RMB Gentry

[aleksandar]

For the past few weeks i kept getting a slight whiff of petrol whenever i walked past the Gentry.
Today found out why.
On starting up to go to local town i got out to open gate and noticed fuel dripping from rear.
The pipe from tank to rear filter has degraded, gutted as the pipe is only three years old.
To be honest i cannot remember whether when i purchased it if i asked for fuel pipe compatible with E5/E10 use or not.
So replaced tonight with guaranteed compatible fuel pipe and now all working fine.
Typical that the only piece of fuel pipe i did not replace last year was the most inaccessible piece.
With the nights drawing in i once again have promised myself to fit some suitable light source as taking the rear end apart in fading to no light is a pain.

[yorkshire_spam]

Seems to be a recurring theme with fuel pipe these days, even the stuff that claims to be R9!
I went to all the trouble of getting hold of some Gates' barricade hose and am steadily replacing all the ones on the Spitfire.

[aleksandar]

‘Libby’ Gentry sailed through the Mot yesterday. Whilst there my Mot man confirmed that should the car be exempted he will still let me put the car through an annual inspection, so we are very happy. However, on the way home about a mile to go the fuel pump chattered like a WI convention. Managed to make it home. Could have been very embarrassing if I had to ask a neighbour to come out with my spare fuel which was not in the car. Ho hum!

[yorkshire_spam]

Good result on the MOT, the fuel pump is an annoyance though. I keep a "known good" (not new!) spare in the boot of the Spitfire.

[aleksandar]

Well, I took the Gentry in on Friday to the exhaust fabricator. The current ‘off the shelf’ free flow systems do not allow me to use the single carburettor inlet manifold I am using, so that is why I am having one fabricated. I had already arranged to dismantle my carburettor/inlet/exhaust setup on site. It would be easier for me to do as I put it all together. on removal of the cast exhaust manifold I found a further TWO cracks, I knew there was a slight problem at the flange. So overall I am happy that I decided to have the whole system replaced. With regards the ’new’ carburettor setup I have fitted, even with the cracked exhaust manifold the carburation change to single HIF38 from single HS4 is a very noticeable improvement. It took a bit of research to understand how to deal with the economy circuit, and think I have it sorted. Once the exhaust system has been finished i am confident of more improvements, but will only be able to confirm once I have done quite a few test runs on the test route I use. I shall put a couple of pictures up once I am finished.

[aleksandar]

Just a couple of pictures of my new exhaust system. As I previously mentioned, being a kitcar and wanting to keep the single HIF38 carburettor setup necessitated my having to have a free flowing manifold designed and made by a local specialist. No more leaks causing leaning out, and so far even without rechecking the fuelling settings the car pulls smoother. No more banging against chassis as now has polyurethane mountings, and back box designed to be re-packable (hopefully not for a while). And what a sound, no longer a window rattling boom. We have owned the car 9 years and she has never sounded so sweet.

[aleksandar]

A picture of the old manifold, hopefully the three damaged areas are clear to see.

[yorkshire_spam]

Very neat looking new system! If I ever need a custom exhaust I'll be asking who you used to get it fabricated!

[aleksandar]

Sam, most important is, it is designed for the car, and that it works.

[aleksandar]

When carrying out servicing underneath the rear end of Gentry, such as brake adjustment, I have always been ‘narked’ how the swing axle causes the rear wheels to droop. So here is what I did.

[Clive]

I have thought of something similar but for the chassis to rest on, as the chassis rails are fairly close together and I struggle to get the axle stands in either side of the trolley jack.

But being a bit "elf and safety", is the cross beam fixed at any point to the stands? it looks like a shove and the beam could move/rotate? Forgive me if I am appearing critical, but these things worry me. If you have a nifty solution, please share. 

[aleksandar]

During my 'post RBRR' check of the Gentry, i found that the reason the steering had become rather shakey and less precise, was that the steering column lower flexible coupling had finally disintegrated. I also found, on inspection, that the near side tie rod had failed, and the gaiters had perished (on the hidden underside). So having ordered various replacement parts, i have refurbished the steering on the RMB Gentry.

