aleksandar

I have just a few observations, for the excitable readers of this forum thread. Motorists are well informed of their responsibility relating to driving whilst tired, that is NOT to do it. Motorists are advised to TAKE A BREAK if feeling tired. Whilst driving along major roads (such as a motorway), there are even signs advising that if a vehicle driver is feeling tired, TAKE A BREAK. Remembering that the maximum stay at nearly all the establishments is 2 hours. Question 1) Do either the UK Highway Law or  Highway Code, state that all vehicle users are banned from setting off to drive on the public highway JUST IN CASE they might get tired whilst driving. simple answer people, either YES or NO. Question 2) Do the RBRR organising team INFORM all entrants of the responsibility not to drive whilst tired, both at the drivers meeting and in the event literature. It is even stated that if all team members are tired, to pull over and have a sleep! simple answer again, either YES or NO. Therefore, how can any veiled suggestion that the RBRR event organisers are irresponsible, JUST IN CASE, an entrant ignores the CLEAR advice on driving whilst tired. Are critics suggesting the event be banned? Question 3) Are the public BANNED from driving on the public highway, JUST IN CASE, they might break the speed limit? simple answer, YES or NO. It is general knowledge that Organised Crime, Terrorist’s and others who carry out unspeakable acts use the World Wide Web, Forums and so called ‘Social Media’. Are web platforms, forums, ‘social media’ platforms, BANNED from operating because they FACILITATE these heinous acts!  Tim and all involved in RBRR organising, you do an excellent job. UK Motorsports Association and the various police forces would soon pull the plug if the event was classified as DANGEROUS or IRRESPONSIBLE.  

CraigCass From the thread title the problem is 'car does not start', and not the car starts but runs poorly. For example, when my car had a holed piston (read poor compression) the engine started but ran crap whilst i recovered her back to garage. When the manifold gasket had a serious leak, the engine started but ran poorly and leaned out. When i accidently left a ignition lead off, the engine fired but ran awful. So, please let us see if the following is correct;  Air/Fuel/Spark. AIR. You have already confirmed that your valves are opening and closing. So, with the carburettor dash pots off and pistons removed get an assistant to operate the throttle pedal to confirm that both throttle disks are opening and closing correctly. Do NOT, repeat do not assume that operating the throttle at the carburettor is doing the same as the pedal. I made this error for a while causing all sorts of setup problems. If NOT then correct it before starting next step. FUEL. You have already confirmed that the fuel is getting to the fuel bowls. So,get your assistant to operate the choke in the cabin to confirm that the jets are going up and down correctly. Again, do NOT, repeat do not assume that operating choke at carburettor is same as operating lever in cabin. If NOT correct it before starting next step. SPARK. You have already confirmed that the timing chain was not touched and therefore VALVE timing was NOT changed, so onto ignition timing. Please could you do the following; with NO1 piston (nearest radiator) at TDC on the commpression stroke (its valves will be closed), the pulley mark should line up with the TDC tag/mark. Then take TWO photo's from above of the distributor. 1st with cap and leads connected, 2nd with cap off showing position of rotor arm. What you should see is that the rotor is about or just after the number ONE sparkplug lead. I realise you have already gone to a lot of time and effort to find the NON-starting problem, but these further actions should enable the people offering you their experience easier diagnosis. regards    

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Well, yesterday the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) declared that inflation has come down because (get this) 'fuel prices have come down'!!! Now as we are all aware, the fuel companies maintain that forecourt prices are influenced by the whole sale world oil barrel prices. So i dug out my fuel reciepts for the past few months, which includes the period to which the ONS refers. On the 16 Sept diesel at our locality was £1.349ltr, on 31 Oct diesel was £1.369ltr. Now many of you will remember that the begining of September the barrel price was $79, but rose over a couple of weeks to peak at $88 a barrel. So maybe the price increase of 2pence a litre at the forecourt could be justified. But if you get a moment just call up the barrel prices over the past 2 weeks. Yep the barrel oil price has been tumbling. At close of play yesterday the barrel oil price is below $55. But hold on, the fuel pump prices came down 3-4 weeks ago when the barrel price dropped back to the $79 level, yet this week the forecourt prices in the region that i drive HAVE NOT changed to reflect the new barrel price level of $55. I won't go into those over paying for home heating oil in rural areas not supplied by the gas network. Nor the fact that only a couple of months ago ALL the main energy suppliers with much hand wringing put prices up because of whole sale oil prices. If the the ONS was forced to account for the Renewables Sector Subsidies and it's impact on energy and fuel prices, as part of the 'Basket of Goods' when working out the rate of inflation i think the figures would be unpalatable. I feel for those whose pensions and wages are dictated by the 'Official' annual inflation and therefore rely on the ONS being honest when calculating the inflation figures. My gripe is not with my local fuel stations, and yes there are factors not allude to here that tie the hand of some companies. But i do maintain that we have been taken for mugs for too long.

This weekend was a bit of 'deja vu' for Wendy and I. We were attending the NFL game at Wembley on Sunday, but prefer not to have to stay in London, so had another stay at the Novotel Stevenage. Ever since we stayed there for the 2016 RBRR, and having thoroughly enjoyed our stay, we now choose to use the same facilities when ever attending shows/events in the Capital.

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.

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.