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1974 MGB GT - The Mustard (Mit) Mobility Scooter - 6yrs ownership & the end is potentially nigh!


SiC

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6 hours ago, SiC said:

As ever, it's the intended use. I'm not particularly bothered too much about engine performance on this as I'm quite happy buzzing around sweeping A-roads and tight B-roads. A bit of extra overtaking performance would be nice but it's possible to use sustained momentum if planned appropriately. Probably a very different use case to the wide, straight roads (in comparison) to most of the US highway system. 

If anything because my car is so original and I'm getting really good compression out of it, I don't really want to modify it too much. Apart from the usual case of chasing performance numbers, it's also where do you draw the line. For me it's a light refresh that would be close to what does done out the factory. A head port could easily have been done if the factory worker making the head was having a bit more jolly day when cleaning up the castings for his personal factory order, etc. 

In terms of actual port, probably this: http://www.peter-burgess.com/page7.html

I could get the standard unleaded treatment but why not spend a little more and let Peter Burgess sprinkle some light magic into it. 

Maybe one day I'll get another MGB and tune that - possibly rubber bumper one. Or rip out the clattery Narrow Boat engine and drop a V8 in. 

I drive my car a lot on windy roads-don't think they don't exist in the US, especially where I live(Kentucky) and further down into the mountains. The single biggest benefit I've seen from upping the power is being able to pull out of a tight curve after slowing down. It's still not a drag racer, just a bit more driveable in the places where I usually drive it.

The big thing with porting(that I think even Burgess would agree with) is that the head as is generally flows just fine with a stock cam. You don't really see the benefits of porting unless you're using a more aggressive cam that wants a bit more airflow(or at least gives gives the engine the ability to suck in a bit more air). Even worse, if you make the head flow too freely(especially without changing other engine parameters that are in your control) you might see an improvement in top end, WOT performance at the loss of low end torque. If your goal is more overtaking power, this sounds like the opposite direction of how you want to go.

When having the head machined for hardened seats, you can have it milled down 50-60 thousandths. That's a lot more than is generally needed to get it back to flat, but will drop your chamber volume to somewhere in the 37-39cc ballpark for an appreciable increase in compression ratio. That really is "bang for the buck" in terms of low end torque and overall performance, and shouldn't add a lot of money to the valve job. BTW, this is something that you will find in the factory Special Tuning Manual, so it's not an unprecedented modification.

A copy of Burgess's book is a really good investment if you want to consider doing any engine modifications at all. 

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  • 1 month later...

As mentioned elsewhere, after the success of the 1100 and it removing itself from the garage, I pulled this back out.
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Obligatory cold start video that I've seemed to make a habit doing.



Ran well on the short journey home and was a pleasant place to be.
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It's nice to wash a car and then put it away out of the elements once you've done it. Also this angle looks so right to me on the BGT. Pininfarina did a great job on this.
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One thing that has been bugging me for ages is the broken flash-to-pass. Especially as I forget and I'm sat there flicking the stalk with no effect. You can buy replacement stalks cheap but the switch feel is just nowhere near as nice on the reproduction ones.

So I took the stalk off to fix. Being 1974 there are no clock springs, steering angle sensors or anything such like to get in the way of removal. Four bolts to remove the cover and then these two bolts to remove the stalk.
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Then disconnect the multiway connector and remove the metal cable tie.
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Once off, it's obvious on the fault.
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Usually I wouldn't want to solder such things and rather crimp. Crimp is generally better for connections that vibrate. You can solder but you need to make sure you strain relief if you don't want the joint to work harden and break off at the end of the solder joint.
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So to provide strain relief I used two different sizes of heatshrink.
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Hopefully this will allow the stalk to continue functioning for a good few more years now.

Next up was the self cancelling being intermittent. Something that has given trouble before and I used bits of insulation tape to try fixing. However that quickly fell off.

