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Post by threelitre on May 3, 2011 8:02:59 GMT
If you want wider tyres you'll have to try what fits. Fitment is very tight front and rear. If they don't scrub on the inner wings, there might be problems with scraping on the lip over (severe) bumps. And: Make sure to have a standard sized, working spare, as this will be needed in case of Hydrolastic fluid loss, where any wheel larger than standard will limit the turning circle to next to nothing...
Regards,
Alexander
PS: I have been through this with a VP 1300 running on Allegro sized tyres (165/70R13).
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Post by threelitre on May 2, 2011 10:24:07 GMT
I once had an Ambassador autobox from the fire-sale (50 quid new each from Rover!!) and sold it on to someone having trouble with his 1800 auto (crab). The difference was - if I remember right - that the later box used a circlip to secure the inner shafts. I don't know how he solved this - modifying the shafts or using the old diff case. It was nothing major and the car runs very fine. There was also a mount for the lower tie bar missing. Fitting a non-fuel injected O-series (or non-turbo'd) seems really a bit pointless as the same effort will most likely see the B-series putting out the same power. You can try a fuel injected one, but this will most likely involve O-series bits from the Montego and from a Princess or Ambassador. I do not know if the crankshaft was different between O1 (Amby) and O2 (Monty) engines. The head is the other way round as already stated. Wasn't there someone who put a Montego TD engine and gearbox in a landcrab? This involved custom driveshafts, a new front subframe and some more modifications (- he also removed Hydrolastic ) Regards, Alexander
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Post by threelitre on May 1, 2011 21:44:39 GMT
The Ambassador surely had the same 4-speed box as the crab... Lots of work with not too much effect I think. Tuning the 1800 to 1800 S levels seems easier to me.
You can try to Turbo the O-series รก la Montego - but again it's not a straight swap, as the later O2 engine as in the Montego had the head fitted the other way round...
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 26, 2011 9:28:58 GMT
To be fair, I have known about this for ages - the car has been jacked in the distant past by a previous owner and the flange is crushed. Out with the hammer and chisel and see if I can pop it back up again. It fell off, which was nice........ I know exactly what you mean here... It almost always crushes the front sill drain too, leading to a rusting inner sill and wet carpets later on. Been there, done that and repeated it... Regards, Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 15, 2011 0:23:29 GMT
Well, it's been some time since I signed up for this group - time to show off a little While I was a little boy, I was ferried around in this car: In fact it is with us since 1973, and when it came to the decision to either bin or restore it in the late 80s, my father bought loads of tools and learned to weld. Not economical, but rather sentimental values. It is funny for me to take this car out to repeat holiday trips I've already done as a child - i.e. seeing Yorkshire dales. When I was 16 I dreamt of buying an Austin Maxi - it took about 4 years to actually find one. This was 1989 when I bought this: It is still with me and in almost the same (unrestored) condition more than 15 years after this picture was taken. Being my first car (and my dream car ), it will be the last to go if it ever comes to this. Now in retirement and sadly not being used as much as it should be. While stuck with preparations for my thesis at university, the gearbox of the Maxi developed a fault. Buying another one very cheap was the solution to keep me mobile A small welding job for a retest went a bit into perfection and ended in a respray. Mechanically it's the most reliable car I ever had - in all the 18 or so years it hardly needed any work at all. 1998 and 1999 saw me acquiring a pair of even larger Austins. After this red one was part of a picture story in AutoBild, I received a phone call which lead to my purchase of what seems to be the only LHD 3litre left. It's unrestored, far from perfect, but mechanically more or less like new, having covered less than 50k kms (10k since I have it). Here seen at the parade of Austin cars at the centenary celebrations at Longbridge: There's more - like my better half owning this little beauty or my second crab waiting for some finishing touches: My latest acquistion is deviating from the main theme of my collection a bit: Regards, Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 14, 2011 9:48:38 GMT
I have never found out what a "sliding fit" is.. This is when the feeler guage can be slipped between the valve stem and the rocker with virtually no resistance. Most service manuals tell you that there should be a "slight drag" when removing the guage if the gap is correct. It doesn't matter how you do it, BTW - one of the little b@ggers will still go "tick tick tick"......... Chris. You may argue that if they don't tick away something is wrong ;-) The sliding fit thing is quite essential, as I found when doing an early Austin 1300 engine with single valve springs: The valves actually started to move down with anything slightly tighter than a sliding fit. No such problem with stronger valve springs though... Regards, Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 13, 2011 23:14:27 GMT
Sounds like you've sorted it. How you describe the idle sounds like our (now less extreme) tuned A+ engine. Regarding the running on: I think we can assume the engine is free from carbon build up, so that can be excluded as a reason. But with high-ish compression I've had these engines run on when the idle was set to high or being switched off at too high rpms. Try to adjust the idle a little lower and advance ignition a little bit. This should stabilize idle. If the car is then still easy to start and does not pink under load at medium rpm, it should be more or less fine. The plug gap depends on the distributor you are using. If it has points I'd stick to the values given in the old manuals - which meant that I had to close them a little bit on many new plugs. With electronic ignition you can run a little wider gap. But compared to LPG cars running on petrol are not really fickle in this respect.
