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G'day Joe The standard trick Down Under is to turn up the radio. Or fit one. Or take a nagging wife with you. If you don't have a nagging wife, borrow one from a friend - he will be grateful. My 1380cc race engine is a little worn. It was worn with rust marks in the bores when I first used it 12 years ago, and it hasn't improved by use. I'm not prepared to bore it to 74mm just yet, and so pistons are a little sloppy. Even new pistons aren't much tighter than the old used ones,... MORE
A piece of 1/2" teflon rod would go through the ID of the pin? Yep it's slap. I've had it apart twice. New pistons, pins and rings, nothing broken. A squirt of oil stops it for 20 seconds. I hope Ed thinks it's a bum idea. Thanks, Peter. "joe blxfstz" 37666... MORE
Ah, gotcha'. The problem is one cyl only, the others are fine on bore size and make no noise. The slappy cylinder has good compression, 155 psi, and it doesn't show any smoke or use oil. The only problem, at the moment anyway, is the noise. Maybe it's only an aesthetic thing, but it bugs me. Not enough however to justify a rebore and new pistons (and while it's apart, mains and rods and thrust washers, and might as well do a valve job, and while I'm at it, how 'bout an Al head, etc.) I digress. Here's what... MORE
Thanks Peter. Teflon buttons - in the ends of the pin bores? Snug fit to the bore? I don't understand about the .010" rings. How would they reduce piston side/side movement? "joe blxfstz" 37656... MORE
Piston slap, #4 cylinder only. Cylinders 1, 2 and 3 are worn almost none, but #4 measured .006 oversize. I rebuilt it with std size pistons, assuming that they were worn more than the bores, and were the source of the tonk - tonk piston slap noise. Didn't work. It's still there. Compression is good, 155-160 psi. Doesn't smoke or use any oil. Goes away when fully warmed up, but... Questions - 1) Is this anything to lose sleep over? 2) Any "tricks" to lessen the noise?...uh, rebore and new pistons doesn't qualify as a "trick". "joe blxfstz" 37648... MORE
Paul.... "Thin flange" refers to the thickness of the actual wall of the block, this thickness being most apparent in the block's lower "flange" which borders the oil sump. As far as I know, the company went to thicker wall ("thick flange") 1275's by '68. For stock bores, the thin-flange was not a weak engine. I tested a Judson blower on a stock bore thin-flange '67 for many, many runs at 4-6psi to 6,000rpm and while we did not retain the blower, there wa s no apparent engine damage as the motor continued to run just fine for man... MORE
Only the syncro has a short life span, the box itself will normally go on for years. The same can be said of the rib case!. One other thing, it should be filled with engine oil, not gear oil, only the later 1500 midgets have gear oil in the transmision. Stewart "Ford Prefect" 37588... MORE
The Haynes manual is ok for the gearbox, but not really adequate for a complete rebuild of the diff. You need all the crown wheel and pinion setting information, most of which is in the factory manual; however, even this source has a couple of critical bits of info missing, which are the sizes of gauge blocks for setting the crownwheel and pinion positions. However, you can easily go some way to taking up some of the slack and at little cost, too. The thrust washers for the spider gears can be replaced without too much difficulty. Let me... MORE
Now cars with disc brakes on the front have a wheel cylinder with two pistons, affixed to the backing plate by means of a C-clip, and the hand brake lever is totally seperate and operates on the brake shoes not the wheel cylinder. Does this describe what you have? There are a number of manufacturers of these wheel cylinders - some use normal rubber cups, some use your Polo mint seal. There are even different versions of the Polo mint - same OD but different ID, depending on the whim of the manufacturer. The one thing they all have... MORE
G'day guys Cooler air is denser, denser air picks up more fuel and carries it intot he combustion chamber, and you get a bigger bang. So a little more power. Something you would notice at speed not on a dyno. Correctly positioned, the intake will also provide a ram air effect - a mini blower. Note: more of each, fuel and air, so it's still at the correct fuel/air ratio, not "more fuel" as in running richer. I do like your idea Robert, a little lateral thinking going on there. If you set it up correctly you might actually... MORE
G'day all Let's start with a definition. Those non-standard tubular pipes that bolt onto your cylinder head to let the exhaust gas out, and eventually join into one "collector" for the exhaust pipe, are called "extractors" or in some languages "headers". "Exhaust" includes these plus everything down the line, past the muffler to the chrome tip on the tail pipe. I guess we are talking here about insulating the extractors, not the entire exhaust system. We run in all our engines on a calibrated engine dyno. It lives in a 10ft x 15ft brick room with a huge fan... MORE
Sounds like a cheap fix. One of your rubber lines going up to the cooler in the bottom of the radiator is most likely the culprit. Remove the line tha t is leaking, cut it back about an inch, replace and reclamp. Brad "" 37461... MORE
It could be the lines that go from the transmission to the cooler. It is im portant to know if the leak is near the front, or the middle of the car, so that we can better guess the source. Brad "" 37452... MORE