Looking at the action, it appeared the real fault was the lack of friction. Over many years use the mechanism had worn smooth. A bit of 180grit on both the fingers and cam gave it more than enough to start functioning properly again.
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I'm hoping to go for a run in the evenings. Dependant on whether the weather co-operates! Due for thunder and lightening over the next few days here. It runs happily in heavy rain but it's not a fun experience and one that isn't really worth the effort to go out for a jolly drive when it's like that.
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I haven't done one of these for a while but this happened. It's almost certainly 159k.
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Pulled into the garage for a quick bit of fettling. First thing was to fix the indicator.
Indicator you say? Didn't you just fix that?

Well...
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Irritatingly the indicator portion managed to jam itself. No idea how it happened (might have dropped it) but I was certain it worked before I put it back on.

In these Lucas indicators there is a metal clip that holds the detent spring in. I removed this spring and realigned a small nylon piece that was used for the detent itself. Shortly after this picture I managed to loose said spring and qué 10 minutes of searching for it.
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Next up is the brakes. These were replaced around a year ago and a good thousand miles or so put on them. Irritatingly they have been getting more and more squeally. The shim has had a habit of moving and falling down. This was the suspicion of the problem.

However removing the pad it became clear
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That the squeal coating has worn through where the piston pushes. Rather disappointing Moss...

I've coated it heavily both sides of the shim with CeraTec. Hopefully this should be sufficient to shut them up again.

In doing this I managed to get the wing covered with brake cleaner. Unfortunately I didn't realise this until the day after.
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Thankfully this is the bad wing and will need repainting longer term. You can see some blisters under here from likely poor prep. Some Autoglym polish got most of the brake cleaner marks off. Probably helped it being cellulose paint.

The front of the wing is in the biggest need of treatment and paint.
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Decided to go for a bit of poking and rust finding. As I was here I took off the arch panels. No idea why these don't go all the way to the top. Almost designed to be a deliberate rust trap...

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Removed cover. Not too bad in here at all! Wing will need to come off longer term though as the top of the trumpet has a fist sized hole in it.
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Nearside was a bit messier.
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Especially at the bottom. You can see where a new sill has been welded in at some point in its history. Shame they didn't quite finish this off.
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Irritatingly someone had welded the cover on.
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Gave the area a clean off with a wire brush and then chucked some red oxide on. Will also put some stone chip on after to provide protection. This will come off again to weld this up and finish properly.
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Also this is the only real major area of rust that needs sorting. Very minor really.
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Cover got a coat of paint ... including the floor. fe9f1db680d58518dcd8650a5dc28428.jpg

Once the Dolomite is done, my intention is to get this in and get a few bits sorted. Primarily pull the engine for a light rebuild and hopefully sort wherever the oil is disappearing to. Then general body bits sorted and hopefully a respray on a few bits where a bit of surface rust is coming through.

Could also do with some more suspension refreshing. Rear leaf springs are not far off their stops, front springs are pretty sagging and the rubber bushes up on the front suspension have worn already. Given those were new 3 years ago and not seen much use, I'll probably replace them with decent quality polybushes.
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I take my hat off to you for how you manage a full time job and fix the fleet you have. I'm retired and for some reason never seem to have enough time to do what I need to.

The BGT has been in the garage for about 8 years just needing a small* bit of welding. The B roadster hasn't moved much in 18 months because if I need an open top the TF is in front of it. The Panda needs a wheel bearing sometime soon, the Ibiza needs the back brakes stripping. I really, really must stop going on holiday (the motorhome went into meltdown last week so have been fixing that), hope the weather improves and get things sorted.

Possibly.

Definitely.

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On 8/16/2020 at 9:15 PM, busmansholiday said:

I take my hat off to you for how you manage a full time job and fix the fleet you have.

It's a struggle at times and can be quite frustrating when jobs are mounting up. With COVID I've not been back in the office and so unable to dump cars with my friendly local garage to let them fix it while I'm at work. Today I ended up not leaving the computer until around 8:30pm, so nothing has got done. Admittedly the last hour was shopping for 1100 compatible brake bits...

I never actually intended to do this current lot of work on the MGB but as I broke the indicator stalk, it had to come back to be sorted. Also the brakes squealing is getting embarrassing and loud enough to be painful in the cabin. Next up is the Clio but that is waiting on some parts to arrive, so a small gap to sort the MGB. 

