Dominic Yates
Member
Hi everyone, I thought it was about time I started my project thread.
Firstly, I bought the car from a friend in September 2015 for after he found it in his dad's garage. It had been there since 1981, untouched by everything but the sun and with only 4632 miles on the clock. The paint was scorched as well as the rear seats, the front passenger wing and boot both had minor dents. Upon arrival the first thing my dad did was check the sills, footwells, wheel arches and boot for rust. So far, no rust or signs of welding. Not much to do! (or so we thought). Not being able to drive at the time, she sat on my drive for 5 months whilst my dad and I tinkered here and there.
We drained the fuel tank and put some fresh in and turned her over. The plugs where shot so a new set was installed along with a new dizzy cap, leads, points, rotor arm and condenser. After the parts finally arrived and where fit we turned her over again. She started at last! however, It was rough. The bearings in the water pump had gone for starters. I managed to source a refurbished one for £25 so in that went and the old one is in storage waiting to be sent for reconditioning.
Even after the new ignition parts, she was only running on 3 pots, so the compression tester was out and confirmed low compression on cylinder 3 and it was dropping constantly. So the head came off, after eliminating any other possibilities, for a new head gasket. The red hermetite had failed causing an air leak. New gasket was £16 from an ebay supplier, with more than 20 available at the time of writing, just in case you need one! Whilst the head was off we decided to check the valves and found hardened valves already in place somehow. Or at least, my dad seems to think they are hardened upon close inspection. Checking the camshaft revealed no scoring, marks or any indication that the car had done any more than the miles on the clock either so I still can't figure out how the head gasket failed in such a low number of miles.
Did I do something to cause the failure and if so, what and how do I prevent it happening again?
Finally and after hours of fiddling about with the head, we managed to rebuild and fire her up. Smooth sailing! Apart from a hole in the exhaust manifold which we managed to weld up, she sounded smooth and content at last.
We then bled the brakes before attempting to drive, which was my first encounter with the de Dion suspension and inboard brakes. Oh, the fun we had with that!
Following this, we took her for an mot just to find out what we had missed and what more was needed. She passed with flying colours!
The bodywork was simple enough, the dents in both the boot and front wing where smoothed out and filled and the black was applied after several hours of prep. The result. Black Betty as she is today.
I'll put a few pictures up when I find them but here is a list of what we have done so far;
New; Condenser, Rotor arm, Points, Dizzy cap, HT Leads, Plugs, Head Gasket, Water Pump, Float assembly for front and back float chambers, fuel pipe from the pump to carbs, misc rubber parts like window seals, air filters, oil filter, bottom heater hose and heater outlet hoses and finally a nice new coat of paint.
I will be bleeding the clutch and putting new brake pads on the front passenger side today if all goes well. Alongside trying to find out why the brake piston is sticking in the first place. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for reading and I'll post some photos to Photobucket at this link: dominicyates1994's Library Slideshow
Cheers,
Dominic
Firstly, I bought the car from a friend in September 2015 for after he found it in his dad's garage. It had been there since 1981, untouched by everything but the sun and with only 4632 miles on the clock. The paint was scorched as well as the rear seats, the front passenger wing and boot both had minor dents. Upon arrival the first thing my dad did was check the sills, footwells, wheel arches and boot for rust. So far, no rust or signs of welding. Not much to do! (or so we thought). Not being able to drive at the time, she sat on my drive for 5 months whilst my dad and I tinkered here and there.
We drained the fuel tank and put some fresh in and turned her over. The plugs where shot so a new set was installed along with a new dizzy cap, leads, points, rotor arm and condenser. After the parts finally arrived and where fit we turned her over again. She started at last! however, It was rough. The bearings in the water pump had gone for starters. I managed to source a refurbished one for £25 so in that went and the old one is in storage waiting to be sent for reconditioning.
Even after the new ignition parts, she was only running on 3 pots, so the compression tester was out and confirmed low compression on cylinder 3 and it was dropping constantly. So the head came off, after eliminating any other possibilities, for a new head gasket. The red hermetite had failed causing an air leak. New gasket was £16 from an ebay supplier, with more than 20 available at the time of writing, just in case you need one! Whilst the head was off we decided to check the valves and found hardened valves already in place somehow. Or at least, my dad seems to think they are hardened upon close inspection. Checking the camshaft revealed no scoring, marks or any indication that the car had done any more than the miles on the clock either so I still can't figure out how the head gasket failed in such a low number of miles.
Did I do something to cause the failure and if so, what and how do I prevent it happening again?
Finally and after hours of fiddling about with the head, we managed to rebuild and fire her up. Smooth sailing! Apart from a hole in the exhaust manifold which we managed to weld up, she sounded smooth and content at last.
We then bled the brakes before attempting to drive, which was my first encounter with the de Dion suspension and inboard brakes. Oh, the fun we had with that!
Following this, we took her for an mot just to find out what we had missed and what more was needed. She passed with flying colours!
The bodywork was simple enough, the dents in both the boot and front wing where smoothed out and filled and the black was applied after several hours of prep. The result. Black Betty as she is today.
I'll put a few pictures up when I find them but here is a list of what we have done so far;
New; Condenser, Rotor arm, Points, Dizzy cap, HT Leads, Plugs, Head Gasket, Water Pump, Float assembly for front and back float chambers, fuel pipe from the pump to carbs, misc rubber parts like window seals, air filters, oil filter, bottom heater hose and heater outlet hoses and finally a nice new coat of paint.
I will be bleeding the clutch and putting new brake pads on the front passenger side today if all goes well. Alongside trying to find out why the brake piston is sticking in the first place. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for reading and I'll post some photos to Photobucket at this link: dominicyates1994's Library Slideshow
Cheers,
Dominic
