After the successful completion of the 10
Countries Run last week I carried out some post event checks on the car. The
first thing I noticed during the run was that it was noticeable more thirsty.
And a quick check and clean of all the spark plugs proved this. They were now
much more brown coloured than before I fitted the current carburettor needles.
Though there also was what looked like a light oil deposit. But as the plugs
were dry that’s not something I will worry too much about. Especially bearing
in mind that this engine was rebuilt well over 25 years ago and seen a lot of
action since!
Another point to inspect was the oil level. Or
better the source of the leak! Over the event I think the engine lost/burned
between 0,5 to 0,75 litres of oil. Not what you would call very worrying. But
as it looks like it is coming from the front crank shaft seal, together with
the down pour on the German Autobahn on Saturday, it did make a fair mess under
the bonnet and car. In particular the lower right hand side of the engine.
Still working on an attack plan to remove this.
Than for the most important bit, the brakes.
Shortly before the event I had a go at adjusting the rear brakes, but that
attempt was only partially successful. Due to a slight ridge in the drums I
wasn’t able to get the shoes out as far as I wanted. So on return I removed the
brake drums and dropped them of at local brake specialist C&C Parts for machining. Also
used the opportunity to show them the rather
sad looking remains of the hand brake lever dust covers. They agreed that just over a
year was way too short a life span, so they supplied two new sets free of
charge. And they finished machining the drums the same day. That’s what I call
service!
And with the inside surface of the drums now nice
and smooth, I was able to get the shoes two more clicks out with the automatic
adjusters.
For the rest the brakes have been performing
fairly well during the event though still not how I would like to have them.
Under certain conditions the pedal travel still can be a bit vague. Though it
has been improving (very slowly) over the event. See how that develops over the
next few weeks or months! The only noticeable thing was that the brake fluid
level had dropped slightly. But that’s not a big surprise regarding the sort of
driving the car’s seen last week.
With the rear of the car jacked up and on axle
stands I could also inspect the probable source for an irritating rattling
noise. This only occurred under a curtain engine load and while going uphill.
As it was clearly felt through the seats rather than heard I suspected the
exhaust was touching. It indeed had been, as this bare patch of the rear left
chassis leg proves. Still undecided what to do with it as under “normal”
driving it doesn’t occur …
Last suspension and brake check were the front
bearings. I had some slight worries about the left hand bearings. During the
inspection before the event I found that the outer bearing had a very slight
yellowish tint over the rollers. But as it was operating smoothly and without
any play I just packed some clean grease in. And almost 2800 kilometres later
it is still running nice and smoothly. No sounds and no play at all! Maybe I
should worry less …
Another Item to check was the clutch master.
Shortly before the event I thought it had developed a leak. But after cleaning
the area around the clutch pedal's push rod I didn’t find any leaks. And it remained so during
the run. Also the level in the reservoir didn’t drop. Though the uncountable number of gear
changes have taken their toll on the clutch system's fluid. Especially bearing in mind it was
only changed shortly before the event …
Final check was the coolant level (spot on) and
the drain hole underneath the water pump. It wasn’t a surprise really that this
still was bone dry. To sum it all up, pretty pleased with how the car behaved
last week!
