They get no respect. Water inevitably gets in your engine oil and sits on the sheet metal under the oil. Hard to believe that such a well-lubricated tray could rust from above, but the water sits below the oil and does the damage. (Remember, you need to change your oil at least once per year to get the water and sludge out. Even though you add quarts of oil through the season, you still have to change it.)
[Read more…] about Be kind to your oil pan
Happy Halloween to everyone, have a wonderful weekend, and make sure no egg gets on your auto paint… way back in the day when people threw eggs on Halloween, I got egg on my 1979 Scirocco, which ultimately cracked the paint. I’m not sure this happens anymore, or if modern free range eggs still eat auto paint, but that’s my one treat to offer on this particular holiday! Enjoy!
This is a long term restoration project we are building for another TJ from Reno, Nevada, who we hope will fly-in and drive this beauty home soon!
It is such a joy to start with a beautiful painted tub and lots of new and improved parts! And so we wanted to show you some of the progress shots for TJ’s Bugeye. These pix give you a unique window into how these cars come together. Build sequences may vary depending on which parts are ready, and which decisions might be unresolved with the customer on a given day.
We also rushed to get the wheels on this tub so we can move it around the shop as the build continues to unfold. We’ll add new progress shots next week!
Welcome to summer, and out, out with you all in your little British cars! It feels like we have been pushing, hard to get the cars out the door since the pandemic began, and we are making great progress, with more cars to come!
This week, for example, Kirk got his dad’s Bugeye back, all beautifully restored. This was a long term complete rotisserie restoration, of a car that was quite rough. More than 250 restorative tasks later (including “major rust repair,” “new 1275 engine,” and a whole lot more, “Billy the Bugeye” looks (and drives) better than new!
Soon, TJ will also get his grandfather’s Bugeye back, which has also been enjoying a massive restoration. This is another long-term project that took hundreds of hours and steps, and TJ’s car will hopefully be ready for a maiden cross country drive this July! First, we painted the nose and doors, and next, the body will be painted on a rotisserie.
We are growing, we have new staff to introduce when we catch our breath, and we wish you an wonderful summer of Bugeye!
See you next week!
Ethanol is made from corn.
Ethanol promotes gum. And you will find gum forming in the jet assembly in your carbs, especially if you use your Spridget infrequently. Note the photo below. Pull the choke and the jets come down to richen the mixture. Let go of the choke, and if you are unlucky, gum prevents the jets from returning. Thus your mixture is permanently rich, even though the choke looks like it is in the off position on your dashboard.
These pictures are from Dave in Washington, who reports fouled plugs. No wonder. You can see the gold jet tubes exposed in the photo. This indicates his jets are stuck in the hyper rich position, likely due to ethanol in the fuel and the resultant moisture the corn absorbs and gummy residue that results.
Bummer!
Ethanol free fuel is best if you can find it. We can’t get it here in the Northeast, but look online to see if it is available in your state. Otherwise, check your choke operation. Spray them with carb cleaner as you cycle the choke. Make sure the carb jets slide easily and take them apart to clean the jet tubes. Worst comes to worst, push the jets upward so that their shoulders rest in the proper position, which will effectively turn the choke off.
In the top photo, you can see the left carb jet is lower than the right one. So we also have asymmetrical mixture as a result of this issue. Remember, when you loosen the nut shown right above the jet, you richen the mixture. It should be about 12 flats down from screwed all the way up tight. These carbs would have 50 or more flats screwed down were you to adjust the mixture intentionally to this setting. No wonder the plugs fouled!
We have a few videos about this on youtube that would be worth watching is this is still muddy for you. We have had many questions about this issue, so I wanted to highlight this situation to help people better understand the importance of a healthy choke! We sell new jets and rebuild kits in our catalog if you need them…
Above is another great five speed conversion we just completed for Ralph from Alabama. This car had been previously restored elsewhere, but still needed 128 improvements and upgrades on its visit to our shop. Now this car is in a different league. New rear disk brakes and a new Ford five-speed conversion make this one a dream. Check out the video drive below and see if you can tell. This is not your ordinary worn- out British sports car!
Thanks for the opportunity Ralph, so that we could do our work!
