Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 07/05...

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Good demonstration of why exempt vehicles getting a test is still a good idea.  I check all the other lights reasonably frequently, but the brake lights are more of a faff without a helper so I tend to rely on checking the reflection when backing into the driveway - which only really works when it's dark!

I am spoiled by the Invacar, I can just put/hang something heavy on the handle bars while I do my lights check  (I also can tell they are working based on the amount of voltage drop I get on the volt-meter when I apply brakes)

[TrabbieRonnie]

16 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Oil filter adapter is now here.  That will go on when the oil is next changed.

Got a couple of other things on order.  A proper set of HT leads which should actually reach properly and are a less garish colour.  I would like to go back to the proper original style ones as they are so much tidier - but it's like £200 for all the bits I need.  I just can't justify that for something that's purely to satisfy my OCD.  So that ain't happening right now.  They need changing though - the king lead in particular is way too short so can near enough be plucked like a guitar string, and I have already knocked it off at least twice.  

Likewise I'd like to go back to the proper double ended fuel pump to reinstate the reserve function - but they're nearly £400!  So again, nope!  I'll wait until a secondhand one turns up somewhere down the line and rebuild it.  Or modify the plumbing and just fit two standalone pumps.  I suspect the fact that they're shared with the S2 and S3 Land Rovers is why they're so bloody expensive.  I do need to find out where the feed for the reserve pump even is as it's not present inside the car.  I'm *hoping* it's just been capped off at the tank and isn't just floating around under the car...the main pump at least is a proper SU one rather than some random Amazon special that I'd trust about as far as I can throw it.

Carb overhaul kit, new fan belt, and finally a replacement for the missing starting handle make up the rest of the basket.  The latter isn't so much for starting the car so much as making turning the engine over while adjusting the valve clearances less of a faff.  

We are now working against the clock somewhat.  I would like to take this to an event at the end of May.  However that means that I need to have it up, running and reliable enough that I trust it enough to drive to Birmingham by the end of May!  Ideally by just jamming it on the motorway and heading up the M1/M6 as it's soooo much less of a faff than the A5/A45 way while less terrifying to break down on, takes absolutely foreeeeeeever...

You're P4 fuel set up must be different to mine then...

I have a solenoid valve (inoperative in my case) sat on top of the tank by the offside wheel.  In normal operation, fuel is pulled through this valve from a pipe extending inside the tank, to about an inch off the bottom.  When the solenoid valve moves into 'reserve' position, it just pulls fuel along a slightly longer pipe running side-by-side with the first.

The pump is singular, I wonder which setup is standard?

 

Well done on the Trabbi, I've had mine since 2009 so fully understand how they get under your skin!  They're also just so good at what they do...

[Zelandeth]

32 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

You're P4 fuel set up must be different to mine then...

I have a solenoid valve (inoperative in my case) sat on top of the tank by the offside wheel.  In normal operation, fuel is pulled through this valve from a pipe extending inside the tank, to about an inch off the bottom.  When the solenoid valve moves into 'reserve' position, it just pulls fuel along a slightly longer pipe running side-by-side with the first.

The pump is singular, I wonder which setup is standard?

 

Well done on the Trabbi, I've had mine since 2009 so fully understand how they get under your skin!  They're also just so good at what they do...

Yours is a 100 isn't it?  In which case it will be different.  The 95 and 110 were the only ones which used the double ended pump if memory serves correctly - all the others used a single pump and a solenoid valve to select between main and reserve.  Whereas this uses a completely electrically separate pump built into one housing which looks something like this.

Quite a smart idea given that the only real weakness I've ever found with old pumps like this is that the points can fail - this gives you not only reserve fuel, but essentially a reserve set of points too.  Of course the fact that nobody ever uses the reserve setting does mean that there's no guarantee that it will work or not full your carb with gunk when you do use it!  I do like systems with built in redundancy though, so would really like to see it reinstated.  Just not at four hundred quid!  I did see one somewhere for £250 odd, but that was NOS, so I'd need to budget a rebuild kit on top of that which is another £50 or so.  Still way too much for something I really don't need right now.  Maybe in six months time if the car has been behaving itself well and I'm putting decent miles on it on a regular basis I'd reconsider - but at the moment we're concentrating on stuff actually in front of me, in terms of bigger spends anyway rather than the odd £50 here and there.

