Hi Glort,
I have just been sitting back and thinking.... (A dangerous thing, it usually gets me into sh!t later!!!)
Maybe, just maybe, their production is not really consistently inconsistent... There is a VERY strong possibility that based on all the problems we on the forum have all had with sand in the innards to various degrees, that ALL if the India made engines have this problem.... There is also a very strong chance, that those who do not have the problems actually do have them, just unnoticed...
I take for example my own circumstance - TM1 was pressed into service almost immediately. He was given a cursory inspection and check over, no loose crap to any large degree was left lying around in his sump that I saw. He did have a bearing failure, butr that was directly attributable to a lube oil pipe sawing itself up and spitting itself straight into the big end, so not sand...
Now, TM1 has around 3k or so hours on him, the bulk of the work and pissing around has been on his upper section and IP side... Little done on the lower with the exception of the addition of an oil filter... When TM2 is in operation, I think I am going to do a full tear down of TM1 and go over him with a fine tooth comb (Hammer, chisel, descaler included...)
I am actually of the opinion, no, I am almost certain, that the sand I didn't see, or find previously, is actually there, just hidden away and inert...(at the moment)...
One would expect, after about a k hrs of running and more, that the crap would continue to show in the oil...Something I haven't seen when changing it.
I think that Mr Lister had a really good think about these beasts when he put pen to paper... I also think that his rather clever designs are of the ilk that they allow for the crap to settle out rather than recirculate as it would do in a more modern design... This allows for a way greater tolerance than we come to expect from modern manufacturing methods..
ie - Do you think it would be possible to run a modern engine after a top end seize? If so, for how long? Well let me give an indication: I have had lube mishaps on one car and 2 bikes in the past lots of years - one instance allowed me to get home before it died completely, the other 2 were totaled... Now, TM1 had an upper seize a couple of weeks back...Solid! I eventually got him turning over (I wont recount how, you guys would evict me from the forum) and after topping up the oil, he is still running...About 60hrs run time since the seize....Loads haven't changed...Oil hasn't been changed either....Interesting!!
It is certainly going to be entertaining to strip him down in the future for a rebuild.... I think that a lot of our clean out work is a little "over the top" for what is required... Granted, a clean engine internally is a great thing to have, it might live a little longer, who knows..... But.... Enough said!! (Let the flaming begin!!)
Keep on flaming....
Cheers
Ed
Edit: Just did a valve/rocker alignment job - Also trimmed the rocker shaft by 1/8" each side and made up some different shaft springs... Cut and thinned the heads of the rocker fixing shaft bolts down by 1/8" each as well... Made a heavy duty lifting bracket that can now be bolted onto the diagonal bolts on the head for lifting him, without having to piss around and take the rockers off each time to do it too.... Much easier and quicker. (Yes, I know the lifting eye looks a little flimsy, but my reckoning is that if it was ok on a 2 metric ton rated chain block, 800 to 1000kg of TM2 shouldn't be a problem!)...Pics here:
http://www.warriorpaintball.co.za/private/TM2 General Assy and Mods (Towards the end of the list, under today's date.)