100 miles down

Since CH gasket was re-done have done 100 miles so far. Starting can be tricky when really damp and cold, but unsurprising, using Easy Start solves that. Quite sluggish, but ticks over fine, runs fine. All still fine so far.

New Years day gathering at Brooklands?.. hmmm.. weather looking awful, hangover will probably match, so doubt it. We'll see, but signing off 2013 in good shape.

Seats to fit, new chrome trims ordered for the wheels. Looking forward to Winter being over and warmer weather coming again.

But 4 months down!!! So far so good again!

Another good day - icy start easy! Tempting fate AGAIN?....

Each morning when there is ice on the cover and moisture everywhere is a mixture of dread and delight! The pessimistic expectation that she won't start in such conditions, quickly followed (in today's case) by delight when she starts with relative ease. No problems today, warmed up nicely and off we go.

Two school drop offs and then to work. Still a lack of power (did she ever have any?!!) and the slight hesitations. Float level may be too LOW now perhaps, as I have two thick-ish washers under the needle valve at the moment. Will probably replace one, either remove completely or stick a thinner one in.

So the only doubt is that the last time I had an easy / icy start and commented about a lack of power, the CH gasket then promptly blew that evening. And that was also on a Friday!

Anyway, we'll see. Took the plugs out the other day and they seem pretty much OK, not oily like last time. So let's see. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.

In the meantime, leather care products ordered and will treat the new seat covers before fitting. Will take time and do that in the New Year.

Hopefully Happy first Christmas around the corner. Have owned Amy for four months and it has been an adventure for sure.

Car at work - 6 all smiles - mostly !

OK - a decidedly dodgy start. It has been cold, wet, raining heavily etc.. etc.. over the past few days. Amy was last driven on Thursday with no problems, but this morning she would not start. Various checks showed no obvious problem, except for a weak spark, probably associated with the damp. A bit of carb cleaner sprayed around liberally got her going, and once warm (and dry) all was fine. So perhaps not a huge surprise. Despite the good strong battery (which worked like a trooper to eventually get her going) the wiring has not really been addressed. Ignition system could still do with an overhaul I think if I want to expect cold damp starts to be hassle free.

But nevertheless, alternative view of Amy at work. (Because I was late frankly and couldn't get the usual space!!)

New seats.. well .. very old seats

The seats in the Somerset were one of the most visual let downs for the car. Comfortable, but clearly in need of major repair / replacement. As below:

Always on the list to address but on the back burner as I have had bigger things to worry about like the Brake Master Cylinder and burnt valve and blown CH gasket, old battery, damp weather etc... etc.. etc... !!

I had ventured to a local Auto Trimmers but they had quoted £1000 for a proper job in leather, some compromises brought the cost down to £600 for vinyl, but either way, it was a definite back burner.

Until..... the guy I bought the car from knew the seats needed attention. He spotted a set of original seats for sale and put me in touch. Cut a long story short I am now the proud owner of a set of ORIGINAL replacement seat covers for the Somerset. They turned out to be new/old original stock that an old BMC dealer in Washington, USA had. Knocking around in a shed or a store somewhere. Whatever.. Amazing, after 50 years or so, they are back in Blighty and waiting to be fitted to my Somerset. What a journey.

Thanks to Paul, an ex-pat and an MGY enthusiast himself. Original seats, marvellous original smell and half the price of a vinyl recover that was the closest option... Brilliant...

Can't wait to fit them, but need to investigate methodology before rushing headlong into it and making a hash. But she'll have brand new - really old sets pretty soon. (Back seat always fine...)

Here they are, not a great picture, but these are just PERFECT and will not affect the look of the car one bit as compared to a brand new set:

Fan belt squeal.. ?.. Nah..

Just a side note, I thought that  I had to tighten the fan belt due to some squeal.

It has gone since re-doing the head gasket. Didn't do anything apart from that.

Just wonder if the squeal was something else. It did sound more like a toned "whistle".. Something to do with air leaking between cylinders in the failing gasket?

Who knows.. but either way, it has gone, so an unsolved mystery.

50 miles in a day - still OK

Tuesday was a gamble. Had a Austin Counties Christmas dinner that evening but needed to work in Staines that day. Not enough time to travel as normal, would need to drive to Staines be able to go direct to the pub after.

19 miles to Staines, 19 miles to Ash Vale, 12 miles home - 50 miles in total.

Never driven that far in one day, new CH gasket has only done 6 miles so far.

But anyway, as usual went for it. Spare oil, water, funnel, torch. Jumper in case broke down!

In summary, made it alive .. still running. Working fine, still hesitation at cruising. But hopefully the main issues are resolved now.

Running again.. again..

So, when doing a job for the second time, the desire and patience to photograph the steps is lacking somewhat. But what has happened as of today is that the cylinder head was refaced by Classic and Modern Engine Services of Bracknell, valves re-lapped and refitted, new gasket arrived, engine re-assembled.

Torqued down, started engine (after repairing the coil-dizzy cable... that was a curve ball!)

Warmed engine, fixed water leaks and most importantly - RE torqued the head!! (and double checked valve clearances again). It was quite loose frankly just after warming for 5 minutes, a good indicator that it was the original problem, because I DIDN'T re-torque. Only my dad has pointed this out, he remembers that practice from the 50's. Hopefully that was it. Left the thermostat out for now, have loosened off the radiator drain tap, so emptying the system is easy when needed now.

Look on the bright side, only two weeks off the road. Only £50 spent. Two advantages this time, skimmed head, therefore perfectly flat. Sheared bolt replaced. OK, bought a torque wrench too, didn't use the Hylomar in the end.

So as of this evening, Amy is running again - has done a couple of laps. Once around town, once to the motorway roundabout and back.

So far so good, again. Happy?.. Well, I will be if I get some problem free driving again. And I have Becky for bad weather / salty wet road days over winter. It made sense and is a cheap little runaround. Great.

Car at work - 5 - oh dear!!

So, after a week and a half off the road, the cylinder head went in for a skim today. Low points across 1&2 and 2&3 .. apparently 3&4 are fine!!! That possibly explains why the healthiest looking plug was the one in the 4th cylinder!

I am still hoping the gasket will turn up in the post and that I can get Amy running again at the weekend. I am missing driving her!!!

The view from the office window needs some jazzing up. (The blue Citroen in the middle is the current car, after having disposed of my 4x4)

Definately CH Gasket!

As the picture below shows, I have found my problem!! Multiple problems in fact.

As well as the gasket being blown between 2 and 3, oil also seemed to have been getting through the gasket and into the cylinders. It undid far too easily (compared to when pulling it the first time) I think because I didn't re-torque it, either warm or after the first 100 miles, it has loosened. Especially on the side where the rocker gear is also clamped down. Hopefully that is just me being dumb. So....

New CH Gasket ordered, torque wrench bought. Also will use a bit of Hylomar Red this time. Seems to be an accepted thing to do on old, non performance cars.

