My friend with a growing car collection (2 Minis, a TR4A IRS, the Bug and now a 1929 Model A of all things) brought the Bug over with a list....I had already done some work to it over in his shop in the caves, but I needed to get it on the lift for the next round. On the way over he heard something go ping and had to tie up a bar with a shoelace - turned out to be the connecting rod between the rear brakes that operates the hand brake. He bought this car fresh from an expensive restoration and it has promise but it will need a lot of work to be put right.
On the list for this one:
The doors don't fit right - I already found the issue here - someone only put 3 of the 6 hinge bolts in and used 6mm instead of 1/4-28's. I rethreaded the captive nuts and used the correct bolts and - funny - the doors fit fine now - they even open properly!
Install seatbelts - found a source for 3 pt retractables that are really nicely made. I got them installed then found one of the belts had a slight nick in the webbing, so they went back to the mfr and a new sent are headed my way.
Horn inop - found the issue here too - again more lousy workmanship - the dash isn't installed correctly so it broke the plastic steering shaft housing that holds the horn contact. New parts are here, but I have to figure out why the dash isn't fitting correctly. Found one end where the nut and bolt didn't even hit the hole in the dash to attach it to the body. Who knows what else I'll find here....
Em brake - had to find a 3/16" clevis pin that fell out of the linkage, that's also on it's way to me.
Install a wiper motor - but first I'll have to source one
Install battery retaining bracket - but first he needs a new battery
Oil leak - fixed, the oil pressure line to the gauge was loose - more poor workmanship
Install fresh air pipe - I'll have to cut it to fit and make a retaining bracket
Turn signal light on dash doesn't light - that's on him, I told him how to wire the signals and he didn't follow my instructions, so I get to redo that
Door seals come loose - some 3M weatherstrip adhesive should sort this.
Connect the breather hose from the valve cover to the aircleaner. all I need here is a fitting, I'm sure I can source that
Check all oil levels - trans, diff etc
Install new headlight trim rings
Fuel gauge inop - found a broken wire in the back - chances are good that's it
Check alignment - I'll let him do this
1st gear hard to engage when hot - dunno about this, may need a clutch or something in the hydraulics
Check battery and charging system - battery goes dead. Could need a new battery
Turn off heater - I need to show him the little spigot under the hood! :-)
Sticky headlight switch - maybe just some spray to fix this
Retorque head and adjust valves - he has parts rec'ts that show the engine was rebuilt, so this is just for maintenance sake.
Fine tune carb adjustment - idles too low when warm. I already rebuilt them, and sent them off to Joe Curto to have the shafts rebushed, now it's just final fettling.
Instruments - neither the tach or speedo worked, so he sent them off to Nisonger to get refurbished and I installed them - they both work now.
Not much, eh? It will be a nice car when done, tho with the stock 948 it's not exactly quick! ::)
Couple more pics....
The hinges on the left door, you can tell by the heads they're the wrong bolts, not too mention not quite enough of them. The bottom bolt is not even screwed in,
On the right side, there were two correct bolts, but the lower hinge wasn't really attached, two bolts were screwed in a few threads and that was it.
A couple pics of the engine compartment and my nicely rebuilt carbs with new, correct air filters.
Nice looking car.
I had a 61 Bugeye for two years. Balanced 1275, ribcase trans, front discs. Guy I bought it from was an electrical engineer, he had re-wired the whole car using 10 fuses. Very well balanced car that was very fun to drive quick.
Tonight I got the steering column straightened out - literally! the column didn't fit into the horn button surround. Turns out the bracket under the dash wasn't even attached! Got a new column surround installed, shimmed the column to be straight, but couldn't complete the job yet as the horn button won't stay in place. I's held by two little clips that have eaten out the plastic material of the center of the steering wheel - a little JB weld will fix that, then it's done.
That's a great looking car. I've always liked those bugeyes.
Were all these issues surprises or was the car bought knowing it needed the final sorting out you're giving it?
He bought the car with only a cursory lookover, the guy who put it together is probably the source of most of the "surprises" and poor workmanship. The car itself seems really solid, no rust issues, fresh paint and interior, engine rebuilt (although he may be in for a trans rebuild, it grunches in second and third pretty badly), new wiring harness and so on. So all the basics seem there - just a matter of putting everything back together correctly.
That's the tough part of course....trying to figure out why something doesn't work and then how to correct it.
Got the horn sorted - the connectors at the horn were trashed so I made new ones, then I had to find the wire under the dash to connect the new horn contact to.....took a while but I finally found it buried up in the harness. I can't get under this dash so I have to use a mirror and man is it hard to get your directions sorted when looking in a mirror! Actually, the hardest thing was to attach the horn contact surround, it's held with three small short screws from the backside of the dash and I spent over an hour trying to find the blind holes in the surround.
I also had to make a shim for under the retaining bracket so the column would sit square in the hole in the surround, otherwise the contact would not meet up with the ring,
Anyway, all I have to do now is put a little JB Weld on the steering wheel so the horn button will stay in place and that's done. The next thing I guess is to get the wiper motor installed and working....going to take some slight modifications as I don't think the motor he bought is actually from a Bugeye, but I think it will work once I get it all figured out.
While waiting for the JB Weld to cure on the steering wheel, I took a look at the heater/fresh air blower....there is supposed to be a large hose that runs down to the front and meets up with an opening in the grill, this hose is supposed to fit over a nozzle on the fresh air blower. When I took what remained of that nozzle off I found it had been cut off, the blower housing was cracked and broken but the fan itself worked.
Vicky Brits stocks the blower housing - an actual OEM Smith's part no less - so I picked one up and transferred all the bits over, the new one not only looks better but actually fits correctly as the old one had been "modified" and was being held on with black electrical tape, but I still need to either make or find anther nozzle. Fortunately I have a lot of contacts in the Sprite/Midget worlds and Clancy has a couple of Sprite bodies being used as planters at a local nursery and he said I could salvage anything off them I need - a friend who lives near where the bodies are entombed took a pic and sure enough, there's one left on one of the cars, so tomorrow I'll drive up to Lawrence and see if I can recover it...then all I'll need to do is clean and paint it and we're in business. Another job checked off the list.
BTW, not one nut or bolt that I've touched on this car has been tightened properly. Whoever put it together must not have used tools, just their fingertips.
First thought when I saw that pic was the princesses hair dryer from Spaceballs.
;D
Got a little more done tonight - got the cross rod clevis pin on the em brake back together, and the handbrake adjusted.
Got the battery hold down installed - had to go get some longer rods from Autozone.
Fixed the turn signal repeater light on the dash, it was just a bad ground.
Still trying to find a 1 1/2" rubber plug - there's a hole in the right side bulkhead where the steering column would go on a right drive car I need to close off. I'll bet Vicky Brits has it, I just can't find one in any of their catalogs, and now they're closed till Tuesday.
Still waiting for the JB Weld to cure on the steering wheel so I can grind it down to shape and size, it may take two applications to get it where I need it.
The fuel gauge is bad, he's going to send it off to Nisonger to get repaired.
Next I need to install the wiper motor...that will be a challenge as there's nothing there right now. He bought a motor but it's a little different, so I may have to modify it a bit....we'll see. I know I'm going to have to remove the drive cable, the retaining nut is on backwards.
