Did a bit more spannering

Yesterday evening's spannering didn't go too well. I fitted the temperature sender and now the gauge is reading higher than before. I'll check the voltage stabilizer first. I tightened the screws at the bottom of the seat back on the rear seat. I finally got round to investigating the loose radio aerial and it will never fit properly so I'm looking at a replacement. Nothing a trip to my local motor factor won't solve.

Dodgy temperature gauge

The temperature gauge stopped working over the weekend. I was able to eliminate the votlage stabilizer as the fuel gauge was working fine so I earthed the wire from the sender and it was working so I ordered a new sender from Rimmer Bros and it has arrived today. The sender was originally from the Toledo so it's no surprise it has finally died. I'm looking at adding to the fleet but as nothing's been finalized I'll be keeing the details under wraps. All I'll say is that I'll be doing the Round Britain Reliability Run in it.

Choke sorted

The choke cable arrived yesterday so I fitted it and I now have a fully operational choke. To swap the choke I had to remove the air cleaner and the reset control for my trip counter. I put some fuel treatment in the tank when I filled up yesterday. I also bought some Castrol Valvemaster Plus. It costs the same from my local Motor World as it does for Valvemaster ordinaire from Halfords so I reckoned it was worth a punt. There's a local show on this weekend so hopefully I'm all set.

A bit of fettling with Snowdrop

One of my alloys needed touching up so it was out with the black Hammerite smooth. While I was at it I did the sills, blower motor, brake servo, the radiator and the door mirror. Not perfect but it looks better than before. I also sorted out the exhaust. The tailpipe joint hadn't been done properly so I dismantled it and reassembled it making sure it was done properly this time. I found some small holes in the rear silencer so I filled them with some exhaust putty and now I have a totally leak free exhaust for the first time on this car. I've also ordered a brand new choke cable from Rimmer Bros. The choke is still sticking and the trimmed cable isn't helping.

Carb swap part 4

I managed to sort out my throttle cable problem. I fitted the brand new cable I bought from Rimmer Bros and I bridged the gap with some garden wire I found so the car is now drivable. After some road testing I had to adjust the tickover and the throttle cable but other than that it is running fine. There is more power and it doesn't struggle with passengers or when it is on a hill. (plenty of them in West Yorkshire!) The exhaust isn't entirely leak free. It is blowing at the tailpipe joint which is down to me not pushing the pipe far enough in to make a good seal. If the weather stays dry I'll tackle it tonight.

Edit: I've finally replaced that horrible aftermarket door mirror with a standard one. Definitely an improvement and the screw holes were in the right place as well. Just the passenger side to do. I've declared my mods to the insurance who wanted an extra £27. Better safe than sorry.

Carb swap part 3

The saga continues...

I managed to fit the exhaust and I got the car running but it was revving like mad. So I left it until this morning. When I investigated I found out that with the throttle cable fitted the throttle was open. On checking my parts catalogue I found out that the bracket for the throttle cable is off an automatic. Out of my 3 throttle cables none of them will fit. The exhaust seems to be leak free so it isn't all bad. Well worth the extra mileage down to Guliford.

Carb swap part 2

Here's the latest:

I've managed to fit the carbs and manifolds without too much trouble. The only thing I'm missing is the hose for the brake servo but I made it to the local Motosave just before it closed and I got what I needed along with some more antifreeze as I'd lost quite a bit of coolant when I changed the manifold hoses. (the inlet manifold has coolant running through it) The exhaust was ready to let go as the rear part of the front section had split. No wonder it was blowing. Lucky it lasted on yesterday's epic journey down south.

Part 3 to follow...

Carb swap part 1

As I've mentioned before I was planning to fit twin carbs to Snowdrop and replace the exhaust. This is the first part of this little project and part 1 is my account of getting the parts together. Yesterday I topped up Snowdrop's petrol tank before setting off on my epic journey. (epic for a Dolomite 1300 with a perforated exhaust!) First stop was Rimmer Bros in Lincoln where I picked up the small parts (nuts, bolts, washers, gaskets, etc) costing me just over £85. Next up was Roy (triplecustard on the TDC forum) who had the carbs along with the manifolds and air cleaner. Well worth £50 and just need a good clean. Another of my Dolomite friends, Derek (Autonet7 on the TDC forum) had a Dolomite 1500 exhaust that he was giving away free. He was in Guilford and I decided that having gone as far as Roy's (the bottom corner of Linolnshire about 20 miles from Peterborough) I decided to go on to Guilford. A complete exhaust would be worth the extra petrol. When I got there I wasn't disappointed. Derek had struggled to separate the front and middle sections of the exhaust without success (I knew this before I came down) but with my help we managed to separate them and I was able to fit the exhaust in Snowdrop's boot. I also took a propshaft (useful as a spare with a decent looking centre bearing) and a starter motor which we worked out was from a Dolomite 1850 so it was worthwhile. The journey back took me about 4 and a half hours which wasn't bad. I stopped off at Milton Keynes to get some petrol by which time I'd covered 405 miles. The petrol tank holds 12.5 gallons so that worked out at least 32.4 miles to the gallon and I know how far I can go on a full tank of petrol. I put £30 worth of expensive BP unleaded (£1.10 per litre!) in and that was enough to get me back the remaining 170 miles to Anita's house in Halifax. Despite doing around 70mph Snowdrop behaved all the way back and the temperature gauge remained constant (I was running the heater on hot) I was sweating even though I was wasn't wearing my fleece or jumper. I got back safely but the exhaust sounds worse. I think it is nearly ready to let go. Lucky I have a better one. Defintely worth the trip to Guilford. Total mileage: 575