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"....smell is the sense that is the strongest in evoking memories" Must be. As a kid I used to ride my bike down to the local seaplane base after school. We lived inland about 5 miles. The smell of salt water never fails to evoke fond memories of "the guys" and bright yellow Piper Cubs and J-3's on floats, sparkling in the sunshine. God, I loved that place. All gone now... supplanted by condos and office buildings, as is the Starlite Drive-In which used to be across the road from the seaplane base, wherein I spent many a romantic... MORE
Whitewalls!! Cool. For the American market I guess. They were wide then went "thin". Spridget "double muffler".... yep...a general trend to more quiet operation after '68. Noise is after all, an "emission"! Price? Peformance and fuel economy. (You can't even hear the exhaust note of a new Cooper "S"...'cause it really doesn't hardly exist...very "stealthy"! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 28462... MORE
That is relatively easy to repair Jim. Clean of the lead solder VERY thoroughly, flux it with borax and silver solder it. Do you have a gas flame torch? Incidentaly, heating it to the temperature for silver soldering will also 'normalise' the material, making it much less britle and therefore less likely to happen again for a while. "Roger Stinson" 28414... MORE
Looking at your post again, I think you mean that it is split in the shaped part of the tank. If this is the case, it will be very difficult to repair satisfactorily. Soft, or lead soldering would be a complete waste of time for this type of repair, without extra mechanical reinforcement. (ie a strip of metal shaped to the profile of the tank, somewhat wider than the split) This would be very difficult to hold in place whilst heating. Even after all this it might not be very effective. The other alternative is silver soldering, but if... MORE
Is the split in the seam, or in the shaped part of the tank? R "Roger Stinson" 28406... MORE
I have been out at the flea market, and found a U.K. camp stove. It has the words "ORIGINEEL HALLER" on it. They are flanking a 2" sight glass in the bowl that goes around the flame. I tried a web search on these words, but the sites that came up are either German or Dutch, I can't tell. That is why I am asking the Slobberbone list as well. This is a neat looking piece. The main colour is red, with a white wick holder. The wick is 2 3/4" wide. The 3 legged base is the fuel... MORE
Steve Woohoo! Many congrats. I don't think I am ahead of you Steve, I'm just finishing off the final primer coats on the passenger side wing ready for colour - that will be the last 'bit' on the car that needs to be colour coated. I still have both doors, bootlid and bonnet to colour coat as well. I don't know if you have this book or not - 'Restoring Sprites and Midgets - an Enthusiasts Guide' by Grahame Bristow (Brooklands Books) but it really is a very useful book in terms of reassembly. It's been written with the... MORE
Mark I got that impression to be honest, because if you'd ever driven a Spridget with reasonable condition shocks, you wouldn't have asked the question :) I hear you on the 'do it once, do it properly' philosophy. I'm coming to the end of the restoration of my 71 Midget, and I've taken the same view that sometimes it's just better to do it right first time. However, as I've said in a previous post - save your money on the 'gas' shocks and get your existing lever-arms properly rebuilt. For some reason lever-arms have got a bad reputation... MORE
when you turn on the ignition. tach, fuel pump, wipers, brake stop light, reversing lights, heater fan..... The fault must be on the "downstream" side of the fuse for it to blow, so it is likely to be one of those, or the wiring to them. Some of these are switchable: lights, wipers, fan etc so if they are switched off when the fuse blows then it may be one of the non- switched items although it could still be a damaged wire between fuse block and switch. Guy "Guy Weller" 28195... MORE
So much depends on a properly operating electrical system, particularly in older spridgets. To be fair to the Lucas the Prince of Darkness any 30 - 40 year old electrical system, even the best for the period spridgets were made, fails with age and usually for the same reasons . . . oxidation of contacts and a mixture of oil and dirt. A basic knowledge of electronics is a powerful tool in trouble shooting. Having a background in electronics it is painful for me to watch anyone jabbing in the dark when trying to fix electrical problems when a... MORE
OK Gingerino...here we go.... The amount of choke (in terms of manual cable/jet travel) that is required to... 1. get the engine to "fire" to begin with 2. allow it to continue running smoothly (decreasing amount) as it warms up to normal operating temperature. Fr'instance: On 40-45F+ mornings, no choke is really needed at all. A couple of turns of the motor with the starter button is all it takes. We let the oil pressure come up and fast idle it for a minute or so (1200-1500rpm) using our right foot, then drive it gently 'til it comes up... MORE
Mr Zappa, You should have a Zenith cd150 carb installed on your car if it is stll as originally equipped. These carbs have been trouble since the day they were installed new and only get worse as time goes on. As for the fuel leak. Look real close at the rubber hose where it attatchs to the carb body. Small hairline cracks frequently are found causing fuel to weep. Have someone crank it over and you watch right here for where the leak appears. Another possibilty is the auto choke (if installed) can be a pain in the a$$.... MORE
Wouldn't a US spec '77 have a Zenith/Stromberg carb not SUs, so no external fuel feed to the jet? Sorry I don't know enough to offer any further advice though. David "David Jacobs" 27962... MORE
