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Triumph TR6 - little smokey valves

Starting to get a little more smoke than I used to, Think it may be a little extra oil seeping down the intake guides. Spoke to one of the guys at Motorhead, a real nice guy by the way. He suggested I try and find some O rings for the guides. Has anyone come across these? In theory these can be installed without pulling the head and may help tighten up the head for a few more years.

Symptoms: some bluish/grey smoke not all the time, occassionally at startup and again occassionally starting up from a stop light. Good compression across the board. Enough smoke to be annoying to me and the guy behind me : )

Thanks Ian
Ian Kinaid

The O-ring trick will help. Think in terms of heat and fluid resistant material. If it were me, I'd think in terms of Viton. McMaster-Carr part number for a Viton O-ring with a .301 ID, .499 OD and .064 section is 9752K113. Just under $3 for a pack of 25.

Belaboring the obvious, it is imperative that the valves be held in place while the springs are removed for installation of the O-rings. Otherwise, you will be pulling the head. The rope down the plug hole works, search the archives for info. There are also adapters that allow you to use compressed air to hold the valves in place. That will work too, unless....

My sad tale of woe involves using the compressed air trick (using a small compressor with a small tank, hey what can go wrong) only to have the power go out. Air will bypass the rings and valves/guides on other cylinders to some degree. I was working on a tired motor trying to get a little more out of it for the rest of the season before yanking it out for a rebuild, so it passed better than on most. The power goes out, I'm at home alone in the garage (at least it was during the day and I had the garage door open), and I can hear the air escaping the engine and I have one unsupported valve. At least I had the forethought to do this one valve at a time. I quickly scramble to grab a small soft face clamp to place on the valve stem of the subject valve. Get back to the car with just enough time to get clamp on valve and avoid the dreaded valve sitting on piston syndrome. My recommendation if you elect to go the compressed air route is one valve at a time and keep a soft faced quick clamp handy as a precaution. That way you can minimize the changes of a fiasco.
SteveP

Thanks for just the info I needed. assume you meant .429 OD?
Ian Kinaid

Hey Ian, I've done the rope trick that Steve refers to.
The softer the rope the better, it bends easily and fills up the cavity better, but I found an easier way was to pull the spark plugs, insert something like a soft wooden dowel and crank the engine a turn or so till you know the piston is at the top then you can work on the valves without fear of them falling in.

Steve you just blow me away with the amount knowledge
you carry around on the tip of your tounge.
Christopher Trace

Ian
I did it with the Indian rope trick as well, I also bought a special tool to compress the springs which is basically a lever with a hook on the end and a fitting for the top of the springs. It took me about an hour and a half but I only did the inlets as that is where the oil is drawn down. I used MGB valve O ring seals not the later top hat ones which I think need a mod to the top of the valve guide.
Ron
R. Algie

Chris,

It's not so much a matter of having things at the tip of the tongue as it is one of knowing where one can find stuff. Many years of being the scrounger can pay off from time to time.

Now if I can just work on those typing skills...... what happened to me on the O-ring OD and what in the world are the "changes of a fiasco?" Chances, not changes.
Stevep

Can these O-rings be used with double valve springs?

Rick O.
Rick Orthen

This thread was discussed between 12/03/2005 and 14/03/2005

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