TR2/3/3A Installing valve guide seals on 59 TR3

[JFeher]

Hello everybody.
I have my head at the machine shop and have had new valve guides installed. My machinist asked if there were valve guide seals to install. I haven't seen a listing in Moss or the shop manual. It doesn't look like they used seals. He said he can do the work to install seals that would fit. Has anyone had any experience with this? With the multiple valve springs would installing seals interfere?

Thanks,
John

 

[martx-5]

There are none. The valve guides are made to work without them. You're best off using the original style iron guides rather then the bronze. The bronze guides need more clearance or they could bind and cause a sticking valve. Look in the shop manual for proper clearance.

 

[TR3driver]

Seals will fit inside the double springs used on the intake valves. But my experiment with using seals (to compensate for badly worn guides and valves plus an external oil feed) ended in disaster. I don't plan to try that again.

As long as the system is stock and in reasonably good condition, the factory setup works fine without seals. There is a very small amount of oil that gets through the guides, but not enough to cause visible smoke, and it helps lubricate the valve stem. Seals are normally only needed if you've added the external oil feed that dumps way more oil than required into the rocker area.

FWIW, I once bought an old Ford that didn't run, for less than the tires were worth. Turned out that the valve seals had broken from old age, and the bits had clogged the oil pump pickup screen. Cleaned the pump, screen and rocker areas, replaced the sheared pin, and it ran for several more years before we gave it away, still running.

 

[JFeher]

Thanks. I wasn't aware of the difference between iron and bronze. I had the bronze guides installed from the Roadster factory. I'll have to talk to the machinist to verify the clearances.

 

[JFeher]

Thanks. I appreciate the advise. I finally found an earlier post on this subject. Unfortunatley a little late on the guides. This is my first experience with an old British engine.
Sometimes I end up learning the hard way.

 

[TR3driver]

The bronze guides need more clearance or they could bind and cause a sticking valve. Look in the shop manual for proper clearance.

Unfortunately, I don't think the bronze guide clearance is in the shop manuals. Might be in the later Kastner race preparation manuals, though. According to Ken at BFE, you should hone or ream the guides after installation to add about .002 to the intake clearance, and .0025 to .003 to the exhaust. (The standard clearance is built into the stem diameter, so the guides wind up being 5/16 + .002 and 3/8 + .0025.)

 

[JFeher]

Randall,
Thanks