The Snail

Sam
Did you construct that engine cover slider rod stay thing?
If so did you pillage it from something else or from scratch?
Or is it a "factory" fit that mine hasnt got?

Cheers
Jules

RatSport www.ratsport.co.uk
 
Couple other questions if you dont mind.

Where is the braided pipe coming from the side of the head goiung to?

Are you planning on heating the inlet or not? What are you views on this?

I am planning on sorting out the water circulation (with Calorifier thing - thanks lancelot)

Which my engine bay inatallation was as neat as yours....

Cheers
Jules

RatSport www.ratsport.co.uk
 
quote:
Originally posted by commerjules

Sam
Did you construct that engine cover slider rod stay thing?
If so did you pillage it from something else or from scratch?
Or is it a "factory" fit that mine hasnt got?

Factory fit that yours hasnt got [xx(]

Cheers
Jules

RatSport www.ratsport.co.uk

 
The whole 'neat' engine thing is meaning that this project is taking forever - i just want to drive her now!:(

The water pipe is going to that boss on the head.

Want to try and find some more of that quilted material to touch up some bits of trim.

The engine cover holdy uppy thing is standard - though it was quite bent and ineffective. I;ve seen similar on that green van that sold on ebay from southampton. i'll do some more pics when the engine cover is back on.

Not sure about water heater manifolds - they're for fuel efficiency rather than power? need to do some research. Leaving it out at the mo until i get it running.

please stay sunny!
 
Well, the moment i've been waiting for - starting her!

After a 13hour non stop spanner-a-thon yesterday all the bits that are needed to be considered vaguely road legal were complete. Time to press the button - but couldn't find the keys! panic - keys found, button pressed - and...
nothing.
Dud starter motor, and with my great exhaust manifold - changing it took ages...
Take 2 - turned over, sparked, but no take. Timing 180 degrees out...
Take 3 - turned over, sparked, but no take. Somehow have managed to do the same again?
Take 4 - It runs! fairly well infact.
quick trip around the block, gears hard to find, brakes awful, scary suspension - I love Commer driving!

Drove to work in her this morning, still need to fettle with the ig timing. I cheated and stuck a single Stromberg on to cut down on the number of variables when setting up the new engine. As soon as the ignition is how I want it i'll fit the twin strombergs and take her to a rolling road.

http://www.slarkraceengineering.co.uk/contactus.htm

are a nice bunch, and only a quick dash from Burlen Fuel Systems in Salisbury (quite important as nobody stocks a full range of strombe needles these days...)

Haven't turned the OD on yet, brain too tired yesterday to work out how to wire in an unlatching part to the latching on of the relay...Would be so much simplier to have an on/off switch rather than the sprung loaded stalk switch off the rapier.

next - wheels and tyres!
 
quote:
Originally posted by sunbeamsam



...... gears hard to find, brakes awful, scary suspension






Congratulations - you have definitely discovered the joys of Commer motoring:D great news to hear you have lift off - happy motoring:)[8D]



Bessie - four star commerdation
 
Sounds pretty good! obviously it needs to run a bit but nice and smooth. Got it up to 55mph yesterday - and that is without the OD! Scary stuff! Must take back what i said about the gear changes - they got much better on the way home. One problem with the later rapier box is that it's about 2inches longer and by pulling the linkage further back the gear knob moved closer to the dash, i've bent the gearlever back - but it now hits the OD switch (which I had just carefully bent to avoid the steering wheel!)

Running a little warm - 95 seems a little high to me on a cold day. But i haven't really had a go setting up the timing fully yet - suspect she may be a little too advanced, will wind her back till she pinks uphill then nudge it forward a touch. All jobs for this weekend!

No speedo yet as cable end doesn't fit in rapier box.

Wonder how long before the prop UJs give up...
 
good work fella :p does sound a little hot, have you considered a electric water pump :)

"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off no.3"
 
going to faff with the timing first. then look at the airflow to the rad, maybe try it with all the badges off the grill (not that the bulk of the comes through here). It is a new thermostat, but you never know...

Hmm, we'll see. Would prefer to treat the problem rather than the symptom.
 
the riley used to run hot so i fitted a pump to it and the transformation was astounding, runs twice as cool and frees up a good 6-8 bhp. have an adjustable switch as well so you can slow it right down for cold starts and warm up quickly [^]
its a win/win situation, the only downside is the initial cost.

"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off no.3"
 
CONGRATS[8D][8D], you're a few weeks ahead of me, conversion of gear linkage after overdrive fitting is no end of grief for me.

Cheers
Jules

RatSport www.ratsport.co.uk
 
the gear linkage was a bit of a pain. essentially I moved the bracket back about 4 inches, then bent the gearstick straight, then unwound the trunion thing giving me an extra couple inches. Seems to be working okay, though i'd like to remake the bracket when i get a chance.

Done a couple of hundred miles now and cooling remains an issue, fine at speed ;) except on long up hills. Around town it get a bit warm. I like commerracer's idea of an electric water pump, this is bound to have BHP and fuel economy benefits too, but think i'll try fitting an oil cooler (cos i've got a spare), recoring the rad maybe, and incresing airflow to the rad with some form of scoop under the rad.

Taking the GB plate off made a minor difference.

Some photos:
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I managed to get some Rostyles from a P5 and did a lot of polishing!
the stud holes had to be drilled out from 7/16 to 1/2 inch and a needed to used spacers on the fronts, but this might be because of the drums that are fitted. Lower wider tyres have definately improved things!
 
they do look good; are you around next week or weekend so that I can see the snail in real life?
 
Very nice. Did you have the engine running warm before you fitted the electric fan? It does look like it is covering quite a lot of the rad. Maybe that is causing a problem, restricting the air flow at low speeds.

'Harvey the RV'
 
hi admin, saturday daytime and tues/wed/thurs evenings are all good - give me a call. I'll probably be working on the van as want to get the speedo cable off / rad out.

http://www.speedograph-richfield.com/ said they will be able to make up a new speedo cable for me but need a length.

good point about the electric fan, i'm not sure how the bulk of the air gets to the rad - through the grill or from underneath? but if it is from below then the fan could be causing too much deflection. I might try mounting it to suck on the otherside of the rad.

The rad has some damage to the inlet/outlets caused by overtightened hose clamps (not me!). This is causing some seepage. I figure if i've got to get these repaired then might aswell get a recore done at the same time.

planning on giving these guys a go:

http://www.bagshotradiatorservices.co.uk/

did something similar with the alpine and it worked well, shame andover radtiators don't seem to be in business any more.
 
fans that push are 30% less efficient than ones that pull.
oil cooler will not really help with the water temp (took the one off the riley as oil too cold)
i spent a weekend fitting a 14" spal fan to the j4 (8" std) despite covering the whole rad and having twice the blades it overheated [xx(] this seems to be due to the angle of attack on the blades. so plan B is an electric motor which drives the pump independently via a belt and the original fan. once i get it geared right then it will eliminate the water cavitation caused by overspeeding the pump.
so lets be careful out there ;)
looking good sam [^]

"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off no.3"
 
and there was me complaining about how awkward it is to take an engine out of a motorbike:I, good luck with it all, least I know what to expect should Wilma throw a hissy fit, god forbid!
 
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