Could do with getting the Laguna back to sort a few bits and take photos, instead of pretending I don't need to sell it!

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Why oh why do I even bother trying to paint anything. I end up getting more on me and the floor than what I'm intending to paint.

 

First job was to put the wheel arch covers back on and spray them with stone chip paint.

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Next I had a rub down underneath on bits that look a bit funky. Mostly surface rust where the underseal has come off. Worse bit, that always has been since I've had the car, is the driver side rear spring hanger.

 

This is what it looked like when I got the car, just over three years ago now.

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Today not looking so pretty.

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Pulled that bit of metal hanging off to leave this.

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Then worked at it with a finger sander. Managed to make a small hole through too. Intention is to weld this up later on once I get around to doing a spruce up when the Dolomite is back on the road.

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Also cleaned this bit off and straightened it.

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Found my pot of Harvest Gold paint and covered it back up. Definitely doesn't match whatsoever. I'll take some pictures once it dries. Maybe I need to get some RAL cards to figure what colour the car is?

 

Then painted the underside. I'm so terrible at painting. Paint is supposed to be silver grey. Unfortunately I ran out of black and this is what I happened to have to hand. Black stonechip will be going on after so not too fussed about the colour. I'll say it's deliberate as I can then tell where I need to spray over.

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While I was under I had a look at the masses of oil that is covered under the car.

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Then had a bright idea to check the sump bolts were tightened.

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Quite a few could be done up a good quarter to half a turn. Maybe this is why oil is disappearing when accelerating hard (above ~4k)? The high revs splash the oil around more and end up running down the sides of the block inside then leaking out the slightly loose sump. Usual British crap sealing engine gaskets won't be helping either if this is the case.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi SiC

Nice to see the BGT getting some quality time. 

Coincidentally, I've just had to replace my column stalk switch (after a self-inflicted melting-plastic issue). I found an original on Fleabay  so gave it a spruce up with some 60 grit and contact cleaner today. No sooner had I done so than the indicator function became completely immobile. Looking at the old unit, I spotted that there is some grease in the detent mechanism that I must have removed with the contact cleaner solvent. A blob of very wet silicone grease was introduced with the help of a can of compressed air and all was well. I know you've sorted your indicator problem but this might perhaps be helpful if it recurs.

BTW the top of the splashguard is supposed to extend round the back of the trumpet section. You might be missing piece 6 and seal 8?

(Very jealous of your soldering skills.)

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Talking of cats, I accidentally locked the neighbour's moggy in the garage this week. While waiting to be released, he must have walked up and down the car a million times. Bonnet, roof and rear screen completely covered in muddy paw prints and cat hair. He even managed to jump through the window and walk over the seats and centre arm rest... ?

Keep cats on Zoom and out of cars I say.

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1 hour ago, Tomtom said:

I spotted that there is some grease in the detent mechanism that I must have removed with the contact cleaner solvent. A blob of very wet silicone grease was introduced with the help of a can of compressed air and all was well.

Useful info! Mine has lost the feel since cleaning it. Perhaps it needs a dollop of grease to make it return back. 

1 hour ago, Tomtom said:

BTW the top of the splashguard is supposed to extend round the back of the trumpet section. You might be missing piece 6 and seal 8?

I didn't even know those pieces existed! Looks like I am missing them. Need to get the wings off at some point for a quick run over with the welder and fresh metal. 

1 hour ago, Tomtom said:

(Very jealous of your soldering skills.)

Good soldering is all about the quality of kit. Cheap irons simply don't have the thermal mass capabilities to dump heat in. But there are a few decent ones you can have for around the £120 price point now though like the Hakko. Contrary to initial common sense, you need an iron hot to do a good job and minimal damage by getting as much heat as you can. The idea is then you only need to solder for a short(er) period. 

Also helps that I've been soldering from a young age - I was around 10 when I first used an iron. Having a career in electronics is useful to being able to solder too. However as mostly a software guy now, I rarely have to use one! Mostly nowadays for soldering on wires to breakout test point areas or remove components on a board for debugging and testing. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I get daily email from Twitter saying what I've missed. I'm not a big Twitter user but I have a few people followed and I occasionally read the email to see if anything interesting comes up. 

