Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[Andyrew]

3 hours ago, Talbot said:

I don't suppose you have, or know of any spare injectors to suit this engine?

Chris had dropped a message to ask if i had any. I know i came across a bag with 4 in  from the blue 1.8 , when i moved workshops and dont think i would have binned them but i havent found them yet. Its possible i put then in the car itself. Ill keep having a look.

 

[Heidel_Kakao]

21 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

I agree the 735 should have been in the garage and the Golf made to sit outside!

Having the 7 series on the drive looks cooler and classier though. I would buy a house if that was on the drive.

[Six-cylinder]

58 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Having the 7 series on the drive looks cooler and classier though. I would buy a house if that was on the drive.

It always looks so good in photos, the truth is it was a bit shabby 13 years ago when we got it. Now the paint is completely shot but somehow it still remains desirable. 

[hairnet]

mmmmm limo

 

[Six-cylinder]

11 hours ago, hairnet said:

mmmmm limo

 

 

[Six-cylinder]

200 miles in the 735 today, the stop at Fankley services on the the M42 M5 was for me, not the car.  The only problem is we seemed to have developed some brake judder.

I managed to resist buying any tasty goodies from Greggs the bakers but on the way home they were talking about Greggs on Radio2. Greggs have been testing drone delivery but it turns out to be pie in the sky!

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

47 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

.... Greggs have been testing drone delivery but it turns out to be pie in the sky!

Strangely enough, over in Hemel Old Town....

[Six-cylinder]

3 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Strangely enough, over in Hemel Old Town....

That looks like it was from the TV series with the same name.

[Six-cylinder]

On 4/21/2021 at 12:45 PM, Talbot said:

Depending on how far it drives me round the bend, you might find me sitting in the middle of the FOD singing the "mango mango mango" song from your avatar over and over.  If that happens, keep sharp implements away from me.

 

I don't suppose you have, or know of any spare injectors to suit this engine?

I have been to see my favourite garage today and told them all my troubles! Well at least my Carlton has a misfire and they say check the distributor cap.

[hairnet]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

200 miles in the 735 today, the stop at Fankley services on the the M42 was for me, not the car.  The only problem is we seemed to have developed some brake judder.

I managed to resist buying any tasty goodies from Greggs the bakers but on the way home they were talking about Greggs on Radio2. Greggs have been testing drone delivery but it turns out to be pie in the sky!

 

how lost were you? F[b]r[/b]ankley is on the M5

were you not at hopwood

do you love birmingham that much

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

That looks like it was from the TV series with the same name.

It's in the same premises....

[Talbot]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

check the distributor cap.

Ha Bloody Ha.

[Six-cylinder]

2 hours ago, hairnet said:

how lost were you? F[b]r[/b]ankley is on the M5

were you not at hopwood

do you love birmingham that much

 

"Ah, just waiting to see who'd be the first one to spot that"

[Six-cylinder]

FoD Early May Bank Holiday Opening?

Is there any interest in the FoD opening up, I am free all days so if there is interest any or all days are possible.

Camping/caravan/motorhome/car camping are all fine, the forecast is dry, Daytime temps 13/14°C Night time 5°C.

[Crackers]

I'd be interested if poss! Would most likely be around on the Saturday as Sunday conflicts with truck racing at Brands hatch. 

This of course assumes I'm not 2 ice-ages behind on uni work at that point.

[LightBulbFun]

4 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

FoD Spring Bank Holiday Opening?

Is there any interest in the FoD opening up, I am free all days so if there is interest any or all days are possible.

Camping/caravan/motorhome/car camping are all fine, the forecast is dry, Daytime temps 13/14°C Night time 5°C.

if some Invacar fixing could be effected I would certainly be interested

but I dont know what the status of the hard standing is or what the availability of willing* volunteers and tools is like to help me try and get it closer to road worthiness!

or if anyone even wants to pick me up at MKC! LOL

(I do have my own socket set and spanners here, but its a bit heavy/bulky to take with me on the train sadly!)

 

(I have a driving lesson on the 3rd but I can still easily reschedule that if needs be)

[hairnet]

On 4/22/2021 at 8:36 PM, Six-cylinder said:

"Ah, just waiting to see who'd be the first one to spot that"

my nerd escaped

i like geography

how bringing this should i be

and some of this for you cos dont want you falling over

[wuvvum]

Is this next weekend or the bank holiday at the end of May?

[Zelandeth]

Sadly my situation remains unchanged from the previous date.  I will make sure the carb & manifold I've had here for cleaning are returned before then though so that's something which could be on the to do list.

[Six-cylinder]

2 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Is this next weekend or the bank holiday at the end of May?

Next weekend, 1st, 2nd and 3rd May.

[hairnet]

how much to park to zx at the field for a coupla days and rent the space in the back? :D

would not involve sheep or hay :D

 

[wuvvum]

Hmm.  Might be able to pop down for a day, but I have a Swift to fix and the C2 is getting picked up so will have to see how I go.  Funnily enough I'll be driving nearly past the FOD on the 5th on the way down to visit my parents.

[RobT]

I could be up for a visit.  I've got some parts for @Heidel_Kakao and am wondering if a pony express might be possible i.e. leave them at yours for a bit until he's able to collect.

Would also be good to meet up with you and other shiters too obvs.

[Heidel_Kakao]

37 minutes ago, RobT said:

I could be up for a visit.  I've got some parts for @Heidel_Kakao and am wondering if a pony express might be possible i.e. leave them at yours for a bit until he's able to collect.

