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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Hi Alan,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I enjoyed reading about your TR4 on your website. I have a
TR4A that is finally back on the road after 15 years. The reason I am writing
you is that I have been working through crankcase breathing issues since getting
the car drivable about 1-1/2 years ago.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I have a aluminum valve cover on my engine which as you
know has a spigot for the gulp valve but is missing a baffle to keep the oil
mist from being sucked directly into the intake manifold. I discovered this by
accident though.. When I originally had the head rebuilt back in 2007, the
machinist installed bronze valve guides which was OK I suppose but the bad news
was that there wasn't enough clearance between the valve guide and the valve
stem. The result was that if I got about 2,400 RPM the valves would start making
clicking noises like a collapsed hydraulic lifter makes. It seems the valves
were sticking in the guides at speed.. Ruined my new BP270 camshaft and
lifters.. BUT the reason I am telling you this is when I had taken the engine
apart to fix this after only 500 miles of operation, there was a ton of carbon
buildup on the piston tops, combustion chambers and exhaust ports. The gulp
valve was completely soaked with oil also. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The engine crankcase ventilation system was completely
stock at the time (minus the fancy aluminum valve cover). I decided to go
"old school TR" and install a TR4 road draft tube and figure out something for
the valve cover breathing. Removing the plug in the side of the block was a
giant PIA as there is no room down there at all but I finally got it out by
drilling a hole in the middle of it and screwing a drywall screw in and pulling
it out that way. After carefully cleaning out all the drill filings (not much
there at all) I installed the road draft tube. Regarding the gulp valve, I
removed it and plugged the hole on the intake manifold and installed a K&N
breather in the spigot on the valve cover. The volume of leaking oil diminished
greatly but it still leaks some. The engine uses about a quart or less of oil
every 2,000 miles and pretty much all of that is leaks. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>It's amazing where these engines leak from.. I had moved
the ignition coil off the block and onto the fender well right across from the
distributor to keep it cooler. Never understood why they bolted the coil to the
block?? Anyway, I hadn't replaced the two small bolts in the block that hold the
coil. I noticed drops of oil spattered on the driver side inner fender but
couldn't figure out where it was coming from until I had a friend rev the
engine while I bent down and watched the engine. That was when a drop of oil
flew past my head after coming out of one of the coil bolt holes!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Back to the venting issue, I have considered replacing the
K&N breather with a catch tank arrangement. I found there are some two stage
designs out there that have space to actually distill the oil mist
into a liquid but where can you plumb the oil back into the engine? I think if
you had blanked off the mechanical fuel pump, it would be fairly easy to plumb a
drain back into the block from the catch tank that way which I think is what the
GoodParts system does but I am still a fan of the mechanical fuel pump so I am
stuck..</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I am enjoying this thread as this is something I am
currently working.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Thanks to all for the good information!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Dave Connitt</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=amfoto1@aol.com href="mailto:amfoto1@aol.com">Alan Myers</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=triumphs@autox.team.net
href="mailto:triumphs@autox.team.net">triumphs@autox.team.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, September 08, 2015 4:48
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [TR] TR4 road draft tube
plug</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT color=black size=2 face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 3px"><PRE><TT>... Then at
engine number CT14234E through end of TR4 production the
cars had air
filters with vent openings coming from a flame trap from the valve
cover
along with a "sealed" valve cover cap and no road draft tube. TR4As had
a
gulp valve with a vented (1/8" metered opening in the cap) valve cover
cap
and no road draft tube. This information was found in Service
Bulletin</TT></PRE></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>I can tell you for certain that's incorrect. The change from open
breathing to flame-trap, etc. came later than that.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>CT17791E (fitted to CT17602L, built in late October, 1962)
originally had the vented cap and the road draft tube. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The cap is the push on type, has big vents on the underside and filled
with coarse "steel wool" to reduce oil spray, I'm sure. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The road draft (or draught, I suppose) tube is large diameter, press fit
into the side of the block and locked in place with two screws (maybe 1/4 or
5/16"). </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The original valve cover has no vent, but it does have a large brass plug
where one could be fitted. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Never had a problem with oil out of the push on cap or an unusual amount
of leaks.... but the road draft tube kept most of the underside of the car
rust free! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The car now has an aftermarket cast alu valve cover with a breather pipe
and a low profile, twist-in filler cap (with a single, tiny breather hole).
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I've replaced the road draft tube, but didn't plug it. It now has a
nipple for a 1/2" or larger hose fitting. I don't think it's a good idea
to completely seal up the bottom end of the engine. It needs to be
able to breathe, same as the top end. <BR><BR>Car is not yet back on the road,
but when it is the plan is to have a catch tank or
can fitted with a breather cap, with hoses running from both the valve
cover and the fitting at the draft tube.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I intend to use a catch can similar to this: <A
href="http://www.summitracing.com/parts/jrc-555-6402">http://www.summitracing.com/parts/jrc-555-6402</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both">
<DIV><FONT size=3>Alan Myers</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>San Jose Calif. </DIV>
<DIV>'62 TR4 CT17602L</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:amfoto1@aol.com"
saprocessedanchor="true">amfoto1@aol.com</A></DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.triumphowners.com/to-car/tr4-14/">http://www.triumphowners.com/to-car/tr4-14/</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><!-- end of AOLMsgPart_1_2c102bbd-5f42-4fb9-9e83-c373784814c7 --></FONT>
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