Anyway Mr @dollywobbler is one of those that I follow and he re-tweeted this:

 

I do quite like that too and it's the same colour as mine...

My original Rostyles are in the garage and the second hand ones currently on my BGT are scruffy looking anyway. Can't imagine a set of old scruffy and rusty bumpers are that expensive either. If I can find a set, I'm seriously thinking of trying this out. Won't do the window frames to match that, see what the rest is like first.

Where do you get your cheap black mat paint from @TheDoctor? 😁

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19 minutes ago, SiC said:

I get daily email from Twitter saying what I've missed. I'm not a big Twitter user but I have a few people followed and I occasionally read the email to see if anything interesting comes up. 

Anyway Mr @dollywobbler is one of those that I follow and he re-tweeted this:

 

I do quite like that and it's the same colour as mine...

My original Rostyles are in the garage and the second hand ones currently on my BGT are scruffy looking anyway. Can't imagine a set of old scruffy and rusty bumpers are that expensive either. If I can find a set, I'm seriously thinking of trying this out. Won't do the window frames to match that, see what the rest is like first.

Where do you get your cheap black mat paint from @TheDoctor? 😁

I'm surprised that I like the idea too. Couldn't you use black insulation tape over the window chrome on one side just to get an idea? 

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23 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I'm surprised that I like the idea too. Couldn't you use black insulation tape over the window chrome on one side just to get an idea? 

That's a good idea, easily reversible then. 

As for cheap matt black paint - poundland and the Factory shop do 250ml for a quid, but if you want decent quality, it is worth spending the extra for Halfords paint. Better coverage and finish. And Satin black looks better than matt too. 

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On 6/19/2020 at 9:43 AM, SiC said:

Engine is still tappy and that annoys the hell out of me. 

I haven’t read all the way back through your thread so may be repeating someone else’s comments, but have you check the pads on the end of the rocker arms for wear? Where they press down on the end of the valve stem they will wear a groove over time, and when you check the gaps with a feeler gauge, it spans the groove and gives a false reading with too big a gap. Although the end of the rocker is hardened, you can gently dress them with a wet stone or flap disc to level them off.

 

I enjoyed those series of The Bridge and really liked the simplicity of Saga’s 911, with no big arches, wheels or spoilers and a great colour too.

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The pads on the arms are not flat at all. Tried to adjust them onto the section of the largest gap. The rod was very knackered and I replaced that about two years ago. Helped a bit but still noisy. 

Could do with new/refurbished rocker arms. Also could do with the bottom end looking at as I suspect the shells are quite worn and hence low-ish oil pressure. Likewise somewhere there is a lot of oil escaping and it's not out the exhaust. 

Hence why I'm better off pulling the whole lump and getting a light rebuild done on it. 

But the Dolomite is in urgent need of attention next and that will take a lot of time to sort. So the BGT will have to wait till next season before it gets its slot for attention.  

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  • 4 months later...

Went up to storage earlier with the intention of bringing the MGB home. It's my birthday tomorrow you see and I wanted to treat myself by giving a run. Also storage is only a 25 minute walk, so a handy place to walk past on my daily exercise.

However no clicking fuel pump and thus no start...

As per news thread, I suspect the bodge earth wire is what fixed the fuel pump from the last breakdown. Not replacing the pump as the garage also did. That ties up with the old, but not very old, pump looking perfectly fine inside. I removed the wire when I attached the CTEK charge leads.

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Apparently the earth wire attaches to the number plate mounting bolts. Go figure why there.

It also earths the fuel gauge and reversing lights. I noticed that the fuel gauge was reading empty, so that figures. The earth point didn't actually look that bad though. Had no tools so I couldn't do much.

Having a check around I noticed that the radiator is weeping at the bottom. The top pipe also doesn't feel full of water, so I think I'll need to top it up before I take it out. I guess a new radiator is going to be needed too. Could re-core this original one but when I can pick a brand new one up for £126 from Moss, it doesn't seem worth it.
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I'll go back down tomorrow but instead bring some tools to reattach that earth wire. Really could do with it not breaking down on the way home though in the current climate.