Stu managed to remove the sheared bolt with mole grips, so that problem is resolved. May get the head skimmed whilst I am at it too.

Refit when ready. Should only be off the road a couple of weeks tops.. If lucky!

New car arrives at the weekend, Becky.. An '03 reg Citroen C3 with 107,000 miles on the clock. Into frying pan.....???!!!

Likely CH Gasket

My wish is not to be.. Amy was very sluggish on Friday morning. It was cold and a bit of ice around, so I was extremely happy with the ease with which she started. But acceleration was poor.

I put it down to icing around the carb, journey was not particularly long.

But same problem on the way home. Then that evening went out to grab takeway and it was even worse. Turned around only part way up the road and was even worried about being able to limp home, but got there.

Sounded similar to previous. Not as rough, but almost like running on 3 1/2 cylinders.

Checked the compression this morning, just the starter handle technique and two cylinders are down. Not a complete loss of pressure this time, but still very noticable.

So .. conclusion at the moment is that the CH gasket has gone. Need to replace it.

Maybe she did overheat the other day when the thermostat didn't seem to open.


Ho hum.. Won't know for sure what is going on until I pull the head again, but first course of action will likely be to replace the CH gasket and remove the thermostat, just in case.

If that gets her running again, it will be a small lesson. Hoping nothing more than that at this stage.

Cold weather doesn't make it seem such an OK prospect!

Conclusion about cars

Strangely, I have come to a conclusion about the car. After stating that I was perhaps over confident about Amy's reliability, and that I was considering selling the Nissan I have kind of changed my mind. Amy is proving very reliable. Starting reasonably well on Icy mornings. Ticking over OK with no choke after warmed up. (still a bit lumpy, but acceptable).

The thermostat seemed to not open the other day, as the temperature gauage didn't climb. Lots of gurgling sucking noises from the engine bay, but that seemed to go away again.

But either way, despite the seeming reliability, the conclusion I have made is to get a small modern runaround in place of the Nissan. Nothing to do with reliability. I cannot bring myself to drive her / leave her out in the pouring rain. I will not be able to face driving her on the salty, gritty roads in winter. She will just ROT if I do that.

So actually feeling very happy about that conclusion.

Buy little cheap runaround. Sell Nissan. Hopefully a zero net cost transaction.

Then lower tax, insurance, fuel consumption. Small car on the driveway that I can get out even around the wife's car when needed.

No pressure. Happy :-)

Realistically Amy is a fair weather car and should treat her as such.

Next bits over weekend

New needle valve and new economy device diaphragm ordered, received and fitted over the weekend. Will adjust the float level by swapping in and out the various different thickness washers that I now have.

Using two relatively think washers at the moment, very little seepage from the carb bowl - if any. So it feels like it is low enough. But still maybe too low. Still some hesitation on cruising, tickover is a bit lumpy once warmed up - the choke masks that reasonably well. Occasional backfire. Maybe too lean, but down to the float level being too low now perhaps, rather than the mixture screw.

But sat in a fairly long traffic jam on Saturday and didn't stall once! So hopefully getting there.

Thinking of selling the old Nissan now. Over confident?...

Car at work 4 - getting better?

Leaves off the trees now, ice on the car this morning. Started up with ease, warmed up on choke nicely.  The pidgeon seems relatively impressed that she made it into the office and so am I!!

Idled reasonably well once warm, with no choke. Still some hesitation on cruising. But all in all, quite happy. I have the squeal still. Haven't looked too closely at that yet. As metnioned in previous posts I really want some "just driving" time.

Did take the vacuum advance pipe off yesterday, along with all the HT leads, dizzy and rotor arm again. Made sure all clean and connections good. Pulled all the plugs again, cleaned up on. Double checked compression, all good.

The only job not done now is stripping the Carb fully. Need to do it, but just not for now. Want to enjoy!

Fan belt .. needs a tweak

Mentioned a fair few posts ago that the fan belt looked loose. As the weather has got colder, I get a slight squeal on coast down. I am assuming that this is the belt. Although having said that, it doesn't seem to go away when the engine is fully warmed either. But it is loose. Have felt that for a while. So....

Tried to adjust this morning, can I shift the bolt? No.!!!!

Oh well. One more thing that I need to look at more closely. Thought THAT would be simple!!

Engine is still not quite right. Still pretty sure that it is Air / Fuel issues. When revving, all sounds solid and as it should be. It just seems that on constant revs, be-it idle or cruising, there seems to be hesitation.

Having choke out a bit solves the problem, but then idle revs are too high, so I am guessing it is further mixture fiddling!

The guy I bought the car from said that the first three months were the "hump" to get over.

As much as she is running OK, I am at a bit of a low point and wondering if it was such a good idea after all!

Silly Mistakes Continue

Tried to remove the sheared manifold bolt from the head on Sunday morning. It won't budge, so re-assembled. Amy is running REALLY badly. So much work having gone on, it gets hard to figure out what is going on. The obvious source is the recent head rebuild, but good compression implies that has does it's job. I'm not sure what else that really achieves. Good valves, properly adjusted give correct compression. That is that part of the equation?

As Amy has done more miles in the past 2-3 months than over her previous 6 years then other factors may be coming into play.

Decided to check for vacuum leaks, as the symptoms were indicating this as a strong possibility.

Silly mistake... When re-fitting the manifold I hadn't put one of the bolts in properly PLUS I hadn't tightened up properly either!!

So the carb cleaner trick did it's job. Refitted the incorrectly installed bolt, tightened up the others (admittedly one still missing where it was sheared. No vacuum leaks that I can tell and she's running OK again.

Still not quite right. Will use aforementioned carb cleaner to clean up the carb anyway.

Still think the float level is too high, and have to see what I can do about that, as the old Zeniths are not designed to be adjustable. Extra washer under needle valve is my current thought. We'll see.

Takes a while to start

Even with the new battery, she takes a little while to start. It is not surprising the old battery couldn't cope. When I say a while, I only mean 3 or 4 seconds!! Just for context, but it feels long compared to a fresh warm start.

Again for purposes of documentation, she fires immediately, just ever so briefly and then stops again - with the new battery she's OK to keep the starter whirring - does about 4 more full cycles then fires into life properly and when she does, runs like a dream.

Due to the immediate small firing then nothing, it feels like and initial lack of fuel. Best guess, residual vapour in the cylinder for a first short sharp burn, then has to pull fuel through to start again. Then runs no problem.

If that is true, then it would imply that the float bowl is draining down AND the fuel is dropping back in the fuel line. So I need to check it out. With the new battery it is not a problem and she is running REALLY nice once going. But there is still a niggly problem there.

Next morning start will turn the engine over WITHOUT ignition for 4 or 5 cycles. Then try to start normally. If she fires up immediately after that, then I think I can be sure, because it will imply that the initial cranking will have re-primed the fuel line and filled the bowl. (i.e. no other electrical stuff going on)

If not ... who knows!!!

