Amazon: My Amazon project - an attempt towards a reliable car

[Rustinmotion]

Originally Posted by samaron

Really? I expected the seal to be soft enough to not cause any wear on the steel. Perhaps I should remove it and have a closer look to verify any wear.

50 years of use it’s not uncommon for a slight groove to form

[samaron]

Aha, thank you for the suggestion! I'll have a look and see if I can find someone supplying a suitable sleeve.

[Rustinmotion]

Originally Posted by samaron

Aha, thank you for the suggestion! I'll have a look and see if I can find someone supplying a suitable sleeve.

It’s not certain you need one but don’t assume changing the seal will solve it

[samaron]

Had a lot of rain during the night. I think the forecast said 30mm or so. When driving to work this morning I thought I'd check the boot. Have had issues with water ingress there for some time, and thought the downpour would be a good indicator if I have successfully sealed it up. Found it to be dry, which is great!

However, when I got into the seat to drive, I could hear water splashing. Looking behind me, I found the rear left footwell to be full of water. Almost all the way up to the handbrake lever. Scooped out what I could and headed to work.

I initially thought the water ingress was caused by the old door seals, but haven't had any trouble in this area before. After all, it could've been an unlucky combination of wind direction and the large downpour.

During lunch break, I headed out to the car to dry up some more water. Opening the door, I could still hear some splashing. Strange, I thought. Took my key and inserted it into one of the door drains and were immediately greeted with a solid stream of water. Not sure how much that drained out, but it was quite a lot. Apparently the door was filled up and the water ingress is a result of water entering from the door panel clip holes or other openings.

Came home and removed the rear seat, folded away the rubber floor mat and put on a heater. Should dry up in the next few hours, hopefully!

Checked the other doors and the drains are not clogged there. Not sure why it was clogged, as I had the door apart a couple of months ago to do maintenance. Greased up the window mechanism, door lock mechanism and treated surface rust if any were present. Maybe some grease worked its way down and clogged the drains. Regardless, they're open again now!

[samaron]

Found out today I have a vacuum leak, again! Over the past couple of months I have had to make a few adjustments as the car would gradually run rougher. I initially thought it was due to the carburetor needed a "break in" period after the rebuild, but realize now I were compensating for a growing vacuum leak.

The adjustments I did earlier were done quick by ear, but brought out a gauge and tachometer to do it a bit more scientifically today. Drove the car for around 20 minutes to be sure it was up to operating temperature before making the adjustments. If the air fuel mixture screw was properly set, the RPM was too high. If the RPM was good, it would run rough from a lean mixture. Eventually I ended up with a completely backed off idle speed screw, and the engine still ran with too high RPM when the mixture was set.

It shouldn't run with a completely shut throttle valve. Sprayed around with some brake cleaner and found I could stall the engine when spraying on the carburetor base, the flange to the manifold. Tried tightening the nuts a bit more, but didn't help. Have tried finding a torque spec for these, but doesn't appear to be any? Prior to installation before the summer I checked that the faces on the carburetor and manifold flanges were flat. Used an old hard drive platter for this.

Am I extremely unlucky, or are carburetors just very troublesome?

[Derek UK]

Yes it is easy to distort the carb flange by overtightening the nuts. Recheck the flange and grind flat with carborundum paste on a sheet of thick glass if bowed. Manifold should be OK being iron but check just in case. Use a new gasket Normally dry but use a heat proof sealant very thinly if you choose. Use split type lock washers. Nuts down snug, just a few pounds. A small pull with a short spanner. Fingers crossed!

[samaron]

Had some unexpected overtime today, but have made a new gasket. Should get time to disassemble the carburetor tomorrow and have a look.

When I installed the carburetor 2-3 months ago, I used new nuts and split washers. I tightened them down evenly until the washers were compressed, and gave the nuts a little extra tug. Wasn't even a quarter turn extra when I snugged it up.

Highly doubt I overtightened it, unless it is extremely sensitive. This is why I have been looking for a specific torque value to be 100% sure. I have so far been unsuccessful finding this number.

Also wanted to add that when I wrote too high RPM it isn't screaming at 1500, but enough for the timing to advance at idle. Runs at around 900 RPM. The book says 400-650 or so, and found the upper end of the range was a good place.

[samaron]

Had a look at it today. The nuts came off with one finger on the wrench. Hopefully that is a sign that I haven't overtightened any of them.

The gasket is dirty in areas that is supposed to be the sealing surface. Doubt it would help to tighten it further like that. Attatched a couple of pictures of the gasket. The side with the text is the bottom.

Took off the studs on the manifold and tried to inspect for any warping. Couldn't find anything of concern there. The flange on the carburetor had a tiny air gap in the middle. Had a local, more experienced person, look at it. He insisted it shouldn't be an issue and within reason of what the gasket should compensate for.

Reinstalled everything with a new gasket. Started it up, got it up to operating temperature and performed new adjustments to the idle mixture and speed. I were able to bring it down to proper idle speed, but double checking by spraying brake cleaner on the flange, I stalled the engine again. It is better, but still got a vacuum leak.

A bit disappointing. Looks like I have to buy some 1200 or so sandpaper and grind it down.

[morwenna240]

regarding the clock: the clock in my 145 didn't work, so i took the back off; it is a standard mechanical "wind up" movement, with a mainspring that will run it for about a minute. Just before it runs down, a solenoid springs into action an retensions the spring, so clock keeps going without a break. I guess a solenoid would be unable to wind a spring capable of running the clock for 24 hrs or whatever. Anyway, what stops the clock is that the solenoid has it's own little fuse, an after 50 yrs or so they corode an die, clock stops. So, replace fuse, et voila! I couldn't find the correct fuse, so i resorted to a bit of baco foil, works fine.
Assuming your clock is same model, if diff size, on back will be 3 small nuts, remove, check fuse. There is even a fast/slow adjust on clock, to adjust if timekeeping out.
It being mechanical, after this time it may be worth taking to your local horologist to see if they can service, lubricte, the actual works, as oposed to the electric bits. Cheers, Mark.

[samaron]

Thank you for the suggestion, Mark!

The clock is most likely different. Looks like the clocks in the 145 are circular. In my Amazon it is somewhat a trapezoid shape.

It is two wires and two screws to remove it. Having three weeks off starting next week. Might take it out then and have a look.

The trend seem to be corrosion, especially where different metals meet. Could very well be the case with the clock too. The adjuster turns without trouble, indicating the mechanism isn't stuck. At least a positive start there.

It appears clocks from a Mercedes-Bens 220S are very similar. Perhaps I could find a similar reproduction clock from a different car and adapt it, if it is beyond repair. The vacuum operated washer pump in my Amazon were identical with some used in Jaguars. Found a reproduction unit from a Jaguar shop.