Tommy's A-series Misery - More Austin 7 Work

[Cookiesouwest]

Liked. Not of course because the engine is borked, but because of the effort and time you are putting in.

[grogee]

Also liked, because you set out to do one job and did a completely different one. This is my preferred MO.

Good point about A series. They (and other older engines) are much more tolerant of faults and can be coaxed to 'get you home' if needed. Modern shite just throws a warning light if one of its sensors is having an off day, and often gives you 'limp home' as a reward. 

Never seen that sort of crack failure between cylinders on A series before though, is that common?

[Rusty_Rocket]

I've never seen one crack there either.  I wonder what we'll do when the blocks run out?!

[Tommyboy12]

I've seen a cracked block before and I have heard of others. Plenty of cracked heads around too. Usually the 1275 engines are more prone to it. I suspect in this instance it was caused by a previous headgasket failure. Last time I did a headgasket was on the side of the M6 so I wasn't paying much attention to the state of the block 😅

[sharley17194]

i suspect blocks will never run out, but that could have been linered. but there's no merit in doing so cuz blocks are cheap.

20 hours ago, Rusty_Rocket said:

I've never seen one crack there either.  I wonder what we'll do when the blocks run out?!

somone has started re3making 1275 s blocks so i guess they would just make more smaller bore blocks, but the cost is astronomical 

[Talbot]

19 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Last time I did a headgasket was on the side of the M6

I've done a few at the side of a residential road before now, but on the side of a motorway???

[Tommyboy12]

1 hour ago, Talbot said:

I've done a few at the side of a residential road before now, but on the side of a motorway???

Alas the only picture I have of the situation is this one. It was near junction 2.

I also broke down on the A14 a few months later about 30 miles from the spot I did the headgasket. It was crud jamming the float bowl that time.

I have RAC but really it's only for recovering Montegos from the Highlands...

[Pieman]

The RAC probably have a policy of not recovering classic Minis because a) it's the owner's own fault for daring to drive a vehicle that inevitably breaks on every journey anyway , b) Mini owners are masochistic enough to enjoy the challenge and c) Mini owners know more about the problem than the RAC patrol will anyway because of a) and b). 

[Tommyboy12]

100% fact! I'm also masochistic enough to own two and one of them I turbocharged to add extra breakdown peril to the mix 😅

[rob88h]

22 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

I've seen a cracked block before and I have heard of others.

My first Mini cracked its block in exactly the same place! It too was also eating Head Gaskets for breakfast just before it went.

[bezzabsa]

throw the 1100 in, always seemed a sweet engine in the mini, but a bit naff in anything else.....Also the 850 is way more fun than it should be..no need to brake as you can never go fast enough LOL

[catsinthewelder]

On 11/8/2021 at 4:35 PM, Pieman said:

The RAC probably have a policy of not recovering classic Minis because a) it's the owner's own fault for daring to drive a vehicle that inevitably breaks on every journey anyway , b) Mini owners are masochistic enough to enjoy the challenge and c) Mini owners know more about the problem than the RAC patrol will anyway because of a) and b). 

I've never heard of people calling leaf sprung Land Rovers "Minis" before.

[Tommyboy12]

It's Lejog part 2 time! John O'Groats and back in circa 48 hours. Around 27 hours of driving in that time. 1400 miles. The Montego's mission: Get there this time. Finish the NC500. Get the all important 'top' pic. Get out.

And I've already set off! First stop was to go to Rugby to drop of the gearbox for the Mini off at a specialist. It'll be rebuilt for some time around Christmas.

Next stop. Pick up @sharley17194 as my budding copilot/lunatic. Were stopping at Chateau Sharley for a few hours to do some Friday afternoon work. We're setting off about 3pm.

First overnight stop is Inverness where @sharley17194 has kindly booked us into a hostel. Which has an 11pm cutoff. It's 7h45m away from the intermediate stop. It's going to be a looooong drive tonight and there's no room for error!

 

 

[Fumbler]

This is madness. I love it.

[MJK 24]

🙏 

[Datsuncog]

Crumbs.

Best of luck, my dudes - we'll be with you in spirit!

[Tenmil Socket]

Good luck!

[Saabnut]

Disco and trailer on standby!  Good luck!

[Tommyboy12]

We are on our way to Inverness! T-minus 7.5 hours...

[grogee]

May the gods look kindly on your frankly insane venture. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy that there is still A-series BLARG shite happening on today's roads, today. 

Friday afternoon seems an interesting* choice of departure time though. How's the electric fan on the Monty?

[Tommyboy12]

11 minutes ago, grogee said:

May the gods look kindly on your frankly insane venture. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy that there is still A-series BLARG shite happening on today's roads, today. 

Friday afternoon seems an interesting* choice of departure time though. How's the electric fan on the Monty?

Wired in with a metal toggle switch that gets really hot when you switch it on...

[grogee]

Just now, Tommyboy12 said:

Wired in with a metal toggle switch that gets really hot when you switch it on...

Is there any other way? Well yes, but none as funny as that.

[Tommyboy12]

We're in Scotland (again)!

[mk2_craig]

Yes!! Wishing you a grief-free trip. Got a stock of wheel bearings on board?

[Eyersey1234]

Chodspeed 

[MJK 24]

There’s a 1275 Montego thrumming up the A9 as we ponder bed

🛌

[High Jetter]

They've died, or fallen asleep. Possibly scotch induced. Madiots, anyway. Chodspeed.

[hairnet]

od on squair

or fish supper

[Datsuncog]

Twenty minutes until the hostel locks its doors for the night.

Nailbiting stuff.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Toothpaste on toast for breakfast.