The list is slowly getting whittled away......
wow that thing is bad a$$
It's a very clean, very straight Bug, and he loves driving it - which is hilarious to me as he's about 6'5" and his head is a good 3-4" over the top of the windscreen - it's looks almost like a Shriners car when he drives it!
Went to Lawrence to salvage a couple of parts out of a car being used as a planter - I got the nozzle I needed for the fresh air hose and a fuel gauge. Both parts were exactly what I needed for the Bugeye. I had to shorten the nozzle to about half it's length and remove the internal flap and a couple of brackets, then clean it up and give it a shot of good ol' Rusty O Liam.
I'll give it a couple of days to cure as I have to work tomorrow and Wed.
I bench tested the fuel gauge I took out of the planter and it works, so just to double check I tested the gauge out of the Bug the same way and it doesn't - nice to prove I was right. I installed the new old guage and will send the old one out to Nisonger to get repaired and refurbished, then either swap it out or just keep it in reserve- whichever he decides. It's only a 5 min swap out....
More Bugeye fun......
The new fuel gauge works!
However, the sending unit does not work, so I had to drain and pull the fuel tank as the sender is on top of the tank. Once I got it out I could see it was a new tank - which is good - but when I got the sending unit out I saw why it didn't work - it's made to go into the side of a tank, not the top! I don't understand how someone can do something like this, but the world is full of people....I'll leave it at that.
I got a new sender from Vicky Brits and installed it, then I made a new wire just because the old one was stiff and brittle and with a little help from Rose guiding the tube into the rubber seal on the rear of the body, it's back in again. ''I also noticed that when they did the body work they sand blasted it, unfortunately they didn't bother to paint the underside of the car - it's still bare metal! I'm negotiating with the owner on how to fix that - I suggested just using brush on POR - but I really don' want to do the job.
More Bug news......
Got the tank installed - boy was that a challenge - Bugeyes don't have a boot lid, the only way to reach the bolts that hold the tank in was to crawl in thru the interior - in order to do that I had to take the passenger seat back out. But I managed and poured the gas back in, the car started easily and the gauge moved up to just over 3/4. I'm calling that good. The owner will send the original gauge off to Nisonger to be repaired and it's a 5 min swap when it comes back.
Next challenge was the wipers...the car didn't have a wiper motor, and no one sells a new one but he found a refurbished one someplace (for a lot of money too!) and I did the install. I had to shorten the tube that connects the motor to the gearboxes, and pull the inner cable out and put it back 3 times before I got all the components back in the right order. Once in I wired it up and it moved about 10* and blew the fuse. Today I pulled the motor out and bench tested it and it ran fine. what the ?? so back in tonight and it does the exact same thing. Moves about 30* this time and blows the fuse. On a hunch I opened the cover and removed the auto park device.....Bingo - wipers work perfectly. somehow it was shorting out - why it didn't do it on the bench I have no idea, but it works now and he's a happy camper. So am I!
Still have a few chores left but it's getting there! Tomorrow with his permission I'm going to drive it out to a Triumph club meet and picnic - this is a good test as he was reporting issues with shifting into 1st gear when it was fully warmed up, and he claimed it wouldn't start without a jump when warmed up either. The generator is charging properly and the battery shows correct voltage - I don't have a way to load test it but if it does that to me tomorrow he may go get another battery. Could also be a tight freshly built engine, or even a bad starter although it looks like the starter is new. I also noticed it grunched pretty good into 2nd and 3rd, I can check that out a little further too. If it needs a tranny overhaul we'll buy one of the two I already rebuilt and put that in instead - it's a ribcase so it will be a better gearbox anyway. It should have a new clutch but who knows what I'll find......
Yet some more Bugeye stuff.....
Today I drove it across town as a shakedown run and learned a few things.....the brakes are awful, noisy and pull like crazy (4 wheel drums) don't know if the shoes are worn or just way out of adjustment.
There's a terrible knock or clunk in the right rear, I think it's a shock, either loose or a bad one. Makes the car handle weird too, so I'm betting on a shock.
The biggy - it drops a cylinder randomly.....I only just got back from my drive so I haven't checked anything yet while I wait for it to cool down again. I'm thinking it might have a weak fuel pump or possible the floats are set too low. I'll pull the plugs and see what they look like once it cools down, then run compression but I think it will turn out to be fuel related. When it goes from 4 to 3 cylinders it really gets your attention - especially on the highway, for all I know I could have been down to two cylinders at times. When it's hitting on all 4 it feels pretty comfortable at 65 or so.......
Check the rotor and cap for carbon trails as well - could be spark jumping in the cap?
Didn't feel like that, just felt like it dropped the cylinder.....but I will check it anyway before it leaves.
What a weird problem I'm curious to see what you find the float level sure seems plausible.
I guess it could be a lot of things I think I have only encountered random cylinder drops at cruise speed a few times and it was always something odd like a loose intake valve seat. Of course, that's after checking the obvious.
Pulled the plugs, retorqued the head and adjusted the valves, then ran compression....it wasn't what I expected but I guess it's all right - it's supposed to be a freshly rebuilt engine so it could be that it's just not broken in yet or this could be the low compression version of the engine.....100-120 was all it made.
The plugs were not as I expected either.....in the pic, the second from right in the first pic is not fouled, the ground tab is facing the camera. Now I'm wondering if the fuel pressure is too high?
Still many more things to check - timing, ignition components, fuel pressure, float levels, etc.
Found out the guy who rebuilt the engine used the 20 over low compression pistons. also, the battery was going dead, so I'll re-run the compression test with the new battery once it's installed.
I also found the fuel pump leaking lightly and fixed that, and I'll put a pressure gauge on it and see what it's putting out - could be as simple as too much pressure.....
I've also seen a bad coil cause this sort of running problems, especially when they get hot...and it was hot yesterday.
Found the clunk and the source of the weird feeling in the back when it went over bumps...the threads on the u-bolts are stripped. Vicky Brits wants $35 ea for new U-bolts!
Also found a few more "fun" things....for a car that was freshly restored, I sure am finding a lot of poor workmanship....
Besides the loose suspension bolts, I found the wire that supplies the electric fuel pump with no grommet where the wire comes thru the body, just bare sheet metal.
One of the brake adjusters is out of place and left these lovely grooves in the left rear drum. I kept hearing a strange noise on braking, now I know what it is.
Oh, and one of the shock links has no nut holding it on, must be thoroughly rusted in place cause it doesn't move when I drive.....
So, a new set of u-bolts, 4 new drums are on the way and I put a grommet in that hole, along with about 13 others in the front bulkhead that were similarly left bare.
I removed the left rear shock so I could repair the buggered threads on that end link that had no nut - now I know why it had no nut. I had to put it in the 20 ton press to get it out so I could grind the end of the link and get a die over the end.
Once I got it cleaned up I opened the little plug on top to find no oil in there, so I had grabbed a quart of shock oil from VB and topped it off.....the shock immediately felt normal again, so I re-installed it and the link. Now once I get the u-bolts in that should settle the back end down.
Sounds like some pita problems that shouldn't be there to begin with. Better you than me!
This car is like a multifaceted puzzle.
Or, more like a rock you turn over.
