Saturday, September 22, 2007

Swivel Axle Set

I got the new swivel axle from the bhive.  A very nice chap by the name of Gordon helped me out and got me a rebuilt one in no time.  Here are some pictures of it.


The next job is to figure out where it all goes. Actually first I plan on doing some detailed measurements of the ride height.
 

Engine Bay


I wanted to post a hi-res picture of the engine bay, more for reference than anything else. So here it is. It ain't beautiful, but its pretty clean and tidy.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Rebuilding the clutch slave cylinder

I finally got around to rebuilding the slave cylinder. The replacement parts from the rebuild kit from Moss are the rubber end piece and the small plastic disc. I also ordered a new piston shaft and clevis pin. The picture shows the components of the slave cylinder.

The cylinder itself was quite dirty and took a good amount of elbow grease to get it clean on the inside and outside. The metal piston head was also pretty dirty. Reassembly is pretty easy. Spring first, then plastic piston end, metal piston head and then the rubber end piece. The end piece has two metal rings, one for the inside and one for the outside.




You can see that the end hole in the old piston shaft is elongated due to wear giving the clutch a sloppy feel (or lash as I think they call it). So I was glad to replace this part - BUT the Moss part was too wide for the end of the clutch fork. Fortunately, my neighbor has a grinding wheel and we were able to grind it to the right width.

Bleeding the clutch system is a little tiring, and really must be done with two people. You'll know when its not done because you won't be able to put the car in gear. Once it was done properly, the car shifts nicely and the clutch action is smooth and easy.


Saturday, September 8, 2007

Bonnet liner

I added a padded bonnet liner this afternoon. Its made of woven material on one side with a vinyl on the facing side. It glues to the inside of the bonnet with a loctite spray - which is some seriously sticky stuff. The bonnet liner works great. It reduces engine bay noise and also keeps the bonnet cooler. The hardest part of the job was getting the bonnet back on and aligned properly.

Clutch fluid part 2...

Uh oh, I think I know why the clutch fluid is going down. Might have something to do with the little puddle on the ground underneath the car. At this stage it looks like the slave cylinder is leaking. I'll order a rebuild kit and new hose and have a go at fixing it. I'll also check the master cylinder for leaks as well. Stay tuned for part 3.

Here's what a leaky slave cylinder looks like...

Peco exhaust

Together with the new carburetor, here is the new 2" peco and header. It produces a great sound - not overly loud, but nice and throaty.


And here is a picture of the header. The header is cool because the central pipe is designed to accomodate the twin exhaust from cylinders 2&3, and balance it relative to cyls 1 & 4 which each get their own pipe.

New Carburetor

I finally got the new Weber DGV Carburetor installed together with a peco header and exhaust. The whole thing was installed by Flying Circus English Cars in Durham. First the Carb. The DGV is the manual choke version. (DAGV is water and DEGV electric). The carb is a twin barrel downdraft with the 32mm barrel opening at low throttle and the 36 opening at higher throttle. You get better gas mileage and still nice performance when you need it. The carb came with a new header as well. Here are some pics of the set up.







And a picture of the engine bay...