[TR] Question for listers

[terryrs at comcast.net]

>Jim Bauder wrote:
B 

>A few weeks ago a friend blew the head gasket on their TR4. The head was
pulled
>and sent to a machinist where they did a slight resurface and a valve job.
Now
>the head is ready to go on the block and we find that the web that is cast in
>the block from right to left and located between cylinders 2 and 3 has a
crack
>in it! I have seen a lot of Triumph 4 cylinder engines without their heads,
but
>I don't believe I have ever seen this particular type of crack. I have seen
>plenty of heads cracked between the water ports between cylinders 2 and 3,
but
>not the block!

>Has anyone on the list seen a crack as described? If so what did they do?
Weld
>it up? Ignore it? Or what?

Since all you have to do is put the head back on, I suppose someone might
advise you to leave it and run it until it becomes a grander problem.B  That
wouldn't be my advice.B 



If your friend has any intention of driving it, as opposed to trailering it
for show, fix it right, and right now.B  If you're going to weld it, you have
to pull and strip the engine anyway, so why not source a good block somewhere
instead?B  Given the wet liners, a strength of these cars is that the blocks
are much easier to find than MG's and others (at least it would seem).B  Too,
they're typically inexpensive...or not a lot more than having welding done.B 
In fact, mine was free from a Lister who had a spare, since my original block
had cracks in the web underneath the cylinders.B  All I had to do was drive to
Connecticut to get it, a couple of hours away.



Just my two cents...and the price of copper is down!



Terry Smith, '59 TR3A TS 58667

New Hampshire