stefan
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Post by stefan on May 9, 2010 7:29:31 GMT
good luck mate she should do fine
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kenr
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Post by kenr on May 9, 2010 22:06:31 GMT
Fair enough, although I am sure it'll all be good.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 14, 2010 12:17:24 GMT
Well, she's now abandoned at the test station, results should be in about 2:30. As I went to leave did a last-minute check of the electrics and found that her horns had packed up since Sunday! Frantic wobbling of the spade terminals seems to have cured them so now it's wait and smoke and smoke and smoke and wait and see for the next hour or so
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 14, 2010 14:16:29 GMT
Ouch:
Corrosion n/s/f inner wing
Corrosion o/s/r jacking point
Excessive play n/s/f top balljoint
Excessive play steering rack mountings
Excessive play steering shaft couplings
Parking brake below efficiency (24%)
Advise:
O/s/f slight play top balljoint
Centre brake pipe slightly corroded
Front inner suspension arm bushes deteriorated (both sides on tie bar)
And we're at a show over the weekend so guess I'll be busy the start of next week!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 14, 2010 14:42:54 GMT
Thought I'd found all the rot (and actually had it jacked up by that jacking point last week!), didn't spot the balljoint and knew about the steering play but it all adds up to about 1/2 inch at the (large) wheel rim so was on the to-do list because I didn't expect it to be a fail point at that.
Handbrake is a problem cos I did strip clean and adjust it all, including de-glazing the drums and pads (no sign of contamination) and including stripping and greasing the cables. So not too sure what else to do there except ask him to pull it harder!
Edited to add: the balljoint is now done - the excess play was a whole 15 thou vertical with no lateral movement. The workshop manual allows up to 10 thou - that could be why I missed it!
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on May 14, 2010 18:58:47 GMT
ouch better get the tools out. Wish me luck for Gladys MOT on monday
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 14, 2010 19:21:21 GMT
Already been out, but had to go away again cos we're showing at Henblas tomorrow. Failure balljoint is done, took longer to rig a replacement for the non-available gaiter than it did to re-shim the joint itself! Other side should only take about 30 minutes cos the gaiter's good. Plate is tacked in on the inner wing but I'm waiting for mig wire and just couldn't face arcing it all the way round. Handbrake is worked out thanks to a look at the handbook - the cable at the lever end is on a straight pivot rather than a quadrant so the extra couple of clicks that I like on the lever (cos it's easier to reach) take it over-centre and you lose leverage. Steering rack rubber mounts are on order, hopefully here Monday and the steering joints are easy to turn up new nylon bushes for. Might even adjust the play that he didn't mention out of the n/s inner balljoint on the rack while I'm at it, except that means making up more shims so depends how I'm feeling on the day. So, weather and welding wire permitting, should have her back in and passed by the middle of next week (current is valid till Thursday). Will probably make him happy bt doing the brake pipe while I'm at it, but that depends on what it looks like to work it down the side of the gearbox. By that time my new camshaft should be here (found a Spitfire one on EBay for £2.99 cos someone was taking forever to send one) so she'll be ripped apart again as soon as her MOT is done to sort that out. Old cars - not just transport, but a way of life
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 19, 2010 18:36:01 GMT
And she's through ;D Turned up at 1:30 for the retest I'd booked this morning and discovered that he'd put me in for 11:30 (the only slot he had for the next few days) Anyway, he asked if I could pop back at just after 5 as he was closing, which of course I could. She now has another 12 months of "I know the brakes, steering and lights are shot, Officer, but she's got an MOT so must be road legal"* Which is good cos it means I can get on with some of the fun "improvements" like the camshaft change and some electrical stuff without getting side-tracked by the boring and time-wasting road safety work! * For clarification, there is nothing at all wrong with her brakes, steering or lights but I've known so many people who seem to drive on the basis that "got MOT = roadworthy for the next year" that I sometimes feel like joining them
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on May 19, 2010 20:35:42 GMT
Well done that man!! I hope I'm not in that category? I know I get away with a lot at MOT time but as my friend always says 'If it's gonna kill you I'll fail it' and he's passed both my cars I feel quite comfortable with that! ;D ;D
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Bob Scrivens
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Post by Bob Scrivens on May 20, 2010 23:32:50 GMT
We done Joe, see you all at Lichfield then? or should I bring the fire lighters for the Red one!!! Where has the year gone!! nearly half way used.
