Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[richardmorris]

On 26/07/2024 at 22:40, Six-cylinder said:

Colins Mercedes is pushing water out of the header tank.

The radiator is getting hot at the top hose end top only.

Water pump or thermostat ok?

[Six-cylinder]

7 hours ago, Talbot said:

Those look like they have not been off in a long time, if indeed ever.  Did you manage to find a belt kit for it?  It will definitely need a new timing belt if nothing else.

I have held off buying gaskets, stretch bolts, belt etc until the heads have been declared fit to reuse.

The heads have been crack tested and are fine. The valves are not sealing so that is now being investigated by the machine shop.

[Six-cylinder]

4 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Water pump or thermostat ok?

I have only ever had one water pump that the impeller fell off, but it is possible. Not sure about thermostat, but the top hose side of the rad did get hot. 

[Six-cylinder]

Sunday was Morris day.

I entered a Tulip Navigation Rally with the South Oxfordshire Motor Club. My navigator was a friend from the Triumph Sports Six Club. We did alright and only went wrong a bit when we got close to my home area and I took my usual route rather than listening to instructions.

I then took Morris to a late afternoon car gathering in Milton Keynes where he may have been the lowest power car there.

144 miles in the day and all was well.

[Six-cylinder]

This week finally I had the new alternator fitted to the Fiat Seicento. Not straightforward, wheel off, linner off, engine mount off!

Now it had been stood so long the brakes have frozen on so that is another job to be done.

[richardmorris]

43 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I have only ever had one water pump that the impeller fell off, but it is possible. Not sure about thermostat, but the top hose side of the rad did get hot. 

I’ve just watched a YouTube ratarossa with an overheating 308. That was what made me think as his water pump has a very noisy bearing and was overheating despite turning.

[richardmorris]

11 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

This week finally I had the new alternator fitted to the Fiat Seicento. Not straightforward, wheel off, linner off, engine mount off!

Now it had been stood so long the brakes have frozen on so that is another job to be done.

So, did you go to Stowe?

[hairnet]

Were there buns 

[Six-cylinder]

10 hours ago, richardmorris said:

So, did you go to Stowe?

No, just the end of the drive so had to grab the photo as it has had netting round it for ages.

[MAF260]

Preston Bissett?

 

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, MAF260 said:

Preston Bissett?

 

Is it mounting the Morris?

[Six-cylinder]

6 hours ago, MAF260 said:

Preston Bissett?

Yes that was the Rally finishing point.

[Bfg]

On 01/08/2024 at 21:51, Six-cylinder said:

I have only ever had one water pump that the impeller fell off, but it is possible. Not sure about thermostat, but the top hose side of the rad did get hot. 

I had a (seemingly) water pump failure when Katie's pulley span on its impeller spindle because a previous owner hadn't fitted the woodruff key. He relied on the bolt being tight enough to clamp it.  Perhaps the Mercedes has a dedicated drive to its water pump that may also fail ?  If I recall my old Chrysler had the water pump and A/C pump on the same belt, and the alternator on a separate one ?

...just talking off the top of my head, possibly for others to contradict ...

Not pumping / water circulation, but the thermostat opening ;  there would be little to draw hot water down through the radiator. So, just the top half of the radiator would get hot (through water conduction & convection) ..and next to no pumping of hot water / heat through the car's heater matrix. 

With the pump working but the thermostat not opening ; there would be some circulation to and from the cylinder head, via the bypass hose .. but water circulation through the top hose would be minimal. This would lead to early overheating and even less heat transfer of engine heat to the radiator.  Depending on the circulation route, your Mercedes uses, but you may find the car's heater still works very well. 

Just food for thought.

Pete

^ a generic illustration of a car engine's cooling system, borrowed from engineeringdiscoveries.com

[Six-cylinder]

On 03/08/2024 at 10:56, Bfg said:

I had a (seemingly) water pump failure when Katie's pulley span on its impeller spindle because a previous owner hadn't fitted the woodruff key. He relied on the bolt being tight enough to clamp it.  Perhaps the Mercedes has a dedicated drive to its water pump that may also fail ?  If I recall my old Chrysler had the water pump and A/C pump on the same belt, and the alternator on a separate one ?

...just talking off the top of my head, possibly for others to contradict ...

Not pumping / water circulation, but the thermostat opening ;  there would be little to draw hot water down through the radiator. So, just the top half of the radiator would get hot (through water conduction & convection) ..and next to no pumping of hot water / heat through the car's heater matrix. 

With the pump working but the thermostat not opening ; there would be some circulation to and from the cylinder head, via the bypass hose .. but water circulation through the top hose would be minimal. This would lead to early overheating and even less heat transfer of engine heat to the radiator.  Depending on the circulation route, your Mercedes uses, but you may find the car's heater still works very well. 

Just food for thought.

Pete

^ a generic illustration of a car engine's cooling system, borrowed from engineeringdiscoveries.com

I talk about the 1979 Mercedes 450 SLC because it is currently staying with me for the summer. It belongs to my friend Colin from the Milton Keynes Classic Car group. Colin helped me tidy the Peugeot 404 last year and this year guided me into buying a wrecked 1984 Mini Mayfair!

