Sprint broke down - thoughts??

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olr159w
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#16 Post by olr159w »

Anyone know where I can get uprated valve springs?

I've just been googlingand I can see this is going to be an issue (assume one has failed but that seems like a certainty)
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Mad Mart
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#17 Post by Mad Mart »

You don't need uprated valve springs for that cam. They will only deprive you of a few BHP.
Sprintless for the first time in 35+ years. :boggle2: ... Still Sprintless.

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olr159w
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#18 Post by olr159w »

Good advice thanks

And luckily it's also proving the case that you should never throw anything away.

Yes, you last saw them 20 years ago. They are here in a box to be with you tonight.

The original valve springs :
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olr159w
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#19 Post by olr159w »

I thought I was overdue an update.

It's not good really but thats more related to follow on issues. Below is a picture of what greeted me on inlet valve 3 after removing the cam. So basically the spring broke, the valve stayed down (but I guess not wedged there), the cam bucket edge got destroyed, the valve collets were wrecked, the valve got bent at the end (face no longer at right angles to stem) and the pallet shim snapped in half !

On the plus side the piston is OK, the head gasket was OK and with one exception everything came apart nicely.

The exception is that two bolts on the head end plate sheared off. Of all the things, normally such a non event. And in trying to remove the remains with a screw extractor I : a. failed in both cases b. a screw extractor snapped in the hole. You couldn't make it up.

It is also obvious the car was running very rich. Carbon and deposits all over the place. For whatever reason it has BAP needles which looking at mintylamb are not suitable. Valves ok apart from oily carbon gunk on the back of some of them

Presuming the end plate bolt issue is professionally resolvable this head could go back on. But I think there is also play in the valve guides - some valves have worse deposits on their curved rear sides and it "seems" like these are the one with more play. Plus the head was skimmed in the past so it's life is also finite.

I will seek to get the sheared bolt problem resolved and it should be OK to get refitted.

But see other thread about spare cylinder heads. It may be time to swap over.

cheers
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Philip Larmour
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#20 Post by Philip Larmour »

If the bolt issue can be resolved I would have new valve guides fitted to the existing head and recondition it. You know its history. Anything bought off ebay is an unknown quantity and may require more work than the head you have.

Just my thoughts and the way i would fix the issue.

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olr159w
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#21 Post by olr159w »

Philip of SprintParts?

Yes good advice. And likely the way I will go.

But.... if I can find an unskimmed head perhaps already refurbed then I'm likely in a better and cheaper spot than where I would be refurbing my skimmed head in terms of parts and labour. Maybe.

I don't know. I feel like valve guides are probably a tenner.20 quid each to fit?

Whatever happened to Sprintparts? #sadface

I've got your radiator shroud on the car ;-)

m
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#22 Post by xvivalve »

'Easi-out' screw extractors always snap and compound the problem as they are hardened steel (don't worry, we've all learned the hard way!! :oops: )

The folk who recondition callipers for the club frequently encounter them sheared off in stuck bleed nipples and unions and generally succeed in removing them, using spark erosion, I think, but again, due to the hardened steel it's a much longer process than just removing mild steel
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#23 Post by olr159w »

I was mindful that might happen but hoped for the best and lost.

Of all the things that could be a problem removing the head, the bolts on the end plate were the last thing I expected. The remains haven't budged at all.

Now it needs a pro workshop. But if I hadn't tried it still would have. And I got a refund on the crappy tool that busted
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#24 Post by xvivalve »

Interesting percussion marks on the cam carrier there...looks as if someone has taken a centre punch to it!
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#25 Post by olr159w »

I have photos of all the cam journals. I was going to post them. None of them look great.

Actually here they are. Probably not as bad as the photos make them aware but still not great
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olr159w
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Re: Sprint broke down - thoughts??

#26 Post by olr159w »

An update for those that are interested :-)

UK visit done and spare cyl head ....... not brought back. All advice is the current head is very good and barely skimmed.

The sheared bolt problem was resolved without the need for head welding or skimming. I have ground the valves and put the exhaust ones back in. Inlet next and checked of timing chain tensioner and then it can all start to be re-assembled

Before and after for the cyl head :


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