A Californian drying out in South Africa

oli · Post by **oli** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:10 pm

If you PM me Roy, I can explain exactly what you have ref the waterpump impeller, and I can probably help you with some other info ref waterpumps.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:02 am

When fitting the oil sump this time I added a flat washer under the standard spring washer, this was for two reasons, the flat washer will not damage the new paint on the sump.

I have used Hylomar as the sealant as then I can remove the sump if required, the Hylomar can normally then be reused?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Tue Oct 22, 2019 5:54 am

A start yesterday and the progress made will see the engine that is in the car removed today.

Removal of the heat shield between the silencer and the Stromberg carbs added to the work, which is why the shields used to be discarded when the cars were serviced?

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 7:39 am

Like everything it's ok except where it's no good. Flywheel is doweled for balance isn't it so you put it on in the same place every time?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:33 am

Some months back I started to produce the sport radiator heat shield, with my own radiator removed from the engine bay it was the right time to fit one for myself.
I had good support from forum members on this design, many thanks to those who took the time and trouble to help.

The plate is stainless steel, there are grub screws on the standard cowl, my heat shield locates to two of those screw holes, then there are four extra holes in the stainless plate which I used a a guide to drill through the standard cowl, then pop rivet to tie the plates together.

The small cut out with the center hole is there to accept the leaf guard, in case its needed, there are tow of those, the other one is out of sight and to the right of the first picture.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sun Oct 27, 2019 5:50 am

The new radiator heat shield clears the drive coupler and leaves enough space to work on it when required.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:22 am

moose wrote: ↑Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:09 am After bringing the engine up to normalized coolant and oil temperature, put the engine under load. The cylinder pressure from 50 to 75 percent and eventually to 100 percent load will place additional pressure on the back side of the rings which will quickly establish the proper wear pattern for seating. With today’s rings, especially moly-faced versions, this can be achieved in a very short period of time and certainly within 20 to 30 miles of street driving. In WOT dyno testing, likely the rings are seated by the end of the first few runs.

Moose, that is good news!

My pistons are Hepolite Powermax and to 0.060" oversized, I bought them from Bob Alan at the Wirral Imp 04 National meeting, are those piston rings suitable for the bedding in process your talking about?

gr88 · Post by **gr88** » Tue Oct 29, 2019 7:16 am

Haven't they removed zinc from standard oils because it kills catalytic converters ? Thats why there is good trade on classic car oils and additives with extra zinc ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classic-Vint ... 1438.l2649

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:22 am

The twin pack etch primer was applied with a 3" foam roller.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 7:40 am

After the electrical test and using the Ohms option on my multimeter yesterday showing that all HT leads gave a very similar reading I was then wondering if the compression on cylinder number three was the problem?

A test just now with a warmed up engine shows this to be far from the case as cylinder three reads one dial segment higher than cylinder number one.

It is reading very close to 1200 Kpa, which is my highest reading seen on this gauge to date, it is around 170 pounds Psi.

Since the engine went into the car and over fifty miles put on to it starting is much better now, the choke is no longer required, idle is fine once the engine has warmed up a little.

So why the plug fouling on cylinder number three ???

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Mon Nov 11, 2019 5:49 am

What may be the nicest part of the Imp engine is the overhead camshaft ?

Now the head gasket has been torqued down to 38 pounds I can tweek the engine revs up a little bit more?

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Tue Nov 12, 2019 6:14 am

Thats a stress crack or possibly crash damage by the looks of it , never seen that in my life , almost looks like your shells splitting apart

, thats a very structural part, bonding it isnt the answer , its a car not a boat

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Fri Nov 15, 2019 4:54 am

Looking for the evidence, good or bad, I went through a stash of CDs yesterday looking for an image of the inside of the area where the crank scroll fits.

I found part of what I needed, the block side, I have yet to find the main bearing cap and suspect I may not.

If you look past the crank gears, check out the condition of the scroll cover in the block, its as new and was unmarked.

Meaning there was no reason that the scroll would not work and in doing so allow oil to pass it?

If the crank was the correct way around we would not see the part of the block that I was looking for!

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:38 am

Those Mintex rear brake lininings from Century Autosport worked well when I originally fitted them, the effect wore off and I was told it was because I had not bedded them in?

I had not done that as I was not aware that I had to.

Yesterday and without sanding the linings with 60 grit sand paper as advised, I did a series of heavy type braking and from about 60 kph to 10 kph, I also did it when coming down a long hill which would increase the load on the brakes.

I was able to then reach home and park inside the garage without using the brakes for long, I left the hand brake off and today I have remarkable stopping power once more

Under the heavy braking routine the right front disc brake is wanting to lock up, it may just be tyre pressures which I will check next.

