A40 - stage one f@#kin finally

[Peter C]

1 hour ago, Gerrymcd said:

Yeah man I saw them a while ago and was tempted....

 

....then I saw the price of them! 

£208 according to my sources.

[Matty]

On 2/2/2022 at 12:24 AM, SiC said:

Both the A40 and 1100 have been repainted in the last decade or two at most. I strongly suspect the 1100 is a RAL colour. Either that or something like Ford blue. I also strongly suspect it's something like coach/tractor enamel paint. Wouldn't be surprised if the A40 is similar as Vulgalour mentioned.

My intention was to get a set of RAL cards and see if I could colour match. But my colour matching skills have never been the greatest!

I would guess mine got its paint job well inside the last ten years. I've a full set of RAL cards at work for when the lad paints the machinery when we've finished. I'll have to have a match up. Bonus is I can sneak 5 litres onto works order then I can repaint the entire car every other Sunday like Sidney on our street used to do with his Sherpa van when I was a kid 😄

[Matty]

@Angrydicky being as Southends your home turf, any chance you know what the local Austin dealer was in the 60s?

[Angrydicky]

I have the BMC dealer guide somewhere, there were three or four with Austin franchises in town I think, but the distributor and largest dealer was SMAC's (Southend Motor & Aero Co). They were a big dealer in their day and expanded to other sites in South Essex before getting bought out by Lookers in the late 80s.

Let me dig out the dealer guidebook and I'll photograph the info in there for you.

[Matty]

21 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

I have the BMC dealer guide somewhere, there were three or four with Austin franchises in town I think, but the distributor and largest dealer was SMAC's (Southend Motor & Aero Co). They were a big dealer in their day and expanded to other sites in South Essex before getting bought out by Lookers in the late 80s.

Let me dig out the dealer guidebook and I'll photograph the info in there for you.

Cheers 👍

[Matty]

First bit of work that times allowed. The engines running in but it has (to me at least) all the hallmarks of fuel starvation. When it pulls well the world is bright. That only lasts briefly before its stuttering and popping back thru the carb. Tbf, even when it pulls clean, it feels to be holding back its best. So I started at the tank end. The fuel is being pumped by an SU type electric pump. These so I've been told had a habit of failure in period.

To this end I treated myself to a Facit solid state pump. Just the standard road version, but supposedly good for 130bhp (no laughing at the back. I'll be lucky if I make 50 on a good day, even with the tuning it's had).

First I had to knock up a mount. I wanted to use the original mounting bracket so I could use the original captives in the boot floor. The original also incorporates a rudimentary guard to stop the fuel pump being wiped out by the (completely unfastened) spare wheel.

[Matty]

Now we're cooking. This morning I wired and plumbed it in, added an inline filter to monitor what's coming through from the tank, dropped the feed in off the coil and ran the new pump with the engine off. No leaks and no carb overflow, so far so good. Coil reconnected I fired it up. On the button, revs freely and ticks over like a little sewing machine. Job jobbed.

 

[Matty]

So only thing left is a test run. And the result is.....fuck all your honour. Next job is to repipe from the boot to the carb in 8mm copper as the 6mm it's been done in seems a bit restrictive to me. If that doesn't help then we are at the carb. Unless anyone more knowledgeable on here than me tells me I'm getting it wrong. I'm working on the basis that if it was a jetting or timing fault then it would be ever present. Where as this presents every other fast acceleration. Who knows? I'll get there 😁

[tooSavvy]

Love a bit of '1st things 1st' rationale......

Break, Strengthen, Rebuild, Break [..somewhere else!]

Loving ALL of this 😎

[Inspector Morose]

Oh christ, it could be so much. 
Dashpot on the carb - full and of the correct oil? Does the piston slide up and down smoothly? Possible bent needle valve?
Fuel level in float chamber too low?
is there a inline filter on the inlet to the carb? Is that okay?
Is the timing correct? Points in good order? Are the weights in the dizzy free?

Watch out with the solid state fuel pump as they can provide too much pressure for simple carbs. They only need a few psi but some super-duper pumps can triple that. An inline regulator can be used to tame them down a bit if needed.

[Noel Tidybeard]

does giving the choke a tug make any difference?

[Matty]

20 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

Oh christ, it could be so much. 
Dashpot on the carb - full and of the correct oil? Does the piston slide up and down smoothly? Possible bent needle valve?
Fuel level in float chamber too low?
is there a inline filter on the inlet to the carb? Is that okay?
Is the timing correct? Points in good order? Are the weights in the dizzy free?

