Clousta

Scorcher, if you tank has a simple hose going from the filler to the inlet pipe attached to the top of the tank (i.e. extra breather pipes and other devices) then you may have the problem I had (and the previous owner and the previous owner to that too!). The rubber hose was too long and when in position was making an acute angle rather that a gentle radius. Petrol would be blown back or the pump would cut out. Incrementally I removed 25mm until I has happy the hose was the correct length and sitting correctly. When I look in through the filler cap I can now see the lip and inside of the inlet tube to the tank. This means the tip of the filler nozzle can fit the inlet tube to the tank and I can fill normally. No more very slow filling and seeking out level or downward sloping garage forecourts. Good luck. Its an easy fix. Edited by - Clousta on 16 Oct 2011 17:49:16

I would fit a oil pressure switch like this to stop the pump once the engine stops. Q102, that looks like an interesting bit of kit. But unless its really clever won't it defeat the point of changing to an electric pump covered in this thread, namely that an electric fuel pump will get petrol to carbs on ignition switch on. This allows the carbs to be pumped and then start readily without lots of churning of the starter motor to get the mechanical fuel pump to get petrol to the carbs?

An update on crossflow split bell housing dust plates. I found this post and used it as guidance when removing my sump following a rock impact on the underside of the sump during the 2nd Auto-Balade in France (and Belgium) yesterday. I noticed the oil pressure was low (about .75 bar) on the gauge pulled in and switched off. The gauge (mechanical) did return to zero and we were going relatively slowly having just come out of a village. On reflection it was a fist sized rock that had been flicked up by the car in front, which was en route to the cafe stop some 30 minutes previously. So the leak must have been pretty slow because we didn't notice it at the stop. There was quite a large pool of oil, 1.5 litres may be, on the ground by the time the (very good) French recovery guy arrived though. Today I got the car up on axle stands and looked sump and the access at the back end of the sump. On the roadside I thought that the right hand side seam had split but the actual damage turned out to be a 1.5mm x3mm hole in the bottom of the sump. There were also a few more hefty scars under there that I couldn't recall. The bell housing dust shield was in place and obscured the rearmost sump nuts as expect from this post. However there was no sign of a split dust shield although the 8 o'clock small securing bolt (next to the clutch cable mounting) was missing. The shield flapped about a bit so that was a promising sign. On the other side there was no sign of a cut. To get better access I disconnected the battery and removed the starter motor. When the starter motor was removed it was clear that dust shield had been split (by the original builder or possibly Oselli Engine Services who built the engine in 1988). The dust shield was neatly split at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position. Despite having to remove the starter motor this seems to be a better arrangement than the cuts lower down the clock face as dust is kept out of the bell housing because the cuts are hidden when everything is assembled. All the sump bolts came out OK. I used a 1/4" socket set with an extension as previously described in the thread. The rearmost bolts one were straightforward too. It doesn't take much to loosen them and then I transferred the socket from the ratchet to the 'screwdriver' handle and the removal of the nuts was quick. I encountered two difficulties. One was that the oil cooler flexible mounting nut to the oil filter mounting plate fouled the lip of the sump slightly. I had to disconnect both flexibles completely to be able to drop the sump. This proved to be quite straight forward. Secondly, and frustratingly, the oil pick up strainer was caught on the internal baffle and I couldn't remove the sump even though everything was disconnected. This required putting one's hand inside and feeling for the obstruction, jiggling the sump a bit and then it came free. No debris or bearing material visible in the sump. The crankshaft and the underside of the pistons all look very clean - so fingers cross that there has been no engine damage. I hope this update may reassure someone else who is about to remove the sump and thinks that their bell housing dust shield is not split - it just might be but you can't see it. Next stage is to either weld up or buy a new sump and refit. The engine is a 691M block (cortina crossflow?) bored out with 40" pistons to a nominal 1700cc. Fitted with 711M end caps. Mk 1 Escort 4 speed gear box. Edited by - Clousta on 4 Sep 2011 18:26:28

Yes, electrical power. You can warm your hands quite nicely in the garage by the heat from the headlamps... and that power has got to come from somewhere... the alternator doing more work...which means ultimately the engine. I fitted HIDs to my Range Rover several years ago and so amused to lower power consumption of headlights.

