Oh boy you have had some interesting things happen on this assembly, a great learning experience. You have it looking spectacular,! And with all the overhauld pieces it should run like a dream, when you get there.
Hi Chris, I did the thin belt conversion and fan delete on my TR4 too (as well as conversion to alternator, neg ground and electric fan). Something different from yours, the crank pulley I got is also a harmonic dampener. It's not solid like the one you installed. I have heard that the original fan and the crank extension used to mount it also served to balance the 4 cylinder engine. I don't know if that is true, but do know the original fan, pulley, and extension have a small hole drilled through them to indicate the correct assembly, presumably to maintain that balance. The 6-blade water pump is a good idea, too. Our TRs can use all the help they can get circulating coolant through the engine and keeping the temps under control! FWIW, I bought a 6-blade pump instead of rebuilding, and put an aluminum thin belt pulley on it. I got my thin belt conversion and water pump from Ken Gillanders at British Frame and Engine. He is a long-time TR racer and specializes in high performance parts (but stocks some "regular" stuff, too). Ken is a wealth of knowledge about getting these cars to peak performance... BUT I recommend charging your phone fully before calling him, because he has a lot of great stories and you might be on the call for a while! 😄 Finally, was there a gob of something like Bondo or hardened plumbers putty smeared on the front of your timing chain cover, under the paint? Supposedly that was done by the factory to reduce engine noise. Most rebuilders remove it when cleaning up the parts for fresh paint and reassembly. It's rare to see now and is even missing from most "show" cars restored to the highest level of originality. If I did see it on a TR 4-cylinder, I would assume the engine has never been fully rebuilt... unless it appears to be an extremely meticulous restoration. P.S. I've never seen that heater control valve taken apart before... interesting to see how it works... and if it is rebuildable.
Thanks, Alan. My crank pulley does have the rubber balancer. The conversion for the water pump, though, continues to be painful. I think I'm there, but I have my concerns still. I did not have that insulation stuff on my timing chain cover (nor on my Spitfire). There are some pics in the workshop manual that show it. I always assumed it was a chain noise abatement, but it seems a bit silly given all the other noises that were there. The heater valve is really simple. If you rubber diaphragm is in good enough shape, you can clean it up and rebuild the thing. But, you can't get pieces/parts, so sometimes you just have to get a new one. Thanks for watching and your comment!
@roundtailrestoration HI again Chris... I hope you get the water pump sorted out. BTW, new or rebuilt, it isn't uncommon for them to leak a little at first. I think the seals just need some time to seat themselves properly. It's only a concern if the leak doesn't stop after a little run time.
@@alanm.4298 I got as good as I could on the water pump yesterday (video out soon). Still not totally happy with it, but we'll see once it actually gets running. Thanks for the tip on the water pump!
You can remove the pin out of the offset drive on the Distributor turn the offset drive 180 degrees and put the pin back in. Replace Distributor in the correct position.
I briefly considered that, but following a professional rebuild of it, I didn't want to take any chances with screwing something up. Thanks for watching!
Hi Chris, can i suggest you look at the upgraded heather valves with a straight connexion to the block? those old ones and repros do no operate well. mine does not close by just pushing the cable so i need to open the bonnet and give it a push. Easier to do it now, Rimmers sells a kit. Cheers
Thanks. I just looked at that kit. I'm not afraid to say that the price is a bit steep. I'm not sure it would be worth it for me, but definitely something to consider. Thanks for watching!
Hi Chris, We don’t see you turn the distributor drive round 180 deg so I assume you have not done it yet in the video as the rotor arm looks to be still pointing 180deg out, i.e. when installed correctly it should point to #1 spark plug. Also at time 11:52 in the video you say 1-3-2-4 for the firing order when of course you mean 1-3-4-2. I've sent the page from my manual by e-mail, which I guess is the same as yours, but included for checking. I’m still not to the engine of my 1962 TR4 the bodywork (sorry the rust) is taking forever!!! I might do as you have and hit the engine, if for no other reason but to get a change of work and feel as if I’m making progress!!! Cheers, Mike in the UK
Thanks, Mike. Yes, I did swap the gear around and aligned it all with #1 plug per the workshop manual. I did mean 1-3-4-2 but I bet I wired it up wrong now that I think about it. Be checking that! Thanks for the email, too. Yes, sick of rust repair is why I went to the motor and soon be shifting to the chassis. Definitely no fun, but I do find it rewarding after a time. Thanks for watching!
