Tommy's new one, 1970 Morris 1800 mk2

[Nick RS]

Nice one Tommy, looks like you have got yourself a good engine there. You won't have to be stopped smoking for long to save the money. Giving up a 20 a day habit here in the UK would save enough to have bought my Landcrab after about a year.
Nick

[tommydp]

Just a video to prove I'm using it. Here I am, driving back from work a few days ago:-)



And some recent pictures..





Regards, T

[dave1800]

It looks really nice. How did you take the video?

regards

David

[tommydp]

Thank you, Dave! I like its original look:-)The original paint has polished up quite nicely. I've been to a car paint specialist, scanned the paint and bought some cans to brighten up one door, the front valance, sills and the rear bumper shelf which all have some surface rust. In fact the computer found a close match in a Skoda colour. I got a touch up can too, and you really can't see the difference.

Well, it's a stable car, you know, and there was little traffic:-) Left hand on steering wheel, Iphone in right hand:-)

Regards, Tommy

[Penguin45]

She looks really good, Tommy. I'm glad that you're enjoying the car and that she's proving to be reliable.

Chris.

[tommydp]

Thanks, Chris! I really enjoy it! Here's another video. Going to town to buy a battery for the blue one, as I've only got one narrow battery at the moment and fed up switching over whenever I need to move the blue one.. There was a 30 % sale on Varta batteries. As you can see, the old crab is quite healthy. This is a looooong and quite steep hill, actually on the E6, main road running the length of Norway, down to Oslo, Sweden and even further down..

As you can see, the old white even overtakes a slow Swede.. never mind me swearing at him, I forgot the cam was on:-) As you may notice I don't shift down from 4th and my right foot is not at all pressing against the carpet. Pinking or rattling? Not at all:-) Oh, I really love this old, battered tank:-)



Tommy

[tommydp]

Well, of course an issue had to turn up with the ultra reliable white one after putting in the engine/ box I got from UK.

It is sometimes difficult to get into gear when standing still, especially first, second and reverse. No problem driving, silky smooth gear change then, and not often when warmed up. Also, most of the time it's smooth when changing gears standing still too.

The clutch hydraulics have been bled and there's no leak and I've adjusted the gear cables, but still happens some times. I fitted a new release bearing before putting the engine in, as I had to open it anyway as the clutch fork was broken.. Otherwise the clutch seems fine. So I fear a gearbox issue... As always with me, there are no obvious faults... The only thing which I know will need work soon is a CV joint. Typical, now that the engine is fine and has no rattles etc..

Any ideas?

Regards, Tommy

[dave1800]

When it is difficult to engage is there any indication that the clutch isn't fully disengaged. As it occurs mainly when cold it does suggest maybe the slave or m/s cylinder is sticking slightly on return or there is a slow air leak. You can check the latter by pumping the pedal to see if it frees it up.

Apart from that if it is cable change then the oil in the cables may be gummed up or have a hydraulic lock. Another possibility could be the flywheel spigot bush clearance being a bit tight, did you use a new bush and ream it if necessary?

Regards

David

Sept 11, 2013 10:13:26 GMT tommydp said:

Well, of course an issue had to turn up with the ultra reliable white one after putting in the engine/ box I got from UK.

It is sometimes difficult to get into gear when standing still, especially first, second and reverse. No problem driving, silky smooth gear change then, and not often when warmed up. Also, most of the time it's smooth when changing gears standing still too.

The clutch hydraulics have been bled and there's no leak and I've adjusted the gear cables, but still happens some times. I fitted a new release bearing before putting the engine in, as I had to open it anyway as the clutch fork was broken.. Otherwise the clutch seems fine. So I fear a gearbox issue... As always with me, there are no obvious faults... The only thing which I know will need work soon is a CV joint. Typical, now that the engine is fine and has no rattles etc..

Any ideas?

Regards, Tommy

[tommydp]

Thank you, Dave!

I thought of hydraulic lock, but wouldn't it play up when driving, too? I read something about fixing this once, but don't remember what. I noticed quite a lot of oil in the gear change house when I adjusted the cables.

I still suspect the clutch hydraulics though, as it all started after I changed the slave seal which had started to leak. I've bled the system lots of times. It seems to me the pedal still goes too far before it starts to operate, and I dont really get the release feeling at the end of the clutch pedal travel all the time.

If I try to engage gear when the cluth pedal is not fully in, I get the same symptom as when it plays up, only when it plays up the clutch pedal is pressed against the floor of course..

I'm tempted to move over the master and slave from the blue one, just to rule out the clutch hydraulics.

Any chance it's something major inide the gearbox? Please say no..

Tommy

[tommydp]

Ah,, relief:-)

I moved over the master and slave cylinder from the blue one, the whole assembly with pipe and all. So no need to spill fluid, bleed again and so on.

Well, the feel of the pedal was now just like the blue, firm and nice and it shifts easily into gear. Also when I started it cold again now.

