Members car's rolling reports.
MORTIE...
We'll start with the 66 Cooper. The head gasket decided to burn through yet again and in the same place as last year. Cylinders 3 & 4. Having become quite an expert at changing head gaskets now the task only took a few hours. This time however I took out all the studs from the block, the holes were thoroughly cleaned as were the studs. The top of the block was cleaned down with wire wool and checked for flatness with the aid of a straight edge and a torch, Gavin popped up to my garage and checked the block and confirmed that it was flat, he also checked the bores to see if there were any hairline cracks visible - none were found. the studs were replaced and locked down. The cylinder head was next checked using the same procedure and this too was flat and within acceptable limits. The new gasket was fitted, head torqued down in stages as per the workshop manual. Exhaust and carb's were then fitted. The engine started perfectly, and over the next few days the car was driven carefuly with gentle acceleration between gear changes. At the time of writing everything seems to be OK - time will tell!
BORIS...
Since my last report BORIS has had the carburettor thoughly cleaned, new air filter, plugs etc, but he's still not up to scratch - I suspect the fueling is causing the problem so I'll be ordering a new float needle and possibly a new jet and needle for the carb. The fuel/air mixture seems to be alright but petrol consumption remains a worry, I reckon its only 30 mpg at this time and I'm pretty sure it was at least 44 mpg before the troubles started. I'll have more news as and when. Bye for now Maddy
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