Bob.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 21, 2010 10:33:00 GMT
Cheers guys She'll be at Lichfield provided (a) I don't blow her up changing the camshaft this afternoon (b) she runs ok with a Spitty 1500 camshaft (the Mk III one is meant to be good but couldn't get one of those) and (c) I don't pull the back end off her with the trailer on the way there. The red one can't be burned any more because Andrea has her licence now, so burning Isabel would put Sian back on (endless) taxi duty just when she's finally free of it As for where the year's gone - I think I've spent most of it so far under cars welding bits back on. Time flies when you're having fun ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 26, 2010 18:19:33 GMT
As mentioned in the "what sort of owner are you" thread, Sheila now has her new camshaft and seems to love it. She's quieter, smoother and has oodles more oomph so I treated her to her new 8 track player yesterday and a new driveshaft seal today. The 8-track is wired up to play through the existing stereo, which is plenty loud but doesn't quite preserve the 8-track magic sound quality so I may have to fit a pair of front door speakers and have it playing through those as well using its own proper germanium transistors. The oil seal seems to have hugely reduced the leakage on the n/s of the engine block, although there still seems to be some coming from somewhere (possibly fuel pump or distributor drive following the cam change). Still, she's no longer soaking her left donut in the first 1/2 mile so hopefully should get better life from the cheap imitation rubber in future! It was no-where near as bad as I expected to fit. Once the driveshaft was out (which I've got down to a fine, 20 minute art now) it was drift (screwdriver) and big hammer to remove and a length of 2 x 2 and the same big hammer to fit the new one. Simples. The only slightly nasty bit was the completely non-standard seal which I managed to track down a pair of (one for stock) at £8.50 each. A standard double lip seal in similar (but not quite right) size would have been about £1.20. Still, it's not something that's likely to need regular replacement so mustn't grumble! With that lot out the way, it leaves my tools free to attack Betty's less-than-amazing hand brake next, followed by a couple of bits on Isabel. I'm not the official groundcrew for her now that she's off in regular use but these were bits that I'd planned to finish before she went so it'd be mean to not do them
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jun 1, 2010 23:58:06 GMT
Well, after 16 months of ownership, it finally happened. In true Brit Classic style, I found myself stopped by the side of the road going nowhere Luckily, I was following Sian in Betty at the time so wasn't stranded in the middle of nowhere. The cause of this BritClass moment? When the fuel gauge has been saying completely empty for the last 20 miles or so, eventually the engine agrees with it. Oops
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jun 2, 2010 20:39:36 GMT
And happened again today Not petrol this time. I stopped in a layby on the A55 to check on a slight smell of oil. having satisfied myself that it wasn't a problem, went to start her and almost nothing. She was cranking but way too slow to fire. Her starter's been getting a little weak for the past 6 months or so and seems to have reached the "don't want to play" stage. So I let her cool for about 15 minutes and she was fine. Now have a starter overhaul kit on its way courtesy of EBay (they list them for tractors but I'm not fussy ) and will add it to the "get done before Lichfield" list!
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on Jun 2, 2010 20:59:29 GMT
unlucky ive been told now by other 1300 owners that mine is excessively noisy. Bruce even said that with proper maintenance and lubrication they can be quiet quiete
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jun 2, 2010 21:08:55 GMT
If the windings are good, all it takes is a thorough overhaul, new brushes and new bearings. Full parts kit is available on EBay for about £14 posted - search for Lucas M35G starter kit. It's listed for tractors and heralds but is all good Can be a bit of a pig getting the Bendix drive off & back on again though - that spring is specifically designed to kill things (like fingers) if you get it wrong! As for unlucky - nope, my own fault cos I've known it was on its way for the past 6 months or so. This was just pay-back for ignoring the problem!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jun 8, 2010 22:45:03 GMT
Got around to rebuilding the starter today and I'm impressed. Not sure I'll actually need petrol any more - just drive her round on the starter Was a bit of a git to do, mainly down to my little 25w electronics soldering iron not really being hot enough to solder girt big brush leads and one of the bushes being about 1/16th inch too long (it's a slightly different model on the FWDs cos it's at the front of the engine and spins backwards). But nothing a bit of gentle blow-toching and Dremelling couldn't sort. She also finally got a new fan belt, a little bit of ignition wiring tidying and a new length of fishtank air hose for the vacuum advance (routed properly this time ). She's now done just over 200 miles on her camshaft bodge without exploding, although she has got a little more tappety (though nowhere near like she was). I'm hoping that will settle down with a change to (correct) 20w/50 instead of the 15/40 I had available and resetting the tappets now the cam etc has had a chance to settle in. All I need now is to regain confidence in her before Lichfield
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jun 10, 2010 19:26:35 GMT
Sheila suffered big end failure today. Very suddenly and very clearly. I took her for a little run to the local hardware shop for some drill bits and, as I pulled up in their car-park, there was a nasty, heavy, rhythmic knocking from the bottom front end of her engine. I've heard it often enough before to know what that means and it was something I was dreading after her camshaft work because until the first oil change (due next week) any metal coming off the re-engineered shaft is going to be floating round her innards. So I guessed I'd lucked out She wasn't bad when the revs picked up (presumably the higher oil pressure) so I drove her the 4 miles home trying to keep her lightly loaded and away from idle. After I'd parked her upp and let her cool for a bit I popped the bonnet and turned her over gently by the starter ring to find it was slopping around. No fore - aft movement but a good 3/4 inch in either direction on the woodruff key before it tried to turn the crank! With a bit of wishful thinking, and ignoring the fact that the poor key must have had the crap hammered out of it, I stuck some rope down a bore and hammered the crank nut up as tight as I could get it. Noise gone! I've now wire-locked it to one of the pulley-to-starter-ring bolts which should keep it where it belongs! Apart from the obvious and slightly embarrassing lesson that I was the last person to disturb it, so no-one to blame but myself, the moral is that big ends do go bang but so can other stuff of a less terminal nature Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring! ;D
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on Jun 10, 2010 20:05:48 GMT
bet that made you swear like a trooper. Hope the repair holds and that the big ends aren't gone. Now stop making me jelous with these stories of 1300s that start!!
