FAF: DONE!

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skamanfrank
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Car Model: 1972 Imp Super
Location: Rugby

Post by skamanfrank »

Hmmmmmmmm, this photoshop has scuppered the next few hours plans somewhat!

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Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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New shiny bits!

Post by skamanfrank »

Ordered a bike can from ebay.

It's an aftermarket scorpion can, not entirely sure what bike it's from but the seller said he thinks it's from a 750 or 1000 bike. (He did say which but I can't remember!)
I was going to go with a standard GSXR can like Si, but instead I decided I wanted something shiny, and this came up on ebay at roughly the same price!

Plus the other benefit is that it is slip on fit so no need for an adapter........ you'd think ;) The bore is quite large, definately larger than the bore of the janspeed manifold. So I will have to get an adapter to go on the end of the link pipe I suspect.
Also because the bore is quite large I'm worried that it may be a bit too much for the power output of my car, but we'll wait and see :)

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Also got a deep groove water pump pulley, but that will probably go straight back on the bay because I doubt I will need it really, I can't see my car revving to the point of needing it. (If anyone wants it let me know)

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And finally, because I had a spare £25 in the paypal account........

Click

It had to be done really :P Tbh, I have far more important things to be spending on but this is much more fun!!
Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Post by skamanfrank »

RIGHT!

The Cavalry arrived today in the shape and form of Colin & Stuart! Thank you SO MUCH guys!!

First thing was to get the roto's on: Much to my dismay, my 2 3/4" bolts were too long :( Whether the bolts were longer than 2 3/4", or I got the wrong ones, or I should never have got 2 3/4", I do not yet know. However 'twas most dissapointing, but we got round it by using half old and half new.
They were a B*TCH to fit, even with the three of us and in the end, to give get the second one on, we used the standard screw jack in between the chassis rail and the trans! PROPER JOOOOOOOOOOOB!

Engine then went in fairly trouble free :)
Engine in and roto's on in about 3 1/2 hours... not too shabby! (Although not quite rally team quick we know!!)
Colin and Stuart left after a quick lunch after which I went back down to carry on.

Auxillaries are all on now. HOWEVER, due to the bl***y postal strikes I do not have the temp sender I ordered on Monday. It's the one at the back of the head as well, so it's gonna be a right pain to get to, and the thread is already pretty much nakered

Tomorrows plan: Writing this more for my benefit than anything else!
Get engine oil
Check the valve timing (annoying because I forgot about this and went ahead and put the cambox on. Now I have to take it off again... a job I HATE!)
Set ignition timing (pointer and numberplate lamp job, I don't have a strobe
Set points gap
Hope hoses turn up and fit them
As above but for temp sender
Connect starter electricery
Connect oil drain
Connect oil cooler (although I don't have any brackets so may change to standard filter housing)


And then I can try and start it
:oops: :shock: :? :) :wink: :twisted:

I know it sounds silly, but I'm not really all that confident :? I'm just assuming that something will go wrong and it won't work

Not much to see, but have some pics anyway:

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Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Post by skamanfrank »

Wing got sprayed in grey, hammerite anti-rust primer today. Just because it looks a bit better than the red :)

I spent about an hour masking, and still managed to get a bit of overspray here and there. Good job I didn't bother with anymore tcutting 'ey ;)

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EDIT: Not too impressed at what looks like a small ding in my lovely new £500ish worth of wing either :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Post by skamanfrank »

Took FAF on a trip down to the Peaks today to meet up with some of the RetroRides lot.

She still isn't behaving, so it meant the 50 mile trip would have to be made avoiding motorways!
Wasn't too bad tbh, just a case of finding the A62 out of Leeds, getting round Huddersfield and picking up the A616 and then just finding the pub really!

She runs alright-ish, but that's about it really. Insurance runs out in a couple of weeks so it's likely that this will be her last significant outing :( Going to try and find somewhere to keep here up here so I can work on her over the winter.

Anyway, the meet today was at the Ladybowyer Inn on the A57 by Bamford. Scenery was fantastic, the Peak District really is a fantastic part of the world.
Next was to find a location for a photo shoot, I mentioned Stannige (sp?) just outside Castleton and then found myself leading the way! An Essex boy, living in Leeds, leading a Convoy through the Peak District, what's that all about?!

