Why is my engine falling out?

[Thread Bear]

Finally got to looking at the apparent failure of the top engine mounting on the other TZD.

[Thread Bear]

As you might see the engine is no longer level. The top mounting has seemed to have caved inwards to the point where the engine is leaning on the cam belt cover and the steel backing of the mounting box on the engine side. The car made it here on its delivery run in this condition with a shriek. This was the cam belt being pinched in the space left. Darned lucky it did not jump off or fail.

A brief look with a jack under the engine and the whole assembly seems not to be attached to anything but one bolt at the top back where an eye comes up to locate the plastic air inlet pipe to the intercooler. Not at all sure what is going on here. My XUD manual is packed for the move and without a diagram I am not really certain what might be missing. My guess is Mr Cam Belt fitter did not tighten up the bolts and this is a loose casting that should be bolted down. Might get to have a better look tomorrow as no appointments with builders etc etc.

[citronut]

in your first picy it looks like the single stud at the engine end of the mount top section is bent over,

i cant see if the other two nuts that attach to the engine are still in place,

regards malcolm

[Tinkley]

Is the bottom mount off the subframe in place? The rubber in that can fail and in combination with the top mount allow a lot of 'drop' at that end of the engine. The lower swivel would still allow the drop you have (if top mount has distorted/failed) but it is worth checking.

[themildbunch]

I've just found a spare top mount casting if you need it among some old parts... unlikely that it's bent though hard to see exactly from your pictures...

[Thread Bear]

As I suspected who ever put on the cambelt has failed to mount/tighten up the ali casting within the cam belt circuit and which the visible bridging ali top mount bolts down onto. Great own goal there. Not a huge problem to fix on its own but it has managed to produce a sprung loaded tensioner of some sort which fell out the floor on removing the covers which were holding pretty much everything together. I cannot see what that does or where it goes. Seems to be no image on the net to show how this fits together.

Contenting myself with removing botched up brakes meanwhile. Good grief what a mess of a pretty simple set up. Must be the same 'mechanical mate' as fixed the car for money. Better off stitching sacks in the nick!

[citronut]

the spring and plunger fit up into the bottom of the ali casting with the plunger resting against the cam belt tensioner,

great fun to re/insert

regards malcolm

[Thread Bear]

Would it help if I took the belt off? Doh. It would have to be something awkward. Anyway no further progress as yet as I had to help a mate move a TiCi. By god that is an ugly rarity!

[Mothman]

Whats a TICI?

Andy

[Kitch]

Gravity. That's why it's falling out.

The Earth's core is a bitch!

[Jaba]

Would it help if I took the belt off? Doh. It would have to be something awkward. Anyway no further progress as yet as I had to help a mate move a TiCi. By god that is an ugly rarity!

Yes you will not get it in with the belt on. The tensioner is there to give the correct tension to the belt before the tensioner pulley is fully tightened up. If the tensioner loose then you are very lucky that the belt did not slip a few teeth or just come off altogether.
The spring tensioner is a bit tricky to refit in situ, it can be done with difficulty.....Its best to look at the setup thoroughly first. The Haynes diesel manual gives a diagram of the setup in the changing the belt section.

Best of luck

[Thread Bear]

Whats a TICI?

Andy

It is a short wheel base Mini sourced kitcar from the 70's. Thus TiCi is pronounced 'Titchy'. Not to be confused with the Nomad or Stimson Mini Bug. Evidence suggests this particular car is an Ex Shawaddywaddy / Kodak promo car based out of the Durham Ox pub and venue, Leicester, where the two four piece bands that formed said Shawaddywaddy met and fused into an eight piece. However the marque enthusiast who owns three of the few remaining TiCi and who's cars come up on Google Image search seems to have a car answering this description, unless there were several. So shortly to became an expert on Shawaddywaddy, which is good reason not to buy the car in my book. (I prefer the harder non pop sounds of the Mick Green/Johnny Spence/Frank Farley version of The Pirates / Dr Feelgood / Wilko Johnson, bless him). Meanwhile the TiCi was found to behave like most Mini based shortened cars. Pretty unstable. It also had cramped legroom with seating similar to a Bond Bug, which it shares an overall commonality in styling. It was not a great success but at least these crazy things could be done in the freer times of the 70's.


Thanks for the info guys. I will have a look at it today but this is a car I was going to be parting with and since the cam belt has now been abused by the mounting's collapse it probably wants a new one. I think it might go as a scrap value salvageable TZD 1.7 Turbo Estate in Blue as I have not got time to fiddle about with it. Busy week ahead on Invalid Carriages, creation of space, removals, hosting three American nutcases and all the other crap of living, so we will see in about 10 days

[citsncycles]

You play with invalid carriages too? I assume these are powered ones?

I have 3 hand propelled ones in my collection, a 1951 Dingwall lever driven juvenile model with a 2 speed sliding dog clutch gear, a 1930's Ideale with a retro direct driven front wheel and an unknown maker hand cranked, rear steer model from the early 1900's. I also used to own an Argson (a lever driven version of the motorised one in the Science Museum Stores at Wroughton), but it was so rotten I scrapped it (so it must have been bad!)

[Thread Bear]

I know Stuart Cyphus of the Invalid Carriage Register well. In an odd co-incidence to your email I have him and American Ian Hellings, who probably has the largest collection of IC in the world, here this evening on their first call. It is he that is buying this collection being moved and looking to me to re-market the remaining unwanted cars to cover his costs. If I do so I get to keep an AC Acedes and a Thundersly Invacar Mk12 of my choice, after his. I am hoping it might be the MkB. I will then be going after the Harper I know about.
It would be a good time to come over if you want to meet these guys. Alternatively they might like to visit you and see your IC, ie they might ID your IC . If so it would probably have to be on Sunday as we have a pretty tight schedule otherwise. They will be here again on Friday evening, Sat afternoon, and in evening with my local buds which you can join in with, and all Sunday. After Sunday they are off to collect more IC in Germany which will be stored with a mutual friend there, and so to Mannheim Veterama.

[citsncycles]

Unfortunately my carriages are all in the barn down at Warminster, and I'm a little busy sorting the small matter of an MOT for Timex, otherwise I'd be glad to meet up and chat invalid carriages.