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Post by steve4487 on Mar 15, 2016 16:40:29 GMT
I've have fitted a Winterburn CDI ignition that can operate either on the original points, as an electronic ignition on be switched off all together so that the car won't start, that plus a good quality steering lock should deter most chancers
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Post by steve4487 on Feb 4, 2016 18:20:26 GMT
Chris & Dave
Thank you your replies to my post. The topic that we agree on is that if a member asks for your help and you take the time and trouble to reply with an explanation and pictures etc then at the very least you should receive a thank you. Not doing so is just plain bad manners. As we won't agree on the other subjects its best not to get involved in a war of words and just agree to disagree. Steve
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Post by steve4487 on Feb 3, 2016 18:22:34 GMT
Time for me to say my piece which I'm sure will create a bot of a "to do" but as we are all entitled to an opinion here goes.
First of all thank god I don't use facebook, apparently only idiots do that. I have just read this piece, and the one that Chris did a while back on the same subject, and to be frank I found both to be a bit sarcastic, but perhaps that was the intention; however as sarcasm is the lowest form of wit it is unlikely that these pieces will improve the lack of interaction on this forum much.
If Chris enjoys posting information about his cars and what works he carries out on them then that is great. To me, what seems to be the issue with the few other forum members joining in and agreeing with Chris, is what they seem to think is the most important thing regarding their posts is that they receive thanks for what they have done, it's as though they are saying "we are doing you all a favor and trying to educate you, so at the very least you say thanks".
Chris says that he is thinking about doing a piece on wheel bearings but feels "why the hell should I bother" because not many will acknowledge the fact that he has taken the time and trouble of doing so, if that is how you feel then don't bother, in fact all the members that make similar comments about the lack of appreciation regarding their efforts, then the simple thing is, don't do it.
I have posted a few things on this forum about my Landcrab, I did get comments about my car which was very nice, but to be frank, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if there weren't any comments at all, I don't post things for that reason.
Chris and others have been having a pop at LOCI members for not having much, or any presence on the internet, or getting involved in this forum, this seems to imply that they are all (i'm a member as well) a bunch of old fuddy duddies that don't live in the modern world. This comment implies that you are only modern if you spend your whole life on the internet and various forums. Have you thought that some people don't want to converse with others using the very impersonal medium of the internet and that they may prefer the old fashioned ways such as the telephone, a letter or in person.
I could post lots of information about what I do with my Landcrab on here but that would feel like I'm trying to preach to others about how to work on these cars. There is very little information that can't be found in the BL workshop manual and there is enough of then for sale so people can helps themselves if they are that way inclined.
The trouble with providing information on how to carry out various tasks on these cars is that members that do not have the skills will be encouraged to carry out work on their cars that is beyond their abilities. Whilst enthusiasm is to be welcomed, that combined with little or no knowledge can be a dangerous thing. For example some of the welding that I have seen on this forum that has been carried out on these cars is truly shocking.
I am probably one of the people that Chris is having a pop at in that I served my time as an apprentice motor mechanic at a Austin Morris dealer in the early 1970's and worked on Landcrabs so I should be sharing my knowledge that I have gained over the last nearly 45 years with ever man and his dog.
Well that's probably put the cat among the pigeons
Steve
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Post by steve4487 on Sept 16, 2015 17:50:52 GMT
Hi David
The heat soak problems I was having originated from fitting a Maniflow stainless manifold. Though this is the correct item from the people that manufactured the manifolds for the rally cars the centre branch of the manifold has a less sharp radius than the original and is therefore closer to the carburetor float chambers.
When I fitted this manifold I found that the fuel was boiling in the float chambers so I fitted longer carburetor studs and 6mm spacers to move the carburettors further away from the manifold, and at the same time, wrapped the top parts of the manifold branches in heat wrap. This cured the fuel boiling but the under bonnet temperature was still to high for my liking.
To complicate matters further previously I had fitted the oil cooler and as you can see from the pictures (which obviously I don't know how to load properly) the oil cooler is in front of the engine radiator. This was the only sensible place to fit it from my point of view, but the down side is that the hot air from the oil cooler exits directly in to the engine radiator. This causes the engine rad to ingest hot air instead of cold air which causes the coolant temperature to steadily rise, a bit of a vicious circle really.
My next plan (I have a lot of those) was to shield the back of the oil cooler so that whilst the hot air could still exit the oil cooler it wasn't ingested by the engine radiator so much. This reduced the coolant temperature but still not enough. So my next bright idea was to fit an auxiliary radiator (after having the engine radiator flushed and flow tested, and the engine flushed) which is actually a mini heater matrix, this proved to work not too bad at all. In an ambient temperature of 29c and standing still for a good 20 mins in the Dartford crossing traffic the water temperature didn't rise above 90c, it was a bit touch and go, and that is with a 74c thermostat. This isn't too bad and the engine idled ok all that time with no sings of fuel vaporization. Bearing in mind my car is fitted with a Kent cams 718 cam.