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  • 1 month later...

How did it go?

Incidentally, your radiator has already been re-cored once. The vertical slit in the matrix you can see in your pic is where the shop cut a couple of cores up to get the correct width for an MGB.

Personally, I'd run the car for a bit and see if it self-heals. Mine has been leaking various fluids while laid up. By which I mean not the usual leaks. 🙄

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1 hour ago, Tomtom said:

How did it go?

Incidentally, your radiator has already been re-cored once. The vertical slit in the matrix you can see in your pic is where the shop cut a couple of cores up to get the correct width for an MGB.

Personally, I'd run the car for a bit and see if it self-heals. Mine has been leaking various fluids while laid up. By which I mean not the usual leaks. 🙄

It's not moved since 😆

Combination of getting the BMW sorted and then having a kitchen fitted last month. Plus we had some freezing cold snaps with the gritters out.

Yeah I did think it might have been record as you said. But then I've seen other MGBs with their rads with the slit, so wasn't 100%

I have a Moss branch close to me and right near where I'll get the BMW MOT'd, so easily pick a replacement up. However they seem to be on backorder, so may have supply issues at the moment.

https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/radiator-standard-new-nrp1142.html

So might end up having to run it for a bit as is! Don't think it'll self heal as I think it's been weeping since I've had it. Albeit slowly getting worse.

The local MG Facebook group have said there is a classic MG specialist down the road from where I live. It's a one man band affair of a mechanic who's retired but carries on repairing classic MGs. My plan is to throw it his way for a service and check over, to save me adding further to my car sorting backlog. The only thing that has been stopping me so far is a skip on the drive, blocking from me parking anything else on. But that's gone today, so no excuse now! Hopefully the weather is finally warming up too, so they stop throwing salt down at night too. 

Might actually get some decent use out of it this year.

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Because I am INCREDIBLY LAZY, I have booked this into said very local classic MG specialist that is near me. It's going to have a oil change service and a good inspection. 

Right now I want to get this out on the road and have some fun with it this year. Out sourcing the work is the quickest way to doing this. 

Also if the chap is good, he will be useful if I have any unexpected breakdowns. I can punt the car over to let him diagnose and get it back on the road. I've plenty enough work to do on the Dolomite to not be distracted working on this and troubleshooting. 

Hopefully it won't need any of that and I can just have some fun around Somerset A and B roads over the next few months. 

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Went up to the MGB to get it running ready for a service at the garage. First off I emptied the Dolomite crap into the Clio for storage.
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As the MGB wasn't starting and there was no fuel pump clicking, it must have been a fueling issue.

Attaching a jumper link got it pumping



Left that permanently attached. Also cleaned up the earth on the pump too.
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The car rewarded me on this repair by peeing petrol all over the floor. I did the banjo bolt up as tight as I could but access is rubbish, especially laying on my back. Its tight enough to stop it badly dripping but it's still leaking. I'll let the garage fix it properly.
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Went for a start


Then went for a drive. Drove alright but there's pulsing from the brake pedal. I think the pad material stuck on the disc from where it's sat and I don't think the pads retracted fully. Again I'll let the garage sort that out.

Car is feeling a bit sorry for itself. I think it will need some bodywork in the not too distant future. That will definitely have to wait until the Dolomite is done.
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  • 2 weeks later...

So as per what did today thread, I sent this off to a local classic MG specialist earlier this week. After relieving me of £235 I got it back after an oil change service, grease and a few other things including a carb tweak. Driving it the other day I noticed it hesitating under full acceleration.

I decided to retune the carbs myself. After trying by ear, I remembered how much of a ballache to tune this engine. I ended up using my colourtune, which made it a breeze. Might buy a few more so I can see more cylinders in one go. I went for a slightly yellowy, blue rather than straight blue. Rather have it on the tad rich side.
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I checked the vacuum advance was working properly too, which it was. I'm wondering if the dizzy is/was sticky. I've got a brand new 123 ignition in its box for this car too. Already programmed up what I think is a correct curve after a bit of faff, so just need to fit now.

