[TR] New One

[terryrs at comcast.net]

>> My engine block had stress fractures in the 
>> webbing, so no.  

>I'm just curious, Terry, did those actually cause a problem?  Or was it just
>a matter of "Look at that, guess I'd better find another block" even though
>that one had worked just fine for several decades?

>We found a casting flaw in a cylinder head that I had reworked for hardened
>valve seats, but it doesn't appear to have ever caused a problem.
 
Hi, Randall.  It's hard to say if these cracks actually caused a mechanical problem.  I picked up the car when it had sat for 30 years in a shed.  Didn't bother to try to restart the existing engine since I was doing a complete ground-up on the car, so simply took everything apart and rebuilt it all (even the wiper motor).  Had the block magnifluxed in prep for a surface shaving; the machine shop showed me the cracks.  The odometer read 43k, so probably 143k given the deteriorated condition of the car which may have been driven 15 years before being put up.  A List member had a spare he gave me, so I replaced it altogether.  You're probably right, it might have been just fine.  But for the cost of a trip to Connecticut from New Hampshire to pick up the replacement (and a chance to meet another Lister), I went that route instead.

Terry Smith, '59 TR3A  TS 58667
New Hampshire