Next project - ‘62 997 Austin Cooper

[Polarsilver]

Will be interesting to get the response of your Head Gasket supplier.. because its beyond acceptable to supply such inferior items all in the name of Suppliers Profit when in reality it is at your Loss

[Exminiman]

Agree, too be honest, I dont think it would be something I would of thought of..is it a common problem now ?

[timmy201]

I’ve heard the Victor Reinz small bore ones are supposed to be the best at the moment

Part number is 61-35330-00 and seem to be in stock on eBay stores

[Dearg1275]

Timmy,

Thanks for that. I’ll take a look. I have a few pointers out to follow up. This is where this forum excels.

D

[Dearg1275]

Southam’s and Timmy’s recommendations came good and I have ordered Victor Reinz head gasket from Mar Motor Sport who were more than helpful. We will see how that pans out.

C07BC8AE-2EF4-43CC-966C-2D5EAA7BACFD.jpeg

D

[Dearg1275]

No photos today but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t interesting. Two exciting events one fantastic and the other rather scary.

First up was getting the engine running after going round in circles chasing an electrical fault. That turned out to be a non earthed earthing point. The one on the back of the speedo had not been hitched up to the main body earth so the “earth” on the speedo was 5 volts live to true earth when the ignition was on being fed through the isolator relay for the alternator. That screwed up the voltage the coil was seeing, so once the starter motor was churning there was not enough left to beget a spark. I found the lead I missed connecting behind the heater motor. Then all was fine.

So that was the good stuff. The bad stuff was that the fuel pump had been leaking and the spare wheel well had filled with petrol. Not comforting to find when you had spent the last hour or so footling about with electrics. Moping up petrol with a rag inches from the battery is not my idea of a happy time.

All on hold again while the fuel pump service kit creeps through the postal service.

Did smile a bit today though.

D

[Dearg1275]

I have a last bit of trim to sort. A door card for the passenger side. Driver’s side was Hmm OK for what I’m trying to achieve but not so the left. The backing is broken beyond sticking back together.

1EB66055-FAF8-48E2-BF95-CD2E4826285C.jpeg

FD484535-9D4F-40D4-989E-9F142F747C1A.jpeg

The cover has a couple of tears but where they won’t notice, otherwise it’s OK.

41916B4E-0F1A-49EC-84AF-AC33D0089D91.jpeg

I’m evolving a cunning plan and have some dense artist’s card of the right thickness and bend ability (not like NC stuff). Just need to sleep on it and wait for the “I’ve got it” moment. I prefer the Anglo- Saxon to Greek expressions.

D

[roger mcnab]

hi d
that card is probably just as good as the nc stuff which is probably mdf or some type of cardboard and all these things suffer from water damage i will be using 3mm ply for the cards for the clubman when i get that far
cheers roger

[Dearg1275]

Pictures tell the story.

Masked up and several coats of spray contact adhesive applied.

85304F6E-0162-47B9-AD9B-76FEE1C447FB.jpeg

12F3AE7D-5FEE-4972-8839-15256BE7FA99.jpeg

Masking removed and the foam soaked in adhesive along the weld lines and allowed to tack off.

030FE076-D170-47D7-8472-DE10A7CC0DAA.jpeg

Fold carefully into position and then run a blunt tool along the weld grooves to compress the adhesive loaded foam.

E7504693-E0F5-4D31-B2B2-B9B3945D8F5D.jpeg

Enough patina to sink a battleship but usable again.

D

[billycooper]

Any update's David ?

[Dearg1275]

Any update's David ?

Steve, KEC is trapped! We are having the drive laid with cobbles and it is taking forever. The engine runs and everything works. I have just some tidying up to do on the roof paint work but need to give it a good wash first. Twelve month’s dust. I need to get it out and on the road but it looks like a couple of weeks yet. I’m itching to see how it drives and handles. All the suspension is as found apart from new rubber cones. The front has Armstrong dampers dated 1965 and the rear a pair of Lockheed. It is real time warp country.

Almost desperate to gets some miles and photos.

D

[251 ENG]

Down to Warwickshire for a rolling road then

[Dearg1275]

Down to Warwickshire for a rolling road then

A scheme is already being hatched.

D

[billycooper]

Great stuff David, glad its running, my KEC hasn't moved since August 2019 !

[Dearg1275]

Well KEC seems to be fighting me all the way and didnt want to leave its shed as you will read. My nearest fuel is 11 miles away so a first outing is always a concern about getting there on the little sloshing around in the bottom of the tank. My daughter, a bit of a petrol head herself, was keen to tag along.

Well the car drove beautifully and once I had played about with the choke to get the mixture better and backed of the ignition advance a touch the engine was definitely willing even if still tight.

On the return trip confidence in the wee beast was building nicely and some corners were taken with a little gusto.

Then, what’s that noise? UJs, bearing and before I could think wheel nuts and look to pull off the racket was alarming and the near side front wheel was away on an outing of its own.