Cold and damp still won't start - New Battery

Earlier in this "adventure" I commented about wiring, ignition system etc.. probably needing attention. This was due to the occasional few days idle and a damp morning she wouldn't start. Always seemed to then start in the afternoon once the weather had warmed up and things had dried off. Other things kind of overtook and we have had some relatively nice, warm and dry-ish weather. I haven't tried a cold damp morning start since the morning after the valve was broken.

Today was one of those days. Temp quite low - 5 degrees. Quite damp - we've had a lot of rain over past few days, she's been under cover through that, but still exposed to the elements. Hasn't been driven since Saturday afternoon.

So battery was sluggish, everything was damp, refused to fire AT ALL. Not a sniff.

I have not paid any REAL attention to the electrics, because of everything else. The spark plugs are also probably pretty yucky after the re-build. So after everything else I am fairly confident that I just need to put that job back on the agenda.

So not too worried at the moment, not happy, but not worried!.

Updated: Cleaned up all spark plugs and got NEW BATTERY. OK, so turns out the wrong plugs are probably fitted, but all fine again. Roll on the next cold damp morning..!

(Oh and order new set of spark plugs from the club - to be sure I get the correct ones!)

First show and so far so good

Attended first small show in Farnborough. It was attached to a new event for the town and only a few cars in part of a public car park rather than a major event, but it was still great. There were far more than the pictures show, around 50 or so. 3 Somersets, you can see the ACCC Somerset rep's car a couple down from mine. Nice uneventful drive there and back. Shame the rain curtailed the day, but she demists nicely now that the thermostat is in.

Some very nice cars, and some quite tatty articles too!!! Amy is in that middle ground. Had some good chats. Most enjoyable and even Robbie wasn't bored! Feeling less pessimistic than the other day. Big storms coming though, so Amy is as well tucked up as I can for a few days now!

Capture negative thought

The title of this blog says Long (or short)  story. Still hoping it will be a long relationship, and on one hand, quite pleased so far. I have had to do far more than I expected in the first two months, but it seems to have been all OK.

But today the negative side came out. If something else goes wrong in the next couple of weeks, that may be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

This blog is only supposed to be my personal diary. Just wanted to capture that thought....

On the positive side, hoping to attend first display on Saturday. If all goes well getting there and back and during the day, it may lighten the mood somewhat!

Thermostat back in! Further minor adjustment when fully warmed up

Funny how a job that seemed a big deal at the start of this adventure now is a coffee break job. Set the water draining at first cup of tea - time and then at second cup of tea time, whipped off the thermostat housing, put it back in and put everything back together and topped water back up.

Actual time spent doing it, probably 15 minutes. Maybe 20 tops!

Lunchtime drivearound and a bit more adjustment. But feels about the same as when I first got her now. Lost track of course, so it's very subjective. Should feel BETTER?..  That's where I have lost track with all the problems here and there. Blocked pump jet in the carb started all this and of course flat spots are all gone now. So she may be running a lot better than originally but I just can't tell anymore.

Possibly a bit too rich still?.. Maybe.

Need to clean plugs off and have them looking clean, put them back in and then over a month maybe see what they look like after than. I need to stop fiddling I think.

Car at work - 3 - 3 weeks of drama and back to normal (?....)

I can't keep taking pictures of the front of my car at work, just to admire her... So today's shot is the back of the car at work. Same scenario as previous. Can't believe what it's been through. Basically complete top end re-build was required. Glad I didn't really think about it too much and just did it. Gives me the shivers, but also a sense of pride, thinking what I had to do to get her running again.

Mixture still feels slightly rich, tendency for the engine to hunt at little, so will gradually adjust back. I wanted to be sure she started fine this morning at the current setting, which she did. A little too easily, so I had my suspicion. I'll back it off a quarter turn and then see what happens Friday morning!

Mixture adjustment - longer drive

Had a play with the mixture today at lunchtime. Followed the manual. "Three turns from full home". Couldn't start from that!! So adjusted back and fiddled. Got her started and cut a long story short, after some fiddling settled with a position that is approx 2 full turns from home. Drove around at that, feels very nice. Finally remembered to tighten in the vacuum advance pipe!! So in summary - on the face of it I am back where I started. Better of course, because that valve MUST have been on the way out, I never had compression tested that 4th cylinder to know for sure, but the fact that it wasn't burning the fuel properly means it must have been bad when I got it. Rebuilt head, good even compression, decoked. Should theoretically mean better mpg as I was only getting around 22mpg before. But wait and see on that point. Did a longer drive in and around town again, feels GREAT!!!!!

Catch up and first drive around town

OK, so back to square one. Drove around town, got her up to normal running temperature, running a bit lumpy, but it feels like the rich mixture problem that this all started out with. But ticks over nicely. The basic mechanics seem sound. So far so good, just need to adjust mixture I think. Then should be fine. Not enough time to fine tune today, happy enough to tweak things from here.

But the full details are:

Had ordered head gasket, gasket set and valve on Friday from the ACCC spares guy. There was a question mark over the valve but that was resolved on the following Thursday and then I had a nerve wracking time waiting on Saturday to see if the parts arrived to try to put her together that day.

Spent all week valve grinding and preparing as much as possible. Cleaned up the pistons and block on Saturday morning:

Then the postman came. All systems go. Struggled to take my time, but kept things under control. Ground in the new valve to match up with valve seat and then put all the valves back in. Cleaned out guides and valve stems with WD40 and then 10W fork oil. Fitted new stem seals. Old ones were like plastic!!

New head ready to go:

Greased CH gasket, slipped it over the block. slid head over. So far so good. Slid in the push rods making sure they were located properly. That felt a bit hit and miss! Turned the engine over by hand to be sure they behaved as expected!! Slackened back the rockers and tapped that down.

Then somehow tightening the head down felt really scary, kind of point of no (well ...very little) return. Cue Stu across the road again, borrowed his torque wrench and he talked me through it. Helped me keep track of the tightening sequence.

That was done, then started setting valve clearances, swapped tasks around, connected up water hoses, throttle linkages, choke etc.etc... finished off clearances.

Step back - think...tempted to just start it up...

On advice from dad, oiled the rocker, push rods and valve springs manually from a milk bottle of old oil!!

Check compression... all pots lower than before, but about what they should be according to the manual. Decoked, so lower compression not surprising. All fine.

Water.. topped up the rad and in the last 1/4.... GUSH... water shooting out of somewhere, and not just a leak.. pouring out.. oooops, forgot all about the bypass pipe... It's a really awkward short length of pipe between the head and block bypass pipes. Tried and tried to get it back in place, it was connected OK at the block side, but not the head. Couldn't get it in place.

Impatience got the better of me at that point!! I just HAD to see if she would start. Put in spark plugs and connected up HT leads Switched on ignition, pulled out choke. Went round to engine bay, remembered to re-prime the carb and added a couple of squirts of fuel. Pushed the starter switch and....... Brrruuummmmm! She's running.. OK water flying everywhere, switch off quick. Back to the water issue.

