Skizzer’s Vauxhall 2300S: cool again

[Skizzer]

Bugger.

Exactly. Succinctly put.

 

So far the only 2.3 slant 4 inlet manifold I’ve found is contained within this, the serial killer van that’s just been relisted on eBay:

 

 

Which would be even better as my conveyance for the management team annual offsite meeting at the posh country house hotel. Hmm.

[anonymous user]

And a shoo in to sell on to Eddyramrod when you get fed up with it. Daft question is it the same manifold on the 2.3 Viva/Firenza

[tooSavvy]

I seem to have read (... In the mists of time) sliding a smaller bore/tight fitting copper pipe through the casting, as an option on 'porous/shitty auld' manifolds.

[Skizzer]

And a shoo in to sell on to Eddyramrod when you get fed up with it. Daft question is it the same manifold on the 2.3 Viva/Firenza

Yes, as long as it’s single carb. I don’t think it matters which carb - mine’s a Zenith Stromberg 170, for good or ill. I’ve been searching for Firenza, Magnum etc as well as CF without any joy so far.

 

Mrs Skizzer now wants the CF. Although I have to repaint it and put a new interior in. I’ve always fancied building a camper van anyway... but when am I going to get another project done? After the Rancho?

 

Eddy, you’re welcome to borrow it when it’s finished - just don’t hold your breath.

[Skizzer]

I seem to have read (... In the mists of time) sliding a smaller bore/tight fitting copper pipe through the casting, as an option on 'porous/shitty auld' manifolds.

I was wondering about that but it’s royally buggered, it would need drilling out even to do that. Might as well get someone to do a proper job and put a new insert in. I will do that anyway, even if I do buy the van and temporarily cannibalise it.

[tooSavvy]

^^^^ ... worth a shot 'in situ', if you can get a horizontal run at it...

[red5]

Hmm. Is it head coolant circuit or just heated inlet manifold?

[Skizzer]

Hmm. Is it head coolant circuit or just heated inlet manifold?

I think it’s just a branch to the manifold...are you thinking bypass it? Could look into that. It might mean bypassing the heater too, but could at least make it mobile.

[red5]

Yes, iirc the slant 4 head cooling wasn’t related to the manifold. Or it’s completely wrong.

Bypass it but not the heater is possible depending on hose feeds. Sorry, it’s been a few years since I saw one.

Got any better pics? Or a workshop manual?

 

I’ll have a look in the hbol archive in the loft shortly.

[Skizzer]

The Victor FE HBOL is bugger all use - cooling is a 3-page picture-free chapter. The main description suggests the manifold water jacket is inline rather than a branch, though:

 

 

I’ll have a look at the actual car again at the weekend. Nice idea though.

[tooSavvy]

.... Hmm. Unscrew/drill out stub..nuttyputty/chemical metal a brass hose connector/compressed air fitting into place.??

[Skizzer]

.... Hmm. Unscrew/drill out stub..nuttyputty/chemical metal a brass hose connector/compressed air fitting into place.??

Yup, I reckon. It’s vertical though, to answer your earlier question, so unless it unscrews (good luck) the manifold will have to come off to avoid getting swarf and rust in unwelcome places.

 

It might unscrew with heat, my 3ft Breaker Bar of Truth and/or possibly that 18v impact wrench I’ve been promising myself.

[skattrd]

Lateral thinking ... slant 4, isn't that similar to erm a certain engine in a wedge shaped thing you have?

 

 

When my brother had a Bedford camper I did suggest replacing the slant 4 with a 907 and twin dellortos.

Although a 907 probably cost more than the camper.

[Skizzer]

Lateral thinking ... slant 4, isn't that similar to erm a certain engine in a wedge shaped thing you have?

 

 

When my brother had a Bedford camper I did suggest replacing the slant 4 with a 907 and twin dellortos.

Although a 907 probably cost more than the camper.

It did cross my mind! But the Lotus is running so sweetly now (as it should after what I spent on it) I couldn’t bring myself to start hacking away at it.

[Skizzer]

A footnote that made me chuckle - in its general introduction to the book of lies, Haynes says this of the FE Victor/VX:

 

It is not going to make anyone greatly enthuse about it.

Yup, our kind of car.

[anonymous user]

Just remembered I saw an FE estate on a driveway in Whitchurch, Cardiff, last week, not sure if it's in use, the house had a faded Mk1 mini outside as well, they suited the house.

[junkyarddog]

It May be worth your while to remove the thermostat housing and see if you can spray some penetrating fluid from underneath.