Watch out with the solid state fuel pump as they can provide too much pressure for simple carbs. They only need a few psi but some super-duper pumps can triple that. An inline regulator can be used to tame them down a bit if needed.

All things on the list to check next Friday. Good point on the pump though. I ran it for 5 minutes with the coil disconnected to check for leaks and let it prime. I did get a drip from the carb, but once up and running there were no more drips, even when left idling for a while. Supposedly it pumps at 3 to 5 psi. Do you reckon the float chamber will be strong enough to hold that back at idle?

Thanks for that, some good stuff to have a look at 👍

[Matty]

11 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

does giving the choke a tug make any difference?

Something I never thought to try. Last car I had with a manual choke and carb was when I passed my test 24 years ago! I'll give it a do

[SiC]

1 hour ago, Matty said:

So only thing left is a test run. And the result is.....fuck all your honour. Next job is to repipe from the boot to the carb in 8mm copper as the 6mm it's been done in seems a bit restrictive to me. If that doesn't help then we are at the carb. Unless anyone more knowledgeable on here than me tells me I'm getting it wrong. I'm working on the basis that if it was a jetting or timing fault then it would be ever present. Where as this presents every other fast acceleration. Who knows? I'll get there 😁

Definitely check timing. Also check to see vac advance capsule is working. Many die from fuel vapours and age. As many don't drive the cars in a way to notice it, they can be broken for years. 

Are you on points? If so, what condenser have you got? Many new ones are absolutely shit.

Majority of running problems on these engines tend to be ignition related. It's always recommend to check ignition first and then tune up the carbs.

[Noel Tidybeard]

the other thing to do with an S.U is to check the mixture by using the plunger on bottom of carb

[Matty]

26 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

there a inline filter on the inlet to the carb? Is that okay?

Only fitted it today when fitting the pump. I wanted it under the bonnet for visibility but due to the copper fuel line the only place it could go without repiping was at the carb over the manifolds. Worries about evaporation led me to put it after the pump in the boot. Looks clean so far, but I'll keep an eye out.

[Matty]

5 minutes ago, SiC said:

Definitely check timing. Also check to see vac advance capsule is working. Many die from fuel vapours and age. As many don't drive the cars in a way to notice it, they can be broken for years. 

Are you on points? If so, what condenser have you got? Many new ones are absolutely shit.

Majority of running problems on these engines tend to be ignition related. It's always recommend to check ignition first and then tune up the carbs.

Cheers Si. I'll get on it at the end of next week. I want it sorted for the better weather so I can start putting some miles on it.

[Mally]

6mm copper is sufficient, we only use 8mm on a 160 bhp pinto.

I would expect the pump to be too powerful, I'm surprised the needle valve doesn't leak.

Try new red rotor arm, has SiC not mentioned that yet?

[Mally]

I may have a new coil somewhere if you need it.

[ETCHY]

12 hours ago, Matty said:

First bit of work that times allowed. The engines running in but it has (to me at least) all the hallmarks of fuel starvation. When it pulls well the world is bright. That only lasts briefly before its stuttering and popping back thru the carb. Tbf, even when it pulls clean, it feels to be holding back its best. So I started at the tank end. The fuel is being pumped by an SU type electric pump. These so I've been told had a habit of failure in period.

To this end I treated myself to a Facit solid state pump. Just the standard road version, but supposedly good for 130bhp (no laughing at the back. I'll be lucky if I make 50 on a good day, even with the tuning it's had).

First I had to knock up a mount. I wanted to use the original mounting bracket so I could use the original captives in the boot floor. The original also incorporates a rudimentary guard to stop the fuel pump being wiped out by the (completely unfastened) spare wheel.

Wow nice vice,  Is it a  Record 113 or 114 ?

[Mally]

5 minutes ago, ETCHY said:

Wow nice vice,  Is it a  Record 113 or 114 ?

I wish I could see my bench top like that. Mines buried 12" below piles of crap and tools.

[Jenson Velcro]

10 hours ago, Matty said:

Only fitted it today when fitting the pump. I wanted it under the bonnet for visibility but due to the copper fuel line the only place it could go without repiping was at the carb over the manifolds. Worries about evaporation led me to put it after the pump in the boot. Looks clean so far, but I'll keep an eye out.

