Locost rebuild

[Hugh]

Indeed, but like a cunning fox I booked that with the tin top's reg...

[AshG]

looking good hugh.

[greenwood03]

Stop faffing around High and get the beast sorted......lets face it, you'll need a good shakedown ahead of Le Blat! what better way that giving the loud pedal some treatment on track??? I mean, whats the worst that can happen??

[Hugh]

Little update, I've had a bit of a spending spree on the car in the last week...

Anyway I have lots of shiny carb bits including new jet covers (£19 for 2 from America ), new air filter (I realised the old ones sat against the trumpets which would severely limit power), new seats/runners/pads (the current ones can't mount on runners and with them mounted at the back it was a stretch even for me at 6'3"!!!) and new fuel filters.

Over a couple of evenings this week I have stripped and rebuilt the carbs with new emulsion, idles, air correctors and service kits, and been arsing around trying to modify the lever that links the two carbs. The angry grinder had its turn, then got the welder out only to remember that last time I managed to weld the wire to the nozzle bit, and managed to destroy the later in the process of trying to remove it... I also removed the old very perished outlet pipe from the fuel tank only to find it's 8mm not 12mm, so that'll be another trip to CBS next week.

I got the carbs back on last night, realising in the process that the inlet port on 2 had a puddle in the bottom of it I duly mopped it up, scratched my head and realised that when removing the manifold the water channel that exits through it must have leaked into the ports I've whipped the plugs out and all the pistons are dry, and I cracked the sump plug and got oil so I think I've got away with it.

I got the carbs connected up today so once the bits from overseas turn up the'll be ready to go. I fitted the battery clamp, have done a significant amount of sanding/filling on the nose cone, mainly to little blemishes and tidying up the back of the bulge, and have worked out how to mount it (though the bolts beneath the rads will be a major bum to do up once the grill is in). I think that's about it, with the exception of fixing the drawer on my tool chest which was gradually falling apart!

Before




After seats out to go to Dan in preparation for the new ones

[Hugh]

This is largely a rehash of what I posted in the "First start" thread, but as with so many build diaries this has been neglected towards the end of the build, so an update...

You'll have gathered from that, that it lives

While driving back from work it occured to me that when I fitted the trigger wheel I wasnt entirely sure if it was in the right position or 180degrees out. Dan later said that the Megajolt is a wasted spark system, great thinks I, it doesnt matter if the trigger wheel is 180degrees out, though with hindsight this logic was also wrong, the ignition obviously isnt my strong point... So this evening I checked the trigger wheel position and sure enough it was 180degrees out, and now it lives It took a couple of attempts at starting, each with it catching for slightly longer, I resorted to spraying a bit of carb cleaner in the trumpets and away it went

Excuse the rubbish videoing, it is one of those tiny MD80 cameras which arent the greatest to hold, the video is of the 3rd or 4th start, all I've done is tweak the idle adjuster a few turns so it doesnt stall immediately.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36385666@N00/4595761783/

Running it has identified a few issues; the head got too hot very quickly, there is definitely a cam timing issue, alternator not working, and I desperately need to setup my fuel regulator as everytime I tweak the throttle you get a mist of fuel out of the carbs...

There are loads of views on the internet about how pintos should be plumbed in kit cars as most dont have heater matrices, and there is a fair bit of variation in the thermostat housings and radiators used. The plumbing I had setup had a small connector from the thermostat housing connected to the head inlet; it seems that this should be an outlet so I've connected it to the sucky side of the water pump, which is where my header tank used to connect. I need to get a T-piece to plumb the header into the bottom rad hose, and the header overflow (previously unused) now goes to the small connector of the thermostat housing. I also removed the thermostat which was jammed shut, so have a new one of them on order as well.

I didnt manage to find a TDC mark on the cam when I fitted the new head/cambelt etc. so had a bit of a best guess at the time, so surprise surprise the cam timing isnt quite there. So that is another job that needs doing.

So, my to do list as it stands at the moment:

Engine
[*]Revise plumbing and fit new thermostat
[*]Flush/clean coolant system and refill
[*]Set fuel regulator
[*]Check cam timing
[*]Balance carbs

Megajolt
[*]Check PIP)/SAW wiring
[*]Earth shielded cables
[*]Setup base map

Bodywork/Interior
[*]Paint rail beneath dash
[*]Fit dash (both bits)
[*]Alter nose cone near side mount

Wiring
[*]Make alternator work
[*]Insulate a couple of unused wires
[*]Final tidy and secure main wiring trunk

[*]Bleed brakes
[*]Nut and bolt check, tyre pressures etc.
[*]MoT

I've booked a rolling road session for a couple of weeks time, hopefully I'll make this one!

[Ben_Copeland]

Good luck Hugh, certainly motoring along!!!