I think next big spend on the Trabbi is probably going to be a gearbox.  This one is *horribly* noisy - I reckon the input shaft bearings have just had it based on the type of noise and when it does it.  A rebuild kit isn't massively expensive, but comes with the caveats of the fact that I've never taken a gearbox apart before, I need a press for several steps that I'll need to blag the use of off someone as I don't own one, and that's me assuming I don't find absolute horrors in there once I open it up as I did in the engine where the rotary valves had worn like a millimetre deep trench in the crankcase.  It also involves me taking the gearbox out of the car, taking it out of use for a while...and to be honest I just don't want to do that!  I'd much rather get another box - whether it be in good order or as a rebuild candidate depending on the price, and then just do a straight swap.  Could get the work on the other one done then and potentially flog it on to get some of the money back afterwards.  Though most of the parts I've moved on to other owners so far have all been for the cost of shipping as it's just nice to be nice and they were just cluttering up my conservatory!  My old carb, exhaust manifold and a set of indicators were sent on to someone who had had a front end shunt not long ago.  Think I did ask for something I think, but well less than the shipping alone would have been from Germany.

I can absolutely see why they are such polarising little cars (and definitely not one for tall people), but I love the little buzz box.  I really do want to get around to one day getting one and a pedestrian spec classic Mini together for a...I don't want to call it a face off, as it really isn't...but to objectively compare the two of them both as products of their time, being slightly different answers to the same question of how to provide simple transport for a family in a small package that provides everything you need without any unnecessary frills.  They're both cars with their pros and cons, and both with fiercely loyal fan bases from what I've seen!  I do just wish that so much of the motoring world wouldn't insist on conflating the terms basic and crap.  They are not the same thing!  The Trabbi is simple, and has a plethora of flaws especially compared to cars from 40 years later - but it really does a surprisingly good job of being An Car I've found.  Most of the issues I've had with mine are just down to being 42 years old and having lived 135K km of normal use.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Yep, mines a 100.  That pump set up is fascinating, and like you say, essentially a whole back up pump too.

I thoroughly agree with your views on the Trabbi, I can't think of another car that better fulfilled it's brief.  The Mini?  VW Beetle, maybe?

Good luck with the gearbox, I'm sure it will be very fixable/sellable depending on your approach.  My own Trabbi will be out for a test again shortly, looking to join the last leg of the club's 'Highland Fling' tour in the Summer.

 

[GlenAnderson]

My 80 (a 1959) had the twin pickup/solenoid affair. It also had a mechanical pump on the side of the block like the Land-Rovers that used the same engine. 
 

I think Rover dropped the solenoid when they stopped making the 80 and went back to an electric pump. The 1962 100 that I broke had two electric pumps in the boot, and all the pipework and wiring was clearly factory ( and a proper plumber’s nightmare). 

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Yep, mines a 100.  That pump set up is fascinating, and like you say, essentially a whole back up pump too.

I thoroughly agree with your views on the Trabbi, I can't think of another car that better fulfilled it's brief.  The Mini?  VW Beetle, maybe?

Good luck with the gearbox, I'm sure it will be very fixable/sellable depending on your approach.  My own Trabbi will be out for a test again shortly, looking to join the last leg of the club's 'Highland Fling' tour in the Summer.

 

Mini, Beetle, 2CV, Fiat 500, Renault 4 were the immediately obvious equivalents from their respective areas I reckon, off the top of my head.  Renault is obviously a bit bigger a car, but similarly thought out.

A full set of bearings for the box is only €60 or so, think freewheel assembly is about €100 (be daft not to change it while the box is apart as a preventative measure).  That and some sealant should really be all it needs.  

