On 10th July, I refitted the engine that came with the Prefect some three and a half years ago, and which developed a piston fault after about 10,000 miles. It was fitted with new pistons, shells, thrusts, timing chain and a camshaft from a MkII Escort, which is similar to the 1500 GT one, and I fired it on the floor up last February, intending to fit it over Easter. It ran very well. The engine I put in then has now done over 70,000 miles, all bar 10,000 of them since fitting in the Prefect, and while it was giving no cause for concern, it probably has only about 15 – 29,000 miles left in it, and I didn’t want to have to do the transplant over a weekend while I needed the car for work.
This engine is now fully run in and going VERY well indeed! But I’ve just dismantled the engine I took out.
It was indeed running well and no horrors were found on dismantling; it’s now obvious that it would have done 20,000 miles plus with ease. The pistons, shells and thrusts are all excellent, so don’t believe all you hear about these engines being weak. Everyone who knows me will tell you that this one certainly hasn’t been pampered, but is still in very good order. Still, I’ll take the opportunity to ring and shell it, and look for a crossflow camshaft at the same time…