Yes, it has been a voyage of discovery..... ::)
Today's surprise, I discovered why the rear drum has two grooves in it, apparently this is a very common issue on Bugs, one of the shoes is supposed to have a notch in it that the adjuster locates to, in this case - no notches. I'm in the process of pulling all the other shoes off to see if ANY have the notch - it's possible they just mixed them all up and some will have notches on both shoes - but I think what happened is they bought the later style shoes which are not groovy at all.
I did get the u-bolts installed, so now I don't have to worry about losing the rear end on a bad bump!
Edit: no notches on the left, two notches on the right, just as I suspected. I'll reassemble them but he decided to replace all the drums, so I'll take the fronts apart too and see if they lucked into doing them right or not. New drums are supposed to be here Friday.
In the meantime I'll try and chase down the poor running issues......I bought a new Lucas Sport coil just in case.
Once I got the rears sorted I decided to pull the front wheels and have a look at them.....found one new brake drum!
He said he had notes that indicated that one of the drums wouldn't turn true, so apparently they replaced one.
He has 4 new drums heading my way so we'll just keep this one as a spare I guess.
I wonder if a different guy did the front end, cause unlike the rear everything in the front looks done properly, tight and lots of new hardware. The back looks like it was put together in a junkyard with leftover bits.
Today's Bug report:
Got the brakes all sorted, the right rear had the springs on the outside of the shoes, so I had to disassemble them and move them back to the inside. I went ahead and pulled the front drums off just to check but everything seems fine there, so I put them all together, adjusted everything including the handbrake - instead of a clevis pin they'd used a 1/4 bolt, but the nut's threads didn't match the bolt, so it was just jammed on a couple of threads! jeeze louise......
Next thing I found was the differential fill plug was only finger tight, no worries there as there was no fluid in it to leak out!
So the back end is pretty much done, the front end is pretty much done....guess I better check the transmission next, although it's towards the front of the car so it will probably be OK.
I also got the rubber rebound buffers installed up front.
I need to go drive it some more and bed the brakes in and readjust them, but with all 4 now contacting their respective drums correctly, I'm hoping for a substantial improvement in the braking - I think the handling will be leagues better too now that the back end is tied down and all the shocks are working the same.
Next up, find out why it was dropping a cylinder or two as I drove it on Sat.
Interesting stuff. I'm kinda surprised it hasn't had a disc brake conversion completed.
Haven't found a vendor for that yet - at least for the front - I did find one for the rear - $1500 for the kit!
We did talk about it briefly, but if I get the brakes working as designed they'll be fine for what he does with his cars - he's rarely driven more than 20-30 miles at a time and he's not keen to drive them on major highways, only on small backroads or in town.
Edit: Mania has the front kits for $1600 plus shipping!
One thing I am suggesting he do is convert the bonnet to front opening, first of all it's amazingly heavy to lift it from the front, 2nd, I have hit my head so many times I don't know what day it is anymore! The kit says it's all bolt on stuff and easily reversible if needed.
I woulda thought somebody was harvesting parts, such as front discs and 1275s, from junked old Midgets.
Well, pretty much done with the Bug for now....at least till I get it out for a drive tomorrow (it rained today) and see how it goes.
Replaced the coil with a good ol Lucas Sports coil, which meant I had to make up a new coil wire as this cap and coil have the screw in terminals and the Sport coil doesn't. Checked the points and they were good - I'll recommend he changes that out to a Pertronix or equivalent and gets rid of the points once and for all. The Sport coil is compatible with those too....the old coil I think was the original and it got really hot when I ran the car, hence the replacement.
I also installed a fuel pressure regulator as he's running an electric fuel pump and my pressure gauge only goes down to 10 (it's for fuel injection systems) so I don't know how much pressure the pump is making. At least this way it won't be flooding the carbs.
I installed one of those cute little breather filters as I could not find a fitting that will fit the hole in the air filter, instead I plugged those holes so it won't be sucking in dirt.
I did find one thing wrong, the vacuum line was off the carb fitting, I don't know if that could have caused the cylinder to drop out like it did - I doubt it - but it could account for some of the poor performance when it was running on all 4. Tomorrow's test drive will answer those questions too.....but I think it was down to a bad coil.
I still need to tidy up a few loose bits, and check the transmission oil, since the diff was basically dry I want to be sure the trans is OK too.
Bug report:
Took it for a long drive around the 'hood this morning - it's already 90* here so I didn't plan to stay out in it too long. The ride and drive are significantly improved, the car sits level now where it was drooping to the left before, it handles great and rides smoothly, no clunks or sudden jumping around like when I took it to the show last Saturday.
the brakes are significantly improved, the car doesn't stop on a dime like a modern car with power discs, but it doesn't pull funny and it stops OK now
The transmission also had virtually no oil in it, so I topped it off before I hit the road and now it shifts much better, much easier to get into gear (imagine that ::) )
The car ran very smoothly although it just feels like the timing is really retarded - it runs right up to redline easily enough but the exhaust coming off idle sounds wrong.....it's very hard to check the timing on one of these as the marks are on the bottom of the timing cover, and there's a nice crossmember right in the way - it really takes two people - one to hold the timing light and watch the marks and another to rev the motor.
That is it ran fine right up till I pulled into my driveway, then it started running like shit again....the way it drops a cylinder suddenly makes me thing electrical, not fuel. right up until then it's running perfectly smooth, then it just goes to hell. I barely got it back onto the lift in my garage.
The new brake drums arrived a bit ago so while I'm letting it cool off I'll go ahead and install those, then take another look. The distributor and everything in it look new, wires, cap, rotor all new. It's as if something gets hot and it drops a cylinder or two out....very frustrating.
New brake drums look really nice quality....he got these from Moss. Victoria British had them on sale for $20 each, but they said not only that they didn't have any, they had no idea when they'd get them or for that matter, they had no vendor listed to order them from.
Moss charged $14 ea for theirs and about $20 shipping, so 4 new drums delivered for less than VB wanted just for the drums plus they seem to be well made. Deal.
I'm going to throw a set of new firing pins in and see what it does, these don't look used up but considering how little the engine has run they don't look new either. I'm wondering if they might have been out of another engine or used ones he had lying about. It's odd because when you start it cold it runs very smoothly, it seems like it's only when it gets hot that it starts acting up.
These seat belts seem pretty comfortable to wear, they also give a tiny bit of security so you don't feel like you're going to be thrown out of the car if you get hit.....but like our tin can Minis, that's not a lot of protection either.
The car didn't want to start at all this morning......I'm starting to wonder if I might have a leaking headgasket - the only signs it's giving me are the cylinder drop out and the compression is a little low on the two middle cylinders. the ends were both 135lbs and the middle were 115-120. not horribly different, but enough?
The plugs all look the same and they look a lot better than the other day when I pulled them. I would love to take it for a blast down the highway so I could get a good read on the plugs but with it dropping a cylinder or two there's no way I'd trust it to get me home again.
I would hate to pull the head off with this bonnet in place, I've hit my head so many times on the damn thing and it would kill my back to be bent over that much, even on the lift.
Good luck with the starting problem.
The brake drums look nice, but I keep thinking they would look so much better painted.
