1968 Hillman Minx Estate - 08/10/21 - Road Trip!

[Seth]

Oh, poo.



Only just made it home last night after heading across town having consumed rather a lot of water and created something of a smoke screen. Took the plugs out first thing this morning and No4 was clearly not happy. I knew it was basically only running on three.



A close look at the gasket and I'm reasonably sure (read: hoping) that this was the problem and that a new decent gasket will solve the problem.



Need to check the head for any obvious warp though it was skimmed 18 months ago. Still plenty of meat on it if it needs another light one though.

[bstardchild]

That didn't last long...... I appreciate the gasket failed but why did it fail

[Seth]

My feeling* is that the gasket has never sealed properly and has gradually deteriorated. The engine suffered from some 'condensation mayonnaise' in the rocker cover last year and this returned a few weeks ago as the weather cooled off. I'll be checking the head for flatness but unless something shows up obviously wrong I'll get hold of a good head gasket and bolt it all back together and see what happens.


*as also generally agreed with by a scary old Cortina owner who's certainly had more experience of such things than I've had hot breakfasts.

[jrevillug]

That's a pain - hope the head's nice and flat.

I know that you have, 'cos it's what you do, but check that the bolts and bolt holes are clear and the threads run nicely.

I blew a gasket in much the same fashion because a bit of grit in one of the bolt holes caused the bolt to bind - the friction meant that the bolt reached torque sooner than the others, so didn't apply as much clamping force.

[redratbike]

Wow just read all 46 pages.....nice ride ...lots of good info ..cheers keep up the good work

[Deleted]

You're a dab hand at keeping this old thing going, I reckon you'll have it sorted in a lunch break or something.

[Seth]

Cheers chaps. Vilerug, I know all the threads were clean when it was last assembled as I did that when I was rebuilding the whole thing. But I'll be checking them again now Gasket set now ordered from Speedy Spares.

[jrevillug]

Dec 2, 2013 14:28:46 GMT Seth said:

Vilerug

That Mystery Machine's influence gets everywhere...

[Mystery Machine]

Sorry to hear the news about the HG and I hope the head itself is more Norfolk than Yorkshire? I'm sure you'll have it up and running again before too long?

Only this morning I was posted this photo to Facebook because I love the car so much (this and Stuy's Sapporo are my two defining 'Retro Rides' cars)



Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery and in your capable hands, I am confident that it'll be a lot speedier than in most peoples.

[Seth]

Thanks MM. Yeah do like that picture. It's one of the few photos of the Hillman moving.

I was hoping to get this back together in the middle of last week, gasket arrived next day from Speedy Spares but then when I left it 'til Wednesday to have a really close look at the head I wasn't really happy with it. So on Thursday morning I took it to Middlesex Rebore who skimmed .008" off it ready to pick up later that day. Now at least I knew it was flat but I'm still a bit concerned about some of the porosity near the fire ring that is a result of welded repairs done before I owned it. I don't think they are the cause of the failure I've had and basically I'm backed in to a corner of slapping it all back together again and hoping for the best. So this morning I put all the valves back in...



And then spent some time bolting everything back together. Vilerug's suggestion was taken on board and while I'm sure I did check all the threads were clean the last time I assembled it the one nearest the failure wasn't as smooth running as it should have been. Just a bit gunky but that may be accumulated crud since the last assembly. Anyway, all cleaned and smooth now.

While everything was apart last week I took the opportunity to replace various O rings in the carbs with ones that I'd got ages ago from the Imp Club. I originally put new ones where the float chambers seal against the jets and this joint has I think been dry but I didn't realise there were more hiding up inside the jet assembly. I presume the originals were 40 odd years old and had gone hard and brittle.



Managed to get it all together before running out of light today and got it fired up and taken for a drive round the block. All seems well so lets hope it lasts a while. No dampness at the bottom of the carb jets either so maybe I'll be wasting little less fuel.

