I ordered a new oil pan gasket and got ready for a dirty job. Fortunately, the pan on Sunbeams is not blocked by any suspension parts and is
therefore easy to remove.
The good news is that the inside of the oil pan was very clean, evidence that the engine was well maintained. Recall in the previous post that the valve train was also clean.
The bad news is that, with the oil pan removed, I could look into the engine from the bottom. I couldn’t see any problems with the crankshaft or connecting rods, but I could see that a grove had been worn into the camshaft near the front of the engine (sorry, no pictures). Was this the cause of the valve problems? I thought so.
I was beginning to think that I needed engine work. The low relative compression in cylinder #2 and the grove in the camshaft suggested I needed
to address the valves. In addition, compression in the “good” cylinders was only 150 psi, compared with the target 180 psi figure in the workshop manual. It is possible
that my compression gauge in inaccurate, but I decided it prudent to consider my options. At a minimum, I would want to address the valves.
Looking at the catalogs from the two main Sunbeam parts suppliers, I quickly learned that new camshafts were no longer available.
Several Sunbeam internet forum posts mentioned a company that repairs camshafts and rebuilds valve rocker assemblies (above). This could be an option to address valve noise and low compression in cylinder #2. Would I need a full cylinder head repair in addition? The car did come with a file of receipts, one of which was for a valve job. Had that been a poor repair?
And what about the low compression in cylinders 1, 3, and 4? If my compression gauge was accurate, would, new pistons and rings be needed? Pistons alone are more that $100 each. I needed to rethink my plan.
Sunbeam 