PAG 7, page 2
No2 – Piston Broke !
A surprise was in store for me when I stripped the engine for a spot of winter tuning.
Having the cam reground to Fast Road / Rally spec was my intention. These are on an exchange basis so a full strip was needed to remove it. A patch of corrosion in the bottom of the N/S barrel could be seen after removing the cylinder head and worse was to follow when a close inspection of the piston reveiled that it was cracked between the rings. I’ve never been able to satisfactorily set the mixture, the plugs sometimes showing sooty then sometimes o.k. this could be why.
Now I’ve got the cam back and obtained a good second hand barrel and piston the rebuild should be quick and straight forward.
Other jobs After fitting the Camac tyres I’m not happy with the fit of my ‘Vintage style’ mudguards. These were designed for use with standard tyres and now don’t appear to have the same wheel / mudguard proportion .
Enlarging the patterns sideways by 12mm each side. Lenghtened by100mm and slightly straightening hopefully will bring it all back.
Going Continental An invite by Wim Van De Burg in Holland to attend his 2CV kit car rally on Saturday16th and Sunday17th June has been accepted by Barry and myself. Barry will be my co-pilot as his own car will not be ready ( and Ali has to stay at home to look after the kids) The rally will be near Tiel and Buren which are apparently very picturesque and theres also plenty of winding roads running on the top of 20ft high dikes. All sounds very interesting. We’ve booked to sail North Sea Ferries from Hull on Thursday 14th to make a long weekend of it but as yet have made no other arrangements. Anyone else fancy making the trip contact me or visit Wim’s web site for further details on-
www.2cvkitcarclub.nl or e’mail patron@flevonet.nl
Gerry’s progress – Things are really taking shape down in Aylesbury. We’ve been following Gerry’s progress with interest in the newsletters and looking at the latest photo the bodywork appears to be nearing completion. Fitting the exhaust system and Brooklands Cans really make the car look the part. A few finishing touches to the wiring and then Gerry tells me he will be turning his attention to the seats
Gerry adds that his Grandchildren have christened the car Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.
(That’s nothing Gerry ! My cars called the ‘Flying Duct’ at work)
Skids Tips– My tip this time comes via Phil. I believe it originally came from Henry Bawler a ‘Grasshopper’ builder in Abervagenny. Henry suggests that when cutting the 13mm slice from the suspension arm (or sawing through any tube) clamp a jubilee clip with one edge on the cut line around the tube.This will then act as a guide during cutting. I must admit that tubes can be extremely difficult to cut at the best of times so this tip should be a big help. So no more wonky cuts ! ! !
Any Tips – If you come up with any tips or modifications while building your ’Grasshopper’ and think they will benefit other builders send them to me at Pembletons are Go! and I’ll publish them.