Took off the bypass pipe completely, loosened off the clips and tried again. (Happier now though as car had started pretty easily) Connected the pipe to the head first. Too short and inflexible to fit it onto the block. Getting a little frustrated at this point. Boiling water did the trick, made it soft enough. Got it fitted. Nipped up clips..  Topped up rad again. All good..

Started her up again and left her to run a bit, just nice to hear the engine going again. By which time too late to do anything else. Had a nice night out, over the road, and talked cars most of the night! Stu was very happy to hear that I had her running.

So to this morning, small job just to make sure the oil feed up to the rocker was working. Took it apart again and worked it though - it's fine. The rest of the day spent with the kids on the bikes, they deserved some attention after so much time with me just under the bonnet or in the garage, Then when got home it was TIPPING down.

Had to wait for the opportunity but it came.. Sun came out around 5.00pm. Took cover off, deep breath, started her up and off we go. Gentle drive around the crescent behind the house to start with. That went fine, no new problems. So another slightly longer one through town. Up to normal temp, choke off, as mentioned at the start, a bit lumpy. Feels rich hence square one. That is where I was the day BEFORE she blew a valve!! (oh damn and no thermostat, have to put that back in!!)

Not quite uber happy yet, will be nervous for quite a while. Also hesitate to say all is fine, because it seems every time I say "All is fine" the something else goes wrong.

But the list of jobs done in the first 2 months of ownership is now quite long, and not trivial. Could do with a peaceful period of drving now. Please?!!!!!

Having said that it only really cost me time. £100 to replace a valve and rebuild/refit a cylinder head. That'll get you an oil and spark plug change on a modern car!! Half of that cost was tools, which of course I have for next time.  (and there will be a next time!!)

Love it.. (just.....)

Running again

Short post, as spent from 9.00 until 5.00 solid working on Amy to get her going again. The postman arrived with the gasket set and valve that I needed, so there was no stopping me.

Pistons and block cleaned up, ground in the new valve. Re-assembled everything. Borrowed Stu's Torque wrench. Had a few ups and downs, but at around 6.00 the engine was running again. Will write up some more detail in a few days, still some bits and pieces to do - check oil feed up to rocker gear, rocker cover on, recheck valve clearances etc..

But hopefull this puts this episode behind me - for a while at least. Only one small disaster, sheared a manifold bolt, but hoping can get it out and replace. And hoping she runs OK in the meantime!!

Phew this is kind of enjoyable.... 

Cylinder Head crack is not good

All valves in a row, ready to go back in when the replacement arrives.

Rocker gear, pushrods...







Enough reading about cracked heads already, the crack is not to be ignored, my dad feels the same. Since I have another head, might as well use it. Preparing that one to go back on. When the gaskets and valve arrive (hopefully during the week.)

Still harbouring hopes of maybe just maybe having her back on the road next weekend.

Have first show to go to weekend after .. want to make it !!

Couple of pics to support decision:

Exhaust Valve - For Sure Progress towards Repair

Mostly a picture post today. In summary - pulled head , confirmed the exhaust valve is shot, as suspected. All valves removed and being cleaned up, as is the head. Grinding the valves of course. Have to wait for new valve and gaskets to arrive to be able to get her back onto the road. (I don't have a full set of spare valves after all, only inlet valves.. so have to wait...) Here are some pictures.

Small hairline crack in last picture.. hmmmmm.... worry about it later!!! (Have a spare head later if needed, do it again then...)

Problem is fairly big, but hopefully confirmed

A few more tests to verify what was going on showed for 100% certain it was Pot 4 at fault. Haven't compression tested properly, but with plugs out and thumb over the holes it showed that there was little or NO compression whatsoever in that cylinder.

So that is the one for sure. Of the the many different reasons you can read on the internet, and after advise received, the most likely I feel is a burnt out / broken valve. Checked the valve clearances and that hadn't been knocked out somehow, just in case it was simpler after all, but no luck. It still points towards needing to have the head off, even if the reason is different.

(Spoke with the chap I bought the car from and went through the symptoms, the lack of constant steam, the lack of emulsion in the rocker cover, the fact that the car still runs after a fashion all points away from the cylinder head gasket being the root problem. Plus the gaskets apparently tend to go BETWEEN two cylinders, so you'd have two with low compression, not ONE with NO compression)

I have a full spare set of valves from the old engine and a new Head Gasket and full Gasket set on order.

So I am hoping that a couple of weekends, firstly dismantling, diagnosing for 100% final confirmation and then grinding and re-assembly will get me back to square one. Maybe even better, because that 4th pot was always blacker, which with hindsight probably indicates lower compression in the first place.

We'll see!!

Oh dear .. again.. BIG problem

OK, not in a happy place right now, but for the purposes of documenting, again I hope I will look back at this and smile. The sequence of events is tied to previous entries. Annoyingly I had Amy running quite nicely again. Smooth pull away, fairly smooth running. The issue was that after the cleaning out - the Carb was running richer than before. Adjusting the mixture had the desired effect. Very happy at that point. I adjusted a bit leaner for another test run, and it felt equally OK, so did a bit more of a run - up to 50 mph just to check.

Got a couple of violent backfires, so figured I'd gone too lean, so adjusted back again.

New problem, now running really lumpy. Assumed it was still fiddling with the mixture that was required, but after several tests, no difference.

Also this morning more fiddling, no change.  Felt like it was running on 3 1/2 cylinders. Did a cursory check on compression by turning over with the starting handle. One pot was a LOT easier than the others. Sure enough, when taking out the spark plugs, the one in pot 4 was black and oily. The picture doesn't really show it too well, as I wiped it before photographing it - but that's the one at fault.

Now, that pot was always a bit blacker than the others, it seemed to be slightly oily and there was always a bit of oil in the water, I had a sneaking suspicion that it needed doing anyway, was just in denial. So I hope that I have only accelerated the need to do it and it's not something else.

Thermostat in at last

After the first attempt, here, the housing studs have been soaking in penetrating oil ever since. Finally got around to the job and sure enough, with a bit of gentle persuasion, the housing was off! Took a little bashing (hammer on to wood block onto housing) and a bit of tugging, but wasn't too difficult. First observation - NO thermostat as expected:  

Where the thermostat was supposed to seat into the head was a but gunked up, so scraped that out a bit, but was pretty easy to get the thermostat sitting in place nicely:

And all back together again. The point being on cold mornings to come, the engine should get to running temperature a lot quicker and the all important heater should also demist / defrost the windscreen a lot quicker. We'll see!! But for now all planned jobs are done. Plus a few others unplanned

Fine as it is (Carb)

Weeping has stopped. Fitted an extra layer of gasket paper and tightened down. All fine. Realised that float was previously fitted UPSIDE DOWN! (from one of the "before" pictures) So even the small dent on the top means it is functioning at least as fine as it was before. Not fully correct as the petrol level should be low enough to not really need to worry about extra layer of gasket. But it's done the job.