OK I guess if you have changed the distributor drive you are at TDC on the Exhaust stroke, not the compression stroke, at 10:55 as the rotor arm is pointing away from #1 spark plug. It will all come good when you do the actual timing.
Thanks, Mike. I did re-wire the cap as that was wrong and re-verified the dizzy. I had rotated the motor a few times and just edited that all out, so it was all good to go. Thanks for the backup!
I always thought you had to keep the Timing chain cover bolts loose and then install the crank pulley so that the cover with the pulley seal would center around the pulley and you would not get a oil leak. But I might be wrong. I have to do that with my A-series engines.
That's a good point, Mike. I assume that is done so the seal can self-center on the crankshaft and then you tighten down the cover (which contains the seal). Probably not a bad idea. The workshop manual doesn't mention it, but in hindsight, that may have been the way to go. The crank pulley did have some friction going in, so hopefully that's enough!
@@roundtailrestoration That s correct. You are pretty much guaranteed the seal will be centered if you tighten the cover last. There will be equal pressure around the seal.
Looking good Chris. The blanking plugs for the grease point on the water pumps were nice chunky brass things, I think they’re still generally available? (Got a few used ones kicking around myself so have never needed t look for new). What problem are you having with zinc plating? I’ve just got my kit out again too and am driving myself crazy cleaning bolts to a plateable condition!
Thanks. The zinc plating itself is okay, it's the black oxide. It looks really nice at first, but as it dries, it develops a white, chalky appearance. Some of it will rub off, but most of it won't. I really haven't played around with trying to fix it too much yet, tho, so I shouldn't complain yet.
A shame you can't find the original quality stuff. I'd be willing to pay more, but sadly I don't think most people would - hence, no market for that stuff. Thanks, Bill!
One of the reasons I replaced with a Mallory dual point ignition... but now I see they're discontinued (since Holley bought Mallory?) and parts for them may become harder to find!
Oh boy you have had some interesting things happen on this assembly, a great learning experience. You have it looking spectacular,! And with all the overhauld pieces it should run like a dream, when you get there.
Triumph engines are pretty hardy, but many of the externals are made of old cheese.
Ha! Definitely seems that way at times.
I hope you're right, Barry. We'll see!
Hi Chris, the distributor offset is shown in the workshop manual page 1.131, have fun rebuilding the engine.
Thanks, Gerhard and thanks for watching. I'm not sure I'm having fun yet, but it'll all be better, I'm sure, once I get to start her up! Cheers!
Hi Chris, I did the thin belt conversion and fan delete on my TR4 too (as well as conversion to alternator, neg ground and electric fan). Something different from yours, the crank pulley I got is also a harmonic dampener. It's not solid like the one you installed.
I have heard that the original fan and the crank extension used to mount it also served to balance the 4 cylinder engine. I don't know if that is true, but do know the original fan, pulley, and extension have a small hole drilled through them to indicate the correct assembly, presumably to maintain that balance.
The 6-blade water pump is a good idea, too. Our TRs can use all the help they can get circulating coolant through the engine and keeping the temps under control! FWIW, I bought a 6-blade pump instead of rebuilding, and put an aluminum thin belt pulley on it.
I got my thin belt conversion and water pump from Ken Gillanders at British Frame and Engine. He is a long-time TR racer and specializes in high performance parts (but stocks some "regular" stuff, too). Ken is a wealth of knowledge about getting these cars to peak performance... BUT I recommend charging your phone fully before calling him, because he has a lot of great stories and you might be on the call for a while! 😄
Finally, was there a gob of something like Bondo or hardened plumbers putty smeared on the front of your timing chain cover, under the paint? Supposedly that was done by the factory to reduce engine noise. Most rebuilders remove it when cleaning up the parts for fresh paint and reassembly. It's rare to see now and is even missing from most "show" cars restored to the highest level of originality. If I did see it on a TR 4-cylinder, I would assume the engine has never been fully rebuilt... unless it appears to be an extremely meticulous restoration.
P.S. I've never seen that heater control valve taken apart before... interesting to see how it works... and if it is rebuildable.
Thanks, Alan. My crank pulley does have the rubber balancer. The conversion for the water pump, though, continues to be painful. I think I'm there, but I have my concerns still. I did not have that insulation stuff on my timing chain cover (nor on my Spitfire). There are some pics in the workshop manual that show it. I always assumed it was a chain noise abatement, but it seems a bit silly given all the other noises that were there. The heater valve is really simple. If you rubber diaphragm is in good enough shape, you can clean it up and rebuild the thing. But, you can't get pieces/parts, so sometimes you just have to get a new one. Thanks for watching and your comment!