4 hours ago, GlenAnderson said:

My 80 (a 1959) had the twin pickup/solenoid affair. It also had a mechanical pump on the side of the block like the Land-Rovers that used the same engine. 
 

I think Rover dropped the solenoid when they stopped making the 80 and went back to an electric pump. The 1962 100 that I broke had two electric pumps in the boot, and all the pipework and wiring was clearly factory ( and a proper plumber’s nightmare). 

The plumbing looks a mess in this at the moment as it's stretched more than it should be as the ports on the pump in it are in the wrong place.  The whole rigid nylon lines and flare fittings makes making changes to anything on this system a bit of a nightmare.  I really do just need to get the right tools and fittings in so I can make lines as that would make things far easier (for instance I'd really like to add a proper in line filter somewhere - in that enclosure in the boot makes mose sense to me as it's tucked away out of view and away from heat).

Wouldn't surprise me if the last few years saw fair bit of random crossover as the P4 was being run out and efforts were really being pushed towards getting the P6 ready to go.

[High Jetter]

27 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Wouldn't surprise me if the last few years saw fair bit of random crossover as the P4 was being run out and efforts were really being pushed towards getting the P6 ready to go.

Not sure about that. There was P4 to P5 crossover, but the P6 was a big advance, carrying on the Buick V8. Not sure it shared much with P4, tbh.

[Zelandeth]

2 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Not sure about that. There was P4 to P5 crossover, but the P6 was a big advance, carrying on the Buick V8. Not sure it shared much with P4, tbh.

Sorry, should have worded that more clearly - was meaning more between the various models of P4.  

They do share the same bonnet pull handle though...there's your useless fact of the day!

[auntiemaryscanary]

19 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

I check all the other lights reasonably frequently, but the brake lights are more of a faff without a helper

Good to hear it's minimal work/expense to get it through the test.

If no one is around when I'm testing brake lights a suitable length of timber wedged between the seat and pedal does the trick. If the 3x2 is a bit short a book or an anything makes up the gap and prevents potential seat damage.

[Yoss]

On 18/04/2026 at 08:26, auntiemaryscanary said:

Good to hear it's minimal work/expense to get it through the test.

If no one is around when I'm testing brake lights a suitable length of timber wedged between the seat and pedal does the trick. If the 3x2 is a bit short a book or an anything makes up the gap and prevents potential seat damage.

This. Exactly this. I have a special stout piece of wood (fnarr fnarr, I thought I'd get that in before any of you lot did) that lives in a corner of the garage for exactly that purpose. It works on all three cars. 

[auntiemaryscanary]

49 minutes ago, Yoss said:

This. Exactly this. I have a special stout piece of wood (fnarr fnarr, I thought I'd get that in before any of you lot did) that lives in a corner of the garage for exactly that purpose. It works on all three cars. 

I'm not clever enough to keep a piece reserved - I have to go scrabbling through the off-cuts pile every time!

[Zelandeth]

I do have a bit of PVC pipe in the garage which has generally served that purpose in the past, it's too long to work in the Trabant though and I've never got around to finding something the right size.  Or just reverse park in the spaces right out the front of Toolstation now and then and look at the reflection in the shop frontage...Which realistically is far more likely to happen.

[GlenAnderson]

One of the things that my old man drummed into me, that I find myself doing without thinking about forty years later, is to always register/check that the brake lights are working when reversing somewhere in the dark. 
 

On a variation of the stick theme, I have a large hammer that’s the perfect length to wedge the Land-Rover’s brake pedal down with. 😃

[Zelandeth]

Got a little bit of time today to tinker with cars.  

First up was doing something about this disaster area.

About sodding time she saw light of day again.

Aside from checking oil and putting air in the tyres that's as far as we got.  The battery hasn't survived the winter of being left stone flat because I forgot to disconnect it (again).  I keep saying I'll get a socket installed for a battery tender but it keeps not happening.  It did apparently take a charge, and will sit at a healthy enough looking voltage off load, but collapses immediately as soon as you try to pull any load whatsoever above a couple of amps.  There is an isolator switch in play, but the one thing it doesn't disconnect is the clock - and over the course of a few months that's enough.