Re-stripped and cleaned out ALL jets and refitted. Seems fine, although not quite as fine as before. Something else is slightly amiss. Not sure what yet. It was slightly better BEFORE I fitted the new gaskets and cleaned the bowl out thoroughly.

Uneventful week - carb clean

Amy was left sitting from Saturday to Wednesday morning, and started up pretty easily first thing in the morning to get me to work. Damp morning (ish..) not so cold though. But it's a good sign. Has been running like a dream since. Almost wonder if I shouldn't touch anything for now... But where's the fun in that?.... So...

Fitted new carb gaskets and gave the bowl a good clean out. There was a mm layer of sludge at the bottom. OK, didn't get it all and the pump jet immediately blocked up again and had to dismantle and clear it. Dented the float in the meantime though. Will get a replacement. The joint between the bowl and the main carb body weeps slightly. Will have to take the whole thing off. Re-furbished exchange carb for £100?.. Hmmmm....

So far so good - Carb etc...

Clearing the pump jet has had the desired effect so far. She seems to run as sweet as she's going to from cold. (for an ages old 1200cc engine!) Weather does not prove anything totally conclusive yet about reliability, as we have a nice drying warm spell on our hands. But the flat spots are gone when warm and the lumpiness that was apparent during general driving before is also gone.

Still need to do some rust treatment, other things have put that on the back burner. Oh - and the thermostat still needs looking at!

But hopefully all this recent problem fixing will prove good groundwork to get through the winter. It needed sorting so sooner rather than later. We'll see! As with other posts I may look back at this one with a wry smile. But why not be optmimistic.

Carb - pump jet

Two posts in one day, but separate topic. Again, dedicated lunch to Amy, not through choice. My normal lunchtime company was busy elsewhere, so wasn't going to go to the pub anyway. Decided to look at the carb, because at the moment that seems to be the only trouble.

Issue was huge flat spots, causing the car to stall occasionally, especially when cold, making other issues worse.

Had a fair idea that the flat spot issue was most likely the pump jet, so finally took that out and had a look.

Sure enough - well bunged up. Could not blow it through myself, eventually cleared out with the trusty football pump and refitted. All seems fine. Gaskets (Emulsion Block and Bowl) are ropey, but can get that sorted out if a big problem.

Car at work - 2 - Two weeks of drama and back to normal

Just had to smile again, thinking about all the things have been through over the last couple of weeks. And nice to be in the office again with the view!

Have posted this photo before, but since the last one was taken I have:

Changed Master Brake Cylinder
Had all wheels and drums off
Replaced Brake Shoes
Replaced oil filter and oil
Broken down causing traffic jam!
Replaced the dodgy Starter Switch
Tidied up some essential wiring

In about a month I have covered approx 400 miles in her. That's over half the miles she'd done over the past 6 YEARS!!

All (?) Fine again - Replaced starter switch

Hesitate to say "All" fine, but replacement pull starter works a dream. Much better. Even when the old one caught it didn't seem quite right compared to this replacement. I don't KNOW what mechanism is inside these things and you can't dismantle them, but I suppose a unit in poor enough condition could be working JUST, but have such a poor connection that it arcs a bit, causes higher resistance? I can't remember. But either way the new one has done a job. She started fine first thing this morning, even though I don't need to go anywhere, felt the need to try it out. Not so damp today, so still need to reserve judgment.

 Did some patching up work on some of the essential wiring too. So hopefully..... for now OK again!

This is how the "workshop" looks at the moment!!

Oh Dear, part 2 - Random breakdown, Electrics

What a rollercoaster ride this is. (Although have to remember - was expected) This morning Amy wouldn't start. Went through some basics, checked fuel supply, *seemed* to be blocked so did the blowing back thing to the point where I could see fuel bubbling around the accelerator pump piston. Handy way to check, even though it probably shouldn't be happening.

Still wouldn't start, then the starter motor stuck. Cleared that, then ALL the electrics went. Nothing. Checked a few connections, battery terminal was loose. Tightened that up. General electrics back. Fiddled with some "known" dodgy looking wires.

Got her started. Phew, nice to be able to do that.... Warmed engine up, by that time Robbie was ready to go to school as well, so he jumped in and we set off. Got about 50 yards!! Broke down ACROSS the junction at the end of the road, now holding up all traffic! (across a level crossing just up the main road!) Starter motor would not kick in, assume it was the switch. Some fellow commuters helped to push her off the junction and to the side of the road at least. A nice lady offered to drive Robbie to school to avoid him being late! Warning triangle out. Tow rope attached in readiness to get her back on the driveway, but it was rush hour, so couldn't do anything for a while as traffic was backed up and would have been impossible.

Did some more diagnostics on the side of the road in the meantime - was the coil warming up? Could I get a spark across the plugs? And then randomly she started again. Used the opportunity to pull her up the driveway. Reversed up the pavement next to the bemused looking drivers in the traffic jam! Had to go to work in the other car.

In summary, lot's of weird symptoms, lot's of things seemingly not working. (starter motor not going - that could be the starter pull? or something else??).

The fuel supply could have been a red herring, because everything points to electrics. Probably the first properly damp morning, had not been touched all day Monday, which was also a damp day. Lot's of weird behavior that could almost certainly be out down to the iffy wiring.

That was not unexpected, so I think second layup coming in quick succession, because that needs sorting. Cannot afford to be risking breaking down across roads!!

Not TOO concerned at this stage, nothing that can't be fixed relatively easily I don't think. Even if the coil has gone after all, or I need to replace the starter pull switch or some other bits in addition to some re-wiring, I don't think it is any more than that! We'll see...

Went home lunch time she starts fine... When the starter pull decides to work, but seems that it's finally given up the ghost. Installed the spare one that the previous owner had given me. All fine again. Maybe that was the only real problem?.. Anyway, one thing down, on to the next!!! Which I am sure there will be!!!

Great Stuff

All is fine once more. More than fine actually. In summary everything is working, planned jobs are progressing and lots of checks have now happened. All supporting the fact that Amy is a solid little car that *SHOULD* be what I'd hoped for.

Had adjusted brake pedal a bit tight, loosened that off this morning. My dad was coming over to help with the whole job, but since I'd finished during lunch hours and evenings in the week, we'd changed tack to do some general firtling.

Oil filter, still wouldn't budge. Dad's band tool gave no space to turn.Was considering removing the whole assembly from the side of the engine. Then Stu from across the road got home and popped over. (He's got an old Land Rover that he's working on and he's a proper mechanic!)

"I've got a tool that'll do that" says Stu. And sure enough, 5 minutes later it's off. Brilliant. So oil and oil filter done.

