compressor seal and barrell

replaced seal last janunary , but left the old barrell in as it was not badly marked, it all worked good till last night when she refused to rise, got t spanners out today and as i thought the seal had gone again but it really took the barrell out. why has this happened, and where s t best place to get a barrell and a seal. thanks

The cylinder is made from Dural, hard anodised. When the anodising wears through the cylinder deteriorates very rapidly. Best way to test a cylinder for anodic coat is to rub a little brasso into it and polish off, if any part of it appears polished (shiny) the anodising has worn away and the cylinder needs to be replaced. The cyinder walls should be dull grey in colour.
.

Pat,

As a short term fix you could try getting someone in an engineering shop to cut a lip onto the bottom of the barrel with a lathe and just turn it upside down. It would be a 10 minute job for the right person.

Why did it happen? On one of mine before, a piece of casting flash on the piston gouged the cylinder wall vertically, destroying the cylinder. I've since always made sure to file the piston edges smooth if I replace a seal. On another one, I misaligned the barrel slightly when I put it back together and it wore a horizontal gouge in the cylinder at the top of the piston stroke. At a guess I'd say this is what happened yours. If this is the case machining it and turning it upside down will work a treat.

You can get repair kits including cylinders from Rover Renovations Official Home Page. Dennis is a member here and a good guy all round, will post from the states quickly at reasonable rates.

Cormac

thanks wammers, i had lightly sanded mine before and in doing so removed the film, cormac its well passed the upside stage for sure, if i could put it on a lathe , i d have to cut t bottom out of a bucket to make a seal, even t bottom side of t piston is damaged but i ll file that, tell me what size allen key takes out t crank grub screw , i guess its imperial cos 3 is to small and 4 s too big, i ll check out rover renovations, have a few found on e bay but afraid they may t dodgy dutch ones, thanks

nan-ber said:

thanks wammers, i had lightly sanded mine before and in doing so removed the film, cormac its well passed the upside stage for sure, if i could put it on a lathe , i d have to cut t bottom out of a bucket to make a seal, even t bottom side of t piston is damaged but i ll file that, tell me what size allen key takes out t crank grub screw , i guess its imperial cos 3 is to small and 4 s too big, i ll check out rover renovations, have a few found on e bay but afraid they may t dodgy dutch ones, thanks

Click to expand...

1/8" Allen key. Make sure it's fully engaged and use steady pressure. Don't use a ball ended one.

thanks lads, just one more question, wheres the best place to get t parts, checked out rover renovations and they have a stainless liner, is this t way too go.

nan-ber said:

thanks lads, just one more question, wheres the best place to get t parts, checked out rover renovations and they have a stainless liner, is this t way too go.

Click to expand...

I've been trying to think of reasons not to but I can't. The aluminium will dissipate more heat than stainless but will also expand more when hot so its six of one half dozen of the other.

The aluminium may also have a low friction coating on it but like you I had a dutch 'uprated' seal go through one in a few months so at least you can be sure the stainless one wont go that way.

lost the battle spud, herself bought 2 day on ebay so that s that, tell me ,how do you make sure the barrell is lined correctly.