Wanted cam followers

[PaulRM]

Anyone got a set of new cam followers for a Javelin/Jupiter engine ?

I'm in the process of an engine rebuild (with new camshaft), and JCS are out of stock.

Am loath to have old followers reground.

Thanks

[David Morris]

Hi Paul,

Must be difficult to find new ones, and I presume you need them for the later solid tappit camshaft?

If JCS are out of stock, you might try Bill Lock? I know he is running down his stock, but did have new camshafts made by his contacts in Europe and may have some followers left?

As for regrinding old followers, I would caution against this, unless you follow the reprofiling process by new hardening of the face surface. I doubt whether the original hardening is more thn 0.020" deep and would probably be lost in the regrinding operation?

All the best,

David

[PaulRM]

Hi David

Thanks for your reply. I've already tried Bill Lock - he doesn't have any. JCS has asked for quotes from manufacturers so the process will be not immediate. I might go for refacing, depending. Thing is, I rent space and allot time ( I'm free lance) for my classic car rebuilds - engine body repair etc, and thought I'd be able to do a total engine rebuild intermittently in about a month. Naively I thought cam followers wouldn't be an issue. These things always take longer I know, and patience is required.

[Forumadmin]

viewtopic.php?p=47719#p47719
Racing mini but requires custom made rods and a late block. So not a quick solution.

[David Morris]

Hi All,

An interesting video from Keith. It does also raise a question for PaulRM. Are you sure that your crankcase is truely a Series 3, especially with respect to the oil drillings for the tappets?

The early crankcases ( and quite a few marked 'Series 3' ) had the large oil holes for the tappets, which was a 'carry-over' from the early hydraulic tappets which needed a full oil supply. Putting later solid tappets into these crankcases results in an over-supply of oil.

Fortunately, you can easily check. With the tappets out, put your finger ( fat fingered folks may need to use the smallest one that you have! ) up the one of the holes in the crankcase drilled for the tappets. You will feel the oil hole. If it feels about 4mm in diameter, then your crankcase is suitable for the hydraulic tappets. If it's about 2mm in diameter or smaller, then you are OK for the solid tappets.

Do hope you locate some new tappets or get your old ones resurfaced and hardened?

All the best,

David

[PaulRM]

Hi David

It is indeed a series 3 block - and one of the last I would presume re: serial number - meaning it has the rubber seal under the liners. Like other owners perhaps, I'll be rebuilding an engine up now from two engines: the one in question and another slightly earlier series 3 engine that is actually in my car. This latter engine was not rebuilt well and suffers from vibration that reoccurs at various rpms (and it's not the propshaft). Dennis Sparrow rode in the car 4 years ago and confirmed poor balancing. Trying to remove clutch bolts on the engine in situ with a view to locating imbalance have proved fruitless, merely moving the imbalance in the rev range. Crank and flywheel and clutch will be making a trip to Vibration Free in Bicester. Pistons and conrods will also be weighed. The Javelin may be a noisy car, but it is supposed to be smooth. I have ridden in others that are much smoother.

[David Morris]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your post. Glad that you have a late engine, as Jowett's finally got on top of the liner sinkage problem with the 'O' rings on the liners. I always suspected that the engine in my car, DCB 246, was a late one with the 'O' ring seals, as it's engine munber was E3PE32071. Fortunately, I never had to strip it down in the 23 years that I had the car. The only problem over that time, engine-wise, was a burnt out valve and, of course, the leaking Rear Timing Cover, which, with the invaluable help from John Airey, we solved with the 'O' ring gasket conversion.

Yes, I believe you have isolated the source of the vibration by taking out one of the clutch bolts. It looks likely that you will need to balance the crankshaft and clutch, as you have mentioned. I believe Jowett's did this too. Certainly it was always recommended by Laystalls, who produced the late oval web crankshafts. I can remember taking my conrods into work from an earlier Javelin and carefully measuring their weights on a works chemical balance, that sat in a glass fronted case in the Standards Lab! I took any material that need to be removed from the web running across the bottom of the bearing cap.

I don't think even the later engines, with their stiffening ribs, were particularily rigid and it was remarkable that the engines varied a lot, one to another, as to smoothness and vibration. You will get two engines, that should be identical, with one as smooth as silk and the other as rough as a badger.

Here's hoping you end up with yours as the 'silk' version!

All the best,

David