Would also be good to meet up with you and other shiters too obvs.

If you could drop them at the FOD that would be great. I won't actually be able to attend this one as I am due to be at the Retro Rides Weekender at Goodwood (with Cedric ) from Friday till Monday but I would be able to swing by the FOD on Monday the 31st on the way home to pick up the bits.

[RobT]

Great.  If that's OK with Chris I'll drop them off.

[Crackers]

9 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Next weekend, 1st, 2nd and 3rd May.

Ah, that's probably me out then. Had my dates mixed as usual. 

[Six-cylinder]

8 hours ago, RobT said:

Great.  If that's OK with Chris I'll drop them off.

Yes that's fine with me.

[Talbot]

On 4/19/2021 at 12:24 AM, Talbot said:

The bad news:  It's got a bad misfire, which is causing a fairly nasty knocking sound.  It sounds *exactly* like pre-ignition, just while the engine is idling and being gently revved.  However, it's not regular, and it's not a heavy metallic noise. Initially it sounded like the hydraulic tappets needed to fill with oil.  It's not that.  Then we looked at firing order and any other ignition related issues.  None found.  Next was to see if it's cylinder-specific, and it IS.  Pulled the lead off cylinder 1, and sure enough it runs on 3 cylinders, but the intermittent knock is gone.  It revs up smoothly on 3, no issues.  Re-connect plug lead 1, and sure enough it's still running on about 3.2 cylinders, with various random knocks and bangs coming from it.  While the lead to Cyl 1 was disconnected, it was sparking against grounded bits nearby where it was hanging, so I don't think there's any issue at all with the ignition.  I also had all the plugs back out again, cleaned and gapped them and played mix-n-match with them, so I don't think the plugs are an issue.

Well, after looking somwhat further into this, the "misfire" has very much been found:

On 4/20/2021 at 11:37 AM, Talbot said:

Followers and stem caps fitted with a swipe of grease to hold them in place.

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAAA FAIL.

It's not hugely clear from the photo, but what you can see there is the top of the Hydraulic adjuster (which is the "fixed" fulcrum point for the rocker arm) and the rocker arm that has come off the fulcrum and is now lying sideways, jammed down the side of the hydraulic adjuster and the valve spring.

The exhaust valve wasn't opening in the slightest.  That means the exhaust stroke of that cyliner wasn't actually exhausting, it was simply re-compressing the hot exhaust gasses, the inlet valve then opened and a blast of hot exhaust was shooting into the inlet.  That was then being drawn into other cylinders, meaning that when they ran their compression stroke, the mixture was already massively over-hot, so it was pre-igniting in a fairly massive way.  Hence the very nasty knocking, and the rather random nature of the knock.

By disconnecting the spark plug on Cyl 1, it was no longer firing red hot exhaust gas back into the inlet, meaning there wasn't pre-ignition happening randomly throughout the engine.

So, it's cam cover off, and get the rocker out.  Got the hydraulic adjuster out as well to check it for damage (thankfully none found) and luckily the only damage anywhere was a tiny dint in the very end of cylinder 1 exhaust valve lobe.  It's majoratively on the area of the lobe that has clearly never contacted the follower, so in terms of the engine it will make sod-all difference.

At this point, there's two options:

1. Take the cam carrier back off again, which means removing the head bolts.  That then leads to the thought of do I just wallop the same bolts back in again without disturbing the head, re-compressing the gasket?  That also would mean completely stripping the timing end of the engine again... something I have zero appetite for.
2. Use the tool mentioned by Andyrew previously and hope I can get the rocker/follower and hydraulic adjuster back in, on the cylinder with the least space to work in.

1 is off the table.  So it has to be 2.  Quick message to Andyrew, and by utter luck, the tool needed is instantly to hand (it could have just as easily been buried under 2 tonnes of "stuff"), so he brings it up.

an hour later, and after some rather fiddly and careful work, the adjuster and follower are back in.  The basis of the tool is that you end up compressing the valve spring *much* further than the cam would ever do so, meaning it's as far down away from the camshaft as possible.  The rocker follower goes in next, but pushed over to one side (and on it's side) to keep it out of the way while the hydraulic adjuster is dropped back in.  Then with varous bits of pokey wire, needle-nose pliers and a lot of fiddling (and a modicum of swearing) the rocker can be manipulatied back onto the fulcrum.  The tip of the rocker can then be carefully lifted up and the tip follower (which goes on the end of the valve stem) gently put back in.  After checking that everything is lined back up, the tool is removed *VERY* carefully, putting the spring load back on the follower and keeping everything together.  This has to be done absurdly carefully, as the rocker/follower and valve stem/tip follower will fall off at the slightest provocation, and I couldn't get any more grease in there to stick it all together.

Once that was done and the engine turned over twice to confirm it'll stay together, all the rest of the parts were put back on:  Cam cover back on, cooling fan, cooling fan cowl (which is about a foot long, but there you go) and a few other clips.

Run up to temperature, coolant flushed again, sacrificial oil dropped and some fresh put in.  Bonnet back on, and it drives.  It's still running on 2-year old fuel (so does splutter a bit) but it drives.  Thank goodness for that.

What was previously PARTIAL SUCCESS is now FULL SUCCESS.  W00t!!!!1111!!111one11!!!eleven!

[Six-cylinder]

Thanks to Talbot and Andyrew for there further efforts so we now have a driving Carlton.

The strange hosepipe activity was not punishing the car, but to flush the brown gung out of the heater matrix.

[Six-cylinder]

An experiment for me to produce a video.