Joe and others.. I understand that keeping the air intake cooler is definatly a good thing. But as I was saying I have heard that keeping the exhaust manifold hot, insulated is a good thing, independant of the fact it helps keep the engine area cooler. Mainly because of gas flow is better at hot temperatures? Or may be its because changing the density of the gas, as it cools down restricts the flow? "gav_newman" 37447... MORE
Keeping intake air cooler is a good thing in the summer. Keeping the ex manifold hotter is a bad thing (unless, maybe, if you're running a turbo). "joe blxfstz" 37444... MORE
G'day guys For your bidding pleasure, tonight we have: 1) a boot (trunk?) badge for a Mk IV Sprite, very rare, same as the Bugeye bonnet badge but almost twice the size. Now I think of it, you guys with foreign or blown engines should but this on the bonnet (OK, hood) just to brag about the size! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=27376&item=4554652340&rd=1 2) a competition roll bar, looks very substantial if a little agricultural, and I'm not happy about the bends in the main legs, but still if it keeps the wife happy..... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4554619598&category=34204 3) Bugeye Scalextric slot car - what more... MORE
I have heard insulating the exhaust manifold can improve performance significantly. Both from keeping the exhaust hotter for longer and keeping the incoming air cooler. Have many other people done it? I have a unmodified (apart from an oil cooler) 1500cc Midget, would it improve my Horse power and or MPG? I ask cause I have been reading the Vizzard book and it does not seem to mention any benefitt from keeping the exhaust hotter. "gav_newman" 37423... MORE
Hello Colin, Getting upper and closer personal, I am 62 (and dipping in the Social security till), have also owned Spridgets since age 19 (bought a new '60 Bugeye), same wife for 40 (OhMyGod) years, but one child only, now age 40, but who is a lawyer, and who left home a long time ago, having produced three chirrens of her own. You're right about Spridgets - some (many, actually) years ago, I bought a very nice, straight and rust free '67 Midget, 43,ooo miles, for $465. It needed new carpets, but that's all. We're always glad to hear... MORE
Since I have/Drive one of those un-civilised frogeye's, W/5 speed, I will take a stab at two of your questions, the RPM shouldn't be one of them because yesterday I was doing 70 at about 3500 RPM's. Your Oil Pressure sounds ok for a used engine. If during the 16 years it was down, you rebuilt it..... Not good. You might want to check the crankshaft bearings for excessive wear or the crank being oval. My 1275 runs 60-70 at 2-5,000 RPM, 50-60 psi at idle, but mine was rebuilt 1700 miles ago, not just the engine, the whole... MORE
I finally have my 1500 back on the road and am able to drive it agian after 16 years of having it in bits. I have a number of questions, some are 1500 only and some will be relavnt to late 1275. First one, What RPM is 60MPH? My car is alagedly giving 60MPH at 4K RPM in 4th gear, given I was on the motorway keeping up with traffic and overtaking some of it I am not convinced it is reading right! at points it was reading close to 70, others lower than 60, but the revs remained... MORE
David.... ..the "tubes" are not necessarily a tip off to fixed or biased needles on the HS2's.... Fr'instance.... my carbs have the tubes (which I have blocked off since I am running well v ented as I prefer not having oil vapors in the combustion process to the extent p ossible) and yet.....use fixed needles. Cap'n Bob Basic Frog "Robert E. Shlafer" 37336... MORE
G'day Jeremy Your car probably had a PVC (Positive Crankcase Ventillation) valve on the inlet manifold, connected via a rubber hose to the engine breather. When you had your foot off the throttle, the partial vacuum in the inlet manifold helped to reduce the pressure in the sump, thus (in theory if seldom in practice) minimising oil leaks out of the rear main bearing. This PCV valve was later deleted, and the hose from the engine breather went to a plastic Y-piece and then via two short rubber tubes to these pipes on the carbies. You have two options.... MORE
Jeremy, Just had a go-round with my carbs which are earlier with no vent tubes. If my experience is any example the carbs will "Y" off the valve cover and provide negative pressure in the valve train. This is a good thing. If my understanding of the setup is correct you need to hook this up or you will leak oil from strange places. In my case out of the dipstick tube among others. Rob C-75 Midget on the roand and running fine. Webfoot Leisure.com Your Local Pool Store-On the Web rob@... 866-530-9801 toll free " robbiesg@... " 37329... MORE
Jeremy... these "tubes" feed graduated (specifically sized) orifices through which crankase gasses are fed into the combustion process in a measured amount, off the "flame arrestor/oil vapor separator (through appropriate hoses and plastic "T" fit ting) mounted on the timing chain cover. These make up the "exit" or "exhaust" side of the PCV system on engines so equipped, the "inlet" side of the equation being a filtered plastic oil filler cap on the "early" cars or a feed tube into the valve cover (again, through a "graduated orifice) from the charcoal cannister on later emissions vehicles equipped with closed... MORE
Yep!! There you are! And at the going price considering the MiniMania/Hans Pedersen kits. More low/mid-range torque for street fun. Having driven a stock '67 1275 Spridget using 6psi boost, I can honestly say it is worth the 3k assuming you are go ing to keep the car. Probably one of the most worthwhile upgrades besides the Datsun 5 speed for those who want true "quick". 6psi is the lowest amount of "effective" boost (torque/heat) without unduly loading stock parts providing you don't over-rev the motor and resist the urge to constantly take it to the redline, bearing in... MORE
