Bob,
How I would go about getting the thing running:
Get a Bentley manual on the car. The Bentley & Haynes, combined,
will provide you enough information for anything you want to do to
the car mechanically. Chilton might be helpful for finding out how
to reattach a mirror or starting a fire to keep your garage warm.
Pinpoint where the noise is coming from. Is it the valves? Could it
be a loose manifold, carb, or downpipe? Something else rattling? If
you adjusted the valves, they shouldn't rattle. What temperature was
the engine when you adjusted them? Valve lash should be .015" on a
cold engine, but having the engine as cold as 30 F will leave enough
clearance that you still get minor ticking.
You say it has a '72 engine. This means it has two HIF carbs? I've
never rebuild HIF's, but a problem common to HIF and HS-4s is the
throttle shaft bore in the main carb housing wears. To check this,
grab the outside ends of the throttle shafts (the ends closest to
either end of the engine) and try to wiggle them. If you can feel
them wiggle at all, you're sucking air in around them and you'll
never be able to fine tune the car. There are two solutions (well,
actually three, but two are close):
Pull the carbs out, have the throttle shaft hole bored and bushed.
This is a permanent solution if done properly. THe bushing material
will be harder than the throttle shaft, and if the problem comes up
after another 100,000 miles, you simply replace the throttle shafts.
A trivial and cheap fix compared to getting the carbs bored. Getting
the carbs bored and bushed will run about $200.
Buy a new pair of (pseudo-) HS-4s from Victoria British. The cost is
about $300-325. They are very faithful reproductions (made by Burlen
Fuel Systems) of the SUs, and I've raced a pair for the past year
without problem.
Buy a pair of used HS-4s. British Motorsports in Campbell, CA has
quite a few matched pairs, some already bushed (I went picking thru
their HS-4 collection a little over a month ago). Cost will probably
be about $150 plus shipping to Dayton for a pair of mathced and ready
to bolt on carbs. You can call them at (408)-370-7174.
If there's no wiggle, pull the carbs off, buy a couple rebuild kits,
and have at it.
Other places on the car: Check for elongated holes in the lower
A-arms on the front. Check for rust around both ends of the rear
springs. When time and money permit, buy a set of pre-74 springs and
install them. Check the fuel tank for rust. Grease the entire
suspension before you drive it at all! There are three grease
nipples per front corner, one on the drive shaft, and one on the hand
brake cable housing near the right rear wheel (which ones am I
missing?)
Most of all, have a shitload of fun!
BTW, do you know Christy Dey? She was working at MDS a year or so
ago, I don't know if she still is.
andy
banta@abingdon.sun.com
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