DaveN

.........(this is used on the post-war 500cc twin cylinder Sunbeam motorcycles I'm rather fond of). Rebuilt one o’ them with my father many moons ago....HBO 590. I see it was last mot’d in 2012 so it is still around. It was a complete basket case when we collected it. Twas an S8 and never been used for hauling a chair. As for indexing plugs... have a google some odd people reckon it’s worth it! Me.. I just gap ‘em and wind them in...any old plug will do providing it starts and goes flat out...(well not really, when I got my car it has some Champion thingys that I left for a couple of years then swapped them out for ngk’s of some description. Are they better? Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference but hey ho!

I also see that some folk recommend 'indexing' the plug so that the electrode gap is facing the incoming fuel/air mixture.

Well that told me! Here I am at gone midnight rummaging around in the loft for my notes... and I can’t find them! Excellent piece written by Mr.Pratt and Mr. Witney! Covered everything from automotive up to the big radials But on a point the gap is treated as a resistance, no? So if you had an extra wide gap... resistive plugs and resistive leads. Would one of Mr Lucas’s coils struggle to overcome?

IIRC you need some sort of resistance in the line be it the leads or cap or plug. If there’s very little resistance the voltage will jump the gap too easily and you get a weaker spark. On the other hand you don’t need resistive leads and resistive plugs as it may put too much load on the coil as it has to build the voltage to a higher level. Not forgetting of course if you have radio the interference will ruin listening to.......(insert here the name of your favoured pop music)

+1 for the Mx5 seats and the mk2 version with the separate headrest to my mind looks best! The floor brackets, I got mine from TR traders. The seat runner will need a slight modification... ie flattening out at the forward end. I bolted the floor brackets direct to the floor pan of the car under the carpets. (I have seen some bolted over the carpet). One thing with the Mx5 seats you must not use the Mx5 seat belt point. So remove that and discard it. And use the one that attaches to the strong point on the car as per original. Finally an MGF seat belt guide as perfect at keeping the shoulder harness tidy. (Usually find them on fleabay).

Whilst ambling up to the triumph weekend I stumbled upon the answer quite by accident to the fumes that some of you seem to suffer. If you maintain 4200 rpm in overdrive top.... any fumes are a thing of the past!

Enjoyable day out with the London group to Brooklands. Wanted to thrash up ‘the hill’ but wasn’t allowed to. Nightmare getting there M25 traffic but thrashed the cobwebs out on the way home. Hottest day of the year and it behaved itself impeccably!

There is fuel in there but not much check the cavity spill return line connector. Also check that the return line is not blocked. Disconnect and blow down it. It takes a little effort as it’s only a small bore pipe. One other thing to check is the condition of the small section of rubber hose accessible with the near side rear wheel off. dave had the same issue with the push on hose at the MU, the end had collapsed!

‘Pumping”??? Unless you have one of those self bleed kits it’s best with two people. 1) fit the hose and pop the open end in a jar with about half an inch of fluid in it. 2) fill the reservoir 3) get someone to s l o w l y push the pedal down 4) at the same time crack the nipple open and close it off before the pedal reaches the floor. 5) repeat...... but keep an eye on the reservoir contents. 6) work your way around NSR OSR NSF OSF 7) if you’ve managed to introduce a load of air into the fluid allow it to stand overnight. dave

Swop it with another cylinder? Also take a looksee in the injector as some may still have the mesh filter.

I use petrol.... scrub it in with a brush..... then set fire to it! Burn it off plenty of black smoke, then finish off with washing up liquid. That’s for concrete or stone... I wouldn’t try it on tarmac! saves buying another product!

Right.... mines a ‘P’ plate.... it has black plates! Registered historic. I did wear ear defenders but now wear expanding plugs that have an excellent attenuation rate as it’s so noisy and the wind buffeting around the ears. We have a hearing test at work luckily I still get the full spectrum but the nurse doing it said most people it’s weaker on the right hand side due to driving with the window open!

A major part of the problem is people not willing to pay for quality. They expect prices that are commensurate with the age of the car. I’d willingly pay for a quality part ..... buy cheap buy twice as they say! And yep I've been caught out with a **** overdrive switch too! The wiper switch after looking at one .... I managed to get an original.... still in its tatty box!

@Jogger321 Halfords do a two part cleaner that’s not too pricey. First bottle is the cleaning agent the second is the neutralising solution. Also definitely pull that plug on the side of the block if you can and do as Roger suggested with a length of old coat hangar.... you may be surprised at what comes out! JfI with mine I pulled the hose off the heater flow and return and stuck a hose on it and flushed it both ways, and stuffed my pressure washer in that block drain...messy!!

Aarrggh you can’t say that Eddie the millennial snowflakes will have palpitations, and will need counselling! Dave