Panic.

[Keith Clements]

Well not really but on the way up to Oulton Park from my friend Tim in Ironbridge the SA started to overheat and then the rad gauge cooled down. Most unusual but obviously loss of water. Anyhow topped up , looked for steam and leaks but saw none except for a drip of oil under offside rocker cover. So took off rocker cover and removed what I thought was some debris and put back. I had noticed some oil on Tim’s drive so checked again when we got back to Tim's (a round trip of 100 miles). Still dripping but not a lot of oil lost and little water loss.

Anyhow, put the car to bed on the lift after a long and very wet drive home and slept on it. In the morning I noticed a small puddle of water and a puddle of oil on the floor. Closer inspection found a crack which was then cleaned up to reveal a crack 20cm long all the way underneath and up the rear side into the water transfer. Oh dear that is terminal. So contacted Peter Pfister and asked if I could transplant his engine exhibited at NEC so that we could give it a road test. A busy five days ensued preparing for Goodwood with a few problems being found such as stripped thread on water transfer and on dynamo holding /water pump bracket bolt which was helicoiled.
All the Jav to Jup modifications had to be done (timing cover and oil filler, throttle linkage)as well as changes necessary due to choke , water transfer and throttle arrangement. I found the throttle pedal to be worn so this was refurbished. It was totally rust seized in the bottom bolt and needed welding. The added water pump support bracket needed re-fabrication as the timing cover was 90deg out being early. The Zenith carbs on the engine were retained and initially I retained the mechanical fuel pump, blocking off one of the petrol feeds. This was later by-passed.

Timing of the electronic distributor was roughly set and, as instructed by Peter, ZDDP additive was put in the oil. Tappets were checked. The car was rough on start-up which was caused by all the screws on the carbs having being twiddled at the show, I suspect. So a rough set up of the carbs was performed and the car road tested. Then the carbs and throttle linkage were balanced to obtain a smoother tick over.

I had fitted a pop sock into the water pipe from the pump to catch all the debris in the new engine. This got so clogged up after 20 minutes running that the car overheated. I cleaned it and refitted.

CIMG0001 (766x1024).jpg

I had to rig up a choke cable to one carb to get it to start in the morning. But without any more tuning, as I had run out of time, we proceeded to Goodwood.

Over the weekend we had two occasions of the needle valve in one float chamber sticking open, so an extra washer was fitted. A prop shaft vibration got worse over the weekend so the SC will be used for the Jupiter Gathering tomorrow. And then off to Spa on Thursday but by Eurostar to meet Jaak Jacobs and ride in his Jup.

[David Kemp]

Whats a pop sock?

[Keith Clements]

A short nylon sock.

[Keith Clements]

I have uploaded into the TOPIC Gallery pictures of the crack and the engine swap that I achieved on my own.
The crack is like a big smile going from ear to ear (water transfer to water inlet)