A replacement is on the way.  Hopefully here in the next day or so.

I need to double check my records, but I'm pretty sure the oil was changed very shortly before she was last parked up so it will likely be left well alone.  

Moving on to the Rover.

The next item on my to do list was to set the valve clearances properly.  Exhaust first as they can be done cold.  Which given the proximity of the exhaust manifold I am eternally grateful for!

They were all a bit on the loose side aside from no 5 which was spot on, but not horrifically so.  A new gasket went on as well.  The old one wasn't leaking but was obviously past its best and very well squashed.

I didn't have time to get the engine fully up to temperature and do the inlet side today, but dipped into a couple of other things.

The frankly absurd amount of free play in the steering definitely needed to be addressed.  You had this amount of dead travel before hitting any semblance of resistance beforehand, never mind the wheels actually starting to move.

It really was more of a general suggestion of where you wanted the car to go rather than a control.  There's a reason it's done about a mile and a half since it arrived here!  This was it!

I both tweaked the adjustment on the box a little and topped up the oil in it.  I suspect I may have over compensated a bit with the adjustment, but I'll double check the procedure in the manual shortly.

Confirming that I could get the adjuster locknut to crack off was my main mission there really as I remember that being so tight on my previous one was so tight that I simply couldn't shift it.  Getting the excess free play taken up now though will make tracking down any slop elsewhere in the system far easier now though.

It has also moved!

Mainly so I could sweep up the remaining cat litter from the oil filter housing incident last week that I couldn't get at with the car in the way.

This has highlighted that the brakes - or at least the offside rear brake - are binding quite substantially.  Also the handbrake control actually does nothing.  It's just the one that's dragging that's making it seem like it's working.

Speaking of the hand brake - that very prominent looking brake light on the dash, with the lens that focuses it riiiight at your eyeballs, yes it is as bright as it looks in the photos.  It literally projects a beam onto the head lining if your head isn't in the way.

That shadow is the horn ring.

Also swapped out the wrong clock...

For the correct one...

It still doesn't work but at least matches the rest of the instrumentation so there's not a mismatch bugging my OCD.

Not sure when I'll next have the opportunity to get more than half an hour to actually get stuck into anything but it felt good to actually tick a couple of things off the list and learn a bit more about what's working and what isn't with the brakes.  Think pulling the offside rear wheel is probably the next thing I need to do there.  I want to grease the springs up anyway and that will be far easier with the wheel out the way anyhow.

 

[Zelandeth]

Spent five minutes on the carb this afternoon.  The fuel leak (or at least about 95% of it) was actually coming from the union between the fuel inlet and the float bowl housing.  There's a fibre washer in there which had degraded.  Replacing it seems to have mostly sealed it.

Second carb job was to stop the car doing an impression of a diesel of the same era in terms of emissions.  Kind of as I expected the adjustments were all over the shop.  Just going back to square one and setting it up by ear seems to have got it running a lot cleaner and idling smoother.  I'll need to actually give it some throttle under load to get all the soot and crap out of the exhaust before I'll know for sure, but it seems better.  It will need another tweak once the air cleaner is back on anyway.

Had a look at the timing - again by ear as I can't actually see a timing mark on the crank pulley.  I backed it off just a hair and will see if that helps stop it kicking back against the starter when starting with a warm engine.  It seems that was pretty much where it wanted to be though.

I even remembered to tighten the distributor clamp back up this time... I've definitely never forgotten to do that and ended up with my timing 45° out a quarter of a mile down the road when it moved.  Nope.  Definitely wasn't me.

Still don't have a clue where the throttle return spring has got to though!

[LightBulbFun]

14 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Got a little bit of time today to tinker with cars.  

First up was doing something about this disaster area.

About sodding time she saw light of day again.