Got the last little jobs done this morning, I finally fixed the little turn signal indictor light on the dash.....I knew it had a bad ground as I could clip a ground wire to the bulb holder and it would work. The dash itself has no ground wire per se, but many of the instrument holders do and the dash ground is made thru the instrument brackets. So I spent some time cleaning the rust off those contact points - to no avail. Next I took the bulb and holder out and cleaned as best I could the socket for the bulb holder. No joy. today I went all in and removed the socket and went after the rust on the dash where it screws in and cleaned the bulb socket too. Voila! It works!
I also used some trim adhesive to attach the piece of door trim that keeps coming loose at the top rear of the left door opening. I'm not sure this will hold tho as you rub against it pretty hard levering yourself up and out of the car. I may have to drill it and use a tiny screw or rivet.....we'll see.
That pretty much completes the list, other than the poor running thing and I still can't point to any particular thing as being the problem here. It's quite a bit cooler today so I'm going to go drive it after lunch.....I'm going to see if I can take the dash cam and record what it's doing. I don't know how long the internal battery will record and there's no power socket so we'll see if that works or not.
Bug Report:
Took the Bug out for a spin around the hood, about a 5 mile run, same as I did the other day when it started running like crap just as I pulled into my driveway.
Today it ran sweet as can be, about the only difference is the new set of spark plugs and I advanced the timing a little bit. It's still slow as molasses but I think that's down to a lack of HP, as it easily goes to redline in each gear (well, I didn't try in 4th) and runs smoothly enough on the way up.
So, I tried it again, same run. Still no issues!
Still has a clunk in the right rear over the right kind of bump, going to take another look at that before it goes, but.....I think I'm ready to send it home to it's owner - at last! It will be back for the original gas gauge to be installed once it's back from Nisonger's but hopefully he'll get to start driving it a bit and having fun with it.
I think I found the clunk, the front mounting bolt for the right rear shock was finger tight. I thought I'd tightened every bolt in the back of the car but somehow I missed this one. While I had it out I topped off the shock oil, it didn't feel like it was low as the left one did but it took quite a bit of oil. Gonna take it out for another test run, if it does OK I'm calling it good.
One last job, fit the trim ring around the left headlight, so far this thing has stymied me but I'm determined to figure out why it won't go on and fix it!
Edit: yep, that fixed the clunk in the back end, now it drives about as well as a new one ever did.
Another job well done. 77.gif
Here's the longer video - sorry about the wind noise - this was before I fixed the clunk in the right rear, at one point you can see I'm looking in the trunk to see if I left something loose back there. Where I mounted the camera on the back deck must be some fairly flimsy metal as the camera was bobbing around pretty good at times.
Nice videos Dave!
The car went home this evening and the owner had a big smile on his face. Of course he hasn't seen my bill yet.....
;D
I ran into the fellow who "put it together" today at Vicky Brits and I asked him what he got - he said it was a bare shell when he got it, so that means all the good and bad work was probably done by him. He's a friend so I didn't say anything......
Edit: I heard back from the owner last night, his shop is about 30 miles from me and he took the car across town as he does not want to drive it on the highway. He said it ran perfectly and drove like a new car, he's very happy with it now. Of course, when he drove it over here he never heard or felt the loose back end like I did......but no matter, if he's happy so am I. He said the top windshield frame is exactly in the center of his line of sight - like I said, he's so tall it looks like he's in a Shriner's car when he drives this thing, but he loves it cause it's so much fun, and the reactions you get from others is amazing - everyone smiles and waves.
The Bug is back.
It has a substantial oil leak that has splattered all over the right side of the engine compartment, the horn tends to beep whenever it feels like it, and I still need to get the left headlight ring installed. Other than that he says it runs great and he's having a blast driving it around.
I'll have more info tomorrow once I get a chance to look and see what's going on....
Distributor side? If it has an oil pressure gauge, I would look at its line first.
Manifold side? There are no any pressurized oil lines there, only the possible tappet chest covers and breather/gulp valve.
If it turns out to be the gulp valve, I have a "leftover" from the Moke project.
Thanks Michael. I haven't looked at it yet, but it's def on the right side, so I'm betting oil pressure gauge line.
Starting with the oil leak, I wiped off all the engine parts that were dripping wet, and started the engine - nothing dripping, nothing squirting........hmmmm. You can see in the first pic all the oil splatters that are all over the underside of the bonnet, there were pools of oil on some of the nooks and crannies. I imagine the fine mist is being thrown back by the fan, but the little pools of oil are interesting.
Next, I also noticed that it still has a substantial exhaust leak at the engine. The head pipe flange was cut and rewelded and I used some Walker exhaust sealer which seems to have worked, in the photo you can see the head pipe where it clamps to the manifold and there is no black soot where there was before, but the sound and the shadow on the underside of the hood show me that it's leaking at the manifold someplace. Today I bought a new manifold just in case the old one has a hairline crack - I got a mirror up there and it looks like it's all black with soot on the back side of the manifold toward the head. If it's not that, I'll have to cut and reweld the head pipe flange to match the manifold better.
The horn is also puzzling, it beeps when you are just sitting or moving the car, it's not the contacts or the wheel, so I'm guessing a grounded wire somewhere - as simple as this harness is I should be able to spot it, but so far it has eluded me. Worst case I can run a new ground wire from the horn to the dash connection and see if that eliminates it.
I got the refurbished fuel gauge installed, and the connector for the fresh air hose at the radiator, so all that's done - I did have to grind about 3/8" off the end of the nozzle to clear the bonnet. Still a few bits and bobs to do but the main ones are to find that oil leak and fix the exhaust leak. I did notice once before that the front crank seal was dripping slightly, I can't believe that's where all the oil is coming from as it's all down the right side, and little or none on the left.
So, I pulled the carbs off so I could get a better look at the flange between the manifold and the head pipe.....as the first pic shows it looks completely tidy....... but then look at the blow by that's all over the head, carb shield, intake manifold and so on - yet here's none of that on the exhaust manifold itself - it's completely clean!
Next I found that the exhaust manifold is actually for a Morris Minor, and the headpipe had the flange end cut off and the smaller MM end welded on.
So, we have ordered a proper 948 exhaust manifold and head pipe - which is a bit of a misnomer as it goes all the way to the back of the car where it hooks onto the muffler - from Moss Motors as the exhaust manifold I bought from Vicky Brits is listed as correct for the 948 and 1100, but the part number says it's for a 1275 and it's clearly different in both size and shape.....so it will go back.
That leaves the oil leak, I think it must be coming from the front crank seal, so I'll drain and remove the radiator and see about replacing the seal and then see what happens when I get the exhaust all buttoned up again when I get back from North Carolina.
First pic, headpipe to manifold. Next pics show the exhaust manifold, and the blowby on the side of the engine.
So this afternoon I pulled the radiator with the idea of removing the crank pulley and replacing the seal but once I had the rad out I could get my fingers behind the pulley and found it was dry - no oil at all. So, back to square one on the oil leak.
I did get a ton of mud out of the radiator, and when I get it running again I'm going to flush the block and heater core too, this thing turns fresh coolant brown as soon as you start it. I don't understand why as this is supposed to be a freshly rebuilt engine. I don't understand why it's full of rust and mud......
We ordered the new exhaust manifold and head pipe from Moss Motors, but I doubt it will get here in time as I'm leaving for West Carolina Tues morning.