 

Or if the worst comes to the worst,you may be able to stuff a rag tightly in there to catch the swarf from drilling it out,

may save you having to remove the fannymold.

[tooSavvy]

Mold isn't his major problem... Its swarf in his fanny :/

[Cavcraft]

Hopefully a decent engineering place could weld a sleeve in it for you.

There’s a place called ‘Motorcast’on Wem ind. estate in Shropshire who were really good at repairs and other work, could be worth asking them if you’re stuck.

[Skizzer]

It might unscrew with heat, my 3ft Breaker Bar of Truth and/or possibly that 18v impact wrench I’ve been promising myself.

In an unexpectedly positive turn of events today, the offending hose connector actually unscrewed very easily from the inlet manifold using the Bar of Truth after a good soaking in the Fluid of No Nonsense:

 

 

I’m not sure what it’s made of - it doesn’t look like brass and isn’t magnetic so some sort of alloy I suppose? Whatever it is, it’s soluble in coolant - the pipe bit is supposed to be about an inch and a half long:

 

 

I just need to figure out what size the threaded end is (that hex takes a 19mm or 3/4” socket) and then hopefully the fitting will be available off the shelf - there are various available from the US though I haven’t yet found a UK seller.

 

If all else fails I’ll be getting some brass hex bar and looking to borrow a lathe, then I can go all Project Binky on its ass.

[somewhatfoolish]

The chances of it being anything other than a British Standard Pipe thread are nil; the hex being 19mm makes the thread 3/8", so one of these is required. A steel one might be more robust though, there are other suppliers obvs. BES.co.uk are quite good.

[Skizzer]

The chances of it being anything other than a British Standard Pipe thread are nil; the hex being 19mm makes the thread 3/8", so one of these is required. A steel one might be more robust though, there are other suppliers obvs. BES.co.uk are quite good.

Excellent, thanks! That’s the badger. Practically fixed already!

[wuvvum]

Now that is what I call a breaker bar.

[Skizzer]

Now that is what I call a breaker bar.

I have sworn to use its powers only for good.

[320touring]

Good work!

 

Just make sure the pipe side of the union is the right size for the hose - I think the one linked looks a bit narrow ( though I could be wrong:!)

[Skizzer]

It does look too narrow, but it’s just illustrative of the connector type and you get to choose the actual size. The inner bore of the original is 7/16”, which nobody seems to sell, so I’ve ordered a 3/8” and a 1/2” as they’re only a couple of quid each. Hopefully one of the two will be a good fit for the hose.

[Christine]

2 sold in the last hour , that'll be you then.

 

They've sold 14,235  so thats how many slants have the same problem   

[RobT]

Blimey that's a result, and the 3ft breaker bar looks a very good idea! Must get one myself.

[Skizzer]

Fixage has occurred.

 

 

I went round one loop of ordering the wrong size of brass pipe insert - what the seller called the ‘inner bore’ dimension was the inner diameter of the hose that it goes into, so the outer diameter of the actual pipe insert - but got the right one eventually.

 

Thanks to somewhatfoolish for the tip about the 3/8” BSP tapered thread, that was spot on. The AS hive mind at work. I’d still be pointlessly trying to crack an inlet manifold off a Bedford CF otherwise.

 

I ran it with SpeedFlush and water for 10 minutes or so, including a quick drive round the farm; all was well. I left it to cool while I had lunch then went back to drain and refill.

 

The contents of the bucket I’d left under the car after the first draining were quite nasty:

 

 

I undid the hose on the new pipe insert again to avoid an airlock in the heater branch before I drained and refilled. On draining it dumps an extra half litre in the bucket when you undo the seal at the top.

 

The HBOL says coolant capacity is 8.2 litres including the heater loop, so I figured my 4l bottle of Prestone concentrate would give me a nice 50/50 winter mix. Good plan, except it turns out the capacity is actually half that and the concentrated antifreeze started pouring out of the uncoupled top hose as I got to the end of the bottle. Bollocks. I was glad I’d lightly oiled the pipe insert so I could shove the hose on quickly to contain the flow.

 

After a final top up with water it’s now running about 90/10 concentration. Well, at least it’s not going to freeze.

[Skizzer]

Oh, and I forgot to mention - the temp sender is working fine. It didn’t register on the gauge because the coolant had drained out, so the sensor was just sensing air.

 

A salutory lesson: just because the temp gauge says the engine’s cold, doesn’t mean you aren’t overheating.

 

Ah, the joy of driving old snotters.