Well that was an interesting day.

[Pete-M]

Just got in from collecting the P5.Seller was more than slightly clueless. Neglected to mention that the carb needle / idley bit is utterly shagged and that the nearside doors appear to have been painted with bloody bitumen. Or that the overdrive doesn't work - he didn't even know P5s have overdrive. I suspect he always wondered what that extra stalk was for. Oh, he also failed to mention that it's got prehistoric Dunlop Roadspeed crossplies on two wheels, and 195-60-15 radials off his Vectra on the other two. An interesting combination, and probably illegal.So, I collect it. It's remarkably solid and pretty bloody straight really, but it doesn't run without a bit of choke, and a bit of choke makes it rev its nuts off.As I'm leaving, seller says "You'll have to put some fuel in it soon, it's got about 8 miles in". 3 miles later, on a steep hill, guess what happens..So, two trips to the petrol station later it's running again and I set off towards the M25. At this point I still don't know wtf is wrong with the carb and in heavy M25 rush-hour traffic the ol' P5 is not happy. It's popping and banging through the carb and being a complete pain in the arse to keep running. It's not sounding good either. At this point I'm seriously considering going back to the sellers house and shoving the car right up his arse. Instead, I ring the AA from the first services I get to on the M40. I've done 22 miles out of 220 and I've already got the friggin' AA out. I am not happy.I spend 40 mins or so mooching through all the crap in the boot. Loads of goodies in there, brand new set of points (well, new in around 1972 I suspect. 80p on the box) a "Visit Glorious Looe" book, a football results sheet from February 1965 and the bit of trim missing from the back door that the seller told me he didn't have.AA bloke turns up and it mega happy to see a proper old car. He fits the points (and sets the dwell angle, respect to an AA man who actually carries a dwell meter), checks the condenser and declares the ignition system "Excellent". He then strips the carb, fiddles with it for 40 minutes or so and says "Needle is probably knackered, that's why it only runs on choke" - turns out he used to grass track Minis and knows SU carbs inside out. Does his best, then recommends "Use a bit of choke, not going to be cheap, but it's cheaper than recovering it home.."So that's what I ended up doing. Unfortunately, I've probably cabbaged the middle box by getting the choke settings all wrong and causing the backfire of the millenium. The wiper blades are hopeless, it was raining, and the combination of probably 35 year old crossplies mixed with low profiles at the other end, a useable speed range of between 42-54 mph because of the carb issues, no overdrive and a blowing exhaust has made it a somewhat emotional experience. Still, a half decent paint job, set of tyres, carb overhaul and a few other bits and bobs and it'll be a properly nice old thing. No real rot to mention, which is nice.I suspect it'll be getting plate-raped though. The plate is an age-related jobbie, but a transferable one so I'll flog that to pay for the paintwork.Oh, I got a text off the seller when I was half way home asking if she got home ok. He got a rant in reply, to which he offered £50 as a 'good will jest ur". It'll pay for the carb rebuild, and that should cure the running issues, so fair enough I suppose.

[Volksy]

Sounds epic!Glad you got home at least, and under it's own steam!

[maximalist]

[hammy]

Clearly the real danger was driverless BMC 1100's dropping out of the sky upside down. PIFs an BTF films are excellent, and society is worse off for not being shown them more often...

[Mr Lobster]

Yes that does sound 'interesting'. I know the feeling a bit too well, sat in some godforsaken service area with a broken shitter for which you have recently handed over a sum of money thinking 'I could just set it on fire and walk away' or 'why do I do this, it just makes life harder', but I suppose it's worth it in the end. Must be as we all keep doing it

[Andrew353w]

Excellent find! Well done and even better to find an AA/RAC guy who really fixes things! Sounds like the car's gonna be worth it in the end and APART from carb and tyres the rest doesn't sound too bad! The idea of an E Bay seller offering a "good will" payment must be unique...Andrew353w

[seth]

Sounded like fun Pete!Did the AA man check the timing? Oh, just realised he did the dwell thing... What SU does it have fitted? They're really quite simple to play with. If the needle is worn/scored then it'll run too rich. May only have been running with the choke on due to the extra bit of throttle opening that would give you at idle (if set correctly), hence the revving nuts off.

[mattblack]

Did the P5 have an SU as standard, or is a conversion kit?

[Pete-M]

If the needle is worn/scored then it'll run too rich. May only have been running with the choke on due to the extra bit of throttle opening that would give you at idle (if set correctly), hence the revving nuts off.

The choke lifts the slidey bit a few mm before actually doing its chokey thing, so the carb is set correctly but the needle or jet is worn.Shouldn't be that much of a pig to sort.

[michiel]

Glad you got home ok despite the problems!

[pogweasel]

heroic!

[Pete-M]

Did the P5 have an SU as standard, or is a conversion kit?

Standard.

[andrew e]

Before you paint it, Dulux PRE68 on the sides and park it at a car show

[Pete-M]

Before you paint it, Dulux PRE68 on the sides and park it at a car show

I think they'd go totally postal if I did that.It's totally original spec with the little perspex visor things on the doors and all the hard to find bits.Hmm. Where's the Dulux?

[RedSparrow]

Well done on getting it home.Sort of on the subject, the TR7 broke the other week and I had to call the RAC. The bloke was delighted to get his hands on a 'proper' car and spent most of the tow-journey back talking about how its getting harder to do roadsude repairs due to ECUs and bits of plastic covering engines etc.

[Guest]

Well done on getting it home.Sort of on the subject, the TR7 broke the other week and I had to call the RAC. The bloke was delighted to get his hands on a 'proper' car and spent most of the tow-journey back talking about how its getting harder to do roadsude repairs due to ECUs and bits of plastic covering engines etc.

When my Amazon carked on the way back from Leicester Mr RAC man seemed pleased to see an old car. I reckoned the timing was retarded.The route of the problem was that 'the timing's well monged, who set that?'A supposed auto electrician \ timing 'expert' had set it because Gordon (restoration man) couldn't get it to start. Turns out it was 10 degrees retarded, which meant it had no power (even for my Amazon) which I noticed straight away, and the net of this meant it could do 27 mph in third with my foot welded to the bulkhead.And the points were knackered, and the rotor arm was fucked.Somehow, this cost Gordon £110. Which he then got back off the bloke because I rang him up and called him a useless wanksock.I was fucking baffled anyway. I think he'd gone for a slash and done sod all really. I never had any trouble getting it to start. The carb seals are leaking and the dashpot lever arm thing wotsit sticks sometimes so it floods. You just crank it for a bit and wait for a tiny fluctuation in the engine chug which means it will start with a tap of gas. I explained this to Gordon but as I was 110 miles away at the time it didn't come across too well.As for the carb, it's a shitty 32 mm throated Zenith thing which isn't worth rebuilding. Yes, a 32 mm carb on a 1788 cc engine. YAY POWERZ.