Aside from checking oil and putting air in the tyres that's as far as we got.  The battery hasn't survived the winter of being left stone flat because I forgot to disconnect it (again).  I keep saying I'll get a socket installed for a battery tender but it keeps not happening.  It did apparently take a charge, and will sit at a healthy enough looking voltage off load, but collapses immediately as soon as you try to pull any load whatsoever above a couple of amps.  There is an isolator switch in play, but the one thing it doesn't disconnect is the clock - and over the course of a few months that's enough.

A replacement is on the way.  Hopefully here in the next day or so.

I need to double check my records, but I'm pretty sure the oil was changed very shortly before she was last parked up so it will likely be left well alone.  

Oh you manage to get TPA excavated from the garage, Awesome! funnily enough when I was driving back in REV from Rustival the other day on the M40 I was passed by a Rover P4, with the most nose up stance I have ever seen from one of those, I know they often have that stance, but jeez this one looked full on Gasser almost!

looking forward to seeing TPA back on the road  

[lesapandre]

7 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

Oh you manage to get TPA excavated from the garage, Awesome! funnily enough when I was driving back in REV from Rustival the other day on the M40 I was passed by a Rover P4, with the most nose up stance I have ever seen from one of those, I know they often have that stance, but jeez this one looked full on Gasser almost!

looking forward to seeing TPA back on the road  

The rear springs loose their tempering and go flat - hence the saggy rear.

[Zelandeth]

13 hours ago, lesapandre said:

The rear springs loose their tempering and go flat - hence the saggy rear.

Aye, I can see a new set in my car's future once it's proven itself I reckon.  Ideally just get the originals re-treated, but finding anyone who can do that these days is probably somewhere between difficult and impossible.  Most likely they'll charge more than a new set of springs and do a shite job and the spring will snap in half within a week of me refitting it.

Sorry...my experiences with supposed specialists aside from one notable exception in the last few years have made me far too cynical!

Quick and easy job done before lunch today.

Before:

After:

I'd really like to go back to the factory HT leads setup at some point, but this is a vast improvement for now.  No more day glow red, the king lead actually reaches the coil and the rest of the leads don't keep trying to make friends with the exhaust manifold.  Tidied up the LT leads between the distributor and coil as well while I was there.  They were about half a mile too long and made of several leads joined together with spade connectors before.  Now cut to length properly and loom wrapped.

[Zelandeth]

The battery that I was hoping would turn up yesterday finally arrived late on this afternoon.

That was quickly chucked into place.  Excuse the horrible glare from the sun.

I also installed an actual matched set of bolts for the terminals this time...there was definitely evidence of me having used what I had on hand when I hooked this up originally - most likely in a rush - just using whatever random collection of fasteners I had to hand.  Uh huh.

One bolt that is actually bigger than the hole in the post and one roofing bolt.  Kwality with a K there you idiot.

It's nonsense like this which really makes me want to go through this car end to end with a microscope because god only knows what other nonsense I did to initially get things running thinking "I'll come back to that..." Before promptly forgetting all about it because it worked.  I'm absolutely sure that there's plenty more of this sort of nonsense waiting for me.

How grumpy was she about sitting then?  Started literally first compression stroke it sounded like and immediately idled absolutely perfectly.

 

The cleaning and new grease I put on the handbrake pivot has apparently remained grease like as that isn't sticky feeling like it usually used to be after sitting for a while.  Did a quick run just round the block to make sure the brakes were behaving properly before making a run out just a couple of miles.

I really don't remember Peugeot Partners seeming that big...

I need to double check my front tyre pressure as I'm sure she never used to feel quite that wayward in a straight line - or maybe it's just been so long that I've forgotten.  I also need to clean the bloody windscreen as it's really dusty.

In fact let's upgrade that to just "clean everything."

She does feel a little sluggish to me off the mark - but she is running on ancient fuel and I have just generally got used to the Trabant which is surprisingly nippy up to 30/40 because of the gearing.  In the same breath, 50 in TPA sounds a lot more relaxed than 50 does in the Trabant.  Ride is surprisingly good within the limits of 10" wheels and little weight - from the brief drive I did in REV I get the feeling that the dampers on TPA are set quite a bit softer.  I imagine being an older design that the sidewalls on the Camac tyres probably are a lot softer too which probably helps.  Didn't see any evidence of perishing on those when I looked yesterday - guessing being in a garage with pretty stable environmental conditions and bugger all UV has helped there.

