Thread: Tatra V8 engine tear down project

Hello all, this is a start of a long project. I was looking for a small compact v8 engine for a project i have in mind and finally got myself a Tatra V8 engine. About 40cm in length and about 60cm wide all aluminum block, air cooled. 2.5 liter 100 HP. So after 4 months it has arrived and is complete. Have started to strip the motor down as you can see the distributor cap got smash up to pieces and the distributor got damage,so far can not see any other damage on the motor which is good as it was not pack into wooden shipping crate.

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Started to remove the left bank of cylinder heads, one of the cylinder had some crusty bits inside so far looks OK.
Making progress on the tear down, had issues with one of the nuts on the exhaust manifold, after a couple of hours trying to unscrew it i just cut the nut with my die grinder and split the nut. I found one of the piston wrist pin C clips on each end are broken off, have to find a way to get the remaining C clips out.
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Got the rest of the pistons and cylinders out and remove all the camshaft tappets and housings, found three of the tappets broken and the rest of the tappets the faces are heavily pitted. What would cause some of those tappets to break Over rev, lack of oil. Cam shaft looks OK Maybe a polish will do Then i found the timing chain tensioner spring was broken and a lot of slop in the chain and it has been rubbing on the boss were the distributor shaft fits into.
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I got the crank out looks OK but will take it to a machine shop for them to check it out, white metal crank shaft bearings.

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Started to clean the block, best i take it to a machine shop and have it hot tank.
Remove most of the studs from under the block and sides,front, then i notice this looks like JB weld it's at the bottom rear end of the block, clean a bit off with a wire wheel, looks like a crack but can not see it going right threw the block. I won't really know until i get the block clean at a machine shop.
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Whats parts availability like for those engines?

Finished making the metal fixture for the engine block and now can fit the block onto the engine stand. Got this idea from a chap in the UK who has rebuilt a couple of these engines, he has been helping me out with this project.
Now cleaning has began and will take a while before i can start measuring and ordering parts for the rebuild.

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Originally Posted by snapatap

Whats parts availability like for those engines?

There are parts available, all comes down what parts you need. I may need to buy used parts and have them refurbish.

I hope whatever you put this engine in is better looking than the car it came out of!
Good luck with the rebuild.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_603

Originally Posted by jack620

I hope whatever you put this engine in is better looking than the car it came out of!
Good luck with the rebuild.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_603

Thanks, yep will be something like this

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Are you going to keep it stock or improve (like electronic ignition) as you go?

Michael

I had a thought concerning that smashed dizzy cap. I would not expect there will be any spares waiting to be found in a disused European warehouse anywhere?

Given that a bunch of our blokes build and operate 3D printers can thry tell us is it conceivable that a replacement cap could be duplicated on said 3D printer.?

I suppose it is a matter of finding the correct filament material. I know the old time cap was likely to be bakelite, but surely there is some space age wonder material that could be used.

If there was enough left of the pieces could they be glued together to form the model to measure from?

Or is it a rush of excrement to the brain perhaps?

3D printer blokes, is it possible?

Or maybe go straight to electronic ignition.

Grahame

Originally Posted by Michael G

Are you going to keep it stock or improve (like electronic ignition) as you go?

Michael

I think i will go for the MSD DIS direct ignition kit https://www.holley.com/products/igni...ss/parts/60151 May have to modify the pickup sensor on front of the crank shaft as the distributor will be in the way of the motor cycle frame. Couple of videos of what this chap has done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cdVsfirEzQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV0o...ndex=22&t=229s

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

I had a thought concerning that smashed dizzy cap. I would not expect there will be any spares waiting to be found in a disused European warehouse anywhere?

Given that a bunch of our blokes build and operate 3D printers can thry tell us is it conceivable that a replacement cap could be duplicated on said 3D printer.?

I suppose it is a matter of finding the correct filament material. I know the old time cap was likely to be bakelite, but surely there is some space age wonder material that could be used.

If there was enough left of the pieces could they be glued together to form the model to measure from?

Or is it a rush of excrement to the brain perhaps?

3D printer blokes, is it possible?

Or maybe go straight to electronic ignition.

Grahame

I can get a replacement dizzy cap. I think i might go with distributor set up for engine break in procedure first and then switch to o electronic ignition.

The build you linked looks and sounds awesome. Looks a bit tricky to ride though.
Keep us posted. I will be following your build.
Do you have a base bike in mind?