One thing I'm not sure about, I can't see any indication that there is a gasket between the motor mount plate and the block. If somehow that got forgotten that could be the source of the oil leak......
put a little positive pressure in the crankcase and spray some soapy water around that plate and see if it bubbles. I use a shop vac just stick the hose on the outlet side and poke it in the oil fill no need to seal it as obviously you don't want too much pressure and push out a seal or gasket somewhere. Don't forget to clean out the vac and hose good before doing this. I have used an air blower on the compressor as well little harder to control the flow through.
found many hard to find leaks this way over the years.
For the Mudwater = i highly suggest Evaporust - Thermocure
I treated the 'moke' that sat for years with this = it took multiple flushes + heats + drives but the coolant is cleaner than ever now and is staying clean
Where do you get that stuff?
Does it give active ingredients?
Quote from: MiniDave on July 18, 2018, 02:35:24 PM
Where do you get that stuff?
Looks like Amazon has it. Doesn't mention the ingredients but says it is non-acidic, non toxic, and biodegradable.
How much did you use at a time?
Manufacturer's website says to use a quart of the product and fill the rest of the system with water.
OK, thanks Michael
Having a fun time with the exhaust leak.....the owner is willing to buy a new exhaust manifold if we could find one. Turns out there are two different ones used on the 948, early and late style. Late style manifolds are all over the place, early ones not so much, but since they use the same headpipe I'm not sure it matters - he has the later one on the car now but the engine number calls for the early style - and the problem could be the bastardized headpipe and that's all.
I gave the US version of Moss Motors the early part number from their UK site but they use a completely different numbering system. However the fellow said he could cross it over and bingo! they had one in stock - and only one. We ordered it. What came in was a set of headers!
So, now I either need to convince the owner to use the headers or use the new downpipe and old manifold we have and see if it all matches and seals up.
Worst case Moss UK shows a correct early manifold in stock. This one is OK except for a little corrosion where the headpipe meets the manifold and I think I can use some Walker sealer on that. He's bringing the header and new headpipe over this afternoon, so more as it happens.
Let us know how that works out. If need be, I can check thru my stash to see if what I removed my tired old 948 would work for you.
Well, he brought all the new parts over and right away I can see a difference in the headpipe, the flange is much deeper and the pipe is at a slightly diferent angle, it's also smaller in diameter - I'm thinking someone bought a 1275 pipe and modified it - it didn't work btw!
so now the decision came down to using the new header system - which he's not opposed to - go with the existing manifold with it's somewhat corroded end or see if we could find a correct exhaust manifold. I was sure just like Scargo, someone has one lying about from when they swapped out their 948 for a 1275 but have not had a lot of luck finding one. Moss UK shows the correct manifold in stock on their webpage, but when he called to order it he ws told the pic is wrong it's really a set of headers. However, they scrounged around and found a used one and sold it to him.
It arrived today.
The front part has quite a bit of pitting but the flange is in much better shape than the one that was on the car and it's the correct early style manifold so I'm going to see if I can grind out some of the pitting, then we're taking it to a local place that can ceramic coat it. Then I'll put it all back together again and see what happens. I'm talking to him about bringing it to the dyno day in October. We only have 3 slots left for that event, BTW.
The black manifold is the correct early style, the gold one is what was on the car.
Interesting that the bad (gold) one also has even deeper pitting on the same branch.
Edit:
Seeing the black one, it looks almost the same as the exhaust only portion of a small bore Mini manifold. The usual Mini one is conjoined with the the intake though and would require the intake portion be cut off.
I figure the front branch is most exposed to rain and dirt/debris being blown back by the fan.....that's my guess.
I ground the worst of the pitting off the front branch, I'm going to take it down to the coating place tomorrow and they will sandblast it, that should blend the work I did in.
It won't come back for about a week, then I'll see how it looks.
So the manifold came back looking great, and I've fitted it and the new headpipe to the car. This pipe lines up perfectly but even with a new clamp it does not draw up tight to the manifold. After studying it a bit I've decided the bell pressed into the pipe end is too big in diameter, and doesn't allow the clamp to draw in far enough to pull the two pieces together, the way it's supposed to. It's a cheezy cheap design IMHO, but it's what they used since new so it must work if I can get all the parts lined up right and to fit each other. Now I know what body guys are up against when trying to fit "pattern" parts instead of originals.
The old pipe had a much smaller bell on the end, but the pipe really didn't fit the car correctly and the two pieces never mated square, so it leaked exhaust like crazy.
The owner really likes the way the new manifold looks so I'm going to machine off the edge of the bell in the pipe and see if I can get it to fit and pull up tight. If I can't he says he'll take the manifold and pipe over to his shop and make a better clamp than this sheet metal pressing they used to use.
I think I solved the problem, I ground quite a bit of the edge of the bell off the new pipe, and now the clamp fits further around and draws the pipe up tight to the manifold. Result! as Edd would say......
Now I just need to reinstall everything and get it running and see if I can figure out where the damn oil is coming from. I'm also going to flush the heater core and block out thoroughly before I put the radiator back in, the amount of mud I got out of the radiator was amazing.
The inner diameter of the manifold and down pipe match up? Looks really tiny in comparison.
Yes, they do now. The pipe that was used before is larger in diameter, this one matches perfectly all the way back to the muffler where the other pipe was necked down where it goes into the muffler.
Quote from: MiniDave on August 10, 2018, 12:00:16 PM
I'm also going to flush the heater core and block out thoroughly before I put the radiator back in, the amount of mud I got out of the radiator
I purchased some of that flush mentioned earlier in this thread and I plan to use it for multiple flushes when I get my engine ancillaries back together. From what I've been seeing, users are getting progressively cleaner flushes each time. Seems the stuff has the chemical strength that keeps pulling rust out time after time.
I'm just gonna take the garden hose to it till it runs clear, then I'll put new coolant in and go from there.....
Got the exhaust all installed and cinched up. I think this is going to do the trick. I had to run up to Vicky Brits yet again as the pipe that was on the car was 1 1/2", and the new pipe was 1 1/4", so none of the clamps would fit. Anyway, that much is done...
I've decided the oil leak is coming from either the timing chain cover, or the motor mount plate right behind it. I bought all new gaskets and I'll tackle that next. I'm going to try and get it off in the car, if I can't then I'll have to pull the motor and trans. That's not that hard on these cars, except for getting the damn bonnet off...and then where the heck do I store it?
I may have found the source of the oil leak. All along I've known it was coming either from the bottom of the timing chain cover or the motor mount plate behind the timing cover, so today I tore into it. I didn't see anything really badly wrong, all gaskets were in place and so on until I went to reassemble it. The bottom of the timing cover gasket was oil soaked and the last bolt on the bottom of the timing cover would not tighten - of course I didn't find that till I was almost done. There was just enough room so I put a nut on the back and used a slightly longer bolt. Hope that was it!
I'll know for sure once I get it all assembled and running again.
That's where the pressure test I mentioned earlier could have come in handy soapy water and a small amount of pressure in the crankcase works wonders for spotting where the leak is coming from. We do it often at the shop just be careful on the amount of pressure it only takes a 1/2 psi or so.