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 13, 2011 10:12:27 GMT
Welcome from a fellow 3 litre owner!
I might have enough parts to complete a light grey interior, but a) no good driver's seat an b) you'll need to collect from Germany...
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 12, 2011 11:00:04 GMT
Now a couple of things get clear. This will explain why it does run like the clappers once on the go. With the single carb it will probably run out of pull somewhere around 5k rpm. Fitting twin carbs will provide more pull from proabably 4000 rpm upwards. We used to have a very highly tuned A-series (overbored, stroked, valves, head etc - the full monty). This needed to run at about 1100rpm to get something resembling a good idle, but even then it could not be described a smooth, more like wanting to go... It was difficult to get a low idle and keep the engine from occasional spitting. Once revs climbed it was simply wonderful.
There is already a noticeable difference between the 1800 and the 1800 'S'. The standard 1800 is very smooth and sweet, but lacks all sorts of go the S delivers. The S will idle similar smooth at idle in terms of vibrations, but the sound is very different to the single carb car.
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 6, 2011 11:30:08 GMT
To see if it is timing related, there is a simple test you can do: mark the original distributor position, then adjust the engine to a low idle speed - even if it is lumpy. Now rotate the distributor either way until the best idle has been reached. Best done with the vacuum link disconnected. Mark the new position and consider giving it a test drive or watch out for a new distributor which can match the starting and end point... If the difference in setting is significant, I'd return it to the old settings, as we can assume it will not be harmful when the car is driven.
But the check for air leaks and mixture on idle needs to be done before.
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 5, 2011 13:38:33 GMT
If the system was empty due to work, it is essential to have it evacuated before refilling. For a pump-up this is not needed. If a hose or pipe has been changed and the Hydrolastic pots have not been emptied, it might (just) work without evacuation, but I'd 'bleed' it at the joint opposite the fill valve before putting pressure on.
If you just depressurise the system to change something outside the hydrolastic system itself, it will usually be fine, as air should not enter the system in this case.
The effect of trapped air can be, depending on the volume, very noticeable. The car can be very, very soft and hardly damped at all. You surely can pump it up and carefully drive it to someone with a proper pump after a rebuild - probably preferred to driving on the bump stops.
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 5, 2011 13:33:05 GMT
I doubt it's the petrol. When I have petrol that is starting to go stale in a car, they'll usually idle well, but will not produce any power at all.
Is the vacuum link for the distributor at the carb or on the manifold? If on the manifold this will add nearly the full vacuum advance on idle, but not have any effect otherwise. But in most cases this will make the car idle faster, yet more difficult to start. Worth checking though.
And a worn carb throttle spindle can have the same effect, as the mixture is mostly affected on idle, while the car will be running perfect off idle.
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 5, 2011 11:01:45 GMT
Which distributor are you using? With the cam now being to MGB standards and possibly an altered compression ratio, I'd expect the advance curve of the distributor needs to be adjusted. If the cam timing is correct to MGB standards, it might be worth to try an MGB distributor (from an MGB with similar engine spec - I know there are plenty of variations.
I don't think the carb needles need to be changed - unless it is tuned to a very weak mixture on idle. But this should be noticeable through a little lag on take off. And as long as you are happy with the performance twin carbs or 1800 S parts are not needed, as these will more or less only deliver more when approaching high revs.
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Apr 4, 2011 13:36:02 GMT
I don't fully understand the figure - there should be more autos around than manuals. But it matches my impression that the number of cars worth being kept or restored dipped below the 100 mark. I doubt if the number of cars abroad would add to 20 on top of that.
Interesting - thanks for sharing!
Regards,
Alexander
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Post by threelitre on Mar 29, 2011 14:21:41 GMT
Not that this is a really pressing matter - any news on these?
Alexander
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