Next job, to see if we could bleed the brakes and check the condition of everything in general, so all wheels and drums off. Good news mostly, all wheel cylinders (bar driver side front pair) are newish looking. Also confirmed that most pipe work is also newish - copper. All brake shoes looking good, again bar the aforementioned driver side front pair which were crumbling a bit. Fortuitously had a spare pair which were in better condition, so fitted those. All bleed nipples are stuck solid however. So no go there for now. Soaking with penetrating fluid for now, half an eye on giving them a go at some point, but as mentioned everything is working OK for now, so I'll not worry!!

Generally crawled (literally) all over the underside of the car. Nothing of any particular concern, except that the existing underseal is probably doing more harm than good now, as it is all cracked, water can sit in between that and bare metal and accelerate deterioration. Nothing urgent but will need to give it attention as planned.

Put everything back together, drove around a bit. All fine, brakes good as ever and the "new" shoes are bedding in, so drum is a little hot, but nothing to write home about.

Good day !!! Very satisfied once more. Still need to tackle thermostat, engine a bit lumpy when pulling away. Probably carb - best guess. But all in all, seems like things should be fine for a while. (touch wood!)

And back up and running.. !

Fitted new cylinder today in lunch hour.. Yes skipped the pub in favour of Amy, whatever next!

Only connected one of the unions to start with, the supply union. To be honest I wasn't sure how it all worked and kind of expected it not to all flow through... How wrong!!! So watched as brake fluid streamed out of the compression union onto the driveway and then frantically tried to connect it up as quick as possible. Hands covered in brake fluid - cant be good for you. Watch the paintwork too...!

But that screw up has done me a partial favour. With the master cylinder now full, the onward supply pipes also being full due to capillary action and the vacuum of the pipes keeping the original (very clear and clean) brake fluid in. The flow of brake fluid out of the compression union WHILST I was connecting it has meant that I have essentially a full system once more, with only minor air bubbles at best. So figured to give her a try.

Dreamland, big smile on my face. She's working again.. Better than before to be honest. Hardly any sponginess.. If any - I can't feel.

Oh - and the brake lights work!

Still need to bleed to be on safe side, but happy that in less than a week I have done a pretty major job. Phew.. Oil change and thermostat in next???!!!

New master cylinder ready to go in..

So far so good, some work has clearly been done relatively recently. Well in the last 10 years anyway!There seems to be some new and old pipework. The feed from the reservoir down to the cylinder seems old, the pipes onwards to the brakes seem new, at least from the cylinder. Rear brake bleed nipples also look quite new, front ones not.

I think that is my only hurdle now, whether the bleed nipples are seized. Only just thought of that, they are now also soaking in Penetrating oil!

Fingers crossed 

Oh dear.... Brake Master Cylinder seals gone

Wanted a lazy day today, so figured I'd have a quick look at a couple of things. Oil filter and brake light. Cannot budge the oil filter. Another situation like the thermostat. Need to take advice about how brutal to be or what tool I could use without stuffing everything up.

Second problem, quick glance at the brake light switch showed that I have a bigger problem than loose connections. Master Cylinder is leaking, sure enough, now very low on Brake Fluid. Must have happened relatively recent as I have been looking occasionally at the level.

So that's a big job that I'm not sure I'm ready for. She's going to need her first lay up. With the weather being decidedly wet, then she needs covering. Slab to aid water run off to be installed in due course.

Ho hum.. Interested to see how I do with this one. Already have images of all the bolts being seized and not even being able to get the damn thing off. But one day at a time.. If I need to get a man to do it then so be it!

Not a happy bunny.

First proper job, first fail!

Thermostat first "real" job to tackle. Fuel filter, rust painting etc.. has been a bit micky mouse. Replaced first indicator bulb too. Brake lights not working, need to fix that as well. But by real job I mean nitty gritty stuff.
Drained rad down from the bottom hose, the drain tap is stuck, apparently that's quite common. No problem draining from the hose.

Had soaked the nuts with WD40 for a couple of weeks, and sure enough they came off pretty simple.

All went well as per picture.

But, will the damn thing budge? No.

Didn't want to be too gung ho, without a backup plan, so put everything back as it was for now. Have ordered as new housing, just in case and will try a bit harder next time! Need to get a thermostat in for winter!

Car at Work -1

No comment. I just like the Comparison. View from the office window down to the car park :-)

How many ways to prevent a car from starting

So far the list is as follows, probably in chronological order of what I've done:

1. Starter switch not functioning correctly
   (through lack of use probably, that problem has nearly gone)
2. Not using the choke correctly
   (dumb user, pretty much got hang of it)
3. Starter motor stuck
   (rare occurrence, have the knowledge and tools to get round that)
4. Crud in jets possibly
   (again hopefully only through lack use and have a fuel filter now)
5. No petrol
   (dumb user, what else to say!)
6. Airlock or blocked fuel line
   (linked to 5. above, have pump for that, hopefully can avoid)
7. Coil overheated
   (dumb user - don't leave the damn thing switched on!!)
8. And this morning ... can't believe I am saying this.. Ignition not Switched on
   (dumb user - what else can I say. If you don't switch something on it's not going to work is it??!!)

That last one was the trigger for me to list this out today. Over approximately 3 weeks of ownership, she has ranged from starting by a featherlight touch (when warm) to not starting at all (see reasons above)

I have got through all of those in a relatively short space of time. That list therefore includes the two "breakdowns" mentioned earlier. But what stands out is that only one really is unpredictable and unavoidable. Number 3. The rest frankly should have either now gone away because the car's system is now cleared through from regular use once more, or mostly because I am so dumb!!

This morning was the last straw!!

But still smiling!!!!

Where do I start .... Sheesh .. If a job's worth doing ... Part 3!!!

OK, so always planned to fit a fuel filter, should probably have just done it in the first place! Therefore after a while, it's finally there and if I'd just done it in the first place.......

But anyway, this setup seems to work OK. Car runs fine, nice smooth loop, no possibilities of kinking I don't thing. Just need to affix the filter a bit better than I have so far.

Lash up at the moment.. Literally!! But since I ran out of petrol the other day it's a bit like the proverbial shutting the barn door....

Noticed the fan belt wobbles around a lot, another one of those things I don't remember noticing before. Is it normal? Battery is charging fine, fan is rotating fine, belt doesn't seem overly worn. But just doesn't look / feel right. Will look into it of course!

Later on - DISASTER!... Needed to do a quick drop-off // pickup run that afternoon, so off we go....! Couldn't find keys then... a feeling of doom came across me... Still in the car and.. yep sure enough I had left the ignition on from earlier on when doing the fuel filter! About 2 hours at least if not longer.

One thing I remember is that you NEVER leave the ignition on for extended periods. Would she start? .. NO ... nothing, nada, zip. Had to admit defeat and take the Nissan to do the pick up. What a let down.

Investigations ensued, replacement coil only around £20 so not so bad. Decided to double check that it was broken. Took out spark plug, reconnected HT lead and grounded it to the engine block, like you're supposed to... And turned over and ..... Spark... Odd .. but then... she's firing and running... (Albeit on the 3 remaining cylinders!!) Hurrah.. another mistake gotten away with!!

