Graham Sewell

I was told that the standard plugs are chosen to be correct for very hard/track day driving - so intentionally on the cool side If you drive the car in traffic around time a lot then they will soot up. Switch to one grade hotter Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Hi, So I am eventually going to bite the bullet and join the 3rd millenium. After looking at the Trigger Wheels web site, they seem to do the entire kit for £300 and have a fittng agent called AF Racing in Thatcham and I was wondering if anybody has experience of them - good/bad? I like the idea of having a turn key solution where I have a single point of contact should anything go wrong. For example welding the trigger wheel, fitting the sensor, etc... They have suggested the MJ fits under the dash (maybe beside the fuse box) with the coil pack and edis unit on the engine side of the bulkhead. Does that make sense? Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

I changed to the Caterham AP 4-pot solution with the standard M/C because the fronts did not stop fast enough - aka the rears locked first in the damp!!! Transformed the car in terms of confidence when braking. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

On my 1700 Supersprint - on-the-rock method works as well Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

I was the Scooby at the juction with Remenem Hill Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Hi, Wheel nuts are closer to 50lbft (80Nm). the quickest way to tell if you have the half shaft problem is to jack up the rear and then try to push pull the wheel along the axle shaft. If there is any slack (you'll hear it knock) then DO NOT DRIVE IT! The other common knock from a rear axle is the A-frame bushes which normally last 3000 miles if you are lucky.

Chris has done his magic and restored my smile (from ear to ear) - took the long way home via Hertford, Hatfield, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Chesham, Amersham, etc.... 😬 😬 😬 😬 Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Sounds like I'll have a fun day driving home tomorrow - assuming the rain stops Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Find out on Friday :-) Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Based on the fact that I have not driven very far in the last 12 months - about every 300 miles! However, it must be said that the balance between chokes in one carb should never go out of balance and the balance between the two carbs should be reasonably static unless their mountings as dodgy (broken springs between the cup washers) or the small brass connector between them is worn. Please note that they MUST be some play between the carbs and the manifold otherwise you will get fuel foaming inside the carbs. The two methods are springs or rubber bobbins between the cup washers on each mount point. Between these 8 sets of washers you tension them evenly to allow some movement of the carbs but not enough to allow air leaks past the o-rings/misab plates between the carbs and manifold. IIRC, if you have the older springs, there should be about 25thou gap between the cup washers - but I could be wrong on that figure. Do NOT tighten these nuts until the carbs are solidly mounted. This cannot be stressed enough. I know some folk have created an aluminium plate that screws into the bottom of the carb - using the 4 screws on each carb around the square plate - but I have never had them that unstable. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Leloby, The plugs were all a nice even pale grey (unleaded - yuk) and the carbs are balanced on a regular basis. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud! Edited by - Graham Sewell on 25 May 2010 08:29:09

Met a couple of you at the service station on the M25 (south side heading east). Gather you were all on a jolly to Nurburgring and Spa. Jealous - moi? Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

It seems that the major culprit was the dizzy cap where the king lead entered. However, a minor oil weep seems to have destroyed the offside engine mount rubber and the carbs were resting on the bonnet - and the filters were distusting underneath. So some air starvation, some frothing fuel and a weak spark. Poor little crossflow just could not master all three. Should get it back by the end of the week and see if we have found all of the causes. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

We are heading to Chris Wheeler on Friday for a set of mechanical adjustments/checks first - engine height (clearance of the filter hole), pump jets, float levels - anything that could cause fuel starvation. Pray that this solves the issue - otherwise, I am looking at the Weber Alpha ignition management becuase if I am spending a coulpe of hundred on a new Ignitor and new/repaired tacho, knowing that my dizzy has a small amount of slack already, I may as well go 3d mapped for a couple of hundred more. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Mechanical pump. All ignition leads were changed < 300 miles ago. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

techbod, If you use the standard 1700 supersprint plugs (B8ECS?) then they all foul in slow traffic because they are cool plugs for track work. Try using the 1600 plugs (BP7ES) which are a grade warmer and will not be so prone to fouling. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Also your idle jets seems a little unusual - normally 45f9 or 50f9. However, I do not know of any rule of thumb to put the XXfY jets in order. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Eugene, How did you diagnose that issue? The rev counter is 15 years old and the Aldon is at least 7 years old. Cheers, Graham Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

John, Ignition is currently Aldon Ignitor in an Aldon calibrated ignition curve Lucas dizzy. Once the misfire starts, it is pretty much the same for the next 10 miles (20 mile test drive) and comes in only under heavy acceleration - possible pump jet issue but I would expect that would have started from cold. Battery is fully charged and this is not the sort of misfire that I have had in the past with a broken alternator where the misfire got worse and worse until the car died in about 5 miles. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Valve clearance are good and it has an unleaded head from Vulcan. Compression ratios are good and even. So am fairly happy with the internals for the engine. I was wondering about shimming the engine mounts.... So I might be heading in the right direction. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Hi, my trusty old xflow has been misfiring for some time and I still have not found the cause - but I am not sure that it is the usual suspect. Symptoms - car is fine for upto 10 miles then starts to misfire under heavy acceleration but can quite happily rev to 6000rpm if taken up gently (like where's the fun in that?). I have had the car to the Seven's Workshop - Chris is a seriously top bloke - and all normal settings are fine on the carbs and dizzy and coil (just replaced it just in case). The spark plugs are a nice light grey colour with good gaps and no wear on either electrode. What I did notice last night when I put the bonnet back on is that the air filters are very nearly touching the bottom of the hole in the bonnet. So I am wondering if, as the engine gets warm, the engine mount rubbers or the carb rubber bobbins soften slightly so that under WOT the filters touch the bonnet. This could cause foaming in the float chambers or lift the carbs off the Misab's causing an air leak. Does this sound reasonable? In which case I need to replace the engine mounts (my current prime suspect). How tricky is that without removing the engine? I missed all of last summer with this misfire (not much of a summer anyway) but would really like to enjoy the car this year. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Any idea of price against George Polley? Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

Crossflows have a built in rust inhibition system that keeps a constant fine layer of used engine oil on all surfaces within the engine bay and a few other lucky areas as well. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

My local motor factor carries Intermotor parts and the reference for that is 11040. Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

I change up when I can no longer hear my wife scream above the noise of the engine 😬 Cheers, Graham ------ Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!