To be honest I'm not that disgruntled with it as the gasket went in a manner which enabled me to get home last Sunday rather than on the way to/from Manchester with the family a few weeks ago, or worse, on a mountain pass in Alsace while towing the trailer tent back in August....

[leaky]

Wow great finding this thread on here. My mate goes to uni in Hendon. I had stayed at his house for a weekend and on my way home I followed you you a while. I got a pic of your car somewhere haha. Sweet ride man. Sounds really nice!

[Seth]

Small world, leaky.

This post is brought to you with apologies to Gerry Rafferty.



Drivin’ your way down Baker Street
Light turns to green, the car feels reet
Well another crazy day
You’ll drive down this way
And forget about everything
Especially that pot hole right down there
The tarmac has sunk, oh no what a ‘mare
And you hit the ground so hard
Wonder if there was a spark
That would have been quite cool.

You think it could have been the sump
You say out loud, please don’t be the sump
But you’re worried,
You’re worried now.
A space over there and you pull in fast
Cut the engine and expect the worst
But you see no oil,
See no oil now.


Uh, humm. That'll do. Yeah, it was the crossmember that seemed to take the hit. I figured it would be easier and quicker to get a replacement than try and straighten the original. Rather than just bolt it on though it made sense to improve matters. First I seam welded the lower plate all the way round rather than rely on the dozen or so spot welds on each side knowing some of those had given way.



Then got some 3mm plate, bent up a skid lip and welded that on too.



Eat that Baker Street.



Fimally got a moment to swap them over. I was worried about the bolts that hold the crossmember to the 'chassis' rails. I needen't have been. They could have been put in yesterday, not over 45 years ago



So, err, you might be wondering what the one on the car looked like.



Here it is compared with the 'new' one.



Everything bolted back up OK. Ready to fight another day on the mean (and bumpy) streets of London.

[bazzateer]

Hi Seth,

Was that the pot hole where Baker St crosses Marylebone Rd by any chance? I've hit it in the company car recently, luckily with no damage, drove my own car in today and remembered to avoid it.

[hairnet]

that boris - comedian :\

car is an ice block

[Seth]

Jan 5, 2014 15:12:38 GMT bazzateer said:

Hi Seth,

Was that the pot hole where Baker St crosses Marylebone Rd by any chance? I've hit it in the company car recently, luckily with no damage, drove my own car in today and remembered to avoid it.

No, not that one. Its about a third of the way down between Marylebone Rd and Oxford Street, just a bit dip with a bit of a lump on the far side and mostly in the middle lane. I normally drive up the right hand side but wasn't on that occasion.

[qwerty]

Oooh think i'll steal that skid plate design for the 'tina. Good work as always!

[Paul H]

Ouch - that old crossmember looks a tad out of shape.... I remember you mentioning that it was damaged, but didn't realise that it was that bad!!!

[Seth]

Jan 5, 2014 22:18:43 GMT Paul H said:

Ouch - that old crossmember looks a tad out of shape.... I remember you mentioning that it was damaged, but didn't realise that it was that bad!!!

Yeah, well its not really as bad as it probably looks in the photos where it all looks pretty banana shaped. Suspension geometry hadn't been affected to any noticeable extent.

[bazzateer]

Jan 5, 2014 19:21:19 GMT Seth said:

Jan 5, 2014 15:12:38 GMT bazzateer said:

Hi Seth,

Was that the pot hole where Baker St crosses Marylebone Rd by any chance? I've hit it in the company car recently, luckily with no damage, drove my own car in today and remembered to avoid it.

No, not that one. Its about a third of the way down between Marylebone Rd and Oxford Street, just a bit dip with a bit of a lump on the far side and mostly in the middle lane. I normally drive up the right hand side but wasn't on that occasion.

I'll keep that one in mind then!

[Amazosan]

I still think you should put some 10 gauge steel teeth on that crossmember; Baker Street's bumps won't know what hit 'em.