Journey 28th March 2015 - Tentative fix, seals issue

A tentative diagnosis drive around.

Today : Cloudy

Conditions : Wet, a few light showers

Temp : 11°

Journey : Just around a bit

Distance: 2.5 miles





So, where to start. Hmmmm.. Firstly, decided that there was no reason that I could see not to change the seals in situ. The rear cylinder is just a tube basically. So went with that approach. Wheel off for the duration of the repair and up on axle stands for safety. Body is jacked up a bit extra for better access.

Whipped out the piston, seals spring etc...

Clearly a loss of brake fluid, but no issues with re-bleeding as necessary, so wasn't concerned about that.

So all components out and get them cleaned up. Wipe out the cylinder at the same time.

So far so good, but then hit a problem. The replacement seals are smaller. They just fall through the cylinder and this photo clearly shows the difference:

On the flip side, the original seals seemed in very good condition. There was no obvious deterioration. Just a build up of residue.

So, the tentative aspect of this post is that I cleaned everything up, lubed with a bit of brake fluid and re-assembled. Bled the system and braked hard a few times.

Took the wheel drum back off, no apparent leakage. Do it again. Same.

So put everything back together and had a small drive around. Seems fine. Assumption at the moment is that there was enough sludge around the seals preventing the fluid pressure from acting as it should to flare out the seals to get a perfect seal. Cleaning out that muck may just have been all that was needed. Need to be extremely careful of course. Have asked about the seals kit from the supplier and fully expect to get a replacement set that I will fit. But for now, will keep a VERY close eye on things and take it VERY easy! 

Brake problem confirmed. Rear nearside cylinder

The advantage of the days getting longer is obvious, time at the end of the day to at least start to look at the problem with the brake fluid. Made a start at 4.00pm. By 5.30 the issue is apparent and if I have started at the opposite corner then I'd have found it sooner!

I had assumed that the front offside was going to be the problem, because that was the one that looked as if it hadn't been touched as recently as the others. So started there. Made sense to look at the nearside front whilst there, then a closer look in the area of the master cylinder whilst the front was jacked up, just in case.

Nothing untoward at the front so started to look at the rear. A glance in that direction before starting would have given me a clue, if I had just had a cursory inspection first. There was a tell tale "dribble" down the indside of the wheel and tyre:

So from that point I was fairly confident where to look next and what I was going to find.


Jacked the back up, look at the suspect wheel first. It's pretty clear what the problem is:

So, have ordered cylinder seal repair kit. Need to get the cylinder off ready to fix it. Hopefully sort it out next weekend. Same side as where the petrol tank feed pipe is leaking so fix that at the same time. At least know I can bleed the brakes when I have done it now after freeing up the bleed nipples last year! As said in previous post, can't complain. This goes with the territory.

Journey 22nd March 2015 - Go Karting, plus Brake Problem

First really nice day since Brooklands frankly. Well, first weekend nice day anyway, bit chilly but good enough to get Amy out of bed for! Rob's bi-weekly Karting session at the local indoor Go Karting track in Woodley. Missed the previous session for a very good reason, as it was Austin Morris Day at Brooklands! But back to normal today, and due to the glorious sunshine, it was Amy's first run to that particular venue. Pop and get some petrol first and some cash, and the normal coffee run into Woodley centre part way through the 2 hour Karting session. Sweet as.

Today : Sunny
Conditions : Bright and dry
Temp : 8°
Journey : Premier Karting, Woodley
Distance: 15 miles


Mandatory photo at the Kart Track!

The brake problem mentioned is that the brake fluid level appears to have dropped. Clearly can't take any chances with my ability to stop, so needs very close inspection and probably work doing. The master cylinder was replaced very early on so unlikely to be there, whole brake system was bled and adjusted in Autumn just gone, no problems were apparent, but there ARE some old components there. So it's probably wheels off and definitely inspection time. No assumptions at this stage, but hopefully one component, preferably a front cylinder as I have a working spare set!!

But no journeys in the meantime until problem confirmed and fixed.

Can't complain - havent had to fix anything in around 9 months and she waited until the weather started to perk up!

Other pictures at Brooklands

Weather has gone off somewhat over the past week. No driving opportunities and frankly far too busy at work to even think let alone look after and drive Amy.

