The Mighty Quinn

No. They're hardened steel so you'll go through the case hardening. Fit what you have so there is a clearance and run it till hot so it all settles in. Then recheck and order the correct shims.

127 and 131. Grease nipple is 153.

When setting the mixture, there's a 'tickle' pin, small spring loaded thing that lifts thje dashpot upwards. You can set the mixture so that when you press the pin upwards 1.5 mm the engine speed should increase. If it stalls it's too weak, if it stays the same it's just weak. Press the pin upwards a bit more and it should slow down. If the engine speed increases even more with the pin pressed right up, it's too rich. You should do all carb adjustments at fast idle, about 950 rpm. If the needle and jet look OK and aren't leaking I'd leave them. Probably an 'M' needle in a std 1098. This is good: https://sucarb.co.uk/technical-hs-type-carburetter-tuning-single

Excellent advice ; also, the knuckle in the remote itself at the base of the gearlever can loosen. Last but not least, there is a grease nipple for that gearchange shaft on the diff housing - firing grease in there can remove a LOT of free play in the bushes if worn.

Unleaded fuel with an additive - sorry, I thought that would be obvious but cheers for the heads up. :-) Plenty of A Series units have suffered valve seat resession btw. Seen it loads of times, mainly around 1988/9 when unleaded arrived and owners thought it would be a good idea to run their Minis, Fiestas etc on U/L. However, I made a good living from top end rebuilds as a result. 😎 Anyway......... The reason the car has been spitting coolant out could be due to the missing expansion bottle. I'm delving back in time a bit now but 1100's had an expansion bottle down the front of the engine (rad side iirc) and I can't see it on yours. They were metal until around 1969, plastic later on. It sounds much better if a little 'flat' so attention to the timing is needed and a c/test.

The timing sounds retarded beyond belief. I'd mark the distributor, slacken the 7/16 and turn it to see if it picks up. Then a compression test. It could be that some clown has run it on UL and buggered the valves. What are the clearances like?

A friend in that there London has a factory black 280E Estate, red leather and manual box. About a 1993 I think. It's for sale. He's got a 300D estate as well, recently acquired.

M102's can have a gasket issue but you generally get water in the oil as well and mayo on the oil cap. Perhaps the residue is from an old head gasket fail. They're very easy heads to remove though. A shame yours was too old for the M111 engine, that really is a proper thing.

£250. Sheesh.

I bet they couldn't wait to get rid of the PA Cresta.

Leave it exactly as it is, it's perfect.

I'f be surprised if it still has the 803 cc engine - they were a bit crap and most had the 948 dropped in.

If it runs on, reduce the idle speed. 700 rpm is fine on these as a good one will run like a sewing machine.

Denim blue! Iirc, the Sportomatic E(bygum)Series VDP's had the 1750 big block mill.

Rubbish Merc bodywork started with the first W202 in 1994, used to see L and M reg ones looking very tatty far too soon.