Refitted Spark Plug, got her running properly. Re-charged the battery a bit and that was that.

That evening, drove her to Ash Vale to meet up with the local members of the Austin Counties Car Club. Would have been slightly down if I'd had to have gone along in the Nissan, so glad she worked after all. Slightly on edge all journey, but all was fine.

Nice bunch of chaps with various cars of the ilk. Including the guy who I had bought the car from. Listened intently, mostly concentrating on names rather than anything else!! Relayed a few of my various tales of woe - from today's incident with the coil ("oh don't worry, that'll be one of the old oil-filled ones.. you'll be fine!"), to the running out of fuel and starter motor sticking cases experienced earlier. Each situation met with a fairly casual, yeah - she'll be fine kind of response, you've got tools now right?.. Comforting to hear!

Also general consensus is that my 88 degree thermostat should be fine.

The debate about petrol additives / unleaded conversion was as divided as it is on the internet!! No-one seems to be able to agree on THAT topic it seems. I am lazy, I'll never remember to do it. I'm sticking with Plan A and running things as they are!!

Wife broke my car!!!! High Low High

High

Drove down to visit parents for lunch, about 20 miles each way give or take. First full family journey. Me and the wife in the front, kids in the back. Just as it should be.

Marvelous journey, bit of rain, windscreen wipers still funny, but they did a job. 50mph is definitely the fastest comfortable speed. No problem with that though. Really REALLY pleasant.

Had a nice lunch, mum does a lovely roast and the mandatory rice pudding. ALL gone as usual! Talked car with me dad most of the afternoon, he's dug out all of his old mechanics manuals that cover the era perfectly.

Nice drive home, tried out a slightly different route more back roads the better. It really suits the car better.

Dropped daughter to gymnastics, wife learned to drive the column shift around the car park, she's really enjoyed it, and hasn't stressed me out too much either. She's a bit heavy handed with the gears .. Well to be expected (hehehehe...). She's ready to drive Amy home. All good, everybody happy. great stuff!!

Low

She set off home, pull out. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. Approached left turn, down to 3rd, then back up to 4th. All good. Then flat spot, "just a little pump on the accelerator" I said, "almost faint so hardly noticable, that'll get her through". But gets worse and worse and worse... Broke down.

Wife broke car first go!! Typical :-) Pulled the car to relative safety using the tow rope over my shoulder. Really funny, got some weird looks, wife laughing her head off!! A random bloke, gave us a little tow for 100 yards to be off the road a bit. I'm still relatively amused at this stage too. Already called my closest mate, James, he's on his way to give us a hand by this time. He and I had been through all that breaking down stuff  way back in the day, although it wasn't the way I'd planned to show him the new toy for the first time. What the @%$#!

By this time, the wife has suggested that I have run out of petrol. "No way I said!"... But you guessed it. That WAS the problem. Got towed home, put a couple of litres in. Still wouldn't start. Tash remembered the same problem she'd had on a friends barge and the solution was to blow through the fuel line. In the mean time another mate, Mark had called back. He suggested the same thing by blowing back up into the tank and then re-priming.

Did the blow back with an old football pump, son could hear bubbling from the fuel tank, so all good there. Re-connected the fuel line and re-primed the fuel pump (car of this age has a manual priming pump - love it!!!) Pumped the accelerator, sure enough, petrol is starting to appear around the accelerator pump piston push rod. (admittedly that's in places that it it shouldn't appear but .. one problem at a time!!)

High

Cut a long story short, all of this faffing about, she's working fine again. Upshot, fuel gauge cannot be trusted. Need petrol can and the footie pump as part of the "emergency pack" Added .. Done.. And will keep an eye on miles covered versus petrol used and try to keep topped up to avoid the situation again. Must add fuel filter and clean out the carb bowl. Bound to be gunged up.


But that's it for today. All's well that ends well

Still need to do oil change. Next weekend :-) Carb will need attention too. Later.

Rust converting

Rust converter paint arrived today. Just tried a little patch. Did a bit more reading. The ones with tannic acid seem to be recognised as the best, and that's what I bought, so phew...

This looks like the fuel line picture I know, but this area was easily accessible and gives a good view of what's happening.

The black areas are what I expected from the write ups. Essentially the surface rust is converted and seals what's below.

Paint (or underseal or whatever) over the top for a protected finish.

The brown areas I am confused by, but maybe hasn't gone off fully, or too thin a coat perhaps. Will be double checking on that.

I have a litre of the stuff to start with and will start with the underside of the car, just gradually work through it. She's going to be outside a lot and needs protecting!!

If a jobs worth doing.. it's worth doing twice!

Fuel line leak getting worse, can't leave it until weekend. Thought it was going to be messy with fuel splashing everywhere. Had a think and came up with a plan. Prior to doing anything, blocked the new piece of hose with an appropriate sized piece of dowling. Quickly whipped off the old bit of hose and replaced it with the new, blocked, piece on the fuel tank side. Then I was able to take my time retrieving the jubilee clips, removing the old offending piece of hose and slide the jubilee clips back into place on the new piece without worrying about petol everywhere.

Final step, quick whip out of the dowling and reconnect final connection, tighten jubilee clip. Job done. All fine again!! Have to re-treat the chassis where the petrol leak has removed all the underseal. But planning that all over anyway. Treat rust with Aquasteel / Corroseal equivalent and then probably Tetrosyl on top... Haven't decided yet...

Onwards and upwards. Have "Classic Car" oil ready to change. Just waiting for new filter. Weekend job.

Spark plugs, starter motor access clear

Have socket set now, happy birthday to me!! Spark plugs all out, all OK. One a bit more coked than the others, but not a lot. All in very good nick.

Twisted battery cable out of the way on the starter motor so I can get to the square peg bit to free it up if I need too. (My problem from the other day seems to be very minor and easy to fix with a spanner on the starter motor, hence wanting access clear)

Fuel line is drying up. Weird. Still need to replace the short piece of rubber hose.

Took parents for a short spin. Memory lane trip again.

Fuel line, needs doing

With the tank 3/4 full, the fuel line joint that I thought I had fixed and WAS dry when only under half a tank is now soaking petrol again.

I have to guess that the pipe is just about bad enough to leak under the extra pressure. Just ordered a short length to replace it. 99p for 3 inches of pipe!! Can't go wrong, gotta love ebay. What a juxtaposition!

Planning to add fuel filter, but want to take advice as to where best to put it. I think the previous owner mentioned about what best to do when I was in the process of buying the car, but in one ear out the other and I don't want to just hack it in any old place if there is a recomended position!

Suffering urges to just go out for a drive! It'll wear off I guess. Going to resist, although don't know why!

First tinkering and first sign of a real problem?

A couple of minor jobs been done so far, reactive mode rather than planned. First planned task today - ignition. Just the dizzy cap, rotor arm and HT leads for now - no tools yet!!

Fairly leisurely stuff to ease myself into things. Everything was LOOKING pretty good anyway, so figured it was as good a place to start as any.