A little wiggle about on the three remain wheels and we made the grass verge.

E1F52A00-7B15-449F-898C-A6F66206DE79.jpeg

My daughter seemed to find it unusually amusing!

5EB0B629-3998-4F7D-AC24-295A95D69313.jpeg

No damage to the body work. Something to be thankful for. On the other hand that confidence I was just building evaporated in a flash. Was it brain fade when doing up the nuts or something more tangible.

The local recovery chap (via the RAC who for once did as I suggested and sent a flat bed straight away) was fantastic. Between us we managed to straighten a couple of studs to get the wheel back on enough to help the car onto the truck. The wheel had gone for a swim in a ditch and strangely still had all four sleeve nuts in the wheel.

Once in the workshop and stripped for inspection the full trauma was revealed. The lower ball joint nut and pin together with a goodly slice of the lower arm had been left on the tarmac. The brake disc had been just kissed and looked fine but the micrometer revealed a bulge in the perimeter of the disc of 4 thou. The wheel was gnarled on the inside with a nick in the edge of the rim but seemingly no tyre damage. So lots of new bits to order. Rich at Minispares north was very sympathetic.

D7025286-3493-4A15-A691-5BC945E49D74.jpeg

7864C7D0-6C4E-4C00-A86A-DFBC12018F27.jpeg

The big issue was how to get that confidence back. Now Rose Petals are great wheels, well made and sturdy (Minispares ones) and used on track in Appendix K events by the likes of Swiftune. The problem with all sleeved nut held wheels is that it is really only clamping force that holds the wheel in place. There is no taper on the nuts to centre the studs or add to anti rotational resistance to the nut. The dynamics of the wheel is that left hand ones will tend to unwind their nuts. I assure you having your nuts unwound can be distressing. The only anti rotation forces are from the flat face beneath the nut and the length of thread engagement.

My thoughts then were to increase the thread engagement but how? I have never liked anything between the wheel and drive flange. Rose petals come with a realignment insert to eliminate some wheel to drive flange and calliper clearance issues and place the wheel in the correct position for normal usage . On track cars with a limit on maximum track width these items get machined so the inserts can be dispensed with. Trawling the internet and phoning round drew a blank on suitable studs with an increased thread length. But the track connection made the penny drop. Swiftune do special studs for the Rose Petals. The standard thread length is 22mm these have 24 mm at the front and 25 mm at the rear and if Swiftune are happy to trust them that should be good enough for me. With these and being rid of the insert (2mm gain there) I would have a substantial gain. So I’m off to the local engineering shop with discs and flanges to see what they can do. Studs ordered.

D

[kevs 1961 mk1]

jees what an experience ,glad both yourself and your daughter are unharmed,and she saw the funny side, parts can always be replaced as its only metal, good shout on the wheelnuts using what swifttune trust in ,hopefully youl have kec back on the road soon ,regards kev

[Polarsilver]

I have a selfish interest in this subject as i am due to install a new set of MS Rosepetals on my 1071 .. I re-read your disaster and me still unsure of what went wrong ..are you saying the MS Rose-Petal wheel Nuts are inadequate in thread length .. did you torque all your Wheel Nuts up the same & if so what are the other wheel nuts security tightness like after that run.
Whatever the issue pleased that you are all safe.

[Dearg1275]

I have a selfish interest in this subject as i am due to install a new set of MS Rosepetals on my 1071 .. I re-read your disaster and me still unsure of what went wrong ..are you saying the MS Rose-Petal wheel Nuts are inadequate in thread length .. did you torque all your Wheel Nuts up the same & if so what are the other wheel nuts security tightness like after that run.
Whatever the issue pleased that you are all safe.

As I tried to say it is impossible to know what went wrong. The Rose Petal nuts are perfectly fine. I am just looking for ways to improve the length of thread engaged which is down to the stud and not the nuts. I am probably being totally belts and braces and will more than likely look to doing the same for my other cars that have sleeve nuts. I just shook me up a bit and I’m looking for a greater margin of comfort. Some race proven studs look the ticket as far as My peace of mind is concerned. My routine is to use a torque wrench by I think I have just entered a paranoid spanner bashing period. I’ll probably be checking before leaving each visit to Tesco’s or fit some of those pointy things you see on trucks.

D

[timmy201]

Excuse me, I’m off to nip up my nuts!

I’ve got a habit of checking them every so often, I have in the past had a few drives around the block when they’re hand tight and experienced the clunk clunk!

It does look to be less thread than ideal with the spacer on there, the longer studs sound like they’ll improve that & hopefully if they’re race proven they’ll be fine on the road.

[Andrew1967]

David, you and your daughter were very lucky there and glad you are both fine.

KEC is certainly putting up lots of obstacles !!

Hope you get it sorted out soon and be interested to hear the results of the wheel stud / nuts investigations.