Mortie Meets Peter Baldwin

Since the last report, Mortie my 1966 mini cooper has blown his head gasket. Of course this had to happen just before the mini meet at Fakenham on May 1st - typical! Although I did manage to get him ready on the Friday before the show I was not happy about risking the trip there, as I was not too happy with the way I had adjusted the tappets. (I really hate doing tappets). Fueling was posing a bit of a problem as well - did not like the way the engine sounded at all. So erring on the side of caution Bertie the 69 850cc Auto was pressed into service for the visit to Fakenham.

The following day (Monday) I decided to really concentrate on getting those wretched tappets set correctly, out with the manual, rubber gloves on and feeler gauges at the ready I set to. This time I got it right - engine sounded much sweeter but I was still not happy with the carb's. I eventually managed to get them sort of set right (wrong as it turned out). In the end I made the decision to have the car properly set up on a rolling road. Peter Baldwin was the obvious choice as he was only 20 minutes away from where I work. On Thursday morning I gingerly drove to work without pressing the engine too hard and kept my speed down to around 50 mph (much to the annoyance of other motorists).

After work I drove over to Wilshers garage at Wimpole. Peter soon had Mortie shackled down to the rolling road and started to weave his magic. First order of business was to check the timing - it was way, way off (double figures as I recall). With me in the car and with the throttle almost wide open I watched in amazement as the indicated BHP crept up and up. It had started around 45 BHP - very poor indeed and eventually settled at around 62 BHP. Next, Peter set about the twin SU's - One was very lean and the other very rich, no wonder the car sounded so rough!. Finally Peter was happy with the settings which produced some 65 BHP on the meter. It just shows how badly an engine can go out of tune. After a quick BLAT down the A603 I was simply amazed at how different the car was, a blip on the throttle and Mortie was off. (I think the BMW behind was a bit annoyed as I had just spoilt his chance of overtaking me before I closed the door). Oh dear, yet another poor BMW emasculated.

Before I left, Peter gave me a few tips on keeping Mortie well and satisfied. (1) Don't use ordinary Unleaded petrol, use Shell Optimax or BP ultimate. (2) Use Castrol valvemaster as the lead replacement additive (it also has an Octane booster incorporated) and (3) Use a good quality engine oil such as Duckhams or Castrol. In conclusion, I'm really pleased with the work that's been done and would urge you all to consider a rolling road session for your treasured Mini. Bye for now - Maddy and Mortie.




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