Recent Posts

Sounds like a great trip. Might be next year before we take ours back to its homeland!

I took the astura for MOT yesterday , unfortunately it blew its head gasket , I knew something wasn't quite right as there was a slight misfire however now there is coolant on top of the bell housing which has come from the joint between the head and block .
I will be having some composite gaskets made abroad , these are using the Australians design  and manufacturer of having an extra lip on the flame ring for better sealing . No idea on price yet as we are only starting talks on the subject today , these gaskets will be for the later 3ltr engine not the 2.6 , anyone interested please contact me on jamesparry1@btconnect.com or 07961713441, as with previous batches of manufacture that I have done THIS WILL ONLY BE DONE ONCE ! I expect to sent the pattern gasket away early next week the approximately a 3 week turn around

You may not need any special tools. See diagram attached. Take out the split pin and undo the big nut holding the whole assembly on the stub-axle. In my experience the drum can then be pulled off by hand without any special puller. The inner bearing is held in with a castellated ring that is probably too big for any socket spanner. First, lift out the wire locking-ring (if fitted) and most likely you can loosen the big ring (in red on diagram) with a few taps with a brass drift. It needn’t be tight – the tightness will be given by the big nut. There will probably be witness-marks on the big ring where this has been done before. The bearings should then be eased out using a brass drift or a suitable socket. Happy days!  

Many thanks Will, I assume the ring nut is castellated, so i can make up a tool from an old socket...do you know what size the ring nut is?
kind regards
David.

Hi

When you have taken the brake drum off.
The bearings are held in place with ring nut which you will need a tool
to remome.

The Y10 has a plastic tank holding a healthy 10 gallons.

I have found a bit of play on one of my front wheels when i jack it up and try to wobble it from the 12 to 6 o'clock positions...so I have ordered a new set of SKF front wheel bearings from Bearing Boys (for both front wheels ).  How easy are they to fit?  I assume i remove the brake drum with a puller, the bearings are held by the brake drum and I then push out each bearing from it (the inner and outer)...or is it more complex than that? - any special tools required?

My project Beta came with about 25 litres in the tank, how old it was I have no idea but the inside of the tank is surface rusty. The outside is a different story. The bottom of the tank was Dinotrolled and undersealed. I'm currently scraping it all off to reveal pristine steel underneath with only mild corrosion where the protection was scored. The top of the tank didn't get treated so it's got surface rust. However I think it's all eminently saveable with a POR15 treatment. If it needs welding it should only be to the (never to be seen again) top surface! And yes, it's been properly ventilated buy purging it with a 30 minute run of diesel fumes from the exhaust of the Alfa!

I'll be following Tim's advice and storing the car with a full tank over Winter. All fuel lines are going to be replaced so my only area of (slight) concern will be the corrosive effects of modern fuels on the Weber carburettor.. Time will tell.
Guy

on the subject of not keeping fuel in your classic this may be ok if it is sufficiently  modern to have a plastic tank, but it is asking for trouble if it is a steel  tank. Steel rusts (just peer into any steel tank) in contact with moisture laden air (typical conditions for storage from autumn to spring), this leading to rust  getting into the fuel system blocking jets etc and rotting out the top of fuel tanks. I have always put my cars away with a full tank (near as dammit) when I am not using it. Never had any running problems 6 months later.

Hi all
Talking about spark plugs I was watching Wheeler Dealers or was it Car SOS or was it Bangers and Cash? Anyway the subject was of old spark plugs left in even older cars that were all sooty. The advice was that as (unbeknown to me) the spark plug manufacturers had stopped glazing the porcelain bit in the middle as with all the lean burn engines spark plugs never got sooty or wet anymore the commentator (Elvis? Ed? Fuzz? Ant? Derek?) pinioned that as a result of this the unglazed porcelain soaked up the excessively rich mixture and shaggadoobied the spark plug. I think there is something in the lean burn stuff as my car a 2021 1.2 Suzuki has already done 40K plus miles on a single set of plugs. This contrasts with all my restoration projects that just eat spark plugs for fun not lasting 10 miles never mind 10,000 miles. Also comments on the shelf life of modern petrol were made and I got the impression more than a month and you were asking for problems (I usually leave the petrol a minimum of a year between start ups and wonder why the poor things especially the Y10 backfires to an Olympic standard when I try to give it a few laps of the unit) as Ethanol is as well commented on elsewhere is unstable and E10 stuff is probably going off as you pull the trigger on the petrol pump nozzle! My thoughts on this are a) only put enough petrol in so you can give the car a proper run in miles not yards or b) use one of those little 2 litre emergency plastic tanks you can hook onto the bonnet and connect up from there.
Now where is that invoice for those wrong spark plugs.....
Clarkey
ps I think it was Wheeler Dealers and Elvis as he has F1 experience