www.EnfoStuff.com

The flathead on my stock Anglia has been intermittently making some dreadful noises, I sometimes think it is going to scatter itself on the road. The funny thing is that the noise disappears before I can even get under the hood to investigate the cause. I had a suspicion of what it might be so I finally took the time to remove the cylinder head to find what I had been suspecting, the small hole on the piston edge tells the tale. The piston ring below breaks into bits and once in a while a piece of ring that's small enough works its way up to pop out on top of the piston where it momentarily gets pounded between the piston top and cylinder head before exiting out the exhaust.
I have a spare flathead engine that I had rebuilt about 10 years ago so I swapped it in, I also swapped the gearbox for one with stronger synchro rings. I thought I was going to have to remove the hood but I found if I used a steep angle on the chain hoist I could get the engine/gearbox assembly in without any trouble.
I decided to take the old engine apart, you can see the way the broken ring fragments have worked their way up through to the piston top, here are a few photos. I am happy to report that the new engine started easily and runs great.

Story of my lie, piston broke...
Gary in AZ

zephyrgary wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 1:12 pm Story of my lie, piston broke...
Gary in AZ

An oldie but goodie, for those that may not understand the translation is "pissed and broke" My old Prefect 100e did exactly the same thing about twenty years ago, must be a 100e trait?

That happens when the ring has too much play in the groove. Noticed, Brett, that the second groove has a ring spacer.

Also, to be clear, "pissed "as in Brit for drunk not American for angry.
Gary in AZ

peteleo wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 6:34 pm That happens when the ring has too much play in the groove. Noticed, Brett, that the second groove has a ring spacer.

I remember some of the ring sets I bought back in my Morris Minor days in the 70s would often come with a spacer for the top ring, the spacer was handy for spacing the top ring away from the worn ridge at the top of the bore. I get the feeling that the stock 100e piston and ring assemblies are not as good as the Hepolite replacements? I shouldn't complain though as the little flathead was nearing 70000 Miles.

zephyrgary wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 6:50 pm Also, to be clear, "pissed "as in Brit for drunk not American for angry.
Gary in AZ

Same for Canada.
https://www.jokebuddha.com/joke/Piston_Broke

70K is quit high for a 100E engine. Usually by 50K a rebuilt is needed about half the life of a 105E engine. Small dia pistons and long stroke cuts the lifespan a bit. We owned a couple of these, Anglia and Escort. Very reliable. Never overheated.

peteleo wrote: ↑Mon Sep 06, 2021 9:26 pm 70K is quit high for a 100E engine. Usually by 50K a rebuilt is needed about half the life of a 105E engine. Small dia pistons and long stroke cuts the lifespan a bit. We owned a couple of these, Anglia and Escort. Very reliable. Never overheated.

Mine could have been rebuilt before as I don't know the history before I bought it, the engine block does though carry the same numbers as the body ID plate so??

Agree it's a common phenomenon with the 100E engine. As Peteleo says, a small bore / long stroke gives high piston speeds, and they don't like being driven at a constant speed and constant throttle setting for the long periods that modern (and older American) roads allow; in Britain in the 1950s, even the major roads for which they were designed were full of twists and bends, meaning the driver was constantly accelerating and decelerating. The motorways came in 1958 and the 100E wasn't the only type to suffer. Strange, but the engines seem to still run quite well, even in this condition, and even with every top ring broken. It's when a second ring also breaks that they start to act up, and oil consumption of ten miles per pint isn't funny!

By the way, Pete, I have heard of these engines doing over 100,000 miles. I've never seen proof of this, but agree that 50,000 is more normal for an engine new from the Ford factory, but often less than that once they've had a rebuild by someone else.

Yes Jan, it is as you say, my engine was running great in between the rare moments when it was spitting out ring fragments. The annoyance now is that I will have to break in the new engine and it's difficult to drive that slow in my area.

Best of luck with the repairs! Post up an update whenever you can!

Joe O'dMoors wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:31 am Best of luck with the repairs! Post up an update whenever you can!

Not much going on these rainy days and I have been spending my energy on moving house.

Best of luck to you...
I just did the same! Exhausting but worth it.