james christie

These things are notoriously unreliable. It’s not a vapour trap (at least on my 3A it wasn’t) It’s a vacuum unit with a membrane to retard things a bit if you floor the accelerator. If you set the bob weights up in the distributor appropriately you can do away with it - as I did some 20 years ago. james

Looks good, but is there enough movement to enable you to turn the ‘box on its axis to allow the clutch lever to clear the floor? This is a job that I’ve always done ‘manually’ with a beefy helper. In latter years I’ve always had a bit of luck in recruiting someone younger to operate on the underside. The advancing years make me think that a crane is not only a good idea but essential! james

Ah thanks. - not only do I lose my European citizenship on Friday midnight but I have already lost some of my English. I’m more or less at the same stage after a minor (copper) head gasket blow possibly caused by replacing an old 4lb rad cap by a new 7lb. The liners are all at the same protrusion 3-5 thou Trying hard to motivate myself to get on with it.... james

Can you expand on this as I haven’t understood what you are suggesting ’confused’ from Brittany aka james

A stout fence post some rope and some sturdy young lads with good shoulders will get the engine out without the expense of a crane. I did this for the first time in an Aberdeen back street surrounded by snowdrifts, some fifty years ago. james

Drewmotty has good point. Fifty years ago, didn’t we all / most of us want to modify our cars to look something like this. I recall that £sd was the problem.... Now we have become purists and even the poor guy who nowadays paints his car in a non-original colour is shot down in flames from a great height! james

French registrations I think, Andrew james

Be like me and get somebody younger and stronger under the car to do the lifting while you twist it from inside. I did a major antileak operation a couple of years on my 3A as I got seriously miffed at the cynical remarks by my friendly local (French) 'MOT' inspector about English built cars always pithing oil everywhere. Once it's out and on the bench don't wipe it down until you have observed (and photographed?) where all the leaks are coming from. The obvious ones are the front and rear seals - then there are a myriad of others to check. All will have gone brittle over the years, so it's not a bad idea to plan and change the lot and I mean the lot. Don't forget the ones on the top around the gearshift shafts which are often forgotten and even more often ignored as they are a pain to do. The overdrive unit is a bit of a challenge as well. The operations are well documented if you search the fora here. I redid all the engine seals as well. The autosatisfaction was considerable when I was able to offer my inspector a leak free car! james

Probably better to wrap the exhaust - which is what I have done, more to protect the alternator, but the wrapping material don't come cheap!! james

Many thanks, Roger. Now to find a 1" UNF tap in France....... james

Thanks for this info. Yes it is the aluminium (coolant) plug in the centre of the cyl head I had an unsuccessful attempt at cleaning the thread with a wire brush. The plug won't screw fully home and as it is in aluminium I don't want force it. To save me from a mortal end in ignorance can you trained mechanics explain the difference between UNF and NF? james

Can some kind soul give me the thread type for the 1" aluminium core plug for the 4 cylinder engines. Part N° PS 1603, I believe. I need to order a tap to tidy up the thread. UNC ? thanks james

For a mirror arm, a visit to a Harley Davidson shop can be rewarding james

Pink, what you need is one of these james

Ah well , some 30 something years ago, just to be different from everybody else, I converted my rhd 3A to lhd. Lucky for me it had the lh blanking plate in place. TS 613** if you're interested james