Just bought a Marina!

[Martec]

I'm using EP90 GL5 without problems (the old 60's moss box also used engine oil but it was a sh*t box anyway).

The tappet gap is stated as 13thou (cold), they can be set running as other car makers did but it will require a different gap (god knows what) 12thou or .3mm is fine (cold). My dad was an engine rectifier at Longbridge, you can imagine the sarcastic comments I got when doing jobs on my own car 'you only get 3 minutes to fit an entire engine, they could have built a car in the time you have been messing about'.

As Paul says the tappet arm pad can get worn and recessed, a cheap way around this is to remove the rocker shaft and you can see the recesses, dismantle the rocker arms off the shaft and then polish out the recesses on an oil stone. another option is to find an old tool called a 'Click-o-matic' this effectively screws the tappet down until there is no gap and then open the gap so many clicks (I think it was 4thou per click). We gave one away to the first person who knew what it was on club night last Wednesday. I believe they are still available.

Brian

[Philip]

Thanks Brian. I have changed it now and it has EP90 in now gears seem smoother so that's better.

[Philip]

Remember the pics of my car when I first got it having the front of the wings yellow at the ends, well today I bought an aerosol in harvest gold and masked up the bits I didn't want to paint and gave it a going over. What do you think? It isn't perfect but I hope to get it repainted by Uncle Frank later on in the year.


This is what it looked like before:


I managed to get the osr door open after lots of fiddling. The bit that was stopping it was you know the outer handle, as you pull that inside the door attached to the outer handle is a bracket that pushes on a button. That button was stuck in. I pulled it out sprayed it with wd40 and jobs a goodun! I even found loads of trim clips in the bottom of the door casing!
One thing I haven't fixed yet is the washer jets. I have connected 12v to the pump and nothing happens so its safe to assume that is dead but I have voltage at the wires to the pump all the time. Whats that all about?

[andrewwita]

nice one looks a lot better

[Philip]

Thanks, I'm well pleased. It'll make it presentable for a while until it gets a good going over. Hows your new one going? It looks really smart has it been restored?

[andrewwita]

yeah it is going well . today is the first day i have owned her that i have not driven her. yeah been restored the pics are on here somewhere poss under j reg .

[Philip]

I can't stop driving mine I love it! What mileage has yours done? Mines done 44K I don't know whether that is considered low or high.

[TC-CLIFF]

those front wings look much better.....you are really gettin on with this car! lol

regards your washer pump issue......pop the end off the column stalk switch, inside is a spring & the little brass cone that makes the connection when you press the switch....give that a clean up n re-assemble...takes 2 mins & was what was stoppin my washers from workin.....if its the pump they are readily available from factors

[Martec]

Just a daft idea that you may have missed,

The small jets can get blocked, if you can hear the pump trying then use a very fine pin to 'broddle' the jet clear (I usually keep one pushed into the edge of the sun visor).

If its a submerged pump the the little strainer can be blocked with 'gunge' and just needs cleaning (usually with your finger tip).

Brian

[JoshWard]

That looks great, well done sir 8)

I am quite jealous of what seems to have been a very good purchase! Ah well, mine will be smart one day! I hope to somehow scrape the money together and also get Frank to work his magic on mine

[Philip]

those front wings look much better.....you are really gettin on with this car! lol

regards your washer pump issue......pop the end off the column stalk switch, inside is a spring & the little brass cone that makes the connection when you press the switch....give that a clean up n re-assemble...takes 2 mins & was what was stoppin my washers from workin.....if its the pump they are readily available from factors

Thanks. It does look much better. I plan to mask the pinstripe out and paint it in with some touch up. May turn out worse than it looks now though!
I will try the trick with the switch though but I don't think the pump works either and I am confused as to why I seem to have permanant live and earth to it. Maybe it has voltage but no amperage? I will have to put the multimeter on it as I have only been testing it with a bulb and wire.

[Philip]

Just a daft idea that you may have missed,

The small jets can get blocked, if you can hear the pump trying then use a very fine pin to 'broddle' the jet clear (I usually keep one pushed into the edge of the sun visor).

If its a submerged pump the the little strainer can be blocked with 'gunge' and just needs cleaning (usually with your finger tip).

Brian

Thanks Brian, the pump isn't running anyway but I'll remember that for future.

[Philip]

That looks great, well done sir 8)

I am quite jealous of what seems to have been a very good purchase! Ah well, mine will be smart one day! I hope to somehow scrape the money together and also get Frank to work his magic on mine

Cheers!
If you are planning to get yours done properly anyway, why not try practicing on the manky bits? If you make a meal of it you know that it is going to be done properly anyway? I only did that with wet and dry and an aerosol.

[Philip]

I bought a Sealey oil evacuation pump yesterday to drain my diff. It is on special offer at the moment. £62. A lot of money but did a superb job. I got about 1.3 litres of oil out of the diff and refilled with EP90 GL4 spec. I did the gearbox too. Do you think I have done any damage having EP90 GL5 in it for a week?
I changed the n/s track rod end as well today because the boot was split and the joint appeared to be seized. Unfortunately it wasn't the joint that is seized but the track control arm. :x Are these available separately from the rack and can they be changed separately? I have the use of a strobe light for the weekend but my manual doesn't tell me how many degrees advanced the ignition timing needs to be and which mark on the timing chain case out of about five is tdc. Timing again tomorrow and a thermostat change in the hopes it'll warm up quicker.

[Philip]

Hi guys, I fixed the washers today! I bought a new pump from the local factors and fitted that and the washers ran continuously. I guessed they would as I connected a test light up to it before changing the pump and it lit up continually. I took the end of the stalk switch off and the little brass nipple had fallen out of the plastic stalk end. I fitted the brass nippleback and reassembled it and jobs a goodun!!!
I guess the switch falling to bits giving constant power to the old pump burned it out.

Thanks to whoever suggested taking the stalk to bits.