On The Road Problems

June 2005 M.O.T. Month!

(updated for a second time 11-06-2005)

(updated for a 3rd time 26-06-2005)

Well, a trouble free May has led to June. MOT territory..... Yes, can you believe it?... its been a whole year since Daisy became road worthy. However, this year of motoring has taken its toll on Daisy, and a bit more than I expected to be honest. I booked her in for her MOT this morning, and by 2pm today, I got the dreaded phone call, to say she had failed :-(

What failed her, was not all that much, it was what I did after that!! - But anyway, one thing at a time. Here is what she failed on ;

Left Hand Thread Trackrod - Partially seized

Horn was dead (I had had problems with this ever since I replaced the original faulty relay a few months ago)

Rear Shock Absorber was leaking

These are all fairly easy to replace ...

	Track Rod End 100E-3290-B and 100E-3289-B	www.smallfordspares.co.uk	£15.00 ea
	Rear Shock Absorber 100E-18080	www.smallfordspares.co.uk	£40.00 ea

Not sure what I am going to do about the horn yet.

The garage that is doing Daisy's MOT, is only just up the road (5mins away) and I know the owner quite well, as he serviced the mini I used to have (for me, and its 2 previous owners). As we were talking about the failed MOT, and he was reminiscing about 100E's, I happened to mention that Daisy's valves (tappets) were loud again, and that it was a bugger to do, as the side valve engine meant, that you have to take off the exhaust manifold to get to the them. Quick as a flash, he offered to take a look, so take a look we did.....

So, the exhaust manifold needed to come off

She did not come off easily...... however, it did come off. Now we needed to remove the valve cover, only, the fuel pump was in the way, so, we had to remove the fuel pump

Now, removing the exhaust manifold, had meant that the gasket had died, given that we needed to exert a certain amount of force to get the thing off. So a new gasket would be needed.

So, now we have the Manifold off, the fuel pump off, and the valve cover off (at last). Although the valve cover did try to remain attached to the gasket, and hence, killed it. Typical. Thank you Daisy.

----------------------------------------- update 04/06/2005 -------------------------------------------

Damn it, bugger, bugger, damn damn damn.................... Aaaaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... Count to 10.....

Daisy Daisy Daisy... Its because its MOT time isn't it?! I have had the exhaust manifold off a couple of times since owning Daisy, and apart from replacing the gasket, I have had no real issues with it. UNTIL NOW of course. This time, taking the manifold off, resulted in two of the four bolts that hold the manifold on, breaking (see RED arrow) FoMo part no. 24051

And if thats not enough........ While I had the manifold off, I happened to look at it with a pen torch, and what I saw was not good. A crack was developing on the manifold, and it was quite long already. I have marked in RED along this diagram where the crack is, and is likely to travel. <sigh>.

I have no idea if I can get another manifold, and I suspect, that even if I could, it will be bloody expensive. What I might do is look in to high temperature metal bonding, in a hope that there is such a thing to correct cracks in manifolds. Stay tuned.

-------------------------------------------------- updated 11-06-2005 -------------------------------------------------

Well, after much hunting around for a high temperature metal bond, my wee brother found these people on the web http://www.caswelleurope.co.uk

Downloading their latest catalogue, they have a product called Pyro Putty 2400, which is designed for such things as manifolds. Just as I was about to order a small tin of this stuff, I get an email from a fellow 100E restorer... Offering me his spare manifold for free! - A very very big THANK YOU to Graham Little from Lanarkshire.

I know that my manifold is on 'borrowed' time, but as Daisy is my main 'going to work' car, I needed her back on the road asap. So while I await Grahams much appreciated gift, Daisy has been put back together as is. The MOT failing parts have been replaced, and the manifold, valve cover and fuel pump put back. If you recall, when taking the manifold off, 2 of the 4 bolts snapped. Well, thanks to Colin (the MOT garage man), he managed to find 2 lengths of correctly threaded replacements. So here a few new photos, showing the work.

New threads, new bolts.

All new gaskets. Manifold, Valve cover and fuel pump.

Now, remember a couple of months ago, I had a problem with my horn? Well, in true 'Daisy fashion', the horn decided to die on the morning of the MOT. Turns out that she blew up my nice new (and rewired) relay :( However, with Colin's help (MOT Garage man) the dead relay was removed, and a slight rewire of the centre steering column, and the insertion of a 10amp fuse, meant that we did not have to replace the relay. Instead, we now have an in-line 10amp fuse (Daisy's 1st true fuse!), and fantastic dual horns.

Daisy's 1st fuse.

Now, the rewire of the steering column meant that we had to pull the wires quite a way up from the inside of Daisy, meaning that we had to strip the protective cover from the wires at the bottom of the steering box.

As a temporary measure, I shall just use electricians tape. I know that when Graham's manifold arrives I will have to take Daisy to bits again, but that's no big deal, and the gaskets are pennies really. Oh... one other thing..... Make sure that you get the small bracket at the bottom of the steering box the right way round!! - Otherwise your indicator centre on the steering wheel, will spin round with the wheel!! ( I learned the hard way).

---------------------------------------------------------------- updated 26-06-2005 -----------------------------------------------------------

So, a quick look at the new shocks replaced for the MOT. Worth noting, that although it is not stated on the website of www.smallfordspares.co.uk you can only by these rear shocks IN PAIRS.

Had a go at priming the front bumper....... maybe I shouldnt have !!

And the back is getting a bit rusty as well. It didnt take much to show this 'hole'.

Anyway, on to the reason for the update. Daisy is off the road once more. She seems to be dragging in air, well, thats what it sounds like anyway. Tried adjusting the volume screw on the carb to adjust the flow, but this resulted in an even worse scenario. Now Daisy wont even start :(

So, lets get the carb off, and check it out. First thing I notice, is that the bolts holding the carb to the manifold are, well, not tight. They could have worked free due to the vibrations, but I cannt help but think that they very well may not have been tightened up by the MOT garage. So, off with the carb.

Now, in true 'Daisy style' the easy jobs, never are... I have a stuck nut. Rather than the threaded end staying put, it came out whole with the carb. <sigh>.

One end where it should be, the other, stuck on the carb.

Did notice a strong smell of petrol, and realised that I had not blocked the fuel line, and petrol was still coming out from the fuel pump line!!

It was running down the outside of the pipe, filling up in the engine mount bracket.

So, quickly got the G clamp on to the flexi hose.

Ok Daisy..... lets do this once more.....

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