I imagine you're right but I'm working by myself, and have no way to pressurize that and be under the car at the same time, best I could do was wipe it clean and see where it dripped the next day. Plus this engine has a road draft tube, I would have to plug it and the valve cover breather. I know it's all do-able, but like I said - working alone.....
I've now got the exhaust completely done, sealed and tightened up and all the clamps installed. I had to modify the bracket off the transmission to fit correctly so it would sit square and not hold the pipe over.
Next up - reinstall the carbs and start it up and let it run a while - while it's running I'll flush the cooling system some more. I'll bet I wind up pulling the engine in the future, the trans is leaking too and I know of a freshly rebuilt rib case I can install for not that much money that will fix the leaks and give him a synchro 1st gear - he'll want that.
When I came down this morning I found a big ol puddle under the car - turned out to be antifreeze - I figure it leaked out when I tipped the engine up to get the front motor mount plate off.
Finally found the oil leak for sure......the oil feed pipe from the oil filter housing has a tiny pinhole in it. I'm guessing that when the oil is cold it can only drip out of the hole, when it gets hot after driving a while it turns into a fine misty spray. So, they don't make this pipe anymore, although they offer a replacement kit of a stainless braided hose and fittings - I put one on Dan's engine and it looks pretty good.
When I first started the engine it didn't leak, then after running a bit I saw this puddle on top of the filter housing and on the floor below the filter cannister, I thought it might be the fitting, but it was good and tight. I wiped it all down and took the filter housing off, inspected the fittings, put some Teflon tape on the one that went into the top of the housing and replaced the gasket for the filter cannister just in case, then put it back together and fired it up again. Immediately I saw the oil oozing out of a pinhole on the oil pipe......
I may have one hiding around here somewhere, or I'm sure a guy with a Tig could fix this easily, might be a bit much to do it with a Mig....it'll make a pretty big gob on top the pipe to grind off. We'll see what the owner wants to do - me I'd fit the new braided hose on and call it good, but he's really after originality on this car so I'm betting he'll want to fix it.
Edit: the owner is coming to get the pipe, his shop has a guy that can Tig it up.
Good detective work! That crooked oil filter adapter looks weird.
Tig up an old pipe with pin holes...yikes.
The metal is solid, it just got nicked or rubbed somehow.....I have a better pic of it....
But just to prove my theory, Ima find the pipe I have and install it and see what it does. No leaks will be proof positive.
Found my Mini oil pipe, and as Bruce pointed out the filter housing is different, so it will not work. Plus too and also, it uses a different fitting on the filter housing end. I could use a Mini filter housing and that would have the added benefit of using a spin on filter but like I said.....he wants it to be original as much as possible, so I'll wait and see how his guy does with tigging up the old pipe.
Come to think of it, I may have a Sprite pipe here too....guess I'll go dig some more.
Edit: Found my Sprite pipe, it's the same as a Mini, so I'm dead in the water till I get the original pipe back. Good news is, I now have two pipes that will fit a Mini if I ever need one!
Pipe came back this morning, I think he did a good job on it....even gave it a coat of paint and baked it on for an hour! I'll know in a bit when I put it back on and fire that muther up......
Well, good news - not so good news.....oil leak is fixed, exhaust is still leaking at the headpipe. I'll take it back apart (have to remove the carbs and intake manifold) and see if I can see where it's leaking from exactly, he offered to make a more robust clamp in his shop - he may end up dong exactly that but first I'll see whether it's come out of alignment or if I can tighten it some more. It's a real mickey mouse clamp anyway, but that's how the factory built them so my feeling is it should work.
I'm really tired of messing with this thing, and of hitting my head on the damn hood!
That exhaust looks problematic just from the pics. Good luck with it!
The diameter of the pipe flare has to be real close to that of the manifold flange for the clamp to works best. Sometimes flipping the clamp helps as the notch of the clamp may be "offset" for the pipe flare being slightly wider than the manifold flange.
Also try some of your exhaust sealer on the mating surfaces?
I did use the sealer, it's leaking at the split in the clamp. I may have to machine some more off the bell of the pipe to allow the clamp to ride up further.....won't know for sure till I take it apart. It's really frustrating me tho......
My Moke uses the same arrangement (although the intake and exhaust are joined) and same clamp. I guess I got lucky when I assembled the new stuff on mine as it is not leaking there. I do know I have some minor leaking at the joints underneath.
I *think* I got it.
I pulled the carbs off yet again so I could see it clearly, took the clamp off and the pipe is lined up perfectly, so I figure this clamp is just that - a clamp - it doesn't draw the pipes together. So, I put a jack with a block of wood under the pipe and pushed it up hard against the manifold, then put the clamp on and tightened it as much as I could. Reinstalled the carbs and started it and it sounds quiet now. I'll run it some more today to flush out the cooling system and see if it stays quiet, but I think it will. What a PITA!
1st pic I'm pointing to where it was blowing out, 2 nd after the clamp is off the pipe lines up nicely.
I ran the engine for about 10 minutes and the exhaust seems to be good now....no leaks that I can find. And the engine seems to run a little cooler now - where it would get up to 200 or so on a long idle (like at a long red light) it only got to 180 - the thermostat setting. Maybe getting all that mud out of the radiator helped? Still more in there tho.....
However................
I went to pull it out of the shop so I could flush the water/mud out of it on the driveway and got the next surprise - no clutch. The master cylinder was empty, so I topped it off and after a bit of pumping I now have pedal again, but where the hell did all the fluid go? I don't see any puddles on the floor.....OTOH, I've never checked it before - still the clutch and brakes were fine before, so it must have a leak somewhere. Damn. Always sumthin with these Brit cars... :-[
Well, it's nice to see it's not leaking any oil ....at least from here where it was pouring out.
Since I can't back it out of the shop I've been draining it and refilling it - this is the 5th bucket of this I've gotten out of it so far, and that's after thoroughly cleaning the radiator off the car - which had almost solid mud in it.
These hold more coolant than a Mini - 1 1/2 gallons vs about 1 gallon in a Mini.
That really does look like mud. Why not try that special flush we've been discussing? Might be at lot more effective.
Well, I was hoping to finish it this weekend.....but now that may not be possible, depending on what's leaking in they hydraulics.
I also found another oil leak - from the fuel pump block off plate.
and the accelerator cable is frayed........
It looks like it is missing the gasket that should be behind the fuel pump block-off plate.
The gasket was there, but it did not matter as the plate was too long and was hitting on a boss on the block.
So I cut the bottom off the plate to match the gasket and used some Permaflex gasket sealer on it just in case.
The last bucket of water I drained out was pretty clean, so I'm calling it good.
The engine starts and runs nicely, so the next thing I need is to find the hydraulic leak......I also need to replace the accelerator cable as it's frayed.
Had a terrible thought this am while having my Cheerios.....I wonder if that oil puddle I found was actually coming out of the road draft tube? As is engine blow by?
This car has a big fuzzy felt ring as the front crank seal - never seen one of those before but it would take major modification of the timing cover to put in a regular lip seal, so I didn't do it. But, I wonder if a lot of the oil leakage all over this engine is due to high crankcase pressure? I wouldn't think that an engine with a road draft tube could have high crankcase pressures, since it's a 1/2" tube open to the atmosphere.......and it has a corresponding sized tube on the top of the valve cover.