I had forgotten how comfortable that seat I fitted was though.  Oh, and how bloody much the doors rattle!  The rollers on mine don't either, which has been on the to do list since they were still attached to KPL.  Maybe this year I'll actually get around to seeing if I can come up with a solution to that.  Probably not!

Will give all the basics a check over again tomorrow after today's test run and see about actually getting a bit of use on the car while the Trabant is waiting on parts.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

How grumpy was she about sitting then?  Started literally first compression stroke it sounded like and immediately idled absolutely perfectly.

Jealous how smooth/quiet your engine sounds compared to REV! (this is after REV had warmed up after couple miles round the block too)

I have noticed since the latest exhaust I have fitted the NOS Black painted one I got from haflinger-technik  (thats Exhaust number 3 for those keeping score LOL) , that REV has sounded more "exhausty" like either theres a blow somewhere, or the exhaust is missing a baffle or 2 inside if that makes sense? like your Mercedes Camper van, part of me wonders if I fucked up fitting the new exhaust somehow....

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

from the brief drive I did in REV I get the feeling that the dampers on TPA are set quite a bit softer.

interesting! so thats not just my imagination, I noticed since REV got a full set of new shocks and springs, she has felt a bit firmer, and I noticed bouncing the car, that where as before it would say bobble twice before being damped to a halt, doing it now, its just one bobble before the motion is damped out, and I was not sure how much of that was "are these new shocks a bit firmer then the old ones or where the old ones simply worn out, (do shock absorbers fail gradually or do they fail suddenly?)

 

I have been quite tempted to twiddle REV's shock adjusters, but also I dont really want to go messing with things I am not overly familiar with! and I am obviously aware shocks are only part of a cars ride the other bit being the firmness of the springs themselves also

I do at least have the accompanying technical letter for the shocks and what their standard adjustment at the issue of the letter was at least, so theres at least a reference to put things back to if needed!

 

 

 

 

i'd really love to give a few other Model 70's a drive back to back, on the same bit of road to see how they compare, likewise, i'd like to see you or @dollywobbler do the same, a big shoot out for everyone to gather data/thoughts on  

[Zelandeth]

I wouldn't read too much into exact exhaust noise so long as you can't find a leak.  Given we've seen at least three or four *visually* different units, I'm sure there are a bunch of slight differences between batches and/or units made by different companies.  It's surprising how small a difference can have an effect on sound.  A new exhaust will usually sound "brighter" for want of a better word, as the layer of soot that gets deposited inside it will actually have a slight muffling effect on the sound over time.

I think my idle speed is higher than the manual really calls for, but knowing my carb is pretty badly worn I've tended to work on the "it seems happy, leave it well alone" principle.  Plus I think it's juuuust high enough to keep the battery everywhere so slightly on charge so long as I've not got the lights on.

It would be interesting to compare several side by side, especially for something that on paper should be all but identical.

[Zelandeth]

Heard something go "tink" onto the ground when I pulled something out of the driver's door pocket in the Rover this afternoon.

Turned out to be what I initially thought was a 2p coin - but on closer inspection wasn't a 2p at all.

Have to wonder if that's been forgotten in there for a few decades or if someone just kept it with the car as a bit of set dressing.  It will be relocated to the glove box, but will remain with the car going forward.

[GlenAnderson]

We used to hunt them out as kids as they’d work in vending machines as 2p. Find three of them and you’d get a packet of crisps and a couple of sweets. 😃

[Bear]

When I was looking after @Inspector Morose's Rover I looked into getting springs retempered and I'm remembering a name "Morris" but google suggests they supply new springs.

However, google also suggests this is a job for a smithy - maybe @Christine has some ideas?

