system. I was afraid
the liners had sunk, indicating a full rebuild, but tested them with a
feeler gauge and the .003 gauge (the minimum the liners should protrude
above the head) "cleared" for all cylinders. I use quotes because I might
have fudged at one or two positions on the number four cylinder. Its
tricky. The rest were clearly over or at spec. Another indication for
putting the head back on. I bought the head gasket from TRF. It seems to
be all copper.
The head came back unpainted. I plan to paint the sides and the top
deck, with old sparks in place, the valve spring assemblies and studs
covered, the manifold, valve cover and water pipe gasket positions masked,
and all stud, water and valve guide holes plugged. I plan to use two light
coats of engine primer and two of gloss black engine paint.
Since I have a back problem, I plan to hire a mobile mechanic to do the job.
A few questions: Does all this all sound right? Any recommendation for a
paint that is close to the original? Do I use gasket compound on the head
gasket? Which side? Both sides? Any cautions or inobvious problem to look
out for?
Many thanks.
John Cowan
Visit - In Their Own Words Website - an on-line non-commercial publishing
experiment, plus articles, movie reviews and Left/Progressive links at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jfcowan
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