Talk:Sunbeam 350HP

Damage
I'm very curious about the "extensive damage sustained in the 1990's". Couldn't we give more detail than that? Was there a flood? A fire? Vandals? Roof collapsed on top of it? Someone was driving it and crashed?.45Colt 00:13, 4 February 2015 (UTC)
 * We'll never know. Plebs like us don't get the full story and when someone stuffs up an exhibit, let alone a 'name' like this, everyone involved clams up.
 * What's known is that it was started up one day, and shortly afterwards there was an almighty bang. A piston (?) seized and it stuck a rod out through the side of the block. It hadn't been started (maybe even turned over) for "years" before this. No-one agrees on even that much - maybe 10 years, maybe 30 (probably 20, as there seems to be some tale that it was run in the '70s).
 * As to whose fault it was, then that's anyone's guess. After stripping the engine, it was supposedly filthy in there, with the usual pre-'70s engine's build-up of oxidised Castrol R. So should it have been attempted at all? Should it have been tried without stripping and cleaning first? Just what did they do to prep it before starting?  Was it a cold engine thrashed too soon?  Did it develop any oil pressure at all? Did they crank it cold for long enough with the ignition off? Was it the old fault of "Throw some Redex down the bores first, and when that's gone it all seizes"?
 * Me? If I have an engine that has sat that long without use, I'd have dropped the bearings first. It's not even hard to do on an engine of that vintage. Andy Dingley (talk) 00:51, 4 February 2015 (UTC)