I have fitted an electric radiator fan in the left hand wheel arch (only a cheap one to start with to prove, or not that it works) running off a thermo switch set to come on when the heat soak begins to rise. The theory is that the electric fan will draw out heat from the engine bay when the engine is off which hopefully reduces even more the issues from heat soak. This fan does work but being a cheap fan it isn't very efficient and the place it is fitted in reduces its efficiency even more. Now I know this fan does work I will get a much more efficient fan and that should improve matters even more. What I could do with though is more cooling capacity from the auxiliary radiator when the car is stationary and that is where a small 12 volt fan would do the trick. The problem is it needs to be very slim so that it will fit in front of the radiator and between the radiator grille. I reckon that with another small fan that would give me a bit more through put of air at idle and that willtake the edge of the coolant temperature.
As my engine is modified and producing in the region of 125 bhp it obviously produces much more heat and that heat needs dissipating. With the car on the move engine temperatures are always normal even when driving at 100 mph plus for extended periods. As the colder weather will be with us soon this problem won't be an issue for a while even when I refit the 88c winter thermostat, which I have had fitted before.
Of course all that could have been avoided if I hadn't modified the car in the first place, but where is the fun in that. I have fitted most of the rally car suspension modifications and I've just put my winter tyres back on as I was due to go to Lydden Hill to watch the rally cross but the car kept cutting out so I didn't use it. I traced the cutting out to silt in the fuel tank which blocked the filter in the pressure regulator. I took the tank out and gave it a good clean, changed the filter and cleaned the carburetors and it runs fine again. What I will do is remove the fuel tank once a year and given it a good flush out as the fuel we now have has an element of ethanol in it which is corrosive and hygroscopic which in turn will corroded the tank and fuel lines, so a bit of preventative maintenance is called for.
I hope to attend the club annual general meeting in November and give the old girl a last run out for the year. Regards Steve
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Post by steve4487 on Sept 15, 2015 18:59:22 GMT
I thought I would add a few more pictures of my Morris S as I have fitted a few more goodies in the form of an auxiliary radiator and a Mota lita steering wheel. I fitted the rad as having a modified engine more cooling capacity was needed for the occasions when I get stuck in long ques at the Dartford crossing. Also I've added an auxiliary electric cooling fan to try and reduce the effects of heat soak once the engine has been switched off. Testing both of these items on one of the hottest days this showed that by and large these items worked though I could do with fitting a small 12 volt electric fan to add a bit more cooling capacity when standing still. One problem I found was that once I had started to use the crab more silt that has formed in the fuel tank over the 24 years the car stood in a garage caused the front fuel filter to block. I had the tank out and gave a good clean and about a hand full of sh*t came out. With the tank clean and new filters fitted it is back to running normally.
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Post by steve4487 on May 9, 2015 13:55:46 GMT
Just another short bit about my "S".
Thanks to everyone for their comments about my car. The pictures do make it look better than it is, while it's in a very nice condition it did suffer somewhat from being stored from '87 until 2010. It would appear to have been buried under a pile of stuff that has left various marks and dents. The trouble is that to do anything about these features would mean painting some, or all of the car which is not worth it at the moment.
My car has never had a corrosion repairs and doesn't need any apart from a small bit on the right front wing and right rear door. It did have a minor front end accident repair years ago which meant the bonnet and bonnet closing panel and bumper were replaced and the front cross member repaired. So overall it is very sound and doesn't look too bad.
The list of work that has been undertaken is enormous and is as follows.
All 4 displacers. Overhauled calipers. All 4 brakes hoses. All brake pipes. Brake servo. Both wheel cylinders. Brake shoes. Both master cylinders re-sealed. Gearbox bulk rings. Engine re-build. which included Gas flowed head lightened balanced Bored +60. Kent Cams 718 cam. Short cam followers. Long push rods. ARP main bearing stud kit. ARP big end bolt kit. Clutch. Oil cooler with thermostat. Maniflow stainless manifold. Lower arm bushes. Poly bush lower engine steady bushes. Solid driveshaft inner joints. Battery. Auxiliary front dampers. Rear anti roll bar. Rear bump stop kit. Left hand top swivel joint. Steering rack. Facet fuel pump. Malpasi fuel pressure regulator. All fuel lines and hoses. All coolant hoses. Oil temp/pressure, ammeter, voltmeter, water temp and rev counter gauges. Rear seat belts.
I have no idea yet what this lot comes to as I haven't added it all yet but after all it's a hobby and you can't have one of those for free.
And a little bit about me.
I started my working life as an apprenticed motor mechanic at an Austin/Morris main dealer in 1971 working on Landcrabs and lots of other models. That lasted from 1971 until 1976. I then worked as a skilled motor mechanic for my local Police force from 1976 until 1986 and then it was on to the Automobile Association as a staff engineer, that was from 1986 until 2000 when I started my own vehicle inspection business which has occupied the last 15 years. Also I was the technical secretary for the Landcrab owners club when it first started.
When I can fathom out how to load some more pictures I will do and also I'll have to try and get along to one of the club events.
Hopefully I haven't bored everyone stiff which apparently i'm good at doing.
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Post by steve4487 on May 7, 2015 19:59:12 GMT
Though I have owned my Landcrab for sometime and been a member on here for a while I haven't had time to put on any info about my car. I bought this crab from the chap that used to rally MTB 150G and he started modifying it and I have continued to do so. So far it's been bored +60, gas flowed unleaded head, Maniflow stainless manifold Kent Cams 718 cam, auxiliary front dampers, rear bump stops, rear roll bar auxiliary instruments etc. I've included a few pictures and when I get some more spare time I'll add a bit more later.
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