A Newbie with a Sprint.

[graham j]

Hello, am new to the forum. I am the recent owner of a 1976 inca yellow sprint that was a bit of a barn find. The car is not too bad for the year, history showing genuine 112k miles.Its just very dirty........But will live again... The main problem is the motor is seized, the crank pully wont budge!
Anyone tell me if this is likely to be terminal, and whats gone wrong?... and does anyone do exchange units in my area? -- Im in Sunny Somerset.
Thanks
Graham.

[xvivalve]

Is there oil in the sump or was it stored dry?

Try pouring some hot diesel into the plug holes, enough to cover the crown of the piston and leave overnight.

Take off rocker cover and look at state of cam journals

Mart is in Weston s Mare; he can build you an engine, failing that, I have a nice one but its in a £450 car for sale at the moment...

[1300dolly]

hi graham, my favoured way to start seized cars isnt recommened so instead remove the spark plugs and fan belt, put car in second gear with handbrake off and with the help of a mate rock the car back and forth, this may do the job, it is also possible that the clutch is seized giving the illusion of a seized engine.
post you question in the dolomite related section it will get a bigger audience.

welcome to the forum and good luck with the car.

[xvivalve]

You need to determine as best you can whether the seize is temporary (requiring gentle persuasion and avoiding expensive work afterwards) or whether its a terminal seize (which might necessitate a rebore anyway); if its the latter, a violent approach is unlikely to worsen the problem!

Hot diesel is very effective at unsticking things

[1300dolly]

I bow to Auns supierior knowledge (mostly because he is bigger than me) most of my experiance is with small ones, i.e. 1300/1500 engines, they are harder to break.

[Mad Mart]

[graham j]

Ok thanks for that guys. I take on board about the clutch, we dragged the car and the wheels are locking in gear,so we tried bleeding the clutch,to see/try and bump/free the clutch but the slave is not holding the fluid, a job for tmorro. I have left lots of thin oil overnight down the bores, have got socket on the pulley with a block and tackle set up taking the strain on the ratchet and socket, not too tight, just enough to give the bottom end something to think about overnight, its stuck at TDC, see what happens?

This car has been laid up for 14 years, what problems could i have in the box/overdrive unit?

Im trying to judge how much this motors gonna cost to restore and is it worth the pennies!!!!!!

[DavePoth]

You should be able to get hold of a running engine for £200, so if you've got the skills and the kit to change an engine it's a pretty quick fix. Probably still worth seeing if the one you have is saveable though, pulling engines out of cars at this time of year is never fun.

[xvivalve]

It wasn't a contradiction Justyn, just that with the cost of getting new shells, new liners sweatted in, or a rebore and/or new pistons you are opening up a 4 figure bill, whereas some of this work may only need doing after a violent release...

A bit light there for a known good engine dave?

If the engine has been stored in a damp environment the head ports valve ways may have furred up with oxidisation

[triple tango]

valves stick open too.....

[DavePoth]

A bit light there for a known good engine dave?

I guess so. That said I'm sure something would come along for that money if you could wait a while.

[straylight]

welcome graham.

my limited experience doing up my neglected sprint was that mechanicals are cheap, bodywork isn't. I reckon the cost factor is 10:1 bodywork to mechanicals.

Replacement mechanical bits are easy to source and relatively cheap, while panels and welding/prepping/paint soon escalate.

it all depends how good you want the final finish to be. You could still have a lot of fun like newguy is having by concentrating on the mechanicals and leaving the bodywork.

stu

[graham j]

Hello, thanks for all your input!!!

well firstly, let me say that i am a mechanic, so have a good workshop to get oily in...
I have bin a rootes owner but a dolly fan most of me driving life.. ive had 1850s and a 1500 SE in my youth, but this sprint came up (in the right colour INCA, in my oppinion), and it feels do-able to restore.

The engine didnt free, so i lifted it out this afternoon, will investigate tmorro, the clutch plate was welded to the flywheel, but the crank is still not budging... am not too hopefull...

I guess if a cheap motor comes along, i will make the decision to throw a sum of money at it, or move it on, so anyone got one let me know...

Im in Burnham On sea in Somerset.

Cheers.

[graham j]

Thanks for that, see your point, my problem is customers cars come first..... i get sidetracked.....and like today, most work was dolomite based.. oops!! new kid and a new toy, etc..!!

A new motor to slot in would be nice-er---

But guess what? in the boot with a load of spares is a brand new crank!!?? its got surface rust, is previous owner not telling me something??? !!

The engine looks like its had some work its been re painted, gaskets look fresh, think this car has had lots of attention, at some point, its adorned with club stickers.

Only probs i can see is re commisioning, brakes/clutch etc, a fresh lick of paint, interior is mint, both inner sills want work at the rear,a front wing, but the floors, inner wings and chassis/legs are very good.

Thanks for info guys, day to day we work on mainly modern stuff, its a breath of fresh air to work on these old girls again..

[graham j]

Had motor apart, cranks damaged, bores are not good...

So.... am after a motor , will pay a fair price for a good' un....

Help.