Grego Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 I have a Ferret Mk2/3 that I bought last April with some known issues. After spending 6 months replacing all the tracta joint seals, rebuilding the brakes, and doing a plethora of maintenance that had been ignored for decades I finally had it up and running. After about a half hour of zooming around my neighborhood, just as I was in my driveway I heard an occasional banging noise with random repetition. Long story short, it looks like the #6 piston ingested some sort of chain link? I do not think this was due to my negligence, as to me it looks like whatever this part is, was imbedded into the piston for a while, and only after getting the ferret running and up to temp and under load did it work itself free and finish off the piston. I say this because you can see that the cracked edges are carbon fowled, and where it was imbedded is new and shiny. The old B60 was probably running with this busted piston for a while.Now the previous owner bought this Ferret and it sat for about 15 years. I never found the part as I was thinking it was oil starvation at first when stripping the block, so it may have hit the floor and became lost forever. Anyway I'm glad to report that after many months I have rebuilt the B60, and it fired up with no issues. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grego Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 PXL_20230512_203642371~2 (1).mp4 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxy Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 1971 - my apprentice managed to drop a carburettor screw down the throat of his Fiat 500D , he just carried on , it must have become embedded on piston or chamber to no adverse effect ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grego Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 I'm just still wondering what was the chain link thing that did all the damage was in the first place. For the life of me I don't recognize it as any Ferret part. I will say this was my first full engine rebuild I've done in my life. Pretty straightforward, but the one thing that had me scratching my head was the rear main bearing cap seals for the crank are well, wood. White pine to be exact. I guess it makes sense as they will swell when exposed to oil. Brass, cork, wood, and unfortunately asbestos were all the rave back in the 1950's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7VHU Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) Bearing cap seal would usually be cork : ) with that style of IOE engine, not much room above the piston. A clip of some sorts? How was the head? glad the bits stayed inside! I remember a story about a TA Leyland Sherpa minibus running on 3 cylinders…. Stalled and was tow started. Piston and con rod in the sump! peter Edited June 8, 2023 by 7VHU Can’t spell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grego Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) The head was slightly dinged up, but nothing horrible. The side wall was scuffed up as you would think. I ended up having the cylinders overbored and new oversized pistons installed. Edited June 8, 2023 by Grego Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 we should hook up some time when I go to NJ this summer, I am breaking a Ferret FYI I have some bits around as spares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grego Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 Sure. I'm outside of Boston, so it's a bit of a drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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