Racingshoe Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 My 1900k has been with a specialist these past few weeks getting installed and ready to run. The engine was built a year ago, but has sat unused (we had a baby in the meantime) until now. I got a phone call last night to say that it had dropped a load of coolant out of the exhaust, which seems like HG failure to me. What would cause this on a brand new engine, and one with a Scholar block ? Bear in mind that this was an initial startup, so low revs...... Rik Robarts - bl**dy bright orange 1900k here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 maybe the head was ported through the water jacket or very close and then it burst through . did you also check the rings used on the Pistal pistons ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alicat Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Rik Bad news - you should be revising anyway 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racingshoe Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 Bad news indeed. I am revising at the moment ☹️, so car is up in Cheltenham. Have not had a chance to look at it yet. Really really getting fed up with the whole thing now. Almost at the point of digging a hole in the garden and burying the fecking thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave McCulloch Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Rik Stick with it. I sympathise having had to remove, strip and rebuild my 1900K due to oil ring issues before I'd ever even driven it. All I can say is it's absolutely definitely worth the aggro once you get it sorted. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Rik, I have seen this before, some of the steel head to block dowels supplied with the uprated head gaskets were too long thus not allowing the head to seat properly. If the head was porous it would only be a a very small weep of coolant . You have my sympathy. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racingshoe Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 Rob - I like your explanation as it is cheaper to fix than Dave J's 😬 Head will come off in the next day or two and we;ll see what gives. Any idea what the length of the steel dowels should be ? Rik Robarts - bl**dy bright orange 1900k here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted March 26, 2006 Leadership Team Share Posted March 26, 2006 Rik - try fitting the head without the gasket in place to check there is no gap? When compressed the HG is very thin. Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 just measure the depth of the dowel location holes and the length of the dowel itself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted March 26, 2006 Support Team Share Posted March 26, 2006 Rik - my 1900 did exactly the same and it turned out to be the steel dowels that came with the head gasket were too long. Luckily we had the plugs out to crank for oil pressure - you should have seen the coolant shoot out all over the walls of Dave Andrews' garage . When you strip it back down, make sure the head has not warped - we did that using a "guaranteed straight edge" that Dave had and I was lucky otherwise you will need the head skimmed again. I wonder if the fact that Scholar machine the top of the block means that the locating holes are not as deep. Add to that the fact that a lot of tuned engines will have skimmed heads means that the dowels are just too long. You will need to reduce the length of the dowels and also perhaps put a bit more of a chamfer on them - Dave did that for mine and the engine went back together with no issues. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 ISTR that one of the early 1900s popped an HG on the rollers - but with no damage IIRC as it was spotted in time. Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racingshoe Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 Good advice guys. Feeling a little better about it now as the problem appears to have a simple solution if the dowels are at fault....... one day i'll get my car working Rik Robarts - bl**dy bright orange 1900k here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Have you been able to confirm the rings that are in your engine ?. Its pointless starting it up if it has the original troublesome Pistal rings that were in circulation at the time you purchased the scholar block. If you start it and run it and have a problem with the rings you will then have to hone the block and increase your clearances etc and still fit new rings ☹️. a leak down test should diagnose the scource of the coolant loss Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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