Zappa? Is that you Zappa? Leak is most likely caused by a sticking fuel float inlet valve. It may have a bit of grit in it. They are easy to replace, but try cleaning it first. Another likely culprit is the short length of flexible plastic tube that connects from the base of the carburetta bowl to the main jet. They come loose and leak at the bowl end. There should be a small neoprene washer, a brass washer and a gland nut. Don't overtighten the gland nut, but do make sure the pipe is pushed well into the... MORE
Just started up my '77 Midget to let it run for a while (35 degrees F and started like normal) when I noticed a heavy gas smell. I looked for a leak and found gas coming from under the carborator in a small, steady stream (running onto the heat shield and dripping on the exhaust system). The gas line looked fine coming into the carborator. I'm pretty new to engine repair, so I would appreciate any suggestions on what to do. Do I need a new carborator, or can they be rebuilt (by someone new to it)? Thanks. "tzappa"... MORE
Without having the benefit of Vizards book along side of me. Cap'n Bob. Are tubular LCB manifolds worth the presumed hassle of fitting. I know they were a real B*st*rd to fit into a mini , apart from the noise I didn't really notice humungous amounts of increased performance. Given exhaust gas velocity exiting from a ported head (now that desription could apply to some listers LOL) is a LCB worth fitting along with a stainless straight through pipe with a single silencer? (Mufflers are what women use to keep their dannies and neck warm !) Or is the... MORE
Hi, Alan... With respect to correctly sized LCB.... for the stock and/or short cammed engine (with largest Mickey D's in one hand and Vizard's book in the other) in a word NO, not in and of itself with respect to the stock engine, or even as part of a free flow system, unless you are cruising the highways at 70+ most of the time. For a trifle more power... The short 3-1 is better for fuel economy below the rpms associated with tooling around town and driving applications wherein rpm's associated with the above paragraph aren't likely to be... MORE
I agreed to that. See not all the air/fuel mixture get combusted or blow out the exuast. Some of the got by the piston ring gap or right between the rings and cylinderwall (bad) inturn increase the crankcase pressure. One of the few ways the pressure can be relieve is through the PCV and if that thing is clog, the oil seal at the crankshaft will be the one that take toll. Pat "Pat S." 27912... MORE
You are correct, in a perfect world, the pressure would balance out to be zero, but a little pressure sneaks past the rings, the valve guides, etc and any positive pressure pushes oil out the rear seal. Interesting side tangent when talking about two cycle engines. When I was a 16 year old kid, I worked for a marine place and we built racing Johnson outboard motors. Roy Rogers,( the great cowboy movie star) had us build his engines. Twin Johnson 35's for off shore racing. My boss and I drilled the crankcase full of holes and inserted one... MORE
When one pair of pistons is descending, the other pair is rising so the volume of the crankcase is not altered by the pistons. Presurisation of the crankcase is caused by blow-by at the pistons, allowing compressed gas from above the pistons to transfer into the sump, creating an increased pressure there. When what you wanyt is a decrease of crankcase pressure to stop oil being forced out past the so called "scroll seal". I think that 9in a 2-stroke, the crank is sealed between adjacent cylinders so each piston has its own crank case space through which the... MORE
Fit a catch tank & run all the breathers into there, Why would you want oil fumes to be sent back to carbs anyway. As it lowers your fuels octane rating ???? Beckers "beckers" 27888... MORE
BECKERS states (in part).. "....it lowers fuel octane anyway" Yeah, this is true and a tough one to call (except in a high compression motor or when higher octanes are available at reasonable cost) against crankcase evacuation of vapors/pressures with respect to oil being forced passed seals or out the rear scroll "seal". But it's basically why I run "vented" instead of "evacuated", the thought of introducing oil (in any amount) into the combustion process "going against the grain" personally, though there are cases (Judson and to a lesser extent, Shorrocks applications) where this comes with the territory so... MORE
Paul, Yes, there is a proper way to break in your engine. The first 20 min will tell if your engine will live a long life or die at an early age. Lots of people have differant ideas on how to run it in for the first 1000 miles. I will tell you how I do it at work and what I reccomend to my customers. When we go to start up a new one we always go through the same check list. All fluids up to specs. Gravity fill the oil cooler if installed. Make sure the fuel... MORE
Now the the engine will start, I am installing the new fuel pump in the next day or so. In between answering MG questions and completely pissing off all females on the planet, the Cap'n indicated there was a "right" way to initially run-in a motor, at least during the first 20 minutes. I'm clueless. Help would be appreciated. Don't want to end up with an expensive boat anchor. Merry Christmas! Paul "dfwip" 27826... MORE
Thanks, David.... I know nothing about the later spring- loaded carbs considering I never used them. Never like the idea of the needle running up against the jet...something about this that goes "against the grain" so to speak, despite the fact they meter fuel more precisely (or so I read). But, if you couldn't measure the wear at 106K, I wonder why they bother talking about it in books? Very strange 'cause that's pretty damn miniscule wear they're talkin' about. :) The latest Spridget I ever owned was a '74 who's engine came with emissions carbs but "fixed" needles.... MORE
