I rebuilt the engine for my 1958 TR3A in 1988 during my restoration from
1987 to 1990. It had 80,300 miles on it from new. I decided I'd run an
experiment. I would drive it on un-leaded fuel till I needed to put in
valve seat inserts.
I use my TR for normal touring, sometimes for long trips and at high speed
on major roads. I drove 40,000 miles on my rebuilt head with un-leaded
high-octane pump fuel and no additives. Some of the valves were still the
original ones. Starting about 35,000 miles after the re-build, I noticed
that I needed to re-gap my exhaust valves more frequently. At 40,000 miles,
the gaps for the exhaust valves had dropped from 0.012" down to 0.002" in
only 2,000 miles. Then I had to re-gap them every 1,000 miles. So, in
2000, with 43,000 miles on the head since 1990, I decided to have valve seat
inserts installed. Some of the valves were razor sharp around the edges. The
seats had recessed upwards (valve seat recession) about 1/32" into the cast
iron head. It was time.
I bought 8 new valves and 8 new valve guides. I had an engine re-build shop
do the work. I had him put the inserts in the head for the 4 exhaust valves.
Since 2000 when I had this done, I've driven 59 ,000 touring miles and even
though I check the valve gaps every 5,000 miles, I've only had to adjust two
or three gaps a few times. Each time, it's been a different valve. And
this is only a few thou when I have to do it. So it was a really a good
decision to have them done.
Don Elliott, Original Owner, 1958 TR3A, Montreal
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah, I never have had a problem either. I've had more than a few heads
> done
> with hardened seats, but that's because I was doing work on them. My
> vincent
> still has the original seats, and so do my BSA's --no sign of problems.
> On Feb 13, 2010, at 5:29 PM, Mark Eginton wrote:
>
>> As an old car buff for too many years, I can't say I have ever lost a
>> valve
> to unleaded gas. From flatheads through muscle cars including vintage
> motorcycles and 40 years of driving this Triumph. I thought I would be
> safe on
> this engine and go ahead and do the valve seats when an old machinist I
> like
> to use told me its all a myth and that he has never seen valve seat damage
> either. "I'll be glad to take you money..."
>>
>> Just thought I would ping the list before closing on this decision.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> M
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
>>
>> Suggested annual donation $12.96
>>
>> You are subscribed as billb@bnj.com
>>
>> http://www.fot-racing.com
>>
>>
>> Fot@autox.team.net
>> http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/fot
>>
>> Brought to you by Team.Net consulting - Unix software specialist.
> _______________________________________________
>
> Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
>
> Suggested annual donation $12.96
>
> You are subscribed as 58tr3a@videotron.ca
>
> http://www.fot-racing.com
>
>
> Fot@autox.team.net
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/fot
>
> Brought to you by Team.Net consulting - Unix software specialist.
_______________________________________________
Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
Suggested annual donation $12.96
http://www.fot-racing.com
Fot@autox.team.net
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/fot
Brought to you by Team.Net consulting - Unix software specialist.
|