There was oil on the top of the sump flange right below the fuel pump block off plate, which led me to it, but the road draft tube exits just a few inches back of there - of ourse it's a lot lower too - but I was running the engine in the same spot while I drained and refilled the water......
I need to find out where all the brake fluid went first - since this car does not have a brake booster it has to be leaking from somewhere....then I can run the engine again and see if I get nother puddle. It's odd that it would leak so much from the fuel pump block off plate anyway as it's so far above the sump level, but then the road draft tube is way above THAT. I think the only way a lot of oil could come out of the road draft tube is if the drain holes around the lifters were blocked, filling that chanber and dripping out of the tube as an overflow of sorts.
All speculation on my part till I get a chance to fire it up again and watch it carefully.
More progress on the Bug, I found the brake fluid leak - sort of. It's pissing out of the clutch slave cylinder, I have a new one ready to go on but......(there's always a but with this car- for being so small it's a total PITA to work on parts of it) to get the slave off there's an access panel on the side of the transmission tunnel, held on with two screws, both of which turn like crazy but don't release the panel. I quit for the night......
Dave,
The slave is accessible thru a rectangular cut-out in the gearbox tunnel on the RH side as you describe, but in my '60, that access hole is covered by a 2"x3" rubber plug exactly like the one on the LH side which gets removed to access the gearbox filler plug. Are you saying the car you are working on does not have this rubber plug?
Although it's a tight squeeze, you can access the two retaining bolts for the slave from under the car.
Yes, there is an opening but it has a metal plate over it ostensibly held with two screws. However, on closer inspection I'm thinking the plate is simply attached with silicone sealer. I tried to take the slave off from below but could not get the top bolt all the way out....if that plate comes off the way I think it will I can get a new rubber plug from Vicky Brits.
I'll go after it some more tomorrow after work.
More Bugeye woes......as you may remember, I wanted to pull the slave cylinder as it was pissing brake fluid.....or was it?
I tried taking it out from the bottom, but once I wound the top bolt out a ways it trapped my gear wrench between the head and the frame. So I decided to remove the plate in the footwell to see if I could gain better access....HA! Instead of a nice easy to remove rubber plug they had bodged up some sort of sandwich of two plates with some rubbery insulation between and held together with two screws and nuts. They then painted the car so now the two nuts turn with the screws and there is no way to get a wrench or pliers or anything on them - so I got out the angle grinder - off with their heads! Getting the plate out of the way really didn't help. With a good sized prybar I managed to get the engine moved enough to free my wrench, the I backed the bolt out.....and out.....and out....till it hit the frame rail and it's still in there. Because they used this extra stupid long bolt, they had slotted the top hole in the slave cylinder!
Now to the "fun" part, it wasn't the slave leaking brake fluid - they used a solid line between the slave and the body of the car - and of course it fractured that line. So I went to Vicky Brits and bought a new rubber hose for the slave cylinder, only to find when I got it home that it doesn't fit the cylinder....or the line that I would have to attach to it. So, now I'm on a quest to find a brake hose that will fit the cylinder, then I'll need to fab up a way to hook the hard line to the cylinder. I'll also cut the long bolt off and use one that is the appropriate length so the next guy can at least work on the damn thing. Oh, and I did manage to find the right rubber plug for the hole in the transmission tunnel.
Next, the owner wanted to buy a new shift knob - a nice one too - so he asked me what thread size the shaft was - it was the standard 5/16-18 I told him, so he ordered a new knob. When I took the old one off - well the pic tells the story - so I called around my buddies and one had a lever I could have, I picked it up this morning only to discover it was a 3/8 shaft! The good news, it had a really nice wooden shift knob still on it.
This car is going to make me old before my time!
Oh wait, too late - I'm already old..... :-[ ::)
So the Bugeye has a special lightened racing gearlever, eh?
Ridiculous, isn't it?
I think I figured out a work around for the clutch hose, a Spitfire rear brake hose has the right fittings on it, now I have to get my cutoff wheel up in there and cut that monster long bolt in half and get it out, then I can start putting it back together. I noticed the push rod clevis pin didn't have a cotter pin in it either - or any lube on the pivot....sheesh.
damn, and this would have been considered a well-restored car by most. See it all the time someone gets a car and can't stop talking about how great it is other than the fact that you have to redo the whole thing.
Not that the owner of this is that way just commenting that the car was probably not what he thought it was or was said to be.
Sometimes I hear about some new shop that's the cats azz and almost feel like I should be jealous of their work and then I get a chance to see the work and realize we do a very good job and never need to be concerned about some hot shot car builder their stuff is always crap under the lipstick.
Like you I like to make a car right not just look good so many nice looking cars are a hacked POS.
I know, I thought this car was going to be a good buy (I still think it is, the bones are good at least) but wow I am finding hack after hack, bodge after bodge. The sad part is I know the guy who did the work (well, the assembly anyway) and he's a friend so I can't say anything......he said he got a bare, painted shell - the motor and trans were rebuilt be someone else.
This damn engine is still leaking oil, although not anything like before......it's still dripping out from the bottom of the timing cover even after I had it apart, checked everything and put a new gasket on it. BTW, this timing cover had the strangest oil seal - it looks like a felt donut stuffed into a round hole in the timing cover surrounding the crankshaft....I'm wondering if that could be the problem? I'm thinking I'll find a later style timing cover with the regular seal in it and put that on it - if the nose of the crank is the same size. These 948's seem to be a breed of their own.
It's also leaking out of the transmission - I don't know whether its the rear mainshaft seal or something else as it runs down onto the drain plug(lowest point on the trans) and drips off of there - the plug is tight, even has Teflon tape on it. There is no access so the only way to fix it is pull the motor - I'm not keen on doing that.
I did get the slave all back in - I found a Spitfire rear brake hose that had the right ends on it and made up a hose assembly that would tie into the existing line, I also found a shorter bolt that will go in and out without fouling on the frame - now I just need someone to help me bleed the clutch and brakes (shared master cylinder) and I should be able to drive it - except that it's raining cats and dogs today. I also replaced the crusty rusty pushrod and pin and put a cotter pin in and some grease on the clevis. Sheesh....
I still have some electrical issues to sort out - the new fuel gauge reads full all the time (new sender in the tank and the gauge was refurbished by Nisonger) so the wire going to the sender must be shorted somewhere, and the horn beeps intermittently when driving - same issue I'm betting. You'd think as simple as this wiring is I'd be able to find these problems easily, but I sure haven't found where it could be shorted yet!
My guy has never complained about my bill - if he ever does I'll refer him to those from Jet Motors on the Minis on BaT! ;D
I have a feeling before I'm all done with this car I will have the motor trans and diff out of it, the motor to go thru and find/fix all the leaks, the trans cause the synchros are weak on 2nd and 3rd and I can put in one of the ribcase transmissions I built for another guy who never used them, and the diff just because he'll want me to go thru it. Besides, at some point he will break a rear axle - these Sprites are really prone to that. Wonder if anyone makes a reasonably priced uprated axle yet?
On the fuel sender...new senders don't seem to jive with old voltage regulators. Could be shorted too, but if it has a regulator, it probably needs to be new as well.
Yeah, I'll have to look and see if this one uses a voltage stabilizer - or if they even put one in, or if it was wired right or....or......or....or.... ::)
As a bonus the new regulators are poorly made.