It's bizarre, at times today she was running really well, and she coped fantastically with all the hills that the Peak District could throw at her. Yet, drive and drive in fourth at 70mph and it just won't have it! Also, whether you have anything towards the top of the rev range seems to be a bit of a pot luck affair as well!

Was really pleased, Faf stirred up a lot of interest and was loved by all. It's nice to know that even my tatty little thing can pick up fans :)

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Not pictured are a mk2 golf + fiat uno.

Taken from RR:

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Super indeed :)
Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Post by skamanfrank »

Righty ho flo, one of the first successful trips out in FAF for a while :)
Went down to Wakey today for a retro-rides.com small meetup. Car wasn't great on the way there but after a quick timing fiddle got it set sweet and comfortable 70mph on the motorway with the needle not moving away from blue :)

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Fuel consumption has been AWFUL recently (like 15MPG or less) so I need to establish whether it's a leak or whether it's actually burning it all. Sounds like an excuse for a fandangly clan club fuel line
Cheers
Frank
deanyboy
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Location: dewsbury, west yorkshire

Post by deanyboy »

Where's the Scotch corner meet? Yea she's tolerant of me and the imp! She is probably one in a million for it too, I can imagine most women would get annoyed and not put up with it!!! :)

Dean
1971 Hillman Super Imp
?? Something Else ??
skamanfrank
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Car Model: 1972 Imp Super
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Post by skamanfrank »

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Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Re: FAF: Manifold repair

Post by skamanfrank »

Here's the manifold repair I had done:

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Certainly makes a lot less noise now and I'm confident in the quality of the work. I've done my best to poke something down there to see if there's any intrusion, which there doesn't appear to be, but obviously this isn't a very accurate test! But seeing as it's where the secondaries meet I don't think it's quite so critical anyway. Certainly not compared to the primaries end at least
Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Location: Rugby

Re: FAF: Manifold repair

Post by skamanfrank »

I've been wondering what my boot lid looks like at night, so, seeing as it's dark I went out with the camera and the flash...

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:D :D
Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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How's me head looking?!

Post by skamanfrank »

Well,

AA man and a local classics garage suggested that seeing as the problem wasn't electrical (or at least didn't appear to be according to both of them, as well as myself) the problem causing a miss on number 3 must be something todo with the head.

No real signs of the HG going to be honest. Didn't over heat, cooling system not really pressurising, AA man tried a "sniffer" test thing which involves a syringe like object being stuck in the top of the rad, testing for carbon or some such, and no mayo in the filler or anything. But then, the HG might not have gone between a water jacket etc etc

So I've taken the head off but everything seems to be OK. HG is still in tact and looked fairly OK when I removed it.
Apart from the obvious carbon fouling, is there anything to observe? As it was number 3 that was missing I gave it a quick clean earlier.

Can't help but suspect I've pulled the engine apart for no reason now! Oh well, it's about time I changed the timing chain I suppose, never mind. I was expecting to see a cracked valve or something. I was starting to think the problem was in the head to because it was getting worse the more it was driven.

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#1
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#2
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#3
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#4
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Cleaned up #3 and #4
#4
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#3
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Before it goes back on I'll check it for flatness as well as the liners/block etc
Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Re: FAF: It LIIIIIIIIVES

Post by skamanfrank »

Some REALLY shoddy photos of what I've been doing with FAF.

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MDF Glovebox. (small cutout for bonnet cable)

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With Stereo and reciever for remote locking (pIMP!)

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Fitted. The idea being it's fixed, with an opening door. I hate the way the standard glovebox tips when you open it.

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Folded flat the original hinge. Badly. Only had a blowtorch and a pair of mole grips and one glove :)
Not sure how to get the hinge off. Couldn't work out if they were nuts on the back or what? Would like to improve it, but undecided as to how yet. If it just unbolts that would be ideal....

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Uses the door off the original glove box which is just riveted onto the rest of it with weird plastic clip/rivet things.
The door half of the lock needs to be removed from the original glovebox and bolted onto the door as well. Bit of adjustment need to get rid of the unsightly gap.

It's bolted on through the bulkhead on one side, and down the side of the dash on the other. Plenty sturdy enough although I'll put longer screws in there.