@roundtailrestoration HI again Chris... I hope you get the water pump sorted out. BTW, new or rebuilt, it isn't uncommon for them to leak a little at first. I think the seals just need some time to seat themselves properly. It's only a concern if the leak doesn't stop after a little run time.
@@alanm.4298 I got as good as I could on the water pump yesterday (video out soon). Still not totally happy with it, but we'll see once it actually gets running. Thanks for the tip on the water pump!
You can remove the pin out of the offset drive on the Distributor turn the offset drive 180 degrees and put the pin back in. Replace Distributor in the correct position.
I briefly considered that, but following a professional rebuild of it, I didn't want to take any chances with screwing something up. Thanks for watching!
Hi Chris, can i suggest you look at the upgraded heather valves with a straight connexion to the block? those old ones and repros do no operate well. mine does not close by just pushing the cable so i need to open the bonnet and give it a push. Easier to do it now, Rimmers sells a kit. Cheers
Thanks. I just looked at that kit. I'm not afraid to say that the price is a bit steep. I'm not sure it would be worth it for me, but definitely something to consider. Thanks for watching!
Hi Chris,
We don’t see you turn the distributor drive round 180 deg so I assume you have not done it yet in the video as the rotor arm looks to be still pointing 180deg out, i.e. when installed correctly it should point to #1 spark plug.
Also at time 11:52 in the video you say 1-3-2-4 for the firing order when of course you mean 1-3-4-2.
I've sent the page from my manual by e-mail, which I guess is the same as yours, but included for checking.
I’m still not to the engine of my 1962 TR4 the bodywork (sorry the rust) is taking forever!!! I might do as you have and hit the engine, if for no other reason but to get a change of work and feel as if I’m making progress!!!
Cheers,
Mike in the UK
Thanks, Mike. Yes, I did swap the gear around and aligned it all with #1 plug per the workshop manual. I did mean 1-3-4-2 but I bet I wired it up wrong now that I think about it. Be checking that! Thanks for the email, too. Yes, sick of rust repair is why I went to the motor and soon be shifting to the chassis. Definitely no fun, but I do find it rewarding after a time. Thanks for watching!
OK I guess if you have changed the distributor drive you are at TDC on the Exhaust stroke, not the compression stroke, at 10:55 as the rotor arm is pointing away from #1 spark plug. It will all come good when you do the actual timing.
Thanks, Mike. I did re-wire the cap as that was wrong and re-verified the dizzy. I had rotated the motor a few times and just edited that all out, so it was all good to go. Thanks for the backup!
I always thought you had to keep the Timing chain cover bolts loose and then install the crank pulley so that the cover with the pulley seal would center around the pulley and you would not get a oil leak. But I might be wrong. I have to do that with my A-series engines.
That's a good point, Mike. I assume that is done so the seal can self-center on the crankshaft and then you tighten down the cover (which contains the seal). Probably not a bad idea. The workshop manual doesn't mention it, but in hindsight, that may have been the way to go. The crank pulley did have some friction going in, so hopefully that's enough!
@@roundtailrestoration That s correct. You are pretty much guaranteed the seal will be centered if you tighten the cover last. There will be equal pressure around the seal.
Looking good Chris. The blanking plugs for the grease point on the water pumps were nice chunky brass things, I think they’re still generally available? (Got a few used ones kicking around myself so have never needed t look for new). What problem are you having with zinc plating? I’ve just got my kit out again too and am driving myself crazy cleaning bolts to a plateable condition!
Thanks. The zinc plating itself is okay, it's the black oxide. It looks really nice at first, but as it dries, it develops a white, chalky appearance. Some of it will rub off, but most of it won't. I really haven't played around with trying to fix it too much yet, tho, so I shouldn't complain yet.
The new cap will only last about 7000 miles as the rotor is harder than the pins, the old caps had brass pins and last for years.
A shame you can't find the original quality stuff. I'd be willing to pay more, but sadly I don't think most people would - hence, no market for that stuff. Thanks, Bill!
@@roundtailrestoration I agree
One of the reasons I replaced with a Mallory dual point ignition... but now I see they're discontinued (since Holley bought Mallory?) and parts for them may become harder to find!