On a recent run my engine started to make a top end rattle very like a worn tappet. When I was building my engine (2.1 litre Pinto) Brian Gadd warned me about the delicate Kent camshaft that I had fitted. I wondered if my camshaft had worn itself out. I checked the clearances and they were all within .01mm and the lobes were smooth and unmarked. I put it back together and ran it. The rattle was still there. Drat!
I then thought that maybe one of the lightweight 2.8 (Cologne) V6 pistons, that are fitted in my 2.1 pinto, had a broken ring or run a little end - the noise was similar! I started on the task of removing the cylinder head. I got as far as the exhaust manifold and EUREKA. Two of the four exhaust gaskets had tiny burnt out areas with the other two well on their way. The pulsing, escaping exhaust was squeezing past whatever reained of the metallic gasket and making a very short tuneful note in a similar way to that of an harmonica (face piano).
I'll get four new gaskets on Monday and be on the road again. Yippee £5 versus £200 for a cam.
Ah! the pleasures of a 22 year old Berli.....
I then thought that maybe one of the lightweight 2.8 (Cologne) V6 pistons, that are fitted in my 2.1 pinto, had a broken ring or run a little end - the noise was similar! I started on the task of removing the cylinder head. I got as far as the exhaust manifold and EUREKA. Two of the four exhaust gaskets had tiny burnt out areas with the other two well on their way. The pulsing, escaping exhaust was squeezing past whatever reained of the metallic gasket and making a very short tuneful note in a similar way to that of an harmonica (face piano).
I'll get four new gaskets on Monday and be on the road again. Yippee £5 versus £200 for a cam.
Ah! the pleasures of a 22 year old Berli.....
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