My Trophy

[romy]

Just to let you know the car is going in today for the new head gasket and everything else. I've been recommended to go to HallCraft to have it done, so fingers crossed, its going to cost £850 - Chris has told them he wants to see all the old parts when its finished so we can see exactly what they've replaced I'm getting a courtesy car (Nissan Micra) but at least I won't have to use public transport any more - its been a nightmare this week not having a car. Should get it back next Wednesday all being well so will let you know

[jeanette]

sorry to hear that. Hope all goes well and see you soon.

let us know how you get on.

[Keith Williams]

Hope the repair is going well and you will be up and runnning again real soon.

My F is booked into the garage next week to have the head looked at so hopefully my trials will be over at last??? !!!!

[Phil_B]

Any news? Hope its all back as it should be!

[romy]

Hi all - Trophy back on the road, all looks good, ended up having a new radiator as some of the veins were blocked but looking at the bill they have done a lot of work and replaced lots of bits on her and so far I'm very pleased, in the end it cost me 40pence short of £1K (thanks to the generosity of my family who clubbed together to put in my "get my F back on the road fund). The garage ended up delivering the car to my home as ended up in hospital for a week and they didn't even bill me until I'd come home - so very pleased with the garage - looking forward to given the 'F' a nice run

[Geoff.F]

Any News Keith ?? What did they find ??

Geoff F.

[Keith Williams]

It is good to hear your car is back on the road. Enjoy the car when you can. So jealous with the nice weather we have had over the last few days to get that chance to drive the car.

Geoff
My F is still in the garage in bits. The replacement engine does not seem to be a good one. There was leakage into cylinder 3 - lovely steam cleaned piston head. The gasket looked fine so it seems like the head may be leaking (porous?). The mating faces also do not look as good as they could be even after the skim before installation. Unfortunatley the head had been skimmed and repaired before I got my hands on it and the slight skim done since I had it, has used up the allowance. Might need a new head or looking for a new casting to drop my parts into. My mechanic is also concerned about the 'free play' in the pistons in the liners. He is looking into them to see if the 'desiel' noise I have been getting at tick over is due to this. There is also a slight 'lip' in cylinder liner 4. Catching up with mechanic Monday to see where I can go next. Am starting to wonder if to bite the bullet and go for a completley new engine straight out of the box as I just want this sorted and start to rebuild confidence in the car so I can enjoy the car again. I dont want to put more good money after bad money unless it will solve the problem long term. Might cut my losses and get a new engine installed as the cut price option has not worked so far.

[petevick]

Blimey Keith, your not having much joy are you . I can see your logic re the new engine route, no saying that a second hand head would cure the problems, particularly with the piston slack/liner issue, that doesn't sound too clever at all. What about that nice engine that Steve's got hanging around

[Geoff.F]

Keith, You have 6 months to fix it !! We need to take a beer in Zug.
I would not fit another head until a definite fault is found in the old one. It should have been pressure tested after the last skim. Can you find someone who can test it ?? Coventry Boring in Earlsdon perhaps or ask Roy at Techspeed who he would use. Coventry may have lost it's car industry but it still has the best engine repair shops in the country.
New engines come at a price but then I can understand your need to resolve the saga. A source for an engine may be difficult. Rimmers were asking £1700.
Geoff F.