I have noticed that the timing does skip about at times. Possibly why the idle is a tad uneven.
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Finally fixed the horn.
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Simply the spring contact is no longer pressing against the ring. Probably when I removed the stalk to fix the light flasher.
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Contact is worn very unevenly. I bent it to the best as I could to give a new area for contacting.
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Sprayed some white lithium grease into the stalk mechanism to free it up. Last time I soldered the flash wire, I clean it out and lubricated it. Unfortunately what I thought was lube was sodding carb cleaner. This ate some of the plastic away. A clean up and fresh grease has got it working much smoother.

I could buy a new one but I much prefer the click action and feel of the original Lucas switches.
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Then went for a drive. Hesitation has gone now. Not sure if it's the retune or simply the dizzy/dashpot/something else that has freed up.

I bloody love this car. Still my favourite so far - subject to ever getting the Dolomite back on the road.
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I think I'll fit the 123 ignition soon, so that's done and ready for this summer. Next weekend I have booked in to the Haynes Museum pre-80s Breakfast meet. It's an hour trip down there, so a good chance to give it a proper run! Hopefully she'll behave herself as I'm quite looking forward to going.

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Last night was a rare time in the last week where it wasn't peeing it down. Rather annoying as the car has been out in this weather all week. Not had a chance to run it down to storage yet either.

I've been wanting to fit my 123 Ignition unit for a while, but not had a chance. This one is a fully programmable unit that the curves can be altered on. The idea is that eventually I can run the car down to a Dyno and have it tuned up properly. Problem is, there is no curves supplied and you have you make your own. So after a fair bit of reading on exactly what this unit works on (basically crankshaft advance), I made up two curves - one for the Lucas 40897 that everyone goes on about and the Lucas 41391 that was originally on the car. These have a wire that you can switch between two curves. At the moment I've hard wired it to 40897 but may rig up a switch eventually.

One thing of note I've read is that under 500rpm (i.e. engine starting) it basically doesn't apply any advance at all. This is important as you can't use a static timing of 0 degrees if you want reasonably easy engine starting. I used 5 degrees static as that allowed me to fit both of the above curves in. Some seem to use 10 degrees static and I fully expected to redo them to have that. However in the event, it hasn't seemed necessary.

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First thing was removing the old dizzy.

After taking it out and looking at it, I noticed that the points wire had a nick out of it. Possibly this got caught after the cap had been off previously and this caused the hesitation? Plausible that if it was stuck, it would stop the vacuum advance plate moving properly.
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Old dizzy is going in the boot fully prepared as a backup. I don't ever expect to use it, but always useful to have there.
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123 unit went in easy enough. I did lube up the shaft, especially around the o-ring. It went in as a snug fit so well worth doing.
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I took the time to wrap electrical tape along the length of dizzy wires (there are four of them) and zip tie it to the existing loom. Keeps the installation tidy and less likely for accidental snagging of the wires.
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This morning I gave it a quick start. Started up perfectly and ran far smoother than it ever has done. On the original Lucas dizzy there was always a slight missfire and stumble that was especially pronounced at idle. Completely gone now as far as I can hear and revs very cleanly. Not sure if it's me but sounds a tad less tappy too...

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Went for a spin in this earlier. A lot smoother on accelerating and feels more keen. Doesn't feel overly powerful up hills but I'm probably not readjusted from my other cars yet. Also more keen to rev higher. Previously it ran out of puff around 4k and didn't want to push much further than than that. Now it quite happily revved to 5k and probably could have pushed it further if I needed to.

Starting up is a blip of the key now. Idle tad high at 1k now it's had a chance to let some fresh air through its lungs.

Apart from a good clean, next proper run will be down to Haynes Museum breakfast meet on Sunday. A good hour of A and B roads should give it a good stretch of its legs!

Debating whether to get the clutch flexi changed before then. The specialist said it's bulging a bit. I've got a new one but the clutch system can be a bit of an arse to bleed. Also it's getting time to do it too. 

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