AJP V8 Bearing Shells

[Bogsye]

Looking for thoughts please. I’m refreshing my engine and I’m going to fit new bearing shells.

The originals are regular copper with lead. They were looking a bit worn hence the change.

Looking around one of the part suppliers has aluminium shells available rather than the traditional copper and lead variants.

Any thoughts on whether it’s best to stick to original or move to the aluminium variants?


Thanks,
Brian

[ukkid35]

I have a thread here on this issue

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

And some more advice here

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

The Clevite big end bearings are available from RealSteel, but I'm still unsure where to source suitable mains

[Bogsye]

Thanks Paul - that’s handy.
The aluminium ones are King as far as I can see. I did find some useful info on the mechanical properties of lead vs aluminium however, it really didn’t take me much further forward.

Looking at your photos I’ve dodged a bullet also. Mine had some copper showing on the mains.

Next issue is getting piston rings at a reasonable cost. Seem to be stuck with a limited source for these.

Have managed to get the needle bearings per earlier suggestions.

Thanks again,
Brian

[Jhonno]

TVR Parts sell rings for ~£200 for a full set?

[Bogsye]

Sadly no stock to be had there.
Looking at other options at the moment.
Thanks,
Brian

[spitfire4v8]

You could to speak to dave at performance unlimited, it's where I got my piston rings from (total seal)

[Bogsye]

Thanks - just in the middle of speaking with him to see if he can sort some out.

Need to get the following down to him:-
Finished bore size
Each ring thickness
Radial depth of the grooves in the pistons

Hopefully get this sorted to allow assembly over the Christmas period.

[Jhonno]

4.2 is 88mm bore.

4.5 is 91mm bore.

[Jhonno]

Bogsye said:

Thanks - just in the middle of speaking with him to see if he can sort some out.

Need to get the following down to him:-
Finished bore size
Each ring thickness
Radial depth of the grooves in the pistons

Hopefully get this sorted to allow assembly over the Christmas period.

I got mine from Dave, it's not as complicated as it sounds. You will have to gap them though.

[TwinKam]

Or just bite the bullet and get them from Dom as I did (he was the only stockist when I needed mine). He'll know what to send you.

[Bogsye]

Thanks all - appreciated.
Spoke with Powers and they don’t have stock so the suggestion was to go direct to get them. TVR parts were also out of stock.

Hopefully measure up the gaps this evening and get the figures over to Dave.

It’ll be quite interesting gapping them, as I’d been reading up on all this before embarking on the overall task. I’ve ‘rebuilt’ engines before, but given the nature of this I thought it prudent to get a bit more into the detail.

[Bogsye]

spitfire4v8 said:

You could to speak to dave at performance unlimited, it's where I got my piston rings from (total seal)

That worked well - hopefully got a set of rings on the way for less than £200👍
Thanks

[Bogsye]

Result! The piston rings appeared today.

Just the assembly to do

[Bogsye]

Not made the progress I'd hoped for.

Test assembled the big end, and conrods to the crank while it wa son the bench. That was good.
Where I came unstuck was the main bearings - what was supposed to be for an early 4.2 wasn't. Originals have both shells with grooves and locating tabs offset. What I got had one shell grooved, the other plain and with a central locating tab.

Schoolboy error on my part for not checking on receipt. Anyway, TVR Parts will need to fix that.

Piston rings from Performance Unlimited appeared super promptly. Fitted these, but one of the second rings just didn't 'feel' right. After a bit of chat with Dave I put the offending ring on a flat surface and established it had a bit of an upward curve at the gap. I could get a 16thou feeler under it.
Obviously not Dave's fault - He has been very proactive and helping and solving this for me.

So, kind of still on the starting blocks with this one. Hoping to get the replacement parts this week and crack on.

I had visions of a near finished engine sat on my bench by the start of January..... Must be part of the enduring optimism that goes with TVR ownership

[TwinKam]

You have to buy two sets of RV8 Mains to reshell an AJP8. Cheap enough.

[Bogsye]

Ahh, that would seem logical!
Thanks

[Bogsye]

Well, on checking back, the TVR Parts site does indeed say "(2 Sets Required)"

So, on that basis, I am somewhat a victim of myself!

On the positive side, it's an easy fix

[classic105]

spitfire4v8 said:

You could to speak to dave at performance unlimited, it's where I got my piston rings from (total seal)

Hi,
Dûe to leaking head gaskets I'm in the process of engine refresh.
Do you remember what are the total seal piston rings réf number for a stock 4.5 pistons?
Many thanks
Best regards