Is it fitted the right way round? Usually there’s an arrow showing direction of flow.

[Matty]

9 hours ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Is it fitted the right way round? Usually there’s an arrow showing direction of flow.

Yeah, the arrows on the other side. The large brass fitting on the right hand side as we look at the photo is incoming from the tank and acts as a primary filter.

[Matty]

10 hours ago, Mally said:

I wish I could see my bench top like that. Mines buried 12" below piles of crap and tools.

That's at work mally. Homes a different matter! If your ever passing through Haslingden I work at Valmet. Mines the big stone built shop that fronts Manchester Rd. Proper old engineering works, built as SS Stotts, our place built many of the steam engines that powered Lancashires Mills, coal elevators and even parts for PLUTO the pipeline under the ocean. Proper place

[Matty]

10 hours ago, ETCHY said:

Wow nice vice,  Is it a  Record 113 or 114 ?

I can't remember now which it is. I've two, a modern 114 on the bottom bench which is nowhere near as good as that one on the top bench. It's as old as the hills and indestructible. I've got a good smaller version at home, one of the good things about heavy engineering is the bonus you can smuggle out 😁

[Matty]

20 hours ago, Mally said:

6mm copper is sufficient, we only use 8mm on a 160 bhp pinto.

I would expect the pump to be too powerful, I'm surprised the needle valve doesn't leak.

Try new red rotor arm, has SiC not mentioned that yet?

When I ran the pump with the coil disconnected there was a little weep at the float bowl. No bother running at idle. Your right though, as it's not crossflow I'll be fitting a regulator post haste cos I don't want to self immolulate sat at the traffic lights 😄

[Matty]

Yo @SiC. This red rotor arm that @Mally refers to. Do you have a link or owt? Cheers pal. Also, I'm on holiday up in Loch Ness this week. I've sat down this afternoon with a beer to read your full thread on the bgt. I'm taking a break after 10 pages cos it's too bleak. Tell me it gets better, I need the hope 😄

[Matty]

Also to the hive mind, I'm going to fit an inline pressure regulator and probably in the boot with the pump and fuel filter as space is tight under the bonnet without being over the manifolds.

[Matty]

As above, is there any reason I couldn't relocate the filter to the incoming side of the pump from the tank, leaving me space to fit the regulator after the pump where the filter currently sits?

[SiC]

42 minutes ago, Matty said:

Yo @SiC. This red rotor arm that @Mally refers to. Do you have a link or owt? Cheers pal. Also, I'm on holiday up in Loch Ness this week. I've sat down this afternoon with a beer to read your full thread on the bgt. I'm taking a break after 10 pages cos it's too bleak. Tell me it gets better, I need the hope 😄

You're a brave man, there is a lot of waffle in that thread and me learning how to do things 🤣

Unfortunately Tapatalk appears to have eaten many of the images up too.

MOT history also tells the story! I bought in 2017 (I'll have owned 4 years in July!). The 2018 MOT only had 139 miles extra after stuffing it in a garage after giving up. On that MOT is when I decided I'm going to make my best effort with it. So by the 2019 MOT had 1337 (l33t!) miles.

2019 to 2020 combination of COVID and moving house meant it lived in storage with it barely used. Hence 2021 MOT only had 522 miles on it.

Since then I've done a few miles, but I suspect I've probably only managed to put on another 500. Hopefully will get a chance to soon, now we are getting closer to spring. Have far more trust in it now I've put the miles on. Disappointingly I'm getting misfires when I last took it out. Appears the cap is getting some unusual wear - irritating as its a fancy 123 ignition system.

Its given me three breakdowns (that I remember!)

First was fuel pump packed up on the way back from buying cat food. Changed the pump with a Hardi and it worked fine.

Second was condenser burning up the points when I plucked up the courage to drive it to work. Broke down in a slightly sketchy part of Bristol - thankfully not on the motorway.

 

 

That's when I got fed up and parked it in the garage for a year.

 

Next breakdown was in 2019. I had an important meeting with an estate agent to pull out of a house I was supposed to be buying. This was the fuel pump stopping again. I say the fuel pump, but it turned out that the MGB fuel pump earth is attached on the rear number plate bracket. A known point to corrode and fail. I've now put a direct feed from the battery.

 

Since then *touch wood* it hasn't let me down. Apart from the misfire mentioned above. I was intended to go to Haynes Breakfast Meet in it last weekend, but I caught COVID.