It's obvious the pedal now starts to operate earlier on its stroke down to the floor. The clutch also feels more correct, as it engages later. It used to engage almost immediately when returning the pedal from the floor.

So, happy ending it seems. What gets me is how on earth two sets of exactly the same cylinders with same length pushrods can be this different?? All I've done is change the seals on the set which doesn't work.. I notice there's a leak from the master culinder, but why? The seals are new, and fitted correctly. Above all, it's even a NOS cylinder, so not pitted or anything.

I really don't get it. I've done this with success lots of times.

OK, as long as the white is fine again. But I will have to fix a decent set of cluth hydraulics for the blue one now..

T

[Penguin45]

Glad it's all working again, Tommy.

I suspect that when you get down to it, everything is old. Nice new cylinder? Old. New seals? New, but old.

There's a rod change on my car, but it still needs a real shove to get first when stationary. There is some "slop" right through the mechanism - pedal, push rod to master cylinder, push rod out of slave - all these little bits of play mean extra travel on the pedal and I suppose it all adds up to the clutch not quite travelling as far as it might.

Chris.

[dave1800]

The hydraulic lock was "cured" by drilling small hole in the gear cable case (guess what the result is!).

As Chris says old seals can be an issue. If you are getting reduced pedal travel and none of the components have been changed ie m/s, slave, pushrods,release bearing and clutch cover then it must mean that the hydraulic fluid is not fully returning to the master cylinder. As it now works with the blue car m/s, slave and pipe this means that it must be in the m/s, slave or pipe. Has the pipe softened crating a sort of one way valve as can happen with brake flexible hoses? If not is anything restricting the slave cylinder from returning fully (maybe difficult to tell no unless you fancy installing it on the blue car). As you have a leak on the m/s my advice would be to address as the most likely cause.

Fun!

Good luck, regards

David

Sept 11, 2013 19:55:43 GMT tommydp said:

Ah,, relief:-)

I moved over the master and slave cylinder from the blue one, the whole assembly with pipe and all. So no need to spill fluid, bleed again and so on.

Well, the feel of the pedal was now just like the blue, firm and nice and it shifts easily into gear. Also when I started it cold again now.

It's obvious the pedal now starts to operate earlier on its stroke down to the floor. The clutch also feels more correct, as it engages later. It used to engage almost immediately when returning the pedal from the floor.

So, happy ending it seems. What gets me is how on earth two sets of exactly the same cylinders with same length pushrods can be this different?? All I've done is change the seals on the set which doesn't work.. I notice there's a leak from the master culinder, but why? The seals are new, and fitted correctly. Above all, it's even a NOS cylinder, so not pitted or anything.

I really don't get it. I've done this with success lots of times.

OK, as long as the white is fine again. But I will have to fix a decent set of cluth hydraulics for the blue one now..

T

[tommydp]

Well, guess what happened this morning..

It's exactly the same again, going to work. Almost impossible to get into gears when standing. I'm not surprised.. Pedal still fine, so the trouble must be elsewhere. If not an easy fix, I'll sell it. Not taking an engine out again, going into the gearbox etc as I wouldn't know what to look for inside the gearbox.

Damn.

T

[dave1800]

So sorry to hear that Tommy. Just to reiterate "Another possibility could be the flywheel spigot bush clearance being a bit tight, did you use a new bush and ream it if necessary?"

I am at a loss to why this should be intermittent when cold, but some Ferraris has the reputation of not being able to select gears until warmed up back in the 60s so I am informed, sadly didn't have first hand experience.

regards

David

Read more: landcrabs.proboards.com/thread/322/tommys-new-1970-morris-1800?page=3&scrollTo=4547#ixzz2eeutU2ri

Sept 12, 2013 6:16:21 GMT tommydp said:

Well, guess what happened this morning..

It's exactly the same again, going to work. Almost impossible to get into gears when standing. I'm not surprised.. Pedal still fine, so the trouble must be elsewhere. If not an easy fix, I'll sell it. Not taking an engine out again, going into the gearbox etc as I wouldn't know what to look for inside the gearbox.

Damn.

T

[tommydp]

Didn't look into the spigot bush, and changed nothing than the realease bearing. As the engine was claimed to have done only 26 000 miles, I just opened the clutch housing to change the actuating fork, which had been broken. Probably in an attempt to remove the pin that holds the slave push rod. It all worked fine until recently, so guessed the clutch hydraulics did it, but alas..

I really need to know what causes this before eventually removing the power plant once more... Could it be a gearbox or primary gear problem?

If I knew for sure it was the cluth cover, disc, spigot bush I would be happy to tear it apart, but just can't do it if the cause could lie elsewhere, as inside gearbox.

Hydraulic lock. Where to drill, Dave? On the casing where the gear stick sits? Will it have to be in the bottom, to drain the oil, or could it be on top like a rear axle vent?

Regards, T