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Jun 10, 2010 20:10:40 GMT
Well done Joe, that's bush mechanics at their finest! ;D
At least she is running which is more than I can say for Gavina presently!!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jun 11, 2010 12:05:06 GMT
I was a trifle concerned, John (said in traditional British dead-pan stylee ) The more annoying bit is that, even though the cause was clear and definately my mistake in not hammering it up tight enough (there's a problem holding the crank still when you do it cos the book expects you to do it out on the bench ), little things like this are doing nothing to build confidence in the cam replacement and we've got a long-ish towing trip due in 3 weeks or so. I'll change the oil this afternoon and see if there's any serious metal in it - if not I'll breathe a little easier!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jun 11, 2010 19:20:41 GMT
The old girl's covered about 350 miles since the cam went back in so I dumped her oil earlier and things look reasonably hopeful. Having let it settle in the drain pan and then poured off most of it, the last 1/4 litre or so did have a slight metallic "glitter" to it but what metal was in it was too fine to feel. Given that the bearing in the block had picked up metal from the old cam, and the cam followers had also had a second "bedding in" period, a certain amount of metal was to be expected but there was no sign at all of any big nasty bits that I'd have expected if it was ripping itself apart on that journal. So, for now at least, I'm smiling
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jul 31, 2010 13:25:37 GMT
All you purists, please look away now - this morning I inadvertently pimped my Triumph :shock: It's only a small change, and it wasn't done for "styling" but she's gone a little chav round the lights. One of my low beams failed a couple of days ago so I ordered up a pair of the cheapest halogen replacements I could find. She now has "crystal" headlights: The only bit I'm not 100% happy with is the flatter lenses make her look a little bug-eyed from the side but I reckon I can live with that: They also include side-lights so, next time the originals decide to fall apart, a quick re-wire will keep her MOT legal In other news, we collected her new spare engine and gearbox yesterday It's been standing for about 20 years but still turns by hand so hopefully will be good with a set of rings / bearings and seals. Now have to go and work out how I get it off the trailer on my own and without an engine lift. It only weighs about 300 kg...... ;D
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stefan
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If it isn't broken fix it till it is
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Post by stefan on Jul 31, 2010 17:41:54 GMT
Weetabix should help
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jul 31, 2010 18:09:44 GMT
Not sure our local Tesco stock enough to cover it ;D All went well in the end - apart from almost crushing the tin-plate tailgate of next door's trailer as the weight moved towards the back. Luckily it was so tin-plate that it bent without creasing. That's Halford's / Erde quality for you
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stefan
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If it isn't broken fix it till it is
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Post by stefan on Jul 31, 2010 18:44:28 GMT
Yes they are a bit bean can with wheels those trailers
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on Jul 31, 2010 19:02:10 GMT
Might have to get a set of those lights for Bruce 7 inch sealed beams leave a lot to be desired! How much of a difference do they make and what sort of extra load is their on the system? Enough to need a generator to alternator upgrade or can the dynamo handle it?
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jul 31, 2010 19:50:30 GMT
The output actually isn't that much higher but the beam pattern is the more modern horizontal type. That makes them easier to adjust and nicer to live with on low beam but not much difference in high beam - there's only about 5w difference between sealed beams and halogens and ultimately it's the wattage that determines the light output with any incandescent bulb. The real advantage is that if one goes it's a £1.50 bulb from your local shop rather than a £10 sealed beam unit by special order! If the dynamo doesn't keep up then I'll take a hammer to it till it does. A dynamo that's working properly should be as good as an alternator in any normal use - look at Betty: original 6v dynamo system with a battery that's at least 4 years old, that's running all the neccesary stuff plus 65w halogen lights, a 40w stereo through an inefficient converter, a rear screen demister, and various USB charging things. And she still started every time through an unusually cold winter. Still not 100% sure about the new look but I expect I'll get used to it
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on Jul 31, 2010 20:12:43 GMT
What would you reckon to fitting spots tied in to the high beams then. I dont think they would look too out of place and for those of us that actually use our cars at night on country roads a bright main beam would be pleasant wouldn't you say?
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jul 31, 2010 20:39:54 GMT
Like this, you mean? I must admit, though, I've never had a problem with sealed beams - even round Devon lanes at night. Itr's just they're too hard to get hold of round here!
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