I think I know of a source that makes solid state regulators, I'll see if I can find that link.
Found it, this guy sells stuff for Jags, but the regulator is the same for all English cars with Smith's instruments.
https://www.coolcatcorp.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CEC&Product_Code=SSIVR-N&Category_Code=EL (https://www.coolcatcorp.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CEC&Product_Code=SSIVR-N&Category_Code=EL)
Moss used to sell those solid state regulators. I've got a brand new never used one in a box. Let me know if you want me look for it
OK, I will - thanks.
It's difficult for me to work under the dash on this car, I have to do everything with a mirror....
Edit: Moss do still sell them, $13. - much cheaper than CoolCat, but then theirs is for a Jaguar - and it's adjustable! ;D
BTW, that's less than Vicky Brits charges for the old not solid state ones!
I looked I can't find that voltage stabilizer. Sorry
No problem, since I'm not paying for it I'll get one from Vicky Brits or order from Moss if I need it. Thanks for looking.... 4.gif
More Bug fun today....I drove it around and the accelerator stuck so badly it was almost undriveable, after I put a new cable in of course. So, I cleaned up the frays on the old cable and put it back in...works perfectly. 8.gif :-[
The fuel gauge seems to be working OK after all, it seems like it's just one of those that reads full for a long time before dropping, now that I've run it for a while and burned off some of the gas I noticed the gauge does move under braking and turns.
All I have left now is to get the trim ring on the left headlight, and I have a plan for that.....oh and figure out why the horn beeps on it's own every so often. I disconnected the wire up near the steering wheel and it stopped, so clearly the problem is in there somewhere. I love doing my work over again.....<sighs> dunno if it's another bad part or bad workmanship on my part.
I'd lean towards bad parts. I've had many a problem that made me question my work only to find out it was a bad part or at the job, a bad schematic/design.
Working on cars is a lot like golf. The frustration of it all is somehow supposed to be part of the enjoyment!? Theory being when it goes right and its done and working/make an amazing shot, you forget all about the crap you went through getting there.
Try as I might I cannot get the right trim ring to fit on the headlight - in the car. If I remove the bucket it fits right on just as it should. In desperation, I've devised a work around. Instead of installing the bucket and then trying to fit the ring, I'm going to fit the ring on the bucket, then install the entire assembly. The fly in that ointment is once the trim ring is on you can't reach the screws that hold the bucket in the car - so - since two of the welded in nuts were already missing, I drilled out the other two, then JB welded the screws into the bucket. Then all I have to do is install the assembly and put the nuts on the screws from the back. We'll see if it works as planned, the JB is curing right now......
I already had to use the magic paste on the adjusting nuts when the owner overtightened them and stripped them out of the headlight bucket.
That's a weird situation. Aftermarket ring?
Does the owner know of all the crazy stuff you've had to deal with on this car?
Oh yeah, he's in regular contact and I send him pics of all my travails as I find them......things like the JB welded nut on the steering shaft on the 73 Mini and the hard line to the clutch on this. He is not happy with the previous owner or his builder, but he's a big boy and just pays me to put things right again.
I can't find any real reason why this headlight ring won't go on, I even bought a new pair of Lucas buckets and rings and I couldn't get that one to fit either, but I can't see anything wrong with the bonnet that would keep it form going on.
The thing that really worries both of us is that even tho I've been all over the car, I keep finding stuff....what will turn up next? And will it be life threatening?
OK, today's Bug report and a follow up.
My plan on the headlight worked exactly as expected, and now both trim rings are in place and secured.
I also installed another horn to go with the tiny one that was already on the car, what a difference!
I removed the steering wheel and horn surround, I could not find any evidence that the wire was grounding, but I went ahead and put several layers of shrink tape over the wire where it passes thru the dash just in case, I'll put it back together this afternoon and go for another drive to see what happens...the witness marks on the horn contact show that it's centered nicely.
I also need to drive it and make sure the throttle isn't sticking before I send it home again. If for some reason this fixes the horn, then this round is done.....the Moke parts will be here Wed night, but I still have some work to do on the 73 Mini too.
And now it doesn't work at all, unless I use a jumper wire to the wire in the harness. AAAUUUGGGHHHH!
Quote from: MiniDave on August 28, 2018, 02:11:16 PM
And now it doesn't work at all, unless I use a jumper wire to the wire in the harness. AAAUUUGGGHHHH!
Sounds like you need to think up a bodge! ;D
::) 8.gif 77.gif
did the headlight buckets have a thick gasket behind them? that makes a difference in the rings fitting.
From the factory the ones I've seen had about a 3/16" or so gasket between them and the body.
Yes, they did.....she's all tidied up now tho - if I can get the damn horn working right again!
Wow That is weird that it was so hard to make them fit. Who knows I encounter this crap all the time at least you got them on. what a project this car turned into.
Trying to get that horn contact cup back on is a major cluster.....the screws are tiny, you can't get your head up under there to locate the holes, and once you get the cup up against the dash you can't see where the holes are for the screws. I finally worked it out by using a pointed probe to locate the top hole, then fishing around with the closest screw till I managed to get one of them started, then I could get the others in too but it is NO fun....then the damn thing doesn't work. I have no idea why cause if I jumper the under dash wire to ground it works but it I ground the contact it doesn't. However if I check continuity between the end of the wire and the contact I'm good! Frustrating to say the least.
Well, that was embarrassing......
I found why the horn wasn't working - well it was, but not from the horn button. Sometimes you just have to step away for a while and let your subconscious brain work on a problem for a while.
Turns out the neg battery cable wasn't tight enough, someone had installed the bolt backwards so the flat end didn't contact the flat on the cable end, so when tightening the nut the other end of the bolt was just turning too - you can't see any of this so you're just doing it by feel.....when I grabbed the cable it moved. So, I removed the cable and installed the bolt correctly and tightened it properly and viola! it works fine.
Next, once it dries out some more I'll take it around the block and see if I've also cured the beeping whenever it felt like it situation.
I bought a new Harbor Freight adjustable timing light so I'm going to check the timing too - both to see if the light works as it's supposed to and to see whether the timing is actually right - it seems retarded to me but it could just be the way it runs.....the rebuilder used low compression pistons so I'm sure that has an impact on the lack of power.
Checking the timing on these is really a two man job, the marks are on the bottom of the timing cover, so you have to lie on the floor to see them, and someone else has to rev the motor for you. PITA.
Wow, what a difference having the timing set right makes! It was showing 5* advanced at 3K, now it's at 28* and the car has 20 more HP! (Well, it feels like it anyway! ;D)
My old timing light is apparently junk.......and I do mean old, it's a Mac from the 60's. I don't know if it's inaccurate or just weak enough that I couldn't see the marks correctly, but I knew I sounded like it was way retarded, and it was.
The owner just texted me that the drive home was great, the car ran really well idles smoothly, sounds great from the exhaust and he got thumbs up from 5 different people on the way home - he's really happy with it now.
It still drips oil a bit, but I'm thinking the only way I can fix that is to pull the motor and go thru it from back to front, top to bottom. For the few miles he'll drive it a year I wonder if it's worth it. If I were him I'd put a pan under it and call it good.