[Christine]

I cant do it , it's a specialists  job  ..London Spring ltd  still going or has kahn shut them down for making a bit of smoke    ?  They used to get featured in  Land Rover World mag .  I don't think they lose their temper , they would have to get very hot for that to happen . Its metal fatigue with all the years of  bending  , rust distortion,  shock and rebound ,  microscopic cracks , which  only get bigger when re heated and reprofiled , Then it's assumed the guy who did it , his work is at fault .  London Spring  replace the hardest worked leaves with new  ones,  they make in house ,  

[Zelandeth]

Quick and easy job today on the Trabant - fitting the new brake light switch that turned up on Friday afternoon.

Predictably a quick and easy job.

We now have properly working brake lights again.  They are a good deal brighter than the camera makes them look.

Noticed a couple of drips of fuel from the carb while I was there, which of course required looking in to.  Initially I thought the carb was flooding over - right up to the point I moved the fuel line a bit.

Ah.  That's sub optimal.

My usual rule is that any fuel lines I find are replaced with Cohline hoses which are fully ethanol safe on sight.  This one got missed however simply because I didn't have any 6mm line in stock.  Because I never wrote it down I promptly forgot about it.  

Sure enough this is R9 rated according to the text printed on it, but the whole thing is shot.  I've temporarily stuck an offcut of random fuel hose I had laying around to replace the bit that's actually failed, but the whole lot will be changed when the new hose arrives on Tuesday or Wednesday.  The hose clips will be changed at the same time, and that screen filter will be ditched.  There's already a pretty fine screen in the fuel valve, and if we've got all new line between that and the carb having an additional one is just redundant and an additional potential leak point.

I do wonder how long that's been leaking.  It was just very gently seeping down the side of the carb before I moved that line.  Thing is that because I turn the fuel supply off whenever the engine is stopped I likely wouldn't have ever seen more than the odd drip - and that's mostly going to evaporate pretty quick.  I've never been aware of any smell of fuel though, and it really can't have been that obvious or the MOT tester would have picked up on it.  Goes to show you can't be too careful though of things that are pretty well hidden from view.  You really can't see any of this from above or below without pulling things off.

Don't forget about old fuel lines folks.  Also buy good stuff from the likes of Glencoe - the so called fuel hose they sell these days in the places like Halfords is absolute junk and will be disintegrating in next to no time.  I'd also trust anything from Amazon or eBay about as far as I can throw it as their is a ludicrous amount of counterfeit material on those platforms now.  Yes Cohline stuff is expensive - but it's fit and forget and is far cheaper than having your car burn to the ground.  Absolute bargain in my book.  It's also so much more pleasant to work with than cheap hose as it's actually compliant so will go around corners.

I'll be taking it in to get it retested for the dead brake lights, but it won't be going any further than that until the fuel line has been changed in its entirety.  I like mentioning stuff like this to my tester as between the two of us we're likely to remember to check things we've previously had issues with next year.

Other job I did was to pull the float bowl lid on the Rover's carb and replace the gasket for that, which was absolutely wrecked and I'm pretty sure if where the weeping issue we had there was coming from.  I didn't get any further than that as I was both running out of time and was absolutely getting eaten alive by midges so was well and truly ready to beat a hasty retreat inside by then.  I've never known anything like that in direct sunlight.  They were just absolutely everywhere.

[Zelandeth]

That's that sorted for another year.

New fuel hose arrived this morning too so that will all get changed either this afternoon or tomorrow.

Rover next hopefully once I've got the brakes sorted out.

[Zelandeth]

There we go. New line from the tank to carb. All three or four feet of it.

This is what the old line looked like.

Replaced with proper stuff.

It's pricey compared to random crap off eBay, but a hell of a lot cheaper than a car fire and means I only need to do the job once.  If it IS being sold as cheap as random unbranded line, it's fake and shouldn't be trusted beyond a get-you-home type fix.

Earliest job I used this for was in 2019 and that line still looks brand new.

You can still see the shiny bits hiding in here just about if you look close enough.

Of course no good deed goes unpunished!

The inner core of the bonnet release cable has pulled through the ferrule into the cabin.  In fairness it's been gradually getting worse for months.  Irked I forgot to order a replacement along with the brake light switch.

