Well, the engine's out and mostly stripped. The major discovery was tappet #8
stuck in its sleeve and ground through by the camshaft! What a sight!
Naturally, the camshaft is a goner...that "lobe" is 1.33 mm lower than the
others. Curiously, I then examined the camshaft that came with the extra
engine and found that it too was worn at that rearmost point. Then I
remembered (it takes a while) that a few years ago I replaced the camshaft on
the TR6 because the rearmost lobe (lifter?) was badly worn. Is this a
congenital flaw in this engine series, due to inadequate oil flow maybe?
Anyway, I guess I need a new cam. Should I get a rebuilt one, a new one, or a
"hotter" one as advertised by Moss? Is there another option?
I've been reading Kastner's Competition Prep Manual and am intrigued. Or was
intrigued. I spoke to the machine shop today about shaving the head and
matching the ports. Very pricey and he didn't think it would be worth the
money.
What do you all think? Kastner writes as if the grinding and matching
operations could be done by hand; of that I am very skeptical. If I do shave
the head, that changes the rocker"geometry" , right?, meaning more machining
of the push rods.
Am I barking up the wrong tree? Since I've got the engine out, will pay to
rebuild the head, will install oversized pistons, and have to buy a new cam,
it makes sense to me to do what I can to boost the power.
Your comments and opinions are as always appreciated.
John
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