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Hey Dave Russell .. got motor?

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I had a local shop do the boring, balancing, milling, hot tank, & cam bearings. I pretty much did everything else. Never have trusted anyone else to do the final fitting, dimension checking, & assembly.

You should have seen the circus getting the block into a tub of hot water to scrub it down with detergent. In the old days, I did a couple of blocks in the bath tub. Can't carry that much weight any longer, which my wife was very happy about.
D
 
Johnny said:
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thankyousign.gif for sharing Dave. Great job, super photo's. Sometimes I wish Donald were around to look at how far one can take his automobile's.
Do you plan on racing this car?
Click to expand...
Thanks John,
No I don't plan to officially race. There is always a bit of "back road" racing going on. Mainly, I just enjoy driving a good respossive car. This "was" the most gutless of my cars over the years & it just needed some help.
D
 
Dave russell,
Never saw that color on the innards of mine, and I've owned it for about 37 years!
You is lucky motor was in such good condition to begin with, mine was 60 over and needed taking out to 80 due to wear etc, hence the decision to put in sleeves to bring back to stock rather than risk wall failure!
Again nice work
 
zblu said:
Dave russell,
Never saw that color on the innards of mine, and I've owned it for about 37 years!
Again nice work
Click to expand...
My motor was original and had the same color. Eastwood sells glyptal by the quart. I highly reccomend it also. I think it also is in the transmission case.
 
Very nice Dave. 12 lb flywheel? Did I read that right? In a Hundred? When I pulled mine off my engine I was afraid if I dropped it I might crack the concrete floor! Must weight 30+ lbs. They can pull that much weight out? And it still idles down ok?

Dave
 
Yes, you read it right, 12 pounds. Originals were 40 some pounds. My old one had been "lightened" to 30. Not sure what you mean by "idles down". It idles very smoothly at 1,000 rpm, kind of uncertain at 600 rpm. Still takes off ok in second gear, with a 3.54 rear axle.
D
 
Dave,
Which vendor supplied your harmonic balancer? I am in the process of rebuilding my BT7 motor. There doesn't seem to be any problem with the original on my car - different than the later BJ8. But, should I switch out now while I am at it? Your thoughts?

Lin
1960 BT7 in restoration
1959 Bugeye
 
Hi Lin,
I said part of this above. Old folks like me sometimes repeat themselves.

My damper was made by ATI. The hub & pulley were machined to Denis Welch specs to adapt to the Healey crankshaft. The damper's O ring hardness was selected by DW to match the Healey's crank/engine vibration characteristics.

It is a "friction" type damper as opposed to the bonded rubber damper that was original on your car. With the friction type, the inner weight ring is free to rotate a bit, against O ring friction, to find it's optimum balance point. There is more info here:
https://www.atiperformanceproducts.com/products/dampers/101/index.htm

It is often recomended to replace the original stock bonded rubber damper at least with a new or rebuilt damper, when old, they frequently lose the the rubber bond & leave you with a loose ring rattling around on the crankshaft. BJ8's have the same type bonded rubber dampers. In my mind the friction type damper is superior to bonded rubber, viscous liquid, & various other "inventions", is rebuildable, & frightfully expensive, which may rule it out for your use.

I would at least replace your original damper with the same type.
D
 
Thanks, Dave. Sorry I missed the earlier reference.
Lin
 
how do you know what damper to buy from ATI that will fit a standard crank?
 
I don't think that you can. You could ask ATI. The damper & it's inner mount hub with pulley are two separate parts. I believe DWR buys the dampers from ATI & then makes an inner hub/pulley to fit the ATI damper assembly to the Healey crank snout.

The inner hub is nearly a press fit on the crankshaft & must be very precise. As is my experience with nearly all DWR parts, it required some careful hand fitting of keyways & keys to get things to fit.

When finally fitted, it does remove the high rpm vibration/crank flexing. In my opinion, necessary if you plan to run high rpm - but probably not worth the considerable cost if you plan to drive more conservatively. As noted previously, I raised the safe rpm limit from the original 4,800 rpm to 6,500 & the damper is very good insurance. The billet crankshaft, Carillo style rods, & lighter pistons were a necessity for this rpm increase.

As a note of interest, the new piston & rod assemblies each weigh 1.25 POUNDS less than the originals. This is a tremendous reduction of reciprocating weight.
D
 
Well Dave, I almost forgot to tell you how nice that engine be. But I bet you can't do a six cylinder one ?---Keoke--- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
 
Dave Russell said:
Thanks Keoke. I could try a six if you've got the dough. Do you think my kitchen table would hold it?
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Well I do not know if it will hold it or not Dave, but I will take it out tmorrow and ship it up there and we can see.-----Keoke-- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif

OPS! fore I forget whats the mailin address???
 
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