Autopendium :: stuff about old cars

We'd arranged to go to see Lance McCormack at Romance of Rust to talk about some ideas for the continuing customisation.

Sadly the day didn't go quite as planned. 

The beast let me down and in a pretty awkward fashion. 

First off I checked and topped up all levels and fluids before setting off. 

Before I even got out of the Essex coastal town I live in it felt like he had lost a couple of gears. 

This improved as we progressed, but boded ill for the journey ahead. 

I should have heeded the warning.

Now I have been using the old boy to pootle around my home town, and to take friends out in and scare the bejesus out of (No one expects nearly 2 tons of old car to accelerate the way he does!). 

Each time has been a riot of noise, smells, squeals and fun, but obviously this is nothing like the 240 mile round trip I'd planned, and has probably strained the old boys mechanicals too.

We made it down the A12 and out onto the M25, with just a lot of heat soak and waterway heat from the heater matrix making it into the cabin. 

I had the pillarles windows down and even on the then hottest day of the year could have hardly cared less. I should have!

Just past the M1 turn off, on the M25 I got a bit of a hiccup and backfiring, and at the next junction with the A41 between the off slip and the on slip, he stopped altogether! 

Bugger!!

I pulled up on the hard shoulder right near the point where the on slip joined the main carriageway. Within minutes (like less than 3 mins)  whilst I was still tool kit in hand and barely a spanner had been lifted the Highways Agency boys appeared. 

They took the details down then told me that I had 2 hours to clear the motorway or the police tow truck would come and remove me at high cost!

I knew what the problem was (Fuel starvation due to crap in the filter and fuel line) I just couldn't fix it road side with all the M25 traffic hammering past. I let the old boy settle down and tried him again, he fired and we were off, off to J18 where I waited for a mate (Old Redranch on this here site) to join me and chaperone me into Ealing. 

We made it to Denham, where the same thing happened again, only this time I couldn't clear the line at all. 

I called Lance and got a local tow truck firms number who flat bed towed me into his workshop. 

Also while Redranch was following me he said I was belching out a cloud of oily smoke from beneath the car. 

This was discovered at the workshop to be a leaking rear main bearing seal.

All the while I had driven up the vapours getting into the cabin were getting worse and worse. 

The header gaskets (Exhaust Manifold Gaskets) are shot and leak so much exhaust gas that by rights I should have committed suicide by the time I got home again!

So at the workshop we cut the fuel line, re-plumbed it with a new filter, and poured in some seal elasticator into the sump hoping to fix that main end seal.

I was good to go again! Ha.

On the 2 and a half hour journey across London for 18 miles, things got worse, and when he finally overheated, I knew a head gasket was going too! 

Sure enough the coolant now reeks of petrol.

Bottom line is I made it home at about 10pm after leaving home at 9.45am.

I'm sourcing a new two part silicone type Felpro main seal, new Hi Temp silicone header sealer, a new sump gasket, and new head gaskets. Will source a windage tray for the sump and a mains girdle to strengthen the bottom end too.

The big end seal can be done with just a sump removal, so the oil change I did will be done again soon.

Then its attention to the top end.

I already have an Edlebrock RPM AirGap inlet manifold, and an Edelbrock Thunder AVS 650cfm carb, so I'll see if I can afford a set of RPM performer heads too, and the matching bump stick. All good for 400bhp according Mr Vic Jnr. 

But if not then a freshen up and maybe a port job of the stock heads and then a wilder camshaft. Hopefully by the end of the season he'll be back terrorising the locals and more reliably!!

Ah well thats old cars, and life with 'em eh?