"Varnished" it with some PVA to try and make it a bit water proof because I doubt my windscreen is hugely water tight. I'm going to cover/paint it with something too.
Not much storage space in there tbh with the stereo in, but enough for sunnies and that sort of thing.
Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Re: FAF: It LIIIIIIIIVES

Post by skamanfrank »

Well, the stereo isn't actually wired in yet, but I didnt a bit more on it tonight to keep morale up.

How I decided to wire a stereo in....

First of all, some supplies;

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Including a "Male ISO Connector with 16 pins" (except the useless gits only sent me 8 pins) and a suitable adapter/lead for the stereo I'm using.
Also picture are some non-insulated spade terminals of various sizes and some speaker wire.

Up until now I have always used crimping/insulated terminals, but I have never been particularly happy with the quality/appearance that you get. So this time I've gone for non-insulated terminals that you can crimp and solder, then cover with the insulating "sheaths".
Crimping is fine if you have decent, ratchet crimpers, but at present I don't. I do however, have a decent enough soldering iron (sadly not the gas one present at WWW Gurns, I decided that one was sh*t!!!)

So, the glovebox:
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With stereo and central locking remote control box.

I decided long ago that I want to tidy the wiring and add some fuses relays. Eventually that will happen, but for now I have added something that will make the additions easier in the future:

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A simple bus bar, 3x 6 way.
This will be used to distribute (low current) live, switch live (i.e. accessory circuit) and ground signals. It should make the wiring a lot tidier, both now and in the future.

The glovebox is being used as a bit of a base for all things electrical, so the bus bar went on the bottom:
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Some of this:
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And this:
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And lots of this:
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Occurred, and eventually I was left with a wired in stereo:
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Well, at least it will be once I've connected the aforemention live and ground signals.
The bus bar will also be used for live/ground signals for the central locking and I have another male ISO block (pictured at the top) which has been soldered and wired accordingly for the(front for now, rears soon) speakers.

This is all going in the position of the original glovebox as mentioned above. I'm trying to achieve something that might not look original, but might at least look professional/carried about by someone with some level of competence!!

You'll notice that the stereo is now right over the passenger side of the glovebox. This is because I don't intend to use it with CDs very often, but with a shiny new MP3 player that will be mounted close to the steering wheel and have full track/volume control, negating the need for me to reach over to fiddle with the stereo (no aerial so i shan't be using the radio).
This also means that any bits and pieces stored in the glvoebox will be nearer to me, the driver, reducing the distance should I need to reach for a pair of aviators whilst driving!
Cheers
Frank
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long_gone_John
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Re: FAF: It LIIIIIIIIVES

Post by long_gone_John »

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....And just HOW COOL is that shot.... :P

IMPMAN @ WORK :lol:

Fab install......

LGJ
TooMuch power.. is not quite enough ;<)

875- GGR 640N - Scrapped
930- 533 KNX - Stolen
BV998- 884 KOE (Ex Sidecar motor!!)
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long_gone_John
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Re: FAF: It LIIIIIIIIVES

Post by long_gone_John »

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Ughh.....!

LGJ
TooMuch power.. is not quite enough ;<)

875- GGR 640N - Scrapped
930- 533 KNX - Stolen
BV998- 884 KOE (Ex Sidecar motor!!)
skamanfrank
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Car Model: 1972 Imp Super
Location: Rugby

Re: FAF: Break ins... loosing count!

Post by skamanfrank »

Cheers for the tips guys. I've found that just taking the steering wheel with me everywhere i go is probably the safest solution. No one's having off with it that way, unless they put it on a truck. And then if that's the case, there's not much I can do anyway!



Anyways, on a lighter note...
...had some old kitchen flooring/lino.

...had no carpets in the luggage compartment...

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Sorted

Photos are very complimentary to the workmanship tbh, but it does the job! I would have done a much better job if I'd taken my time, but since when did I do anything properly on FAF?






Also, G3 cutting compound makes me go WOW!! More on that another time.
Also also, I LOVE having a stereo in the car now. Rigged up to an MP3 player, I seem to drive even more than I did before now just for the hell of it!



