Topics

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Moss Gearbox

« on: December 17, 2008, 00:52:23 »

I have a 1937 16/70 which has a speedo that doesn't work. The speedo drive is an annular worm gear that is on the splined output shaft. It engages with a pinion on the end of the speedo drive cable. On my car, the annular gear is missing from the gearbox. I have stripped it down to fit a gear I have from another gearbox, only to find that the shaft on mine is a couple of mm too thick, though it has the same number of splines.
   
   A few questions:
   
   > does anyone know where I can get the correct part from?
   
   > If not, does anyone know an engineering shop that could make the internal diameter of the gear larger so it fits the shaft of my gearbox?
   
   > If I do that, am I right in thinking that the external diameter of the part I have would be the same as the original fitting?

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Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Calling Larry King

« on: September 14, 2008, 19:55:35 »

I have been trying to respond to your e-mail, but it keps coming back with a delivery failure. Is there another e-mail address I could use?

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / I think I have fixed it!!

« on: August 09, 2008, 00:21:14 »

I got Bagshot radiators to replace the core of my radiator (for a reasonable £395) with a higher capacity one. They confirmed the old core was 'knackered'. Interestingly, it was not the original apparently. Anyway, having given the car a good blast today, the temperature was about 68 deg on the flat and no more than 80 odd on the hills. I am very pleased!

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Smiths temperature gauge repair

« on: March 18, 2008, 18:19:51 »

When putting the temperature sender back onto the car following its cylinder head refurbishment, it seems I have damaged the capillary on the water temperature gauge, which no longer works. Can anyone recommend someone to repair it for me? Ideally in the South East.

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Overheating on 16/70

« on: October 29, 2007, 16:15:51 »

Now that Winter is coming, I want to get to grips with the engine and cooling system of my 16/70. Its basic problem is that although it runs pretty well generally, with temperature guage reading about 75 deg C, when you go up a long hill, the temperature reading rapidly rises to as much as 100 deg. At the same time, the engine can lose power and start to spit back through the carbs. I have checked the guage, which reads about right.
   
   I have checked the plugs and carried out tests on the mixture (both by using a colortune, and using the old technique of raising the piston in the carbs with a screw driver). All these indicate the rear most carb to be running lean and the forward one running rich (the one in the middle being about right so far as I can tell). I have adjusted these by unscrewing (to richen) the big spring loaded nut on the bottom of the carbs. I have not tested the car on the road since, but was surprised at the fact that I had to move the 'weak' carb as much as 8 'flats' on the nut (i.e. more than a turn). I thought the mixture control would be more sensitive than that.
   
   Issues/ questions:
   
   1. The water pump is driven off a pulley attached to the fan, via a split pin. Is that really all that should connect the pulley to the water pump?
   2. My radiator shows pretty even temperature across its width, although on the o/s one or two inches the temperature is much lower whe the engine is hot. I am going to try some radiator flushing liquid to see if it clears the blockage, but even with this I am surprised that the temperature of the outlet from the radiator is only 5 deg less than the input. Does this imply that the fan is not doing its job? It appears OK to me, and it looks like water is circulating if you remove the filler cap, but I am aware that the fan belt is a modern rubber item rather than the period leather jobbie so could be slipping I guess.
   3. Using an infra red thermometer, I have checked the temperature at rest of the block (because if there are any blockages I guess I would see local over heating?) Anyway, as far as I can tell, the temeratures are pretty even.
   4. There appears to be some wear in the carb linkage. The centre and rear carbs open together, but there is slack causing the front carb to open later. This looks to me to be a result of the throttle butterfly bearings on the centre carb being worn. Is that right/ does it matter in that the car runs well except for the over heating/ spitting back problems?
   5. Is there anyone in the Surrey/Kent area experienced with these engines that I can take it to who would be able to tune it properly and tell me what is normal? That is one of my key problems: I am experienced in modern cars and do not really know what I should expect in a pre-war car.

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Water Pump on 16/70

« on: September 15, 2007, 12:51:34 »

My '36 16/70 seems to over heat whenever it gets to a long hill. Normally it runs at about 80 deg, but on a long hill it goes to 100. Every time you park the car it dumps some coolant and if you don't top it up the over heating gets worse. All seems to be working (i.e. water circulates etc) and the fan belt is tensiones correctly.
   
