iani

Need a high air supply volume too, very noisy & not really suited to thin steel as Clive says. I have considerable experience of "windy hammers" having used them on Warships as a younger man, not for use on cars IMO.

GT6: running & driving, I need it setting up on rolling road really, DCOE parts are too expensive for trial & error really. I have sync'd the carbs as best I can, CO reading not hugely rich but does seem to swing around quite a bit, AFR is on an analogue gauge so a fair amount of movement, almost always rich I have driven the car a couple of miles now, gets to temp ok, oil pressure is good, I think it best if I just restrain myself until RR session in January. PI Saloon: Steve Denton came over today, we swapped out the MU for one I'd had rebuilt by KMI, they did a great job and even drilled & tapped it to take a 3/8 bsp adaptor, this allowed me to fit a fuel gauge. Fuel pressure steady 106psi at idle so appears to be set properly, bit of fluctuation when driving but I'm assured this is normal, I'm used to my EFI TR6 where the fuel pressure is rock solid. We couldn't get No1 injector to work after changing the MU, ended up replacing the pipe & injector from the set off my TR6, got it working fine in the end, the joys of Lucas PI eh.

PI Saloon: I want to fit a fuel pressure gauge, I knew that TR5 Metering Units were tapped for a take-off so I had KMI recondition a MU for me, drilled & tapped to 3/8 BSP, with a suitable adaptor I now have a 1/8 npt sender fitted that will feed a 200psi fuel pressure gauge, in principle my needle should sit nicely in the middle, just need the MU swapping out now.

I agree with Tim, I am running Pirelli Cinturatos from Longstone in 175/70 R13, expensive but period correct and performant.

It lives, have had it up to temperature, oil pressure is good, idle set at 1k, AFR a bit rich, will attempt to refine at weekend, really need RR session to get it set up properly.

It's not me Dave, I've gone to 2.5l as you know. Chris Witor doesn't do the manifold now, I believe the machinist stopped doing the work some time ago

A busy day: GT6: Cylinder head fitted, manifolds fitted, DCOE's mounted, throttle linkage fitted & adjusted, dizzy fitted, tappets set, radiator fitted & coolant filled, alternator fitted, electrics reconnected. Will fire it up tomorrow, too dark now and it's been a long day.

Which Wideband have you gone for Clive? I have been using Spartan on my TR6 as that's what Emerald sold, I've now had a second unit start giving spurious readings, even after changing the sensor, I'm now looking for something more reliable.

Just as it turns colder, the "to do" list grows GT6: Have just picked up a freshly built cylinder head this evening, intend fitting it tomorrow afternoon then start reassembling everything else. TR6: Needs a clean, possibly viewing on Sunday. PI: Alfa seat runners arrived today, thanks James Shackford for making them quickly. I'm dropping the seats off with trimmer in the morning, couple of small holes to fix then recolour the seats from light grey to chestnut to match my interior. I have also had a rebuilt metering unit arrive from KMI, the one on the car hasn't done many miles but the car is running rich and I wanted to fit a fuel pressure sender to the MU so had one rebuilt with a takeoff drilled & tapped, just waiting for the fuel pressure gauge now, it shipped from the US yesterday so a week should see it here.

Pics & PM sent re manifold

sometimes we need a break from it, otherwise the fun ebbs away.

GT6: With no sign of my (3rd) head being ready I have refitted the short motor to the car, that freed up some floorspace and allowed me to put the hoist back in the shed, will crack on with other GT6 parts next weekend. TR6: With the GT6 not being ready for rolling road slot on Tuesday, I am going to take the TR along, it's 11k miles since its last run and I'm interested to see how it behaves. I discovered an intermittent earth issue with the electric fan, cleaned & tightened bolt, hopefully ok now. PI Saloon: It was a bit foggy this morning, that prompted me to fit a set of Square 8 foglights that I've had for a few years, easy job as, being a PFL car, the wiring is already in the loom and the headlight switch has a fog position. I bought a pair of Alfa 156 seats off eBay, a bargain at £50, unfortunately they were in Fraserborough so £90 for shipping, not too bad considering the condition they are in. I have arranged for them to be recoloured to match the car, taking them in next Saturday, gives time for the mounting brackets to be ready (hint hint James)

I don't know Rob, I've got a ported Mk1 inlet manifold going spare here 😉, opened out to 2" and it worked fine with HS6's when I had a Mk1 engine in the car. My car had a PI cam and was putting out 113BHP, not bad for a Mk1 car.

It's more common to go to HS6s, by going to HS4 you're going from one pair of 1.5" carbs to another, what's the benefit?

Got one, sorted.

I'm after a Stag brake servo, suitable for exchange is fine.

GT6: Well the pistons are all in, unfortunately however an ARP conrod bolt snapped, it's the third time this set had been torqued up, this was the last one too, work has stopped until replacement set arrives and I will change all just in case. I have another head coming for this engine sometime this week, reducing to an 11:1 CR, should have adequate power but stepping back from the edge a bit. TR6: I have been seeing intermittent electrical issues, when I rewired the car I couldn't get replacement standard fusebox that I was happy with the quality of and reused the original, most recently with some tinfoil maintaining contact for one of the fuses. Today I finally swapped it out for a modern blade fuse holder, hopefully this will prove more reliable. 2.5 PI Saloon: Oil & filter change, I'm sure it's running rich as the oil goes black quite quickly. I chased down the fog light wire built into the standard loom and tested the switch with a Lucas Square 8 foglight, all works, have a pair of brackets coming and will aim to fit the fogs soon. Whilst I had the grill off I replaced the mixed rusty screws holding it in with a set of new ones. I also hardwired my dash cam into the fusebox, one less thing to plug in.

I'm fitting County ones this time, hopefully with a better outcome.

The bore size had been checked at Engineering works, the rings are Gates of the right size. The engine was being run in reasonably gently, I was keeping it below 3k RPM and not letting the engine strain too much. I have an AFR gauge fitted and the mixture was typically running 13.5 - 14.7, only going lean briefly on overrun. I have had a number of issues with this build and was taking particular care this time.

JP Pete, Australian, in the end two of the pistons had broken lands.

GT6: Today was the day I was going to replace an errant oil control ring, restore compression and refit engine, unfortunately that didn't go to plan. On removing the piston the rings looked ok, on removing them however a large chunk of piston fell off. I will see how the vendor reacts on Monday, I am certainly not fitting the same type of pistons to this engine again however. PI Saloon: wash & brush up post visit to Wales last weekend

Removing a perfectly capable Mk1 2l engine from my Mk1 GT6 & replacing it with a 2.5l unit, despite the latter being fully rebuilt, effectively twice, I still don't have it running properly.

TR6 - Fit EFI GT6 - 2.5 & DCOEs - when it's all working PI Saloon - Fred Milturn Throttle Bodies - smoothed out my idling beautifully

No sign of any from the exhaust

I've had a couple of HGF's over the years, you can normally smell the sweet smell of hot antifreeze. This smoke had little/no smell, neither coolant nor oil, no oil in coolant or vice versa.