EDIT:
Although i've just noticed that the squares in the pieces aren't vertically aligned. That's going to bug the HELL out of me now for ever more!
Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Re: FAF: Gone :(

Post by skamanfrank »

Hey guys,

yup, the rumours are true! I have faf back! I had some real mixed emotions on the drive home though, because BAM definitely drives better!
The clutch has absolutely no feel-but i think this is partly down to the lack of return spring on the pedal, the driving position is horrible at the moment-the seat needs to be tilted back slightly, don't know how i lived with it before! I can definitely notice the difference between the sport cam and l 4 head in BAM and the earlier items in faf too. Might have to get another!

Nice to have faf back though,much easier to see where i want to go and what to do with it now also


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Cheers
Frank
skamanfrank
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Re: FAF: Back to it's usual ways!

Post by skamanfrank »

Right,


So as mentioned previously #1 cylinder had no compression.
Today I whipped the cambox off to find that there was no clearance on the valve #1 (cyl #1 inlet valve). There we are then, that's why there is no compression and why it's not running the best. Quick phone call to Derek and I'm limping the car round there to make use of his experience, micrometre and stock of shims.




As I'm pootling along the road, horrific noise coming from the back, I swing over and park up on the chevrons between the dual carriageway and the slip road.

Get out, open the bonnet and engine appears to be seized.... fffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuu***&&(**&^^&!!!.....

After a quick tow to Maccy Ds from the 5-0 and a short wait for recovery, the car is back at Derek's, with him optimistically saying "a tappet bucket has probably broken because of the lack of clearance and has jammed the camshaft".


Cambox off.... nothing obvious there.... Cam carrier off..... #1 inlet valve cam bucket is acting a bit funky.... oh sh**.... there's no valve stem in middle of that spring.
Collect the bits and it turns out that the engine appears to have been assembled with the wrong valve collets. They appear as normal on the outside, but the inside does not have the ridge for locating on the valve stem as per:

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On the inside they are just straight. Either that, or the inside ridge has worn away without a trace

So, I've gone from no clearance, to dropped inlet valve.
My reasoning for this is:
Initially, there was enough friction in the collets to keep the valve in place in the retainer. As the engine has run, there's been a bit of movement/wear/less friction and the valve has started to drop slightly in the spring. This means that when the valve was fully closed against the head the spring would have been under less compression and longer, reducing the gap to the tappet bucket hence no clearance. As the engine was run today... the valve has dropped a little bit more in the collet and gone into the combustion chamber.


Where it's done this to the (new +40 thou) piston:

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And this, to the valve and head:

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I was originally supposed to be resetting the valve clearances tomorrow, but it's no big deal that I didn't now- We would have reset the clearance with a massively thick shim and been unaware that the valve was gradually still dropping. I can't imagine we would have for seen this really.

The exhaust manifold also had a 4" long crack in it, which I replaced today. I spotted this a days ago and was putting it down to the rough running and bad noises. It was masking other issues clearly, as I thought it was causing a majority of the poor running and noises.

I wish I had a picture of the collets, but they are complete straight on the inside with nothing to locate them on the valve.
"Luckily" I guess, there's no damage to the bore... so it's a long shot, but it's possible that I might be able to get hold of one single +40 thou piston with rings. If so, I can get the sump off, oil pump off, check for bits of metal where there shouldn't be etc and MAYBE, just MAYBE replace one piston, and the cylinder head and be done with it. However, that's a massive long shot.
For the time being I might have to just drop a bitsa lump in (done that a few times) and hope it lasts for a little while whilst I build up another engine.

I did recently buy FAF a "present" in the form of something enginey and a bit fancy.... all the way from Australia. But I'm probably going to have to flog that now to get myself back on the road :(
Cheers
Frank
enfielder2000
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Car Model: Imp Deluxe
Location: Swansea, South Wales

Re: FAF: Relatively spectacular engine failure

Post by enfielder2000 »

[attachment=0]DSC00425 (800x600) (640x480).jpg[/attachment]

Standard imp collets on the left, the ones out of Frank's engine on the right

Derek
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enfielder2000
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Re: FAF: Relatively spectacular engine failure

Post by enfielder2000 »

The pair out of Frank's engine are not even a matched pair

Derek
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