E55 LBR the parallel project

[lancianut666]

Finally found that receipt and swapped the plugs for the correct ones put them in and the little monkey started with out even having to charge the battery...the petrol is months old so the theory about the plugs might be true.
As the Y10 has been neglected a bit lately I treated it to a set of chrome locking wheel bolts.
Clarkey

[fay66]

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.

Tim,
I've always used E5 in 'Fay' without any additive since we were first forced to use it.
I now use the latest E5 98/99 octane and I'll never use E10.
The pre E10 E5 was never a problem , but we're now told petrol goes 'off"  and won't keep, but does this also apply to E5 now? as I usually keep the tank full over winter as well.
Brian
8227

[lancianut666]

I must admit I was surprised how easily it started and even ran briefly with no choke despite not being fully warmed up. The weather has socked in again up here as I was going to treat it to some lead additive and a fresh gallon of petrol and give it a 10 lap blast round the units so it will have to wait. I will have to resist giving it too much choke next time out and keep those plugs happy. Not so sure about the shelf life of E5 petrol but it does seem to last a bit longer than has been known in the past.
Clarkey

[frankxhv773t]

I've never used lead additive in my Y10 in 16 years and 60k miles. I always use E5 which at the local Esso station is zero methanol.

I like your wheel nuts. Can you share the specification and where you got them as I could do with a set.

[lancianut666]

Hi Frank
I think I will try a 'branded' petrol and see if it is any better than the supermarket stuff.
The nuts came from here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155903460603
I emailed them first to check if they would be OK with the factory wheels and he assured me they would be.
Clarkey

[frankxhv773t]

Thanks for the wheel nut info.

There's all sorts of things on fuel. Tesco that I use are contracted to Esso so Tesco fuel seems to be "branded" fuel anyway. It is said that all fuel is the same ex refinery and the brands just put their own additives in before delivery to the petrol station. I'm presuming the ethanol for E5 and E10 petrol is one of those additives. E5 and E10 of course mean "no more than" 5% or 10% ethanol. I'm also told there is variation according to which refinery it comes from with my local Esso E5 being 0% ethanol. There must be lots of research one can do but people seem to speak well of Shell's premium offer and poorly of Morrisons super market fuel.

[Neil]

Last year Esso advised around August/September time their marked E5 had 0% ethanol would now contain some to a maximum of 5% added, the 0% ethanol era added has now ended. May be some areas can still get 0% added?   The different suppliers add their own brand of additives, the basic fuel from the refinery is the same across the UK, Esso, BP and Shell probably have better additives and detergents than the supermarkets is the commonly held view.

'We currently supply an ethanol-free Synergy Supreme+ 99 unleaded in some parts of the UK. From September 2023 our Synergy Supreme+ 99 will transition to contain up to a maximum of 5% ethanol at all Esso pumps irrespective of which part of the country they are located. The labelling at our pumps will remain as E5 for Synergy Supreme+ 99 unleaded'

[frankxhv773t]

Useful to know.

I ordered some wheel bolts from your supplier and they arrived in under 24 hours! The price was very acceptable too.

[Kevinlincs]

That's interesting to know that ESSO have done away with the ethanol free from their super unleaded as I purposely drove out of my way to go to the only ESSO station around, and that is 25+ miles away!
It will save me bothering now, there's a Shell more handy so their V power will be used from now on.

[lancianut666]

Hi all
With the marking finished and some dry warm weather I decided to wake the Y10 up from it's sleep under a tarpaulin for months not to mentions gallons of rain being dumped on the poor thing. I was pleased last time out it ran with hardly any choke with it's nice new plugs in. I had hardly any new petrol as it had all gone in the bone dry S2 Appia so I connected the battery and checked the gauge and the light wasn't on so I gave it a spin over and it started. I pushed the choke straight back in and revved it on the throttle till it steadied up and then we were off for a 8 lap sprint around the unit block. Suffice to say as the temperature gauge needle moved up the scale the car ran better and better till by the 6th lap I could get up into 3rd on the straights  before dropping down to 2nd for the 90 degree corners... the crowd were going wild! The bumping and banging off the front suspension and steering needs investigating, I know one cv boot is split and I think two new cv joints came with the car so I might have to do those before we have any more Grand Prix antics.

[lancianut666]

Checked the new wheel nuts all very loose so tightened them up.
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

Have spent a little time on the Y10 as I want it on the road before the end of the year so I went through MOT type stuff. I also wanted to fix the broken light switch on the column. Some of the major jobs such as the cv joint, brake cylinders etc will need a bit more time so just the low hanging fruit first. However the changing out of the column switches upon testing showed the horn wasn't working. Looking through the handbook told me a 20 amp fuse with the horn sign, the fuse was not blown so I pushed it in and out a few times to make a contact. Next we took the centre push off the wheel and checked that for a short circuit when pressed, this was OK. We then used the voltmeter to check for power from the fuse up to the horn push...nil volts. It turned out that when I had replaced the column switches I had pushed the assembly a bit too far down the column and the two prongs on the column were not making contact with the ring on the underneath of the steering wheel, a quick tweak up and volts were restored. Still no horn but we did have a nice healthy sounding click when the horn push was pressed. To the bit I was not keen on checking the wiring on the two filthy horns under the front of the car, the connections were both loose so I risked pushing them on and off a few times to make a better contact and success at least one of the horns is now working. When I strip the front suspension I will remove the horns, clean them and replace the connectors. When checking the column switches I noticed neither of the washers were working so under the bonnet we found a very loose connection from the last time I had looked at this and the most horrendous mixture of green slime and black gunk in the washer bottle.After the connection was recrimped (solder up at some point) and the washer bottle removed and cleaned out the washers were working again. All the lights apart from an intermittent indicator were fine so not too bad overall. The new column switches are black and my interior is brown but luckily the spare switches have the dim dip wiring so when I get time I can gave a go at sorting that. I can report that the car is starting a lot better even on the years old petrol and after I have done all the mechanical bits (noticed both steering rack rubbers have split) I can get the new sills welded up. I was looking in the manual and they take the front suspension off complete and I think that might be the way to go as I have new springs and struts to put on. The Sony minidisc player just started up as if it had just been fitted, Sony top quality...if only I could figure out how to get the flip down front off to put back in the case...
Clarkey

[frankxhv773t]

When dismantling the front suspension be sure to record accurately the washers on the reaction bars. They are effectively shims that set the castor angle so mixing them up can cause a world of trouble.

[lancianut666]

Hi Frank
I noticed the warning in the workshop manual duly noted. Amongst my spares cache were some disc backplates and as the ones on the car had rusted very badly I decided to give the ones I have a spruce up so a blast with the flap wheel and some primer has them ready for a coat of nice metallic black (it turned out cheaper than standard gloss black) however the old tin worm has given these a nibble but they will last another 30+ years.
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

it seems the underlying paint has reacted with the new coat but we still have two better looking disc covers...