OBL45F in Australia

[wild_willy]

Looking just so good. Love to see any progress you may have made.

[lomin]

Hi, the car is back in my workshop in a rural area of Melbourne, Australia. More refurbishing of parts, and slowly refitting. The alloy doors will be about last, as there is so much hopping inside to fit things. hydro pipes, wiring loom , brake and fuel pipes, dashes, brackets, headlining, etc, etc. For some parts that do need replacing, I am doing my best to find old stock, as appearance is correct and quality is better.. Got some lovely rear mud flaps from the late Brian Purves. The cloth covered wiring loom is a work of art, although some of the 60s loom design has not got a lot in common with modern wiring.I have been re reading a lot of my early research, and noted the Cars and Car conversion article on my car mentions Tom Seal found the 11AC jaguar alternator fouled on no1 ?Amal carby, and the works solved it by putting a generator at the back. He is correct, I find out, but it can be solved, although not much fan belt adjustment. As noted in some photos, we have left the original patina or less than straight body work in a few areas

[lomin]

more pics

[spoon.450]

Great progress…..a very interesting thread

[Pete]

Amazed at the speed of your research and progress on your car Lindsay, great work. I met up with Russel Brookes a couple of years ago at Shelsley Walsh and got him to sign a photo (of your car, before you’d got the car!) which I’m happy to let go of unless you already have one, there can’t be too many of these in existence.

[lomin]

Hi Pete,
thank you for your kind words and tremendous offer. I have seen that photo by Russ Cooper, but to have a personally autographed copy would be the icing on the cake of this resto. I will PM you, thanks.
On OBL45F front the build has progressed more. I noted on Petes Facebook page that he was sent some photos of it less engine at a recent car club display (VMCI)
The engine is now in situ, and many more hours are going into lining things up, fitting the Amal carbs, extractors, fuel and oil lines, etc etc.
It is staggering how much BMC fitted into the engine bay and dash area, and it is a real juggle getting clearances. No wonder there was rubber grommets on hoses, plastic sleeving on cables, insulation tape on braided fuel lines, clamps everywhere. The cloth covered wiring loom is almost finished, seats went away today to be trimmed. The Amal carbs especially have so little clearance to bonnet, ignition leads, wiring etc. and no filtration A lot of care there needed. I was warned not to use the rubber insulators in the Amal kit, i tested one in fuel overnight in our ethanol free fuel and it doubled in size.on !
My expected (mostly complete) date is late February for a rally retro day in Melbourne.
happy New Year to all, and an especial thank you to all of the many supporters of the OBL45F project, who have given time, history, advice, real knowledge, and parts. It is looking a treat.I hope Tom Seal enjoys seeing what he created.

[Pete]

Hi Pete,
thank you for your kind words and tremendous offer. I have seen that photo by Russ Cooper, but to have a personally autographed copy would be the icing on the cake of this resto. I will PM you, thanks

Well it’s yours if you want it, just send me your address.

[winabbey]

Lindsay,

Great work. Things have certainly developed since I saw it in the flesh a few months ago.

Two observations from your latest pics.

1. Why has the OE spanner been chopped?
2. Are you leaving the top "ears" on the oil cooler or removing them in line with the original BMC part?

Doug

[lomin]

Hi, thanks Doug
I think the spanner you mention in front of the seat is just a long snapon 9/16 !
Could you provide a photo of the oil cooler top please. I have spent too many years hotting up cars, and now I have to get things as "they were" its a bit of a memory battle
A few more photos, I have spent I reckon nearly 4 days working out the Amal kit, modifying, replacing spacers that swelled up, getting some clearance between both drivers end carbs/ manifolds and then finally realising I really needed to angle (milling)the inlet manifolds so I could get to the idle speed screw. Rich Hawcroft has suggested I dont exceed 3psi fuel pressure, and on that front the Jaguar double ended pump is theoretically 2.8 psi.
Each amal has its own return spring, so even though this has a modified ratio accelerator pedal, it sits high and is quite heavy. And the bonnet frame virtually sits on the linkages.I went to fit a new bonnet lower moulding, but the shape has no hope of fitting. I will have to vaporblast and anodise the original one.
And Pete, I have pm to you
Cheers Lindsay

[winabbey]

I think the spanner you mention in front of the seat is just a long snapon 9/16 !

No, the one in the photo with the Minilite.

Could you provide a photo of the oil cooler top please.

The original BMC ARO9809 oil cooler had the two top mounting "ears" missing. The current type has the ears.