Peter, did you have them fitted when we did the 'Smugglers blat' with Bruno last year? I can't remember them. Have you found them useful in ensuring that your typical Belgian driver actually sees you? I have been driving with my headlamps since I got the Seven on but I do recognise that it is consuming quite a bit of power. However, they didn't stop a berk pulling out to overtake a parked car on the other side of the road and almost, so close, swiping one of my clamshell wings when driving in Hampshire on Sunday . In picture 2 is the mounting strip that is wrapped around the horizontal part of the the headlamp mounting stanchion or is there another bracket fitted? I can see a bolt mounted and metal strip mounted to what I believe is the headlamp mount or is that something else? You will recall that I have the older style set up so I may have to adapt the mounting arrangements. Edited by - Clousta on 3 Aug 2011 18:05:52

Mmm! I seem to have a software configuration problem. This is the second time someone has posted a link to the L7Club picture pages and I can't see any pictures. Clicking on any on the blatchat names down the right handside doesn't help either. This with with 2 different computers at home running Firefox. I will try at work (just to check of course ) Edited by - Clousta on 2 Aug 2011 06:15:15

Redline Components have them on the shelf and will mail one out rapidly. Is your colleague absolutely sure his system is running at 100C? I have had lots of indication problems- almost solved now but throughout the temperatures of the actual cooling system have been correct. Check using an IR thermometer.

Thanks for the feedback Roger. I won't cross this modification off my to do list and might bring it forward too, certainly before I take my crossflow on a track.

Tim, thanks for the image. That's what I have but have used white pvc insulating tape (I have stacks from gliding. It seals the wing gaps after assembly). Last week it stayed on for the MOT back in UK and passed. Ahmed, Your photo did have me thinking about it for a moment. To visualise what happens the light from the bulb goes backwards to the reflector. So any light on the LHS of the car (looking forwards) comes from the RHS of the reflector. The other side of the reflector can't get any light on to the LHS because of the bowl shape of the reflector. Anyway you fooled the gendarmes. Enjoy your holiday. Its damp, dull and cold in Brussels this morning and work beckons so it must be brilliant where you are. 🙆🏻

YHM

Markc, I read all the received wisdom about converting cross flow to a closed system. I even bought the new thermostat elbow and a expansion tank ready to convert but haven't done so yet. However, I also read up on how the as installed system should work. The thin pipe from the thermostat tower should have a watertight seal on the hose running to the 'catch tank'( so use a jubilee clip rather than just a hose slipped over the pipe). The end of the hose in the 'catch tank' should be cut at a diagonal so that when the system cools down the cooling system can suck coolant back in to the cooling system rather than suck on the bottom of the 'catch tank'. Similarly there needs to be a vent hole in the 'catch tank' top (3-4mm is fine) or the suction effect on cooling is trying to draw a vacuum in the 'catch tank'. You need the 'catch tank' between 1/3 and 1/2 full before starting. As the photo above shows there are 2 seals to make this system work. The main seal and then the secondary seal that makes the 'catch tank' act as an early expansion tank. Make sure that both rubber seals are in good condition and that the 2 mating faces in the thermostat tower are smooth and not pitted with corrosion. Since making theses simple mods: jubilee clamp, diagonal cut on the hose and a vent in the 'catch tank' the cooling system has always stayed full. When I take the cap off the level is always to the brim. The only time the level was down a bit I found a radiator seam weeping and had the radiator overhauled. So the existing system with its catch tank' is an an expansion tank system, just that the contents of the expansion tank are under atmospheric pressure rather than radiator (cap) pressure as in a more modern system. Try it. Edited by - Clousta on 24 Jul 2011 20:53:54

Ahmed, I hope the holiday is going well and congratulation son getting there in the end. I think that your black tape is on the wrong side of your headlights (assuming that those are your British, RHD headlights). My headlights are still RHD and are taped on the other side.

When you can, get the alternator checked for output on a specialists bench. Its sounds as if the rectifier pack (diodes) is breaking down. This could have been the fizz 60 miles ago and then the battery has kept you going for 60 miles. If you run with your headlights on that sounds about the right distance before you will breakdown (done that in a SAAB 9000 once). It might be prudent to get another alternator. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

As a fall back ask Redline Components to ship a spare temperature sender to your first stop/hotel/B&B/camp-site in France.

Ahmed, I glad you found it useful. MIL is back with us and is scheduled for a 24hr heart monitor on 5 August which is about the only test left for the hospital to carry out. She is in very good hands.

