1929 WO BENTLEY

We currently have a lovely 4 1/2 litre WO Bentley in the workshop. 

Apparently it has had a number of piston seizures over a relatively short time since having had a new block fitted.  Ian has now stripped it down and found evidence of seizure on 3 pistons, with No 1 being particularly bad.  We are now in the middle of investigating the cause, but suspect overheating due to a number of factors.  More will be reported soon......

No 1 piston showing severe damage

Nos 2 and 3 pistons showing damage, but not as bad as No 1!

1952 Alvis TA21 - Engine rebuild

The engine parts for the TA21 are all back from the machine shop and Ian has been busy building the engine back up.  As with all our engine rebuilds, the engine is stripped and cleaned so that all parts can be thoroughly inspected.  Any new parts are ordered and any necessary machining is carried out including surfacing the head and block to ensure a nice, neat fit.  The components can be cleaned several times during the rebuild so that we don't get any foreign matter within the newly rebuilt engine.  The customer can decide the level of finish/detailing, too.  This can be no painting, just as the engine came out, hand painted block, etc, or spray painting.

This engine is being hand painted so that it looks nice and smart.  There is no need to go to the top extreme with this since the car is not concours, but a genuine used quality with nice patina.

Engine removed from car

Starting strip-down

Parts ready for cleaning and checking

Machining pistons to match weights

Gapping piston rings

Fitting pistons to conrods

Checking timing chain alignment

Setting TDC