Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[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.  

[Snake Charmer]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

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

Try Googling Wingard bakelite ashtray. 👍

[Six-cylinder]

19 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

Try Googling Wingard bakelite ashtray. 👍

Yes, Wingate it is and I have found one for sale in the USA.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143160871930

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

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?

Looks like an ashtray to me. OFWL is a new.one on me, where is the sensor?

[Mr Pastry]

1 minute ago, High Jetter said:

OFWL is a new.one on me, where is the sensor?

It's on the oil filter housing and looks just like a normal oil pressure switch.

[High Jetter]

That must have been early then, have only seen vague pressure warnings.

[Mr Pastry]

1 minute ago, High Jetter said:

That must have been early then, have only seen vague pressure warnings.

I can't remember now whether it sensed high pressure going into the filter or low pressure coming out.

[Zelandeth]

11 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

I can't remember now whether it sensed high pressure going into the filter or low pressure coming out.

I'd assume high pressure going in, given that as I recall there's an internal bypass for if the filter gets too clogged.

[Mr Pastry]

36 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

I'd assume high pressure going in, given that as I recall there's an internal bypass for if the filter gets too clogged.

Makes sense, presumably set at a similar pressure to the oil pump relief valve.  I can't remember whether the warning light came on when the engine was cold and then went out, maybe it did.  The filter would have had to be seriously blocked to trigger it, and as you say there is a bypass on the filter anyway which complicates things. 

[Six-cylinder]

Today the Fiat Seicento had it brakes un seized and cleaned, One step closer to getting it MOTed. Also sometime ago I bought a set of alloy wheels with younger tyres so they got fitted while all the wheels were off.

The JCB had its wiring checked and a loose connection was found that was stopping it starting. Now it puffs enough smoke again to keep the midges away!

The Mower had new brake pads today after my racing driver had complained he was not driving it again until the brakes were fixed! It started with a blow out of all the hay gathered in it. The brake disc is tiny. Unfortunately we still need to fix a puncture that has got worse.

[Six-cylinder]

I only broke down once!

Today @Andyrew, Colin from the Milton Keynes Classic Car Club and I went to the 1100 Club National Rally at Bosworth Battlefield Centre.  Andy and Colin with their Vanden Plas 1300's and me in our Morris 1300. 

For me it was a 58 miles journey, but after 32 miles I entered a roundabout and the engine cut out never to restart, luckily I coasted off the roundabout to a safe spot. Andy and Colin turned round to find out why I had dropped off the back of the group. A quick bit of diagnosis and I found there there was no sparking at the points. Andy quickly pinned it down to the condenser had died, but the magic part part was next thing with a slight of hand Andy was holding a new condenser in his hand. Condenser was soon fitted and we were on our way with no further problems including the 58 miles home.