This mornings drive was for the fifteen miles along the Chapmans Peak Drive, the front brake seems to snatch less today?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Mon Nov 18, 2019 5:58 am

An unexpected oil leak is at the crankshaft pulley seal, normally when I fit an SKF Speedy Sleeve and a new lip seal there is never any signs of a leak again.

This time there is one, its not huge but it is a leak all the same, so a new lip seal will be fitted when the engines rear support cross beam is removed to extract the engine.

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:48 am

I noticed that, I thought I'd replied to the post then the comment had disappeared, not realising the same post was on several times.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Tue Nov 19, 2019 4:41 am

New old stock lip seals, I wonder?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Tue Nov 19, 2019 1:12 pm

It does not look like much but this is the leaking seal, which has been allowing even more Spirax oil out since the transaxle was refilled.

Waiting until next year was not an option if I wanted to drive the car?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Wed Nov 20, 2019 6:16 am

Yesterdays engine removal went well, removal of the lip seal to the output shaft less so .

The removal tool that I made sort of worked but I lost control of the seal and its now inside the box.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Wed Nov 20, 2019 6:24 am

This i a new idea for me, not the change of a lip seal but the entry to the transaxle via the inspection cover.

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Wed Nov 20, 2019 9:33 am

I think trying to do anything with the input seal from up inside the diff housing would be very difficult indeed it's not worth thinking about really, it's enough working on it from the outside, it needs to be a tight fit and be square to the shaft, doing anything like that from inside would be near on impossible then you have to put a new o ring seal on the inspection plate too or risk a leak from there too?

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:42 am

Try it with the clamp band around the doughnut to compress it up so the bolts not trying to come out at an angle.
It's not fighting you you're fighting it not using imp standard practice

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Wed Nov 20, 2019 12:59 pm

If you talk to Dave Weedon he will tell you removal of the bell housing removes the preload on the diff bearings so once reassembled the diff bearings will need their preloaded resetting by adjusting the screwed output bearing sleeves, you need to proper tooling to do it properly though.

Hylomar is applied by fingers whenever I've seen it being done. Maybe they used a special RG finger at the factory?

eebiegeebie · Post by **eebiegeebie** » Wed Nov 20, 2019 2:38 pm

If the bell housing just came off and easily went back on again, without touching the screwed sleeves, then maybe the pre-load was already lost? Sounds like it needs the pre-load and CWP backlash setting up properly. I would certainly ask DW for an expert opinion on that.

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Thu Nov 21, 2019 9:51 am

Ah yes but fitting them from inside the gearbox via the inspection hatch might have damaged it, they are only designed to be fitted from their outer face inwards?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:55 am

My clamp, a picture for The Nun

oli · Post by **oli** » Thu Nov 21, 2019 4:04 pm

Looks like you sometimes make a lot of work for yourself Roy!

I have only ever had the seal go into the transaxle once (the first time I ever changed one 30+ years ago), and even then I managed to retrieve it from the belhousing side without removing it from the car.
If you use a thin bladed small flat screwdriver CAREFULLY, it is easy to 'walk' the seal out slowly. You just have to keep moving around the seal as you lever it out. Just requires a little patience.
Always use clamp for the rotoflex removal - easy then.

617sqn · Post by **617sqn** » Thu Nov 21, 2019 6:09 pm

DSC_1203.JPG

Roy could write about fog dust !

Andy G

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 11:21 am

Drive it day

Gears work just fine, the box is now as close to silent as I have ever heard, must be the complete change of EP Spirax oil?

Plus there are no leaks!

Just the one drop that stayed on the casing where it was to be seen

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Sat Nov 23, 2019 7:14 am

Without the preload it will probably be fine initially but you will be more likely to wear out the bearings and diff and pinion faster, also thus, create noise/whine, you had better let Dave Weedon know he's wasting lots of time doing the preloads on the gearboxes he builds otherwise?

617sqn · Post by **617sqn** » Sun Nov 24, 2019 9:14 am

I really think you are far too obsessed with oil drops. For goodness sake, it's a 1960s car using 1960s tolerances and standards. They leak. They ALL leak. You'd need the proper seal and related machining to stop it, and even then it might not. Those 2 drops would be considered a full cure in my garage.

Andy G

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:28 am

The oil leaks were not only from the crank scroll area, one was the union where the oil cooler pipes join to the sport oil cooler boss.

Rootes used a Dowty washer as the sealing ring, I suspected that one of the lock nuts would be undersized, I was correct ( Rootes supplied?) the repair involved taking a large washer and enlarging the hole to fit over the thread, then the seal could work as it was made to do.

