Hi all!
I couldn't wait until tonight to get into the Spit engine, so I put off
the things I needed to do last night until tonight and tore into it. I
found:
1. A valve sitting in #3 piston cylinder, nicely bent at about a 25
degree angle
2. A gouge on the top of the piston about 1/2 inch long, 1/4 inch
across, and less than 1/16th inch deep, with another very small
"cosmetic" scrape near it.
3. No sign of scarring or scratching on the cylinder wall (whew!)
4. Water/antifreeze filling #3 cylinder (piston was about 3/4 of the way
up), and in the rest of the block (may have drained into the other areas
from that one cylinder)
I was so tired from the weekend and from the head removal (darn those
header bolts behind the carbs!) that I didn't really look at the head.
I'll do that tonight.
So, I have more questions:
Can the piston be salvaged and reused? It is an aluminum Venoli, and
the gouge is toward the center from the rim about an inch or so. The
only thing I am worried about is the gouge has a little lip of metal
built up on one side of it, and I would feel much better cutting it off
if I can reuse the piston since I don't want it breaking loose under
combustion and floating around the engine. I also don't know if the
stress put on the piston from this incident will weaken it in the
future, or create a fracture point or anything else bad.
The valves are stainless (105 3551 S stamped on shaft). Where is the
best place to get more of these and how much will they cost (gritting
teeth)? Should all of the valves be replaced, or just this one?
I have a good competition engine shop here to do the work, so I don't
have to worry about that. I will have the head magnafluxed before I
have them do anything (I am worried about the water problem, too, now).
I'm sorry to ask so many questions, but I REALLY REALLY appreciate
having your knowledge and experience available to me! I couldn't do
this anywhere near as well without you!!!! And congrats to all of you
guys running this past weekend! Wish I could have been there to watch!
Keep Triumphing,
Susan :)
PS -- The bent valve makes a good desk ornament... ;)
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