But found some nice pics from last Sunday's Austin Morris day. Other people also like my Amy enough to take some shots of her.

I especially liked this one from the Brooklands official Flickr album:

https://flic.kr/p/rfZDPs

She also features on a couple of other bloggers pages!

Journey 10th March 2015 - ACCC Meeting

ACCC night. Jolly cold again, didnt make the same mistake as last time, was dressed appropriately in heavy coat and gloves! Don;t know why but spanked her main road way on way home and didnt skip a beat. Nice catchup with the guys as missed last month.

Today : Partly Cloudy

Conditions : Nighttime, brisk
Temp : 3°
Journey : The Swan, Ash Vale
Distance: 28 miles 

Journey 8th March 2015 - Amy @ Brooklands Austin Morris Day 2015 and on the Track!

Today : Partly Cloudy
Conditions : Mostly Bright and dry, light showers
Temp : 11-12°
Journey : Brooklands Austin Morris Day 2015
Distance: 40 miles 

Lots of pictures today, Robbie and I off to Brooklands Austin Morris day just like last year!

The day started off really sunny. The weather was looking similar to the 2014 visit, but not forecasted to last. Arrived in bright sun and was directed to park up near the track this time.


Apart from parking somewhere else, the two biggest differences to last year were that it has been OVER A YEAR and nigh on 1500 miles since the head gasket was last replaced and have had no trouble since, plus the brakes have been fixed since last time so they wern't locked on when we arrived.

I still ensure that I have phone and tools with me, but very little worry about today. (Having visited Brooklands quite a few times now, a 20 mile each way journey holds no fear!)

The the sky became opaque with cloud pretty quicky, but it was still bright and not too cold. Wrapped up pretty warm, nevertheless.

The spot I parked in last year looked a little different this time!

A really good cross section of Austin and Morris cars, plus BMC badge engineered Riley's, Wolseleys etc.. There seems to also be a tolerance for pretty much anything built at Longbridge or Cowley. A few recent Rover's were present too.

Rob looking at Amy from the famous Brooklands banked track, she IS in the distance there, just below the yellow gantry!

We did the Bus Museum this time, missed that last year, and whilst the cavalcade was going around we also took the opportunity to drop into Mercedes Benz World. 

Hmm I must confess I could be tempted by this particular piece of German engineering over most things Austin could offer!

But that's comparing apples and pears. Now this over a contemporary mkIII Sunbeam Alpine? No contest - the Sunbeam any day!

Was just about to leave after that, the cavalcade had finished, got back to the car and got her started up to warm up for the journey home:







However, the advantage of being parked up where we were, was that the traffic for the group shot on the track was going past right in front of us. SO I managed to blag our way onto the track and therefore a final frenzy of photos just before we left!

The cars then dispersed, a good number headed straight for the exit, ourselves included. It was nice to be out on the open road with a few contemporaries around us. A few friendly toots as various cars peeled off. Weirdly the Police Minor in the shot above appeared from a different direction as we got back to Bracknell on the way home. The forecasted showers had arrived just after Ascot and the windscreen wipers were put to good use all the way from there.

It dried out after that, and Amy was back to bed after yet another great day out! (Ignore the smoke when we arrived at Brooklands! It had gone when we got home, so what the heck, it has been suggested that perhaps I over top up the oil prior to longer journeys. Possible.)


Post script: changed oil filter after getting home, just a VERY minor job that I kept forgetting to do after getting a replacement just after Chirstmas!

Journey 7th March 2015 - Around town

Again, Izzie to judo, the gym, walking the dog, Gymnastics, Tescos !! Yawn, but another lovely early spring day, Amy got a good airing, day before Brooklands Austin/Morris day!!


Today : Sunny
Conditions : Bright and dry
Temp : 11-14°
Journey : Around a lot!
Distance: 18 miles


Took Reggie to Heathlake for a walk, and he'd already had quite a long street walk, by the time we dropped off Izzie to Gymnastics he was flaked on the back seat, not going ANYWHERE! He was very good and kept his muddy paws off Amy's 60 year old leather back seat!

Journey 6th March 2015 -The Roebuck

Friday lunchtime at the pub!

Today : Sunny
Conditions : Bright and dry
Temp : 11°
Journey : The Roebuck, Binfield
Distance: 5 miles