[Six-cylinder]

When we moved some cars around in storage last week the only car that would not start was our E46 BMW 330Ci. We could not hear the fuel pump running so resorted to pushing it.

Friday I had help from @Slowsilver & @ianbmw to check it out. It had a new pump 18 months ago and we found the pump was gunged up with sh1t and dead. The tank looked clean 18 months ago but now has bits in it. Dropping the tank is a big job on an E46 so we will pump it out and vacuum it the best we can before fitting a new pump.

[Six-cylinder]

Friday evening Morris got a run out to a local gathering in Milton Keynes.

The Bond and C70 belong to the same owner and I think they look great together.

[Six-cylinder]

Yesterday was the a breakfast gathering at Ridgemont close to Milton Keynes for MK Modern Classic and the DS got a run out.

The 405 Mi16 was the star for me.

These Milton Keynes events are free and just turn up in your Audi R8 or Morris 1300!

[beko1987]

16 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

When we moved some cars around in storage last week the only car that would not start was our E46 BMW 330Ci. We could not hear the fuel pump running so resorted to pushing it.

Friday I had help from @Slowsilver & @ianbmw to check it out. It had a new pump 18 months ago and we found the pump was gunged up with sh1t and dead. The tank looked clean 18 months ago but now has bits in it. Dropping the tank is a big job on an E46 so we will pump it out and vacuum it the best we can before fitting a new pump.

Use the einhell vac that was in the blue Carlton last I saw it. It might explode from the fumes but I'm happy for it to die. 

Point the exhaust vent away from you as you go for safety

[Six-cylinder]

Yesterday afternoon Santa's little helper came to see me!

This 1963 Elf was bought new by John the owners grandfather and in 2002 I took the mostly striped bodyshell to a bodyshop for work. It got back on the road in 2019 and keeps getting improvements done, the latest one is the seats.

It was nice to see it and makes me look forward to my Mini running, even if not to this standard.

[Andyrew]

3 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

When we moved some cars around in storage last week the only car that would not start was our E46 BMW 330Ci. We could not hear the fuel pump running so resorted to pushing it.

Friday I had help from @Slowsilver & @ianbmw to check it out. It had a new pump 18 months ago and we found the pump was gunged up with sh1t and dead. The tank looked clean 18 months ago but now has bits in it. Dropping the tank is a big job on an E46 so we will pump it out and vacuum it the best we can before fitting a new pump.

Holy moly thats bad! 

[Zelandeth]

Isn't ethanol blended fuel wonderful!

[AnthonyG]

The Elf is fantastic! 

[RobT]

I'm so glad to see the Morris getting some proper use.  Furthest I did in a day was 20 odd miles!  It went to the right home.

[Tommyboy12]

The Elf is a stunner. The seats arent from a Mini though? Theyre not late MPI seats, or even SPI seats?

[Six-cylinder]

5 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

The Elf is a stunner. The seats arent from a Mini though? Theyre not late MPI seats, or even SPI seats?

The Riley Elf front seats were bought used, but never used David Brown Remastered Mini ones. The David Brown front seats use the frame from the Newton Commercial Suffolk seat.

The door panels are Newton Commercial.

The rear seat was a special made by Newton Commercial to match the pleat width of David Brown spec seats. Turns out Newton Commercial leather colour is very close to David Brown.

[richardmorris]

49 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

The Riley Elf front seats were bought used, but never used David Brown Remastered Mini ones. The David Brown front seats use the frame from the Newton Commercial Suffolk seat.

The door panels are Newton Commercial.

The rear seat was a special made by Newton Commercial to match the pleat width of David Brown spec seats. Turns out Newton Commercial leather colour is very close to David Brown.

When I was young in the 1970s one of the little old dears near my parents had one in a similar colour with I am sure an ivory coloured roof like this. Dark red leather interior.

[High Jetter]

My great Aunt had an auto Elf, scared the shit out of 10yo me being raced around Hove (actually). If only it were a Hornet...

[MarinaJosh]

On 04/08/2024 at 10:38, Six-cylinder said:

The 405 Mi16 was the star for me.

 

I know the previous owner of that 405. It was on about 250k miles when I last saw it- original engine etc. There was a dent in one of the doors apparently caused by a stiletto heel from a female companion of the original owner when they had an argument.

[Six-cylinder]

Morris 1300 oddities

I have a hard box hanging from my dashboard, first thought is an ashtray but a good pull does not open it. It is illustrated in the hand-book but not labelled, any ideas?

Next concerns dashboard warning lights, there are 4, ignition, oil pressure, high beam and one other I had never seen light up. I considered that it might have been added by a previous owner for some accessory. Reading the hand-book revealed it was listed and described. Warning light no.13 is “Oil filter warning light” I have never come across such a warning lamp before, is it simply another pressure switch set a few psi higher? Any have any knowledge?

[Mr Pastry]

The oil filter warning light was supposed to tell you when the filter needed changing, just a pressure switch as you say.  They were unreliable, sometimes coming on when the filter was perfectly ok.  I can remember on one of ours,  1965-66? it was disconnected by the BMC dealer when it went in for a service and I think this was standard practice.  They were not fitted to later models.