Ahmed, your cooling system will be fine. It is designed to operate over a wide range of ambient temperatures without you having to do anything to it. The hole drilled in the thermostat is a precaution with your particular engine. Now go and use it. Nowadays, if a vehicle is correctly serviced, the majority of cooling problems are indication problems. When I got my crossflow it would 'run hot' especially in traffic. The previous owner had installed a manual fan override switch which I used judiciously. I flushed the cooling system, fitted a new thermostat, checked the hoses, sorted out the cross flow radiator overflow tank system etc etc. Still had 'running hot problems. Tested coolant hose temperatures with an IR gun at Redline Components - everything OK. I even bough an IR gun myself. On the return journey from UK I taped over the temperature gauge because its indications were a massive distraction - no way was the cooling system running at 120C. I had the radiator overhauled, cleaned, flushed, seam repaired. I changed the temperature sensor, changed the temperature gauge, change the voltage stabiliser and the latter seemed to 'almost' cure my 'running hot' problems. The reality was in all that time, even in really quite warm ambient temperature, the cooling system worked exactly as it should, never over heated and never lost a drop of coolant. So a lot of effort and stress when driving to realise that the majority of cooling systems work well but the associated indication does not. If you buy a new car you will find that the temperature, once warmed up, remains perfectly at the centre of the gauge. How does the cooling system cope with the variety of ambient temperatures and changes in stop-start traffic and motorway speeds whilst maintaining perfect temperature? It doesn't, the gauge is fudged to always read normal unless the temperature is way out of limits. This is to avoid customer queries at every variation of the temperature, in essence to avoid the concerns that you and many other express here. As an example. MIL had a very funny turn last night and resulted in us driving her to hospital which was quicker than calling an ambulance. 15 minutes door to door on 3 motorways at 150kph+ in horrendous weather/rain. 1998 Range Rover in sport mode really working hard. Wife and MIL never realised it could go that quick. When we arrived at A&E the temperature gauge read absolutely normal.... So go and drive your baby and have fun.

If you have removed the resistor you are providing too high a voltage to the leds and they will burnout. Put the resistor back in circuit. Some of the flickering ones may continue to work for a while however, You will have reduced the lifespan of the other leds.

Elie, not sure if the commnet on Alternator size was aimed at me. The second alternator that my specialist offered me (70A) was smaller and lighter that the first one (45A). Later technology and better rectification/voltage stabilisation were also the attractions. All that for an extra £5 and the reassurance that it was going to fit.

Clousta having got stuck with no hood on the motorway for two hours in the pouring rain as the closed the motorway on the way back from Le Mans your skills with submarines could have been useful. Keeping water out of the 'people tank' is a fundamental maxim for a submariner. Ooh, that's not fun. May I recommend a SBFS half hood. It goes with me on each blat and the full hood is consigned to the back of the garage. The hood bag now contains a tonneau, but having seen the shower cap rave reviews I am tempted as it will take up less space. If the motorway was totally blocked and everything was stationary you could have fitted the half hood very quickly indeed. The rear straps of my half hood are already connected and furled into the roll cover and so its very quick to deploy. If there is some movement on the motorway you could dash to the hard shoulder or hide under a motorway bridge and pretend that you are a motorcyclist. They all do it here when it rains heavily.

Go to an alternator. I got a replacement for £47 (45A). I did so when I was back in UK last summer. I subsequently changed it for one with a flat rear cover which was £5 extra and has a 70A output. The alternator was from an American firm - sorry I can't lay my hands on the invoice at the moment. If I did it again I would get the supplier to change over the pulley. When I got back to Belgium I found I needed a different size belt - it wasn't a big issue and was quickly resolved buy the local motor factor. Edited to say if it is a standard Supersprint without lots of after market electronics you should be fine. 20/30 years ago alternators/dynamos weren't things of great precision and so the wiring loom and electrical components were designed to be pretty robust. You may have shorten the life of your head light bulbs but otherwise you should be OK. A specialist will be able to sort you out and he will know which are the reliable brands. Edited by - Clousta on 26 Jun 2011 16:16:58

Glad to have been of service. I would agree with your way ahead. Take it on longer trip and see if the stutter is the same. Then go down the changing the coil pack route. Always one step at a time. This makes a nice change for a systems engineer from fixing submarines for a living *cool*

I wondered why I hadn't this problem and then realised the guy who built it had anticipated this problem and had painted all the surfaces black. The paintwork is still fine 23 years later.

I had the same experience as SM25T. I repaired a chip of the Seven's screen using a kit off eBay. It worked pretty well and and was pleased at the result. However I could still see the faint outline of the chip because I knew where to look. 2 chips on the Range Rover's screen: Took it along to Carglass (trading name of Autoglass in Belgium) to have the chips fixed under my insurance. Quickly and efficiently done, nice waiting room and coffee. Glass viewing area of the workshops - normal chuckle at technician getting in the wrong door and finding no steering wheel etc. The end result was a perfectly sealed finish on the outside - which is the aim of the repair, but if you knew where to look you could still discern the chip. This was possibly related to the time I took to get it fixed and the resin not penetrating much as a result. However it was no better that the repair that I effected to the Seven's screen. in fact I think my repair looks marginally better. So try an independent or do it your self.

ooh! That is horrid. Which kit is it really?

Adams and Page swapped over my A021Rs (185/70/13 profile) tyres from my original Australian Stryker alloys to a set Superilites last weekend at Spa Francorchamps. Yokohoma have reduced the size variants of the AO21Rs down to about 3. The good news is that the185/70/13 profile is being continued. Virtually no wear showing in 2,500 miles - must try harder