PUB1011 AC12-1 L.jpg

There's a Technical Bulletin here that also shows the original style - viewtopic.php?p=299573#p299573

[Richspec]

I know it wouldnt be period correct but back in the day when i ran amals I added a throttle spring to help OPEN the throttle. Just took the edge off the stiffness caused by the 4 amals.
not an issue if you're not going to be doing much driving though.

Rich

[lomin]

Thanks doug for the photo.
i have a question for the learned ones of works minis
The spot lamp socket in the front panel viewed from the front of the car has 5 holes.The 12 oclock position is earth obviously.
But i would think the spots go in a pair, and the fogs in another.I would call the positions at top 10 o,clock and 2 o,clock
The lower positions 7 and 5 o,clock.
does anyone know which goes where ?
Photos of socket and lamp wires.

second reply.. thanks Rich, I think that a good road idea, but in competition here they require two external accelerator return springs. It will be hard on cables and linkages etc with 6 springs !!

[Ronnie]

i have a question for the learned ones of works minis
The spot lamp socket in the front panel viewed from the front of the car has 5 holes.The 12 oclock position is earth obviously.
But i would think the spots go in a pair, and the fogs in another.I would call the positions at top 10 o,clock and 2 o,clock
The lower positions 7 and 5 o,clock.
does anyone know which goes where ?
Photos of socket and lamp wires.

Hi Lindsey my car 66 build all lights switched separately did not run TLC plug and socket in period, the spot lamps (centre) were wired to a changeover switch, option up with main beam / down on (with ign I would think I forget ). A lot could be down to driver preference, Guy may be best to advise, or some Mk2 owners.
Just remembered on the TDF it only ran two aux lamps

[Smithmaps]

Lindsay,
My answer is that if indeed there was common practice, it is lost in the Mists of time.
It only matters, if you have multiple cars and multiple bars with the potential for swapping.
So just wire it up, and try and make some sense of the colours on the back.
Car looking superb by the way. Lots of hours, believe me, I know.
Guy

[Tds76]

With the earth top/centre I would then go right to left across the plug in the same order as the spot and fog lights.

I.e.
10 o’clock RH outer lamp
7 RH inner
5 LH inner
2 LH outer

Cheers, Paul.

[Nevsmini]

Thanks doug for the photo.
i have a question for the learned ones of works minis
The spot lamp socket in the front panel viewed from the front of the car has 5 holes.The 12 oclock position is earth obviously.
But i would think the spots go in a pair, and the fogs in another.I would call the positions at top 10 o,clock and 2 o,clock
The lower positions 7 and 5 o,clock.
does anyone know which goes where ?
Photos of socket and lamp wires.

second reply.. thanks Rich, I think that a good road idea, but in competition here they require two external accelerator return springs. It will be hard on cables and linkages etc with 6 springs !!

This is how they wired them and when you look at it it’s very logical. This is confirmed on two original works looms. If you look at the face of the socket on the car you will see the numbers 1-5.

[lomin]

Thank you all for the help on oil cooler and wiring.
I have been a bit occupied trying to finish it for a Rally Retro display in about 3 weeks.
But i noted in the technical section a query on Amal linkages etc, so I put together my version of the amal fun! ,and thought it would be better here as its part of the OBL "journey" , although very relevant.
amals are a learning exercise, and I can see why some dont pursue them.

I have been fitting a new (year old) minispares setup kit to my OBL45F ,as thats what Tom Seal ran, and I can relate to all the comments in the technical page.. This is my story so far ; My car did end up in a dyke in 73 when the Amals stuck on full throttle after a yump, so I have looked hard at whats there. What was not apparent initially is that one linkage is welded to the long rod, and that has to be on the clutch end, that means only part assembling the linkages as you try and miss the rh guard as it slides across from clutch end to rad. There is a fine line between getting it all to operate and nothing going overcentre and jamming. One could improve all this, maybe hex long rod so linkages cant rotate, using modern carby quadrants where the cable goes around an outer groove, and always pulls from a fixed point and more.
But I feel other problems are more annoying, like the heavy throttle ( which can be fixed using lighter amal multi spring part number 622/277 , thank you Rich at minispares. The rubber spacers between carb and manifold are s***, definitely not fuel resistant, even no ethanol. Carbies no 3 and 4 hit each other, right where the idle air bleed adjuster screw is, so carbies off to adjust, and I had to machine the base of one inlet manifold on an angle to separate the two carbs. There is almost no room for any filtration, and the bonnet centre lock pin would go straight through a filter anyway. I am not sure what my solution will be at present, except I have bought 4 bath plugs to cover the ends whilst displaying the car.
Then my most annoying problem has been flooding of one carb , even with 2 psi fuel pressure. The amal needle and seat is pretty basic, but is only designed for gravity feed, so any pressure has to be very low. But you still need a fair bit of fuel so that one carb wont run lean.Of course when they flood they run straight onto the alternator or dissy cap. It is extremely difficult to run a drain tube off the flooding hole. But my main flooding problem turned out to be a faulty seat, where the needle sits. I have had to buy a new float bowl, and problem solved. I now have heard of 3 fires. I did have an extinguisher sitting by my feet during star up. I will run a drain tray under the amals.
As amals have no acceleration enrichment, I am assuming that I will have to run them a bit rich, to avoid sluggish acceleration.

I am sure there will be more.

[Richspec]

It is possible to use one of the aftermarket blank filter base plates and cut it for the spacing on your amals, using the screw on trumpets to fix it in place, you can then use a domed air filter like the fuel injection setup, however it doesnt clear the bonnet pin as you say, my slam panel was cut out for clearance and the bonnet pinned at either side.
I also added a drainage plate underneath so if (when) the one carb did flood it leaked away from the engine.

http://gallery.myff.org/gallery/831331/DSCF4665.JPG

[MrNoo]

Then my most annoying problem has been flooding of one carb , even with 2 psi fuel pressure. The amal needle and seat is pretty basic, but is only designed for gravity feed, so any pressure has to be very low. But you still need a fair bit of fuel so that one carb wont run lean.Of course when they flood they run straight onto the alternator or dissy cap. It is extremely difficult to run a drain tube off the flooding hole. But my main flooding problem turned out to be a faulty seat, where the needle sits. I have had to buy a new float bowl, and problem solved. I now have heard of 3 fires. I did have an extinguisher sitting by my feet during star up. I will run a drain tray under the amals.
As amals have no acceleration enrichment, I am assuming that I will have to run them a bit rich, to avoid sluggish acceleration.

I am sure there will be more.

Lol, I found exactly the same and also had a total of 3 fires!! No3 Amal kept spewing fuel out unbeknown to me at the time, turned out it was some detritus where the needle valve seats in the float chamber, also found some alloy filings in the bottom of the float chamber on mine, cleaned them right out again and it has been fine since. When I start it first time in the morning, just press the ticklers with a rag against them to stop any fuel spillage, turn the key and off she goes, with mine I cannot use the throttle until it's warmed up, it'll just cough and fart and blow back. But once warm it seems fine, the odd cough but seems fine.
If I run it first thing in the morning and then leave it off all day it will still start later in the afternoon without and tickling. I guess room for a tray is very tight, even more so with your car. It's a shame they didn't have "bleed ports" so the excess could be piped out of harms way!!

[lomin]

Hi, I am having a rapid learn on amals.
I do not know how anyone can easily set them up unless you have a modern oxy sensor gas analyser set at the bottom of extractors for instant mixture answers and a 4 tube vacuum gauge. with these its easy to know whats happening, but the surprise was 1/8 of a turn on each of the 4 air bleed idle screws alters the mixture by a full ratio. i.e 12:1 to 13:1 or 11:1 A big change
I have been selling long duration spark distributors in australia for a few years, and have managed to fit all this inside a 23D S distributor. The dissy is also locked, so my timing is set at 30 degrees idle, a little less at full revs as all modules retard as they rev up. This gives me a very strong vacuum signal at start up, so no tickling, and it revs up fine cold, and obviously better hotter.
As I now know Amals are really 4 separate carbs, ie. start/idle = #1 1/8 throttle to 1/4 throttle =#2 1/4 to 3/4 is #3 and then 3/4 on is #4. On a bike it is easy with a twist lever to work out these stages, in a car you have to feel it. The tune is relevant to throttle openings, not revs, load or lugging at low speeds in top. You should change down, as flooring the throttle can potentially lean it out massively.
I wont have time to do any full opening tuning before the Rally retro day, but it will be done on the road, as I feel that will be much more accurate than a rolling road.
The other point I might make is the amal kit would be much nicer with the lighter springs fitted, and I now know there is a needle and seat which has a hole diameter of .050" approx made for a bike with a fuel pump !, whereas as supplied has a hole od .100". which make it much more susceptible to flooding.
I have also fitted throttle cables of .048" diameter instead of .062". These slide much more freely in that tight bend out of the top of the amal to the linkage on the engine.
Cheers Lindsay