Hats off to Old Skool Engineers who have a passion for Classics
In a previous post I was talking about having Accuspark fitted to the B, well Thursday was the day so i duly trundled the B down to (shameless plug) Chris at
www.birksmotors.co.uk, they have been fettling my non dailies for the past decade or so and each time I am more than impressed with the attention to detail they lavish on current, remedial and advisory work.
So, Thursday morning I delivered the Car with a bag full of goodies, the work was to fit the electronic ignition and carry out a service, balance the carbs and remove the non standard chrome cill covers, below are a few photos when the car was on the ramp:
Lots of gratuity above showing the suspension and cooling mods, below here she is on the ramps, this is the first time I've had a decent look standing rather than crawling!
I popped back in circa 2 (Chris and his crew plus myself are more interested in oily bits rather than FOOTBALL!!
1st Problem : ignition in OK, carbs balanced OK, On a check only a proper engineer would do probably 80% of the bolts holding the above yellow bits AND propshaft had obviously been tightened with someone with as much dexterity as Ghandi (apologies if that offends, but i never saw him in a car!)..... however all we tightened within due course..... proper engines!
2nd Problem : Rees wanted to start the B to check the pressure then the Oil, I was looking into the engine Bay at the ARP bolts holding the head done, heard a click of a fuel pump and saw smoke rising (thinking my role up was igniting (we all smoked at some point, get over it!)) I shouted 'STOP'
When the dynamo (those under 30 search for bike dynamo on wiki to get an idea..) was converted to a alternator (wiki again...) the wiring was soldered with a fag litre and poorly wrapped! Chris spent 3 next 3 hours upside down (check your invoice, you undercharged..... proper engineer!) testing every wire and tracing the problem.....I'll get to that in a moment!
After spending several hours it was approaching 5 so I had to retreat, to the pub, and drink Bitter (wiki again.... Bitter IN Lager OUT, got to love a microbrewery)
Friday
I had to travel to the Midlands, popped into the garage en route to the garage to find Chris had traced the problem to a frayed wire (thanks metal dashboard!) causing short and replaced said wire and replaced the ignition wire.......
I set of elated to the MotoBahn listening to 'Roachford 'Cuddly Toy' (wiki....) in my daily twin turbo diesel, on a high and realising the bill would be crippling (Chris, check your invoice...) I decided to drive at 70 MPH for 120 painful miles and achieved 50 MPG, mind you with no aircon, stereo, windows down I was nearly like James May in old TG!
I'm now rambling, got home quickly (only 37 MPG) and decide to take the B out for a spin, 2 hours later and in the rain it is a different machine, bothe handling but the performance is night and day!
Hats off to Old Skool Engineers who have a passion for Classics
In a previous post I was talking about having Accuspark fitted to the B, well Thursday was the day so i duly trundled the B down to (shameless plug) Chris at
www.birksmotors.co.uk, they have been fettling my non dailies for the past decade or so and each time I am more than impressed with the attention to detail they lavish on current, remedial and advisory work.
So, Thursday morning I delivered the Car with a bag full of goodies, the work was to fit the electronic ignition and carry out a service, balance the carbs and remove the non standard chrome cill covers, below are a few photos when the car was on the ramp:
Lots of gratuity above showing the suspension and cooling mods, below here she is on the ramps, this is the first time I've had a decent look standing rather than crawling!
I popped back in circa 2 (Chris and his crew plus myself are more interested in oily bits rather than FOOTBALL!!
1st Problem : ignition in OK, carbs balanced OK, On a check only a proper engineer would do probably 80% of the bolts holding the above yellow bits AND propshaft had obviously been tightened with someone with as much dexterity as Ghandi (apologies if that offends, but i never saw him in a car!)..... however all we tightened within due course..... proper engines!
2nd Problem : Rees wanted to start the B to check the pressure then the Oil, I was looking into the engine Bay at the ARP bolts holding the head done, heard a click of a fuel pump and saw smoke rising (thinking my role up was igniting (we all smoked at some point, get over it!)) I shouted 'STOP'
When the dynamo (those under 30 search for bike dynamo on wiki to get an idea..) was converted to a alternator (wiki again...) the wiring was soldered with a fag litre and poorly wrapped! Chris spent 3 next 3 hours upside down (check your invoice, you undercharged..... proper engineer!) testing every wire and tracing the problem.....I'll get to that in a moment!
After spending several hours it was approaching 5 so I had to retreat, to the pub, and drink Bitter (wiki again.... Bitter IN Lager OUT, got to love a microbrewery)
Friday
I had to travel to the Midlands, popped into the garage en route to the garage to find Chris had traced the problem to a frayed wire (thanks metal dashboard!) causing short and replaced said wire and replaced the ignition wire.......
Thanks Chris!