Gold seal engine
Discussion
Check this out https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-MAGNETTE-1958-1-5-PA... I think it has an original Gold seal recon engine. Ignore the overspray. 
there was very little special about agold seal engine, it was just paint on a reconditioned motor. That one as a poster earlier states looks like a coat of paint on the rocker box and little else.
i too would like to know which part has been restored. Maybe it's the hand stitched leather seats...
i too would like to know which part has been restored. Maybe it's the hand stitched leather seats...
and the whole engine was painted gold not just the cyl head,leads,and surrounding area 
Pics and further info about gold seal engines here: https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/be100a.htm
Skyedriver said:
there was very little special about agold seal engine, it was just paint on a reconditioned motor. That one as a poster earlier states looks like a coat of paint on the rocker box and little else.
i too would like to know which part has been restored. Maybe it's the hand stitched leather seats...
The deal with Gold Seal engines used to be that, despite being 'just' reconditioned engines, they were usually much better motors than the standard engine your BMC car got on the production line the first time round. The Gold Seal engines were built up in a dedicated facility (actually the former Riley works in Coventry) and the remanufacturing process meant that the engine was essentially 'blueprinted', with parts being ground, lapped or machined to the required tolerances individually, and with rotating or reciprocating parts checked, weighed and trued for balance.The testing equipment and QC operations at Gold Seal were much better than the engine lines at Longbridge or Cowley too. i too would like to know which part has been restored. Maybe it's the hand stitched leather seats...
This was far in excess of even the theoretical assembly and testing standards of the standard production line, and as the production problems at the main factories increased in the late 1960s/early 1970s not only did Gold Seals seem even better by comparison but the facilities were updated ahead of the main line - when Gold Seal became part of Unipart they installed equipment to check for hairline cracks in components with ultraviolet light and fitted new computerised measuring and balancing systems. Again, years before the Longbridge line received such equipment.
Therefore there is plenty of anecdotal evidence out there to suggest that Gold Seal units ran more smoothly, pulled better, used less fuel and lasted longer than many of the line-fitted engines they replaced. That was certainly the reputation and why 'Gold Seal Engine' became such a selling point in classified ads...and why so many people treated their knackered B-Series to a 'rebuild' courtesy of a rattle-can of gold paint. When Lotus was buying A-Series engines from BMC for the Seven they deliberately purchased Gold Seal engines rather than new units because not only were they cheaper but in Lotus' experience they were better engines.
There were also the Silver Seal engine, which was built to almost the same standards as Gold Seal but were made from mix-and-match parts - whereas an engine given the Gold Seal treatment had parts that were out-of-spec had them replaced by new components, a Silver Seal would have an in-spec part put aside from a previously-stripped engine fitted instead.
I didn't think for 1 minute that it was actually a gold seal engine... I was just amused that someone has painted the rocker cover and cylinder head extremely badly without even wiping any of the crud off presumably in an attempt to pass it off as one.
I notice they've given the SU dashpot a once over with silver spray as well. Maybe thats what he means by 'part restored' that and the beige emulsion paint job!
I notice they've given the SU dashpot a once over with silver spray as well. Maybe thats what he means by 'part restored' that and the beige emulsion paint job!
I served my time in a BL franchise back in the seventies and that is certainly not a goldseal engine.
Goldseal engines were remanufactured to a very high standard and the complete engine would be painted gold and a totally different gold from that, plus the didnt paint the oil filler cap gold as well.
I thought the supply of classics for restoration from Caihtness had run out years ago but probably with the advent of pre 1960 cars not needing MOTs a few more must have materialised out of sheds and bushes.
Goldseal engines were remanufactured to a very high standard and the complete engine would be painted gold and a totally different gold from that, plus the didnt paint the oil filler cap gold as well.
I thought the supply of classics for restoration from Caihtness had run out years ago but probably with the advent of pre 1960 cars not needing MOTs a few more must have materialised out of sheds and bushes.
CAPP0 said:
Gold Seal engines - there are a lot of us oldies here! I smiled as soon as I saw the thread title!
Indeed. Gold Seal - there's a memory.And just to support what has been said, I bought a Minivan with a (proper) Gold Seal engine way back in the day and it was an absolute flying machine - way quicker and smoother than any Mini I'd previously had. Its only limiting factor was valve-bounce at an indicated 90 leptons
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