Pickup restoration part three

[kevin s]

if I understad correctly you changed the ht lead to get a spark at the king lead, have you checked there is a spark at all 4 plug leads?

My advice would be to go back to basics,

Check for a nice healthy spark at each plug.
If this is OK check the new carb is set up for initial start ( jet 2 turns down from level with the bridge).
check for any air leaks on the inlet side or tappngs which are not blanked off
Timing wise if it was running leave it alone, they will usually start as long as it is roughly right.
Also have you removed the spark plugs? they are probably pretty wet and fouled by now.

[davidmiles]

Chris, YP, Kev, thanks for your observations there, I've finally solved the problem. I pulled on this connector a little hard and it broke off, so replacing it caused me to wire wool the connections to the coil and she started right away. The simplest thing.
It was complicated by changing the Carb over, then getting a no go from the ignition switch, them ESM and bull motif ran out of ignition switches in stock, and didn't let me know for couple of days each. Then I thought it was the electric Dizzy letting me down, and all the while it was that corroded connector letting the side down. Now I can put it all back together again.[frame][/frame]

[davidmiles]

Choke cable frustrations, taking the cable out of and then back onto the pinch bolt has caused it to fray, I tried re-twisting it to get it tight again so that it would slide back through the hole in the carb bracket, but it's just not having it. I cut it back to restart and I'm onto a loser there too. I purchased some pushbike brake cable, it's around the same gauge, but on stripping down the choke pull I find it's not renewable. The only option is to purchase a new one, such a waste, they're nicely made.I may use a smear of araldite on the new end(when it arrives) just to prevent it fraying in future.[frame][/frame]

[mogbob]

David
Sorry to hear of the frustrations.If it's of any consolation,I did the same thing many years ago and learnt the lesson.
With all cables, likely to fray, take a lot of time re-assembling.I now always remove the old cable and the pinch bolt or screw.I clean out the hole, for the new cable to pass through, with a pipe cleaner ( pipe smokers type ) soaked in Meths.
You can sometimes cut off the odd strand with cable cutters, without sacrificing the strength of the cable too much.It really depends on the scenario i.e how much cable is not covered by the outer cable before the inner attaches to the carb.

The smear of Araldite, on the cable end ,idea sounds good.
Bob

[chesney]

Aye, smear of araldite sounds a good idea. I used a cycle end cover (crimp on) to keep mine together, araldite will most likely work better.

[jaekl]

I found that the cable was retained with solder in the choke pull. Perhaps the later ones were crimped, but you should be able to open the crimp enough to pull out the old cable and then add some solder to compensate for the compromised crimp.

[davidmiles]

thanks for your observations there Gentlemen, In fact my idea of preventing the wire cable from unravelling was not needed, the new Choke pull has a solid single strand making the cable immune from that particular difficulty in future. It fitted up easily, simply bolting up from behind the dash like the other more expensive version.[frame][/frame]

[davidmiles]

I couldn't get the new carb to run smoothly, so I took it to my local garage to get it connected up to their diagnostic emission machine. Didn't understand what most of the readings meant, but Rob said "it revs pretty good for a little Moggy, but that the air filter inlet was too large giving too much air. He suggested making a adjustable cut off. The original field find air filter box is a bit fractured there, he may have a point.[frame][/frame]
so I set too with cardboard and scissors and the Blue Peter theme in my head[frame][/frame]
I cut out the sliding shutter in steel and drilled and bolted it on. It's very stiff and will need tapping to adjust it.[frame][/frame]

[davidmiles]

the steel shutter fitted up and ready for a test run..[frame][/frame]

[MarkyB]

air filter inlet was too large giving too much air

Also known as running weak, had he ever tuned an SU carb before?
Your effort would have been better spent recreating the missing inlet tube.

[jagnut66]

I have the same replacement choke cable fitted to my car, the solid core is much better than the 'stranded' original.
My air filter housing is also missing the long pipe that goes where that hole is, I believe that this was originally designed so that you could move it to a summer or winter setting......
Someone else on here will be able to confirm this no doubt.
My pipe must have rusted through around this join, as it was there one minute and gone the next.....
I dread to think what the drivers behind me must have thought when they saw bits falling off my car as I was driving along in front of them.................
Could you let me know how you get on with your shutter with regard to controlling air flow, as if you are successful I shall try it on on mine.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[Roni]

Ive tried several variations of the std 1098 air cleaner on a std 1098 car. Each variation was tested over a tank full, so it wasn't just one run.
The tube acts as a silencer device, noisier without it, and gives the ability to get hot air from closer to the exhaust manifold.
On another housing without a tube, it had cracked and vibrated off, it had similar performance, just noisier.
Tidying up the ragged hole and rounding the edges inward, enlarging it 10 mm or so, helped the performance, mostly in the mid/upper rev range.
Running without the upper housing and just the filter element held in place with a small plate on top, in this case an old tea pot lid, gave more performance and noise.
With all the changes there were variations on the mixture settings.
To give you an idea of the difference in performance, I had a useful longish hill on the way to where I was working at the time. At the bottom the 70 kph speed limit went to 100 kph. From start to end of the modifications the resulting speed at the top went from 85 kph to 100 kph. It was a simple case of full throttle at the bottom of the hill so was easy to repeat each time. Overall economy was improved too. These tests don't really agree with "the air filter inlet was too large giving too much air" statement. Actually the opposite.
This was as far as I went with that setup as I then went to a 1.5" SU.
Your cut off will seriously hurt your performance.

[Neil MG]

Yes, I would agree with Roni and the others, restricting air flow is not the best way to tune the carb!

[davidmiles]

well she's running just well enough to get me to a classic specialist who can do a proper tune on Monday, I'll unbolt the shutter and remove it. Rob works on modern cars, obviously doesn't know about classics. I'll have a go at replacing the inlet tube

[jagnut66]

The tube acts as a silencer device, noisier without it

Aaaaahhhh.......... I see...........

Well the engine is definitely noisier than when I first bought her, maybe I'll look for an intact one at some point....

[davidmiles]

well I'm going to have a go at replacing the tube, I have a spanner that fits the circumference of the hole perfectly, this tube was long gone when I recovered the Pickup, so I've never seen it, can anyone give the length of it, I'm guessing about 80mm.
I'll use the spanner as a shaper.[frame][/frame]

[drivewasher]

David,
Just hold on with that. I'll go and looky see if I got a spare filter top complete you can have.
Back in about 20 mins

Steve

[drivewasher]

Right I'm back. Rollocking off mrs dw duly taken
But I got this.

PM me your address David and I'll post it tomoz (Monday)

[mogbob]

Steve
What a gentleman you are !! I'm sure David will be grateful.
Bob

[davidmiles]

Cheers Steve, that's very kind of you, it was my 50th Birthday yesterday, I've been festooned with thoughtful comments on facebook and among family and friends. Had a great time and now this kind gesture. Let me know what I owe you for the part and postage.
Regards Dave[frame][/frame]
Kay my Daughter cutting the cake, couldn't bring myself to do it.