John I

Oh bugger. Good that Chris was so close to home when he made executive decision.

S**t might have been one of the words that spang out. Must have been an exciting time, land, ships and no power, no steerage! This is such a great blog Phil, thanks for reminding me what it was like. Forgotten the adrenalin rush when all goes quiet except the loss of power alarms wailing, and how quickly people appear from now where. Hope you get your well earned leave soon. john

That's one large captivated cannon ball and long connecting rod. I bet you were glad that things hadn't been running for a while so the crankcase and head could cool down to some where near ambient temp. Always fascinating to see such large iron work come apart in a controlled manner, not so when its uncontrolled.

Thanks Nick, you are truly one of the fonts of knowledge on these cars very helpful and always happy to share your wisdom. I think that is ironic the ones that turn out to be the repairable ones are the supposedly non renewable and visa versa That's BL logic for you. So I'll clean up the good 2 for the six and have a go at taking the other one with poor bearings apart, just for the experience. I wonder if the 4 pot one will give up its brass hub with the larger vanes, would this give a greater pumping volume?

The pump on the left I think is from a spit as it has a slightly longer nose by about 11mm, 1/2in, not sure why but the bearings have a grease point. The other three I think are from 6 cylinder engines or possibly herald.The vanes on all of them are the same height from the flange, 18mm, 3/4in in old money. Why are the vanes on the left unit broader/have a larger surface area than the others. 2. Why do some have holes in the vane body casting and not others, what is the purpose of them. 3. Is there a reason why the left vane is brass and the others cast iron? 4. Any ideas why the vane hub/boss varies so much in size? The bearings on all but the second from left are good. Any ideas greatly received. Cheers John

Good point

Yes Sachs. Sorry hadn't picked up that you had already tried them.

Hi Tim, a little while ago I followed up on the thread which Nick highlighted and found that they were allegedly available from " onlinecarparts.co.uk" price quoted was £71.16 think that was inc VAT. Be interested to see if they still have them for offer. john

Now that's a good size pair of stilsons hanging on the wall..........bit big for the Triumph.

Are Sea Tax still going? They use to be very good at telling you when you had to disappear out of the country, this was when the tax man couldn't make up his mind wether it was 183 days or what ever other combination the men in grey suits came up with. Glad to hear that seafarers still get that benefit if they spend so much time away. Enjoy your leave when you finally get there.

Hi Terry, as I'm getting ready to do some basic DIY head work on my mk2 head to gain a few more horses on a road engine.Attention particularly to the inlet SSR, what size inlet valves would you say are right for the ports which the factory have given us. On the same note the exhaust throat is slightly too large if it should be about 87% of valve size, in this case would you use an seat insert to get to the right ratio? john

Get ready to fill the loft and then wonder where it all came from, more so when the car is back on the road and the loft is still half full of car!

Like Pete I wasn't here all that time ago (should have been but that's another story). What a nice looking motor and a great video, if only all rebuilds went that quick.

Thanks Nick, I think I will stick to the tried and tested as I don't have a supply of heads to consume with misguided guesses on my side. I agree a great pity Neil hasn't posted for a while but reading between the lines I can understand why. Hope he's well and enjoying life.

Hi Nick just finished reading for the second or third time your DIY head article and that from Niel Collingwood. Did either of you come up with or find the way to access the hidden horses in the exhaust side of the head or is it a case of just keeping the exhaust opening to no more than 87% of ex valve diameter? Head currently sitting in lye solution in a box inspired by " bullfire garage".