Now what an absolute pain it is to undo the lower flexible steering coupling on a 'Herald based car', where the actual car does not have the Herald hinge type bonnet. As all the 'Heraldites' will know, the coupling is hidden away in the suspension upright part of the chassis.

So, once i had finally managed to undo the bottom pinch bolt on the coupling, i found it easier to remove the coupling by first drawing the steering column further into the cabin area. Then i was able to fix a clamp the steering column to remove the upper pinch bolt on the coupling. However, the coupling was seized on the column splines. So, after two days of soaking with an anti seize concoction followed by a fair amount of heat, the coupling finally gave way.

Then it was just a case of removing the steering rack, followed by cleaning and rebuild. Now fitted everything is back to being a lot more precise.

[aleksandar]

Well, the effort put in to repair the steering components has paid off, along with making up a new section of the earthing system for the front electrical section of the car. As I have just got back from my friendly MOT station. PASS with no quibbles. Whilst there, i asked Nigel if he could shove the exhaust test kit on the Gentry, as i thought on the RBRR that the idle was a bit 'off' and she may be running a bit lean. Lo and behold he confirmed it. So a lowering of the jet by 0.015inch and the idle smoothed out with a bit more poke on the way home. He commented on the various changes i have done since last time, so he obviously keeps a beady eye on my efforts, which I am glad of.

[aleksandar]

Have now fitted the new parts I picked up from Rimmer’s trade stand at the MG & Triumph spares day. The Hyperco Spring Coils I obtained from a local company (Nimbus Motor Sports. Here are a couple of phot’s of the parts fitted. Shocks, coil springs, front hub bearing kit.

[aleksandar]

Just a quick update on the suspension and braking modifications.

Wendy and I decided to have a drive out to Robin Hood’s Bay yesterday to test the new setup. The route we took was up the A166 to Fridaythorpe, turned off through Fimber and onto Sledmere along the B1251. Then along the B1253 before heading north on the B1249 through Foxholes and down Staxton Hill to the A64. We then drove past Scarborough, joined the A171 to Cloughton. At Cloughton we turned off down the minor road through Staintondale and on to Robin Hood’s Bay. We had a late lunch followed by a scenic walk, before we carrying on. We headed north to Whitby on the B1447, before joining the A171, skirted around Whitby before heading south on the A169. The A169, for those that are in the know, is a fabulous moorland road that traverses the North Yorkshire Moors. If the weather is good, and it was, the views are spectacular. So heading south, at about 5 miles before Pickering we turned off towards Dalby Forest and Thornton-le-Dale, because Wendy wanted ice cream. Unfortunately the ice cream parlour shuts for winter, so we headed on re-joining the A169 just north of Old Malton. We passed through Malton and Norton before heading over the Yorkshire Wolds via Birdsall and the ‘top road’ to Garrowby Hill and home. The ride is far more compliant than the original cut down Herald springs, so we hope less tiring on endurance events and touring holiday’s. And as the weather was wonderful, we had a most enjoyable day out with the route giving spectacular views around the coast and over the moors.

[aleksandar]

We decided to have a weekend away staying at The Royal Oak Hotel, Borrowdale (Nualas place). Very, very nice, welcoming and relaxing. So today I cleared three more drives of my ‘bouquet’ list. A 75 mile day out which included Wrynose Pass, Hardknot Pass and Honister Pass. We also enjoyed a pleasant ride on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. Even though the tourist season has not fully kicked in yet we still came across plenty of other partakers of fine drives, including one gent in a very nice TR6. We both tried to stop for a natter but the road being quite narrow typically another car came up behind. Sir, if you are a CT member we stopped you as we just thought we would say ‘hello’ and ‘very nice car’. Regarding the Gentry, she handle the terrain superbly with the new suspension and brakes I fitted. However, I might just change the carb needle to an AAA from the AAB I am using, as there is quite a bit of popping from the exhaust when descending ‘them thar hills’. If the needle changeover is detrimental to the drive tomorrow I can always swap back before heading home.