However...you may remember a year or so back I put a new engine in this car.  As the carburettor was switched for a Mikuni at the same time I had to change the throttle and choke cables.  Now I'm me...so of course they didn't go in the bin.  Those cables were perfectly serviceable and I knew full well could be really useful when I least expected to need it, so were hung on the wall in the garage.

Turns out the choke cable is identical to the bonnet release cable.  Which honestly doesn't surprise me on this car.  Why have two different cables on the bill of materials when two identical ones will do.  Only difference is the knob that's screwed on the one end.

That should do just fine.

I'm pretty sure the bonnet release cable on the car isn't an OEM cable anyway purely because it uses an oddball fastener size whereas basically everything on the car is usually one of four sizes.

That will do.

I will make a point of ordering a spare next time I'm getting parts in though.

Surprise surprise this all took about an hour, including figuring out how to get the bonnet open when the cable decided to disintegrate.  

While I had the 6mm fuel line out I also replaced the bit of line between the PCV housing and the air intake on TPA as that's been slowly turning more and more to solid plastic for several years now.  Something I inevitably found myself cursing every time I came to remove the air cleaner as it was nigh on impossible to get off the stub.  Hopefully that won't be a problem going forward.

[LightBulbFun]

5 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

While I had the 6mm fuel line out I also replaced the bit of line between the PCV housing and the air intake on TPA as that's been slowly turning more and more to solid plastic for several years now.  Something I inevitably found myself cursing every time I came to remove the air cleaner as it was nigh on impossible to get off the stub.  Hopefully that won't be a problem going forward.

the stuff on REV resolutely refuses to budge, so I just flop the air-filter assembly off to one side

 

does remind me I do need to replace/double check a couple lines on REV, the main run was replaced with good quality Nautilus Fuel Master ISO 7840 A1 Fuel Hose, back in 2019, but I think a couple random bits of regular fuel hose might of snuck in, when the new fuel tank was fitted and then the fuel pump serviced etc

(I do regularly check said lines of course, they look fine, but as you say, certainly something worth proactively doing something about!)

 

interestingly one of the changes of the Model 70 Mark B, was the change from a flexible plastic fuel line, to a metal fuel line, always wondered why this is? what was the thinking behind the change not sure I have seen any where this still survived fully intact, but it explains the short remaining run of metal fuel line in REV

and more curiously also this was not something the Ministry retrofitted to earlier cars either, there was always a separate parts listing for flexible plastic hose for the Model 70 Mark A and ridged metal line for the Model 70 Mark B, so I am all the more curious about it!

 

but I digress!

[Zelandeth]

2 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

the stuff on REV resolutely refuses to budge, so I just flop the air-filter assembly off to one side

 

does remind me I do need to replace/double check a couple lines on REV, the main run was replaced with good quality Nautilus Fuel Master ISO 7840 A1 Fuel Hose, back in 2019, but I think a couple random bits of regular fuel hose might of snuck in, when the new fuel tank was fitted and then the fuel pump serviced etc

(I do regularly check said lines of course, they look fine, but as you say, certainly something worth proactively doing something about!)

 

interestingly one of the changes of the Model 70 Mark B, was the change from a flexible plastic fuel line, to a metal fuel line, always wondered why this is? what was the thinking behind the change not sure I have seen any where this still survived fully intact, but it explains the short remaining run of metal fuel line in REV

and more curiously also this was not something the Ministry retrofitted to earlier cars either, there was always a separate parts listing for flexible plastic hose for the Model 70 Mark A and ridged metal line for the Model 70 Mark B, so I am all the more curious about it!

 

but I digress!

The plus side is that the Cohline hoses are about half the price of marine grade ones - but I have a reliable trustworthy source for it rather than a random eBay shop which has always vanished by the next time you need it.

Happy to chuck a metre or so of this your way if you need it.  I grabbed four metres of it, but I use 6mm once in a blue moon so that will probably last me the next 20 years.

Can't remember what size the fuel lines are, but the breather line is 6mm!