The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I've always had a small (ish) streak of bush mechanic about me. Maybe it was growing up in Queensland, maybe it was years of running cars on a shoestring (one between all of them), or maybe a bit of both.

I don't think it means I value the cars any less, just that if I can find a successful improvisation I'm generally happy to use it. In fact, it canbe a very useful trait on cars with limited parts support.

I've noticed that not all car owners, and certainly not all classic owners, share this outlook. Some would rather see their beloved classic laid up for 5 years waiting for just the right spec of indicator lens screw than be seen with any old self-tapper. OK, that's maybe a little extreme but you get my drift.

So I thought it might be interesting to see what sort of owners the TDC forum attracts by presenting a little job I had today and seeing your reactions by way of a poll:

Sheila has needed a camshaft replacement for quite a while (probably since before I got her) and I finally got hold of a good used one off EBay last week for the princely sum of £2.99.

Today was sunny so off came her bonnet, some cunning hooks were devised to lift her tappets:




And out came her camshaft. As suspected, there was virtually no lobe left for No1 inlet and most of the others were looking pretty sorry for themselves:




Not so expected, in fact a bit of a bugger, really, was this (No3) journal:



Not so much from the fact that it had shrunk by about 10 thou as the fact that the bore in the block had also shrunk by a similar amount thanks to welded-on cam lobe. I knew there was a problem when I needed a hammer to get the shaft out

Number 4 journal was also worn by about 5 thou but at least it was smooth.

So, what to do?

Bearings are available and small journal cranks but that involves money, time off road, and getting the engine out with no lifting facilities.

On the other hand, it's been running like it is so, if only the replacement shaft had the same amount of wear on those rear journal, there seems a fair chance that it'd keep going - and would have all its bumps again!

Obviously, the solution must be to induce similar wear on the replacement journals. For that we need two lathes back-to-back - the shaft is slightly too long for my trusty Hobbymat:



and something to rub against the journal. 80 grit flap disk seemed to fit the bill just right



Haven't finished reassembling cos it was hot out there today and I started feeling distinctly unwell, but there should be a running (or not) report sometime tomorrow.


So, quality initiative, pointless waste of time or the most heinous form of car crime you've ever seen?



*** edited to put up correct piccy of journal ***

does that mean you dont want the camshaft that still sat in a Jiffybag in my vectra?

Im a bit of all depending on what im doing, a lot of work related repairs are what some might call bodges just to get the customer home (or out of my recovery zone) but if im working on my own or friends cars then where possible it will be a proper long lasting repair using the proper tool when possible although there is nothing wrong with a improvised tool as long as its safe to use unlike my spring compreeor which sent a coil spring out of the work shop narrowly missing me and Sarahs car and across tha yard.

Best roadside bodge so far was on Isle of Wight when James's Toledo gear lever lower bush gave up, one modified lucozade sport bottle top and the car was back on the road.

That said i am very reluctant to let anyone else near any of my cars unless i can see the work they have done and certainly would not let any one do any work on steering or brakes on my cars.

Depends if this one throws itself out the side of the block or not, Justyn I spotted this one and figured for that price (a tenner including post) even if it was a pile of crap there was nothing lost.

Oh, and I prefer to do proper jobs as well but sometimes needs must and who says this won't last???

Prawns are on and there's Fosters in the ice box for whoever ticked option B

Cheers for the PM yesterday Joe it reminded me that i needed to reseal Sarahs Servo today

You're welcome - I may know a short-cut on that job for you involving a little engine oil to swell the seals......

Incidentally, Sian's just reminded me that I have an offer of a Herald engine as soon as I can get it from Derbyshire so if she (Sheila, not Sian) does blow up then it just means a long distance Daf trip to collect

Bit of 2 and 3 really. Worry here is that with a cam like that, what will the followers look like? New cam may only last 5 minutes. Unless you have some better followers kicking around?

David

The followers were brand spankers 593 miles ago when I did the head. I hoped to get away with the cam at the time (didn't look too bad down through the follower holes) but wasn't to be. The clearances haven't changed at all since then so they should be ok still - compared to the rest of the setup anyway

It will do for a cast iron Triumph lump..............but a slant is more modern.
Cart horse Vs thoroughbred

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track action maniac.

The lunatic is out................heres Jonny!

if you rub back #3 to the same as the worn bearing, won't you also lose that oil passage as well ?

but highly approve. Love the back to back lathes !

The timing chain cover on my sprint holds a small secret as well that involves superglue

stu

Wouldn't dream of trying something like this on an engine as inherently temperamental as a slant, TJ

And yes, it probably will affect oil distribution, but I figure she was running with the same problem on the old cam anyway so as long as I get clearance without making it [too small then it should be no worse than before.

Besides, if I take her off road while I get another engine or this one rebuilt then I'm reduced to driving the Daf everywhere for a while. Nothing wrong with Dafs but ........

Bonzer job, now chuck another prawn on the barbie!

Sian would complain as we all know that Betty is hers and your just her mechanic

Touche

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track action maniac.

The lunatic is out................heres Jonny!

As promised, a running update. Can't seem to embed on here so have to offer a linky instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiaULWuL3MQ

Obviously, there was no instant explosion so I took her out on a quick road test, that ended up at about 19 miles cos I was enjoying myself so much. I also re-ran the 30-50 in 3rd gear test that some of you may remember I'd been disappointed with after the head work I did a couple of months ago.

The results are:

Motor figure from 1965: 8.7 seconds
Sheila after head work: 10.5 seconds
Sheila now: 6.9 seconds!!!!!!!

So provided she doesn't go into melt-down over the next few miles, I think it's time for some of these: