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TWIDDLE DAY 2


Pete Lewis

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easy to find manifold leaks  put some petrol in a squirt oil can and dribble a;long the gasket edge, it wont burst into flames 

just fiz on the exhaust if you want flames try brake fluid .

if it speeds up with some extra  fuel then theres some leakage,  by nature of the gasket material they are a little leaky  

never use any sealant 

Pete

 

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I remember some years ago that a lot of fords (probably others too) that burst into flames following an accident and that was because the dot 4 (I think dot3 was ok) brake fluid was dropping into the exhaust because the cylinder mounted clip on reservoir flew off and sprayed its contents everywhere and it burst into flame having a lower flash point than petrol. 

They now or did in the 80’s cable tie them on. Most cars now have the master cylinder in a separate compartment or behind another bulkhead. 

I’ll try petrol though it’s probably going to be in a place I can’t get to!

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we only used petrol on the test beds  or in smoke emission 

on petrol engines , i remember the 1725 had a couple of rings to align the manifold, they made them too deep it held the mani off when hot 

caused a load of hassle especially as the car side didnt talk to the truck side and didnt like being told get your a*rse down here when youve got 90 vans a day all running on 3 not 4 

good days 

Pete

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Having a squirt bottle of petrol?  Meh!  Don't want that around the workshop, unless you're using it frequently.

What I use frequently is Brake Cleaner, in a squirt bottle, for all sorts of clean-up jobs.     Not as flammable as petrol, but will show up leaks as above. 

Also avaliable in an aerosol can, for infrequent users.   

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Johns right, when I was involved with engine tests lots of current products were  not around  our safety officer had lost a finger checking a guillotine before H and S  spoilt common sense   and  pump oil cans filled with smelly stuff demised

Oil donst work well either  and you have to look for a plume in the exhaust , brake cleaner , very vesatile and useful in many places

Pete

 

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Well as you know my water pump was shot so today was my first real spanner day. 

My new radiator came off easily enough thankfully. Water pump off without a problem but one of the studs stripped on reassembly. Lucky I bought new ones but getting the old one out proved difficult. Thankfully I had some plus gas and persiverance.  Anyway all back together and no obvious leaks so fingers crossed. 

Topped my diff oil up too just in case because of the leaking seals. 

Grant 

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My simple job yesterday - fit the new wiper arms and blades to the Spitfire - turned into a frustrating investigation of electrical faults. The wipers didn't work when I tested them, and I found the fuse had blown. Swapping the fuse instantly blew that one, too. Testing with a handy bit of wire suggested a serious short to ground, which was not the wiper motor. It went away when I disconnected the gearbox harness, and the wipers then worked properly. So now I need to work out which of the two switches (reverse lamp or OD inhibit) has a dead short to its body.

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I picked up a gasket from David Manners at lunchtime as they aren't far from the office- and also a new PRV plunger thing and copper washer.

I've had a thought that when I put the exhaust and manifold on, that there was a compression dip in the alloy of the inlet manifold - and I wonder if the clamps aren't applying enough pressure before being fouled by something else - so was going to drop a small penny washer behind the nose of the clamp on the inlets to see if that nips it up before I go to the trouble of changing the gasket - if it doesn't work, then I have the bits to sort it (hopefully!)

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Hi Rob,

It wasn't that side of the manifold that I was thinking of (The head side) but the clamping side - I'll grab some pictures in a bit - I've finished work and SWMBO is cooking tea so was going to see if I could slip out and have a tinker :rolleyes:

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Didn’t get out last night :(

but have this morning. 

E82F1A11-171C-4F9E-8E41-804B815746D1.thumb.jpeg.5062b3bd2902bf2e11dd9c69344fa787.jpeg

you can also see where the gasket has compressed by the exhaust manifold but a lot less by the inlet. 

I managed to get two of the clamps off the old engine as they seem to have bigger dimples compared to the old one so swapped those out and also added Small washers behind the others to lift the middle bit away from the exhaust manifold - it’s better on the one half, but the other half is still very similar ?

so I’m going to have to pull the manifolds off and change the gasket. Perhaps tomorrow. Too hot now ?

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YS,

I have a short extension bar from a socket set that got bent about 15 degrees in the middle. An idiot at the tyre place had over tightened a wheel nut and I was jumping on a bar, extension and socket to make it let go. Woops! But it's ideal for getting at those pesky manifold bolts!

Doug

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28 minutes ago, yorkshire_spam said:

I found a Land Rover propshaft slim socket very handy when trying to get to some of (but not all) the manifold nuts on the Spitfire:

2014-09-04+20.43.21.jpg

 

I thinned the walls very very slightly to get it to clear, but it really saved my neck on one nut in particular.

I might have one of these. I know I bought one, but may have got rid of it when the Land Rover went. I’ll have to have a look in my tool boxes. ?

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Found my Land Rover socket ? 

still wouldn’t work on the one bottom nut but did on the other one. Just. 

But gasket is swapped - just got to fit the carbs and try it.  

There is a lot of oil in the inlet though. To be fair I did put some on top of the flange yesterday when testing for leaks - but I thought that had burnt off - especially as it had a 40odd mile run out yesterday evening. 

Gasket looks thinner too. And a different pattern of holes. 

I also swapped the clamps for the ones off the old engine as the dimples are much prouder so look to be clamping the inlet better. 

Oh well time to get back into the sun. 

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129F66B3-9F83-4B8B-809C-E4E0E4CD7C5B.jpeg

image.jpg

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Oh and I checked the timing - idling a little high, but way out compared to when Pete did it on twiddle day. I’m reading about 16btdc and Pete had it at 10 or thereabouts when we left the twiddle. 

Its a fairly new light too. And I’ve noticed the twiddle thing on the back doesn’t seem to have the right effect to the timing. 

Looks like I might have to replace it with something better.  

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I had one final twiddle before putting the back in the garage. 

Basically I had another spray of brake fluid around the place - the bottom clamps seem to be ok. The top clamps I’ve re-tightened after it’s hot - and the carb flanges - they had a small effect to, so nipped the bolts up. And finally in a fit of madness, smeared some high temperature grease over the joint. 

Started her up and does seem better. Not right given the idle screws are doing bugger all, but was sitting at about 850rpm and not 1000+

But how long it will last is anyone’s guess. 

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Whilst twiddling earlier, I removed my vacuum tester from the packet and attached it to the dizzy takeoff - where it moved not one iota! 

But looking at the location, that would seem to me to be correct (Reving the engine did move the gauge) - as the breather pipe is just in front of it. 

I guess the only way to really tell the vacuum is from the blanked off servo port?

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I've been looking at the gasket and a picture of one on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=222732759551&_sacat=0

s-l1600.jpg

Which I've ordered - this one is a Payen (I hope!) one and has a sealing ring around the inlet ports - which has to be better surely? Neither the one I took off or the new one has such a thing (You can see this in the pictures above) 

It's only a couple of hours to swap it out. Should get some time one evening after it turns up to fit it.

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