Hi all,
Well I have had a totally bizarre day! Started out by picking up some
fuel hose at the MG Centre of Sydney as the braided type I purchased
isn't the same length as the American Braided hose - the actual pipe
fittings are different on Australian cars. They have a screw on
connection to the s/s fuel line, a t piece which a small piece of hose
supplies the rear carb and a long piece supplies the front, unlike mine
which has a one piece tube connecting both carbs and a sepearate inlet
at the front carb for the fuel line. But anyway I've had to go to std
black rubber instead of shiny braided hose - oh well. I also found out
something interesting from Bill at Midel where I stopped next -
apparently the fuel companies are now putting aromatics (?) in the fuel
and this is causing rotting of some types of rubber hose including this
braided type of fuel hose. Apparently a number of cars have caught fire
in NZ from this problem.. Something to look out for!
Well so here I am driving out to Lakemba to exchange my intake manifold
for an early one from Bill (to get rid of the air pump connections etc
that I no longer need) and all of a sudden there's smoke pouring out
from under the dash! I was in my A. I quickly pulled off the road and
shut down the engine, but the smoke was still pouring out - I checked
under the bonnet and no problems, got under the dash to find a brown
wire from the water temp guage had come off and attached itself to the
choke cable which was now glowing white hot!!! I quickly ripped it off
before it could cause any other problems. Got back under way and made it
to Bill's sans Temp guage...
Well I must say Midel is an amazing place! There are literally hundreds
if not thousands of SU's stacked in aisles alongside manifolds, every
type of needle for all SU equipped cars, SU fuel pumps, a workshop to
repair the carbs, mountains of old unrestored SU's, original *boxed*
SU's and beautifully restored, replated ones as well. It's hard to
describe in words but I was flabbergasted at the place - it's really
immense! They also sell all sorts of competition equipment ie pistons,
air cleaners etc etc.. I've urged Bill to get some photo's of the place
on the Net for everyone to see. I related it to the catacombs under
Paris - replace the bones with Carburettor bodies instead!! If you're
after the new SU's they are v.good orig etc, but the restored, replated
ones look marvellous too! (I'm a sucker for flashy things <G>) Depends
if you're after originality or looks, both obviously are original but
the factory never made them as 'shiny' as this! <G> Made my little home
effort look pathetic! Oh well. <G> One of the most amazing things Bill
showed me was this collection of *Bronze* bodied SU carbs from the
1920's. These were part of the stock he bought out from the SU factory -
apparently they still kept all this old stock. They were for Invicta's,
Astons, Alvis etc. So heavy, but beautiful - something to see I tell
you.
Well here's the bad news, I left Bill's and headed home, hot day. No
temp guage. I hear a sort of muffled err bang (can't explain the sound).
Didn't stop (moron), thought it was a rock or something.. Anyways after
a short while the motor starts making some weird noises, then it gets
really bad, in the space of a minute or two. The engine practically dies
and I pull off the road. I lift the hood and yep, there it is. Mr.
Murphy has arrived. There is steam and water coming out of the head (I
couldn't see it through the bonnet!).. I've blown a head gasket.. How???
Well thanks to my lack of a temp guage, and the *minor* detail that the
plug at the back of the motor suddenly went AWOL (accounting for the
bang?). Water had escaped almost instantly and left me devoid of
anything to cool the engine. I had to wait an hour to get a tow home. I
don't even want to think about it at the moment as I can't believe I
could lose a temp guage and the plug (sorry don't know it's correct
name) at the same time. I guess I'll be asking lots more questions when
I get brave enough to take a closer look. I really hope they're isn't
too much damage as I was looking forward to taking the B's motor out for
performance work, not rebuild work on the A! Again!!
@#&#^*&!@^*&#*&%!!!! We've done that before, when it snapped it's
crankshaft.
Good grief - tail between my legs,
Neil.
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