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Fw: TC race cam troubles

To: "MG T List" <mg-t@autox.team.net>
Subject: Fw: TC race cam troubles
From: "Bob and Carolyn Grunau" <cgrunau@pathcom.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 14:21:08 -0500
I am forwarding this message in the hope some TD/TF owners can shed some
light on my problem. Apologies to those that have already received this
earlier.
Thanks for any input, advise etc.
Bob Grunau

> 
> I built a TC race car out of spare parts and ran it at two events in 1998
> with a stock TF 1500 engine.  I then built an expensive 1500 XPEG race
> engine for the car and hoped to run it at Watkins Glen. The race engine
ran
> fine initially, oil pressure 70 psi hot , water temperature 75 C., lots
of
> power for 45 minutes running on the highway ( the car is road licenced). 
> Then suddenly the cam gear driving the oil pump failed and I was left
with
> no oil pressure in the middle of nowhere.  I shut off as the oil pressure
> was falling.
> So I re-installed the stock TF 1500 engine for the Glen.
> Inspecting the race engine I find everything OK except for stripped oil
> pump drive gear on the camshaft and the oil pump shaft gear
> damaged/stripped.
> I am trying to determine why I had this failure. I am using a new Phoenix
> crank and rods. Rod side clearance on crank is 0.008", full floating rods
> with an oil squirt hole on the side away from the cam to lubricate the
> trust side of the piston bores, same as original rods.  
> The cam gears look like they may have been starved of oil. Discussions
with
> another TC racer at the Glen indicated this problem was not unique and an
> additional oil supply was required to the cam oil pump gear to make sure
it
> was lubricated. It appears that the present main lubrication for the oil
> pump drive gears ( and distributor drive ) comes from gravity oil flow
down
> the side cover from the rocker shaft. 
> Anybody else had this problem of failed oil pump drive gear? And how did
> you solve it? I can buy a new cam, but am afraid I may have the same
> failure.   
> 
> Speaking of a new race cam, any suggested magic grinds? I am considering
a
> new Crane T-4 cam. Any suggestions/help gratefully received.  
> 
> I don't want to bore the list with this trivia, so anyone with
constructive
> assistance please email me directly so we can talk. 
> Thanks for any help.
> Bob Grunau

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