The smaller lock nut that leaked is the lower union in the second picture.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Wed Nov 27, 2019 4:54 am

The 107 series sport head has the sport sized valves, I also had a set of bronze guides with seals fitted as well, there is no sign of smoke from the engine, not even when it was first started

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Wed Nov 27, 2019 7:40 am

It's almost as if you were expecting lots of smoke Roy? My sport never smoked until it had 50000 on the clock then just a bit after overrun and that was with the standard 180 head and no seals, I'd very extremely surprised if yours had started to after only 250 miles and with seals as well

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Thu Nov 28, 2019 4:44 am

My 1966 Singer Chamois Sport cylinder head was fitted with new valve guides and also new valves and timing chain, so for the foreseeable future it will run as a new one?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Thu Nov 28, 2019 4:46 am

This job was done back in 2010!
The engine was then fully assembled and was put into storage pending when I would use it and in which car?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Fri Nov 29, 2019 4:44 am

A compression test done this week shows a marked improvement and in pounds it will be around 180 now, the manual states 180 to 200 pounds so there is a way to go yet?

617sqn · Post by **617sqn** » Fri Nov 29, 2019 11:25 am

You guys !

Andy G

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sat Nov 30, 2019 4:57 am

John Simister wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2019 4:29 pm Nitrous oxide injection is my guess. Or, given the pic of the throttle cable, discovering that the throttles weren't opening fully and now are. But I'll go with the nitrous.

john,

Your correct, with the second option and throttle cable adjustment.

As with all the engine ins and outs, I was removing the cable and the quadrant from the throttle spindle to save the wire cable end.

At no time did I bother to check that the cable was as tight as it could be, when I did there was still about four or five mm to go as the wire while it looked tight enough was not tight around the quadrant.
Removal of the slack slowly so as not to disturb the engine revs tick over, ha

s given me far better throttle response and a faster engine!

This far I have used a limit of 5000 rpm.

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Sat Nov 30, 2019 7:42 am

I'm sure I've seen lots of these photos somewhere before in the past, unless I'm dreaming in my old age?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sun Dec 01, 2019 6:39 am

Evidence of a pale green paint on what I am told is a 1965 made transaxle suggests an inspection pass ?

Bobbycham · Post by **Bobbycham** » Wed Dec 04, 2019 5:53 pm

Roy & Peter
Are you both on holiday?

Bob

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Thu Dec 05, 2019 7:30 am

I have this morning repeated the drive done yesterday, the idea being to add more miles ( Kms) onto the new engine, I have now done just short of 500 kms, so about 310 miles now.

Today and with some newspaper under the crank scroll area I see no leak at all, the water pump looks to have stopped leaking also

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Thu Dec 05, 2019 9:01 am

I keep two or three pre assembled water pumps just in case I have a need for a quick swop?

Quick it was not when I tried to line up the Bosch 35 amp alternator as what I think is an early Mk1 alloy sub frame does not sit as the later types do and I had to use thick washers as spacers.

I had marked this sub frame as early as it had the steel stud to take the dynamo support bracket.

It has been put in place for this photo.

RoyBlunt · Post by **RoyBlunt** » Thu Dec 05, 2019 1:13 pm

Don't despair folks! You're are not the only ones to need a daily 'Forum fix''. I just enjoy reading most of what is posted - can't often help unless it's something I'm familiar with but, although I've owned one Imp for 50 years, that's the only one I'm familiar with. Suzy is a pretty standard Super Imp and I try not to fiddle with her more than necessary but it is always interesting to see what other people are up to!
Roy

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:50 am

Red Loctite 271 does have a lot of strength !

I should have applied the required heat first?

When I do I will pack the underside of the pulley with a damp cloth to absorb the heat and save the bearing and carbon seal inside the pump.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sat Dec 07, 2019 5:48 am

I mentioned the fact that my sport air cleaner has a venturi pipe inserted where the suction from the crankcase vent pipe is fitted, this I made and fitted myself after InfraZA mentioned that air will always take the easiest route and that a pipe fitted into the suction inlet to the air cleaner will do next to nothing?

As the crankcase vent would have a positive pressure I suppose that does the job?

I have found the venturi diagram that I think Lars Hagermark of Sweden (r.i.p) supplied? who would PK be?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sat Dec 07, 2019 10:04 am

Removal of the drive pulley on the water pump when heat was applied was quite straightforward, in fact the black paint was hardly damaged.

I had packed the rear side of the pulley with a wet cloth which I assume absorbed most of the excess heat.

The seal on the bearing was wet with water, so little damage looks to have been done there?

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Sun Dec 08, 2019 1:22 pm

With all the related parts removed from the pump I found that it did in fact rotate and feel as it should, so I did a Water Leak test and over night, not a drop was lost.

African Imp · Post by **African Imp** » Mon Dec 09, 2019 9:12 am

Such is the grip of red Loctite that is cleaned up the threads to look like new again