I'd heard about Mike's broken drive shaft, but not the R400. How far into the trip did they get?
As some of you may know, the NE7ER's have just got back from our Fu*king Big Blat round Scotland.
Newcastle to Aviemore, Aviemore to Ulapool via Tongue and Durness, then Ulapool to Crief and finally home via Kielder.
1000 odd miles, 20 ish cars and 3 bikes. Was fantastic fun, but as ever there is a price to pay.
I'd fitted a new (to me) ZZR engine a couple of weeks before the blat, so it was pretty much unknown to me. It started fine, but by