Driving the TR7 to Gloucester one day it started to play up. It was a damp day and I set off with a slight fluffy misfire. I put this down to the damp weather but instead of clearing the misfire persisted and then got worse. When I noticed the distinctive smell of burnt oil I realised it was serious and stopped to investigate. There was fresh oil that seemed to have come from the dipstick hole and a bad misfire. Taking off the oil filler cap revealed a loud chuff - chuff - chuff sound. The conclusion was a possible gasket or maybe a boken ring or blown piston so I drove back home gently watching the oil pressure and water temp gauges.
Having had another look and ponder out came the engine and see what I found - a couple of broken rings.
I also found some evil looking sludge in the sump, maybe due to the oil cooler?
Decision time, do I repair the old engine or bring forward the Sprint conversion?
I didn't think too long before going for the Sprint option.
