Europa TCST

[jbcollier]

AFAIK, and as listed in the manual, no, they are the same.

[TurboFource]

This week.....
Power washed my house so I figured I would get some of the grime and Chevy orange off
my transaxle....CW, what kind of paint did use? It's a bugger to get off everything!

Installed rear crank seal housing, timing covers, oil pan, gilmer crank pulley, started detailing
Cartridge water pump for installation.

[BDA]

Good stuff, Turbo! What is the sensor in the oil pan?

[TurboFource]

Oil temperature.

Used Hylomar for the first time today…..interesting blue goo.

[BDA]

Oil temp sensor... Ah!! I put mine in my oil filter...

Hylomar is strange stuff. I used it when I was racing for the end cover of the Hewland transaxle. The consistency was not confidence inspiring for me, but it did work. We changed gear ratios pretty often it it was easy to clean and sealed well. I have a new tube and have started using it again. I may be redoing my oil pan gasket sooner rather than later so I might use it there or I might use some Permatex that is supposed to be specially formulated for synthetic oils.

[cwtech]

I figured I would get some of the grime and Chevy orange off
my transaxle....CW, what kind of paint did use? It's a bugger to get off everything!

Chevy Orange Plastikote Engine Enamel

After 40+ years, it proves its durability!

[TurboFource]

Today....

Cartridge water pump assembled and installed.

Oil pump cleaned, reassembled etc. ready to install.

[cwtech]

I don't remember if I told you that the oil pump was modified with a spacer plate to accommodate longer gears (Triumph?) to increase volume.

[BDA]

Re: head gaskets,

I just talked to my engine builder buddy and he said if you use a Cometic head gasket, you should not use any other sealer. The gasket is coated with something that liquifies and seals the oil and water passages. Using other sealants mess with that. This is counter to my suggestion earlier (elsewhere?) that adding head gasket sealant wouldn't hurt.

Just passing along what a person I trust told me.

[TurboFource]

CW , you told me and I noticed when taking it apart

Thanks BDA

[TurboFource]

Some minor assembly today, valves lapped.

I like the way someone used cable ties to mark plug wires on distributor I bought awhile back.

[jbcollier]

Valve lapping lightly with grinding paste is a way of checking valve seat width, position, and concentricity.  It is NOT a way to fit valves to seats where both actually need machining.  Most modern machinists do not lap valves and check seat width with bluing only.

[TurboFource]

This was all rebuilt 5400 miles ago, just freshening things up.
The valves are new, wanted to do a quick check to be sure they match the seats.

[BDA]

When I was racing, I was taught to be very respectful of the valve and seat grind. I think that’s good advice. At one point, for reasons I don’t remember now, I was concerned about the quality of the seal of some of the valves in my racing head. An engine builder I trusted cautioned me not to use anything grittier than toothpaste on my valves and seats.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago when I was adjusting the valves on my BDA. Without going into why (and in case you might remember the writeup I did on it, I didn’t include this part) I took my head to the engine builder (Dennis) for a very successful IMSA team (they won their class at the Daytona 24 Hour four or five times - that successful) to use his trick table top valve spring compressor. He suggested that I lap the valves before I reinstalled them. I mentioned the machinist from long ago and his toothpaste idea. Dennis made a joke about the brand of toothpaste he must have used and gave me a quick lesson in lapping valve (using fine grit paste). I can’t say I was completely comfortable with it (old lessons die hard I guess) but I trusted Dennis and I knew he’d probably forgotten more than I’ll ever know about building motors so I did as he instructed.

After reassembling the motor I did a leak down test. All my cylinders were above 92% which was a big improvement over my previous leak down test.

I don’t in any way dispute what any machinist or engine builder says. I’m confident that any good engine builder knows much more than I. I’m only saying what I’d been told to do and how it worked out for me.

[jbcollier]

 A light lapping in is one thing, more than a few passes is not good.