   Two questions: First, there is a knurled wheel at the top of the water pump with what looks like 'increase' and a clockwise arrow marked on it. Does this increse the flow through the radiator? It looks like a bypass valve.
   
   Secondly, on the induction side of the pump is something that looks like an oversized metal tyre valve cap. What is that? If you remove it, it has a lot of gunge inside. Is this suppoesed to be full of grease? If so what type? Does it matter?

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / How do you remove the Steering Wheel hub?

« on: August 05, 2007, 19:05:12 »

My 16/70 has something loose inside the steering wheel hub that sometimes catches, which can be unpleasant. I have been looking and looking, but I cannot see how you remove the centre that holds the advance/retard, trafficator switch, horn and headlamp switch. I am sure it can't be hard, but so far it has defeated me!

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / I have done something stupid - can anyone help?

« on: July 24, 2007, 23:03:47 »

I have lost the key for my 16/70. Does anyone know how I can get another made up? Naturally I was too stupid to make a note of the number of the ONLY key I had......

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Contact details of the registrar

« on: June 19, 2007, 19:44:54 »

I have just bought a 1936 16/70 drophead. Can anyone send me the contact details for the registrar - I would like to have a chat to see what issues to expect
   
   Keith Jecks

10

General Forum / So, am I mad to buy a PVT??

« on: June 19, 2007, 19:41:33 »

Probably, but I have just bought a rather nice 16/70 drophead to join the Ace Brooklands. Somewhat different, but i hope it will be fun (and that I am able to get to grips with maintaining a 70 year old car. The new one needs to be looked at once a year and computers make everything work. The old one  doesn't seem to have an ECU, elctronic ignition pack, catalyst....

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General Forum / Ace Brooklands Thread Ctd from CRS Forum!

« on: November 01, 2006, 22:53:31 »

Max - yes I did get the message and ordered a cover today, so thanks for that.
   
   I would be interested in seeing your friend's Aceca and your Ace - where are they? I am in Woldingham in Surrey. Don't suppose you will be going to Good wood on Saturday - I plan to have my Ace there (provided the weather isn't too horrible!)
   
   I am very surprised at the comment on the weight of the 4.6. It looks big certainly, but it is all alloy and I had been led to believe that it is lighter than the standard iron block 302. Is that not right? My car has the 32 valve Mustang Cobra based engine (presumably hand built because it is signed Aston style by the builder) rather than the engine from the F150's, if that makes any difference. Regardless, it is a much better engine than the SVO engine in my Cobra. It is so flexible and smooth, and sounds lovely. Mine has had some tweaks I am told to give about 340 BHP, but I don't really believe it because the car feels quite slow unless you really rev it (it will run to 7,000 RPM quite easily). If you do that it goes quite well, but I must admit that I think it does best when just cruising at 55 - 60 MPH, when it all works beautifully. I am not sure I would replace the 302 with the 4.6 if I had a car fitted with one, but it is definitely a major step forward.
   
   The handling is another issue. I totally agree about the steering - it is very odd. It is far too high geared on first moving from the straight position. I have wondered whether a slower rack would improve it, though in truth I always get used to it again after a little while. The ride is a bit stiff on my car (which runs on 17" wheels), but the damping seems pretty good. The faster you go, the better it seems to work, and I can drive quite quickly across country without ever grounding (which was my Cobra's big failing)
   
   I certainly don't have any need for anti roll bars on mine, but I haven't looked to see is it already has them. I will look over the weekend and let you know.
   
   I am not really sure what the chassis is on my car. I am sure I heard at the time that the Lubinsky cars had galvanised chassis rather than stainless, but can't find any thing to confirm that. All I know is that behind the sills the metal sticks to a magnet, when I didn't think stainless did normally. Does a magnet stick to yours as a matter of interest? I would like a bit more rigidity from the body/chassis (even though by other AC standards it is very stiff), but it does handle quite well - for a 2 seater tank weighing 1.75 tonnes anyway!

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General Forum / AC Brooklands Car Covers

« on: October 29, 2006, 17:49:58 »

Does anyone know the name and contact details of the firm that make the car covers for Ace Brooklands?

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General Forum / Great International

« on: June 11, 2006, 23:07:09 »

Thanks everyone for a great weekend