JowettTalk

Barry, if you have to take the timing case cover off it is worthwhile drilling a small hole between the bottom of the timing case and the crankcase so any exess accumulation of oil in the timing case drains back into the sump. This 'mod' may of course have already been done to your engine.

george

The distributor has returned from the Distributor Doctor looking and hopefully performing as good as new. It was a bit dark to take it on the open road to test performance, but even a run round the block shows things to be much improved Unlike the oil pump which is still leaking badly. Again, it was too dark to investigate, but I assume it is coming from between the pump and block, as I was very careful with the pump itself, flatting it all on a surface block to double check.

After heating the sump for 5 minutes with a hot air gun, it was too hot to touch and the pump pushed in with my fingers, so I don't think it was damaged again. I did make up a gasket with gasket paper, but it clearly hasn't helped. My gut feeling is, given the fact every other component of the car is damaged, that there's a lump out of the mating surface of the sump where someone drove a screwdriver in to shift it before. Thinking about it, the broken part of the flange was on the opposite side to the one I was working from, but maybe I should have checked more thoroughly. If this is the problem, I might be able to ease the pump down far enough to put some filler or silicon in without taking the timing cover off again. I can investigate properly when the engine comes out.

Inevitably (and I mean inevitably) taking the timing cover off revealed more damage. As Tony predicted, the case was badly bent at each nut and along the bottom edge, and the chain and sprockets are all badly worn. What did puzzle me is that the chain was completely dry and in fact the whole case seemed to be too.

How is the chain supposed to be lubricated? It looks to me as though it should run in an oil bath in the bottom where there does look to be a small hole, as George suggested. However, it also looks like a bit of the casting is broken off, so the bath can't fill to the level of the chain.
Does this look right? I wonder if it was broken when a chain snapped, or when someone was beating the crank nut with a chisel! I assume the washer behind the nut was a locking tab at one stage.

I'm pleased to report the distributor rebuild/ recalibration has transformed the engine and we have been out and about all weekend. Saturday saw a trip to Daniel Banham's place for "Coffee and Classics" and home made pizza from his wood fired Pizza oven. This was the first first time the car had been looked at by club members and they swarmed over it sparking lively debate as to what the hell it actually is and which bits came from where. Eventually, someone stood back and announced "It's just so wrong, it's actually right!" I'm pretty sure this is a compliment?? There were also many positive comments regarding the dented panel work, bent mudguards, mismatched headlamps laughable panel gaps, etc and universal consensus was I should stop where it is. I'm still working to get it mechanically 100% and get the hood sorted, but I'm happy the rest has been conserved as much as needed.
Sunday saw a trip across the Fens to visit my cousin and various other family members, most of who remember the car from its 40 years in the garage at my Great Uncle's house including those, who like myself, remember sitting in it as a child and pretending to drive. Driving across the rather challenging fen roads, did remind me the steering is an urgent priority. The carburation seems pretty good and It will cruise at 40mph with 2 adults and 3 small children in, but maybe still a bit weak at the top end. I won't mess with it any more though until we can get the engine out and sort the valve gear properly. Given all the other problems we have uncovered, it would be nice to satisfy myself the big end bolts aren't held in with string and there are no other nasty surprises before it's used on any longer journeys

Last week saw us out and about in the Jowett using it as and when as a proper car. It's actually proved very useful having a second car during the holidays and certainly helped entertaining the children while their mum is at work with the other car. Over the course of the week we did:

Trip to Daniel Banham for Coffee, chat and Pizza with fellow club members: 14 miles

Trip to Somersham to visit family and friends: 36 miles

Day out at Shepreth Wildlife park: 22 miles

To work and Pampisford to collect camping supplies during the lunch hour, supermarket on the way home. 21 miles

Day out at Anglsey Abbey kids woodland play area: 16 miles - including waving at another prewar Jowett coming the other way at Bottisham.

Total of 109 miles, all trouble free and no new problems arising. The car starts and runs well and while there is a way to go before I'd venture further afield, I'm happy the important bits are done and it is basically a sound reliable car. As a result, I have concluded, after 15 pages on the forum, the 1929 Long Two is "recommisioned"!!!!

Having not seen the car for 40 years, I had assumed that as it was driven into the garage, there wouldn't be a lot wrong and it would be a reasonably straight forward job to get it back on the road. As it transpired, this was far from the case and if I'd have known quite how many problems had been created by others, I'm not sure I'd have been so keen to get involved at the same time as dealing with 3 demanding young children. However, we have ended up with a car with a lot of character which the children just love and will hopefully add a lot of happy memories to their childhood. While he is still a bit young, Matthew seems to have had his enthusiasm fired and is very proud of his carburettor rebuild, so maybe it will set him off on a lifelong interest in all things mechanical. I've lost count of the number of passengers it's carried over the last few months, but certainly in excess of 40.

We are off on holiday for a while, but I think the next job will be rebuilding the dynamo, followed by taking the engine out in the winter for a proper going over. I'll document these in new threads so hopefully they are easier to find and provide useful information to others. In the meantime, a huge thank you to everyone who's helped out with advice and morale support, especially Tony who has completely unsolicited sent me parts in the post to get me going. Who knows, when I fit the Dynamo brush he sent, it could make it far enough for me to buy him the beer I owe him and a chance for all to marvel at the exhaust note from the Ian Preistley free flow exhaust system