Sure enough, dizz cap off, rotor arm a bit corroded, quick clean up there. Same with the connections in the dzzy, nothing much to cause any concern there. HT leads were just a bit mucky:

 

But nothing untoward, just gave everything a good clean up. Managed to remember to mark the leads BEFORE removal. Obvious, yes, but I remember with my Beetle and probably MG not knowing to do that, and the consequences were obvious. Nice green shade of nail varnish to mark them!! (I think tippex had been used before, and only one previous set of marks was visible.)

Back in place, not looking a lot different to be honest, and of course started up no problem. Just visible botttom right, thermostat housing studs soaked with WD40 in preparation for fitting of thermostat soon-ish. Didn't look TOO corroded, but .. fail to prepare = prepare to fail. So seemed like a a sensible step.

Later on in the day, she threw me a curve ball. Haven't mentioned yet, but the starter pull is a little temperamental. Sometimes first pull turns the starter motor, sometimes 4 or 5. But so far at least, she eventually starts, so not too worried. Today, the same thing happened, except each pull was taking juice from the battery. This implied that the starter pull was doing it's job, but the starter wasn't turning. Oh dear I thought, first problem that I won't be able to fix then and there.

Got the starter handle out, with a view of getting the car started manually. Located the handle and tried to turn her. Nothing, could NOT move it. Oh dear - even worse I'm thinking. Somehow I've seized the engine (yes I am prone to over reacting!!). With a bit more effort she turned, but didn't start. No ignition, I'd switched off .. duh.. But whilst back in the cockpit to turn on the ignition, I figured no harm to try to start normally again. And she just started no trouble. I am stumped at the moment.

If anyone else DOES happen to read this and has any ideas, comments are more than welcome!! (I don't expect anyone to read, or at least stay awake whilst reading! - but I guess there is an off chance of some useful feedback!!)

I have a list of questions to take to the owners club meet!! Hope they're a friendly, patient bunch!!

Motorway - ugh

Made another bad decision today. Friday eve journey to take son to diving lessons in Reading is down M4. Only one junction and a short stretch down the A329M prior to that. Figured it was no a problem to give it a try. Another badly thought out idea. First problem - unpleasurable. Was not nice at all. Amy did 60mph plus, probably comfortably as far as she was concerned, but it did not seem comfortable to me, not being used to the feelings and noises that come with old cars.

To top it off, as we were approaching the M4 turn off, the power just started to fade. Couple of pumps to accelerator did nothing and had to pull to a gradual unceremonious halt on the hard shoulder. Was starting to think it had been a REALLY dumb idea and that I had broken her somehow. And that I was stuck on a motorway with no real means of doing anything about it. Scary, haven't had that feeling for a long long time.

Just before that, whilst still running, water temp was fine, oil pressure also fine. There was no real BAD reason I could think of for her to break down. But at the same time I was bricking it, because I had NO idea what I was going to do!!

You naturally try anything you can to get started and a few pumps of accelerator, turn of the engine, start, fade again, tugs on the choke, start again, fade again, then general panicking, and one last try ..... she started again and ran. Engine ticked over nicely (i'd adjusted the idle screw the day before) all seemed fine again so I pulled away.

And off the motorway at the next junction, Didn't even do the M4!!! Forget motorways. Not happening!

Carried on happily all the way to Reading and back, no trouble at all. Another lesson learned! I have got away with a lot so far. Been very lucky.

Cause.... can't remember my stuff yet, but best guess a bit of crud in the jets?.. That luckily cleared itself? That's my best guess. Car hasn't been used much in 5 years, what do I expect?

Unrelated to the above, but also done today, ordered 88' winter thermostat in preparation for the colder months! (Even before Christmas wrapping paper is in Tescos!!) Apparently she probably hasn't got one at all at the moment, so a job to be done.

Oil and water levels seem fine too. Oil needs a change for sure.

Need to figure out (and likely free up) heater controls in good time for when they are needed.

And up to date - start up a blog about Amy the A40 Somerset

So as of here and now, the decision to diarise and write the experience down is made and this blog created. All points that I am interested in recording over the past week are written up, pictures stored.

As mentioned in the title, this blog is for my interest. So I'm not going to post regularly. I am not going to make sure it is useful or even interesting. I'm just going to write up stuff that I want to remember in years to come.. IF I do settle nicely with Amy then it'll be really interesting to look back on

Yes.. I'll call her Amy.. AMU / AMY ... its close and Emu would just remind me of Rod Hull!!!

If it all goes horribly wrong and I decide to part ways with her sooner than expected, well... That'll be that. We'll see.

Today is another nice sunny day, have driven my daughter to her activities, she's still totally excited about the car and loves the fact that she can just lay across the back seat! The enjoyment and excitement of the kids has been enough for me to know I made the right choice, whether it lasts 10 years or 10 weeks there have already been enough positives to confirm that. (I'm interested myself to see what a post in the middle of a freezing winter might say... wait and see....)

Wife hasn't been out in it yet though.... hmmmm.. i don't think she's so interested - I think she's just happy that it's not a hunk of junk sat on the driveway and also about the thought of me disappearing down the garage lots in months to come!!

Edit .. just went to pick daughter up, wife came with for first trip.. Now can't wait to have a go, says it's more comfortable than my previous car!!! Previous car is / was a 2003 Nissan Terrano 3.0 Turbo diesel, top of the range, leather interior.... Eat my words!!

Panel lights work, and first trip to the pub!

Wednesday night is pub night. It HAD to be my turn to drive of course. One of the guys, older chap, is pretty sure he remembered his father having one of these and it was a nostalgia trip there for him too.

Definitely have the hang of starting her up now, no issues there. The timing of easing out the choke I need to get used to. Maybe some settling in and adjusting needed, as not ticking over as well as before it seems.

But planning to go through the whole ignition system and do some basic servicing in due course. Need to stock up on tools. Feeler gauges, spark plug removal socket, emery cloth, copper-eze etc.!!!

Also getting the hang of gear changing, need to get mindful of not expecting to be able to whack it down into 2nd at 40mph in preparation for letting the clutch up when slowed down!!! It just doesn't work that way!! 20 years of poor driving habits I need to un-learn! Cancelling the indicators I am also remembering more and more.

The panel light mystery solved. They only come on when the headlights are on! So I don't understand why there is even a switch. Why not just come on when the headlights are on like in a normal modern ca...... oh wait.. hold on...! Must remember again, that this is 60 years ago. But anyway perhaps kind of obvious that the dash lights only work when headlights are on, but I just didn't think. So I can see my dashboard at night now.. Especially useful when driving home from the pub, even if a couple of shandies is the limit these days!

Figured out the trip reset too. I have done just over 100miles in her and as of writing this entry, mileage is 35169. I would assume that this is not the vehicle's actual mileage. Maybe 135169? Or just anybody's guess. (I remember putting a new speedo in my Beetle.. original mileage is to be ignored in a car of this age methinks!)