TA 21 engine issue

I bought a 1951 TA21 last year. Had it shipped to the states. The garage had to work on her. Adjusted the valves, rebuilt the carbs, recored the radiator and so on. I drove her home 120 miles. The car drove great. Took her out the next day put about 60 or more miles on her. She was acting up. Took her back to the garage. They said blown head gasket, no compression in 4 and 5. They couldn't get to her till Oct. Took her to another garage. She started up fine, put her on the car dolly, she started fine at the garage. They backed her out to shuffle cars around. She was at idle, they heard a bang noise. The engine will not turn. They are taking out the engine. The car was driven much before I bought it. I got it from A1 Classic Cars in Scotland. I'm hoping I don't need a full engine rebuild. Any thoughts what might have happened? This is my first Alvis, picked her up at the docks Nov 27, 2016. She has done more miles on a car dolly than being driven. I just went through a engine rebuild on my 48 MK VI, that was painful cost wise, but she runs great now.   Thanks Don Posted by blue hen 22/08/2017 23:03:10

Don,Bad luck  Blown gasket, Not uncommon for gasket to blow between nos. 4&5  even on later cars, did the guys who did the initial work have the head off and if so was it retorqued after a run? Relatively easy/cheap fix but check head is still flat and block not eroded Re bang & seizure probably very bad, unlikely to be connected to the head gasket, most likely the drive between camshaft & dizzy/oil pump, there is a floating gear wheel which is retained by the dizzy and the oil pump, if the fitters had the dizzy out & did not replace correctly the gear will jump and strip itself and the cam , v expensive ,engine out etc.Other possibility is the lubrication of this gear drive is via a small pipe that feeds oil down from the rocker gear via no11. pushrod hole if this oil feed is compromised,(pipe blocked or not aiming oil down hole) , again the guys who worked on the valve gear may have bent it ,the drive will seize and  probably wreck itself, again new gear,new cam  engine out ,money, unless you are very lucky Finally was there plenty of oil in the sump, these cars can use/lose a lot of oil in 200miles  PS I vaguely remember your car when it was in Scotland it seemed to go ok  good luck Peter Posted by Peter Martin 23/08/2017 10:38:36

Hi Peter, they did take sump off and cleaned it. The first shop did not take head off, only adjusted the valves which was needed. The oil was good, oil pressure was good. The drive home, she ran great. The next day she ran fine on the way out then started acting up on the way home. The manifold into the down pipe started leaking, carb was dripping. The shop took the engine out or was working on taking it out yesterday. How are these blocks for cracks? Went through that with my Riley RMA, crack block.   How quickly would the camshaft/dizzy issue happen?   With the engine out, no matter what it is, any recommendation of things to do since it is out? Anything to do to the gear box while the engine out besides looking at the disc plate, throw out bearing?   Thanks Don Posted by blue hen 23/08/2017 23:35:22

Don  I'm not aware of specific  block cracking issues on 3litre engines other than frost ,suggest you consult the marque experts. The only issues I am aware of are tendency to blow head gasket between 4 &5 and they do silt up badly usually causing major local overheating. You need to mechanically remove this build up,a horrible sore  job.Flushing/chemicals are a waste of time. re the the dizzy drive, if either the dizzy or the oil pump are not located correctly the spur gear will float about and jam stripping both its teeth and the camshaft gear, the poor running may be to do with carb(s) overflowing or  the dizzy drive jumping about prior to failure and hence altering the timing/firing. Do check that the oil feed pipe to no11 pushrod hole is in situ and the small bore pipe is not blocked , no oil and the drive will seize.They could easily have bent it when setting the tappets Under no circumstances turn the engine over if you have the dizzy out unless you have also removed the floating gear wheel. You need to get hold of a copy of the Motor Trader Service Guide for the Alvis 3litre dated March 11 1953 ,it runs to 8 pages & is full of very useful stuff as is the 50th Anniversary  Collection by Colin Newby  & Mick Fletcher which contains the aforementioned  Yes check the clutch plate and provided the gear box isn't too noisy I would leave it alone, they are tough,do change the oil,both can be removed fairly easily from inside the car if something happens  in the future .  Good Luck Peter Posted by Peter Martin 24/08/2017 16:20:58

Hi Peter, thanks again for the info. I will pass it along to the shop. by the way, what is a dizzy? I had a English friend from Sheffield teaching me about engines before he died. He taught me everything in English, not American. He would send down to parts store for things, they wouldn't know what I was talking about. I never came across a dizzy.   Thanks Don Posted by blue hen 24/08/2017 22:59:17

Don oops Dizzy =Distributor I forgot to suggest the following  checks while the engine is out, you should have a look at the bearings, big end & mains, the part no is stamped on them and RT should have spares also the timing chain/tensioner and the oil pump are probably knackered=worn  Peter Posted by Peter Martin 25/08/2017 08:27:41

Hi Peter, thanks for the advice and will pass along to the shop. The shop works on mainly British cars, they have never seen a Alvis. They will be pulling the engine out this week. I had the last shop take out all the core plugs and they sprayed in the holes, but I do agree now that the engine is out, work on any other silt. I owned a Daimler before, their magazines talked about how silt got built up in their blocks.   I knew what knackered was, my friend was always knackered.   Thanks again. Posted by blue hen 26/08/2017 10:44:30

Hi Peter, went to see my engine yesterday. The exhaust valve seat gave way and tour up the piston. The block and head are at the machine shop now. Waiting for the parts list to order. Thanks for your help Don Posted by blue hen 29/09/2017 14:15:39

Don - where in the US are you, and have you been in contact with Wayne Brooks? Posted by johnlayzell 29/09/2017 16:05:12

I'm in Delaware, about 2 and half to 3 hours from Wayne. Yes I've spoken and email him. He knows of the shop working on my Alvis. They have been around since the early 70's working on English cars. Posted by blue hen 29/09/2017 22:12:44