[aleksandar]

Well today we treated ourselves to an afternoon cream tea at the slate mine atop Honister Pass. We then departed down towards Buttermere before turning off towards Newlands Pass. A short way before Portinscale we turned off to Swinside and traversed the west side off Derwent Water. Turned off to Grange, then rejoined the B5289 south to Rosthwaite. The change to a AAA needle has worked a treat.

[Greta]

Hello Alek - Really glad you both enjoyed your stay - but sorry not to have had a chance to chat some more.
I thought I'd be reporting the return of my GT6 but things haven't quite gone as planned - again! Too long and too sad a tale to tell here but so pleased you enjoyed your trip over our mountain passes. And your Gentry looks the perfect complement to our forecourt.

Hope we can catch up again soon.

Nuala

[aleksandar]

Hiya Nuala. Wendy and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and as you are not to far away we hope to be able to pop across more often, once I have settled in at work. And remember if you are passing our way you are very welcome to stay. Oh yes, I am glad you gave me the heads up about also having a problem with your battery safety/cutout switch, all be it far worse than our intermittent faulty switch. I shall be removing our switch this weekend. Also, Wendy has given me permission to replace both rear half shaft assemblies, the ticking has turned into a speed related rhythmic knocking. Me thinks that your wonderful mountain roads were certainly a tremendous test for poor Libby Gentry. Although I am really chuffed that my inlet manifold adaption has proven to work, she now pulls right from the rev range to a very reasonable pace.  We are sorry to hear that you have not had the Gt6 returned, hopefully all will be resolved soonest. Regards to you and everyone at the ‘Royal’ and if you are at the Annual Dinner we will have to catch up. Alek & Wendy

[aleksandar]

Well I bit the bullet and ordered a near side and off side recon rear hub, halfshaft and u/j assembly from Wins International Ltd on Monday. The parcel arrived pretty pronto. So today in the glorious sunshine I removed the old (damaged) and fitted the replacements. Apart from the trunnion bolts being seized to the inner bush sleeves on each side, no real dramas. Having bled the brakes I then took ‘Libby Gentry’ for a spirited test drive to check that everything is working as it should, then home for tea.

 

[aleksandar]

Last night I attended the club monthly meeting for Hull and East Yorkshire area members.

Due to work commitments I have been unable to attend for a whole year so had forgotten how tasty the fish’n’chips are. Great bunch of guy’s and gal’s too.

Anyhow all the way there (and back) the Gentry misfired (spluttering). The only change I have made was to reduce the spark plug gaps from 36 thou to 28 thou. I mentioned this to Dan (area AO) in conversation, who suggested changing back to 36 thou gap to see what happens.

So this morning I re-gapped the plugs to 36 thou and took ‘Libby Gentry’ on the test run route I use around the Yorkshire Wolds. Yep, she ran perfect.

So for anyone who may suffer similar issues this is why I open up the spark plug gaps.

I run on unleaded fuel, and have electronic ignition and have a very good/efficient induction system, and so the air to fuel mix is nowhere near rich. This requires a stronger spark (apparently) to avoid misfires (spluttering), hence a wider gap. If I were to run an overly rich mixture, then I would reduce the spark plug gap accordingly.

I had forgotten that I had been given this tip, which I had written down in my Gentry workshop manual, when re-building the engine, carburation and induction.

[aleksandar]

Another MOT passed yesterday. All the brake, steering, rear hub replacement, springs, shocks etc been checked over, so I am very happy. The tester re set the near side wheel bearing whilst up on the lift as I had fitted it a tadge loose when renewing. The next few ‘classic’ drives over the coming months won’t be done in the Gentry, but in the MK2 Spitfire owned by Nuala. I just have to get used to the fly-off hand brake. Did a little drive up Honister pass the other weekend to test the addition of overdrive on 2nd that Nuala had fitted. It went very well, so it should make a difference in the Alps.

[Greta]

Hmm - not now sure whether we should change the wheel bearings or not!
Great to hear that Libby has a clean bill of health.

[aleksandar]

Hiya Nuala

The only reason i changed my wheel bearings was that most of the hub assembly was off for change of parts, so for the pounds it cost i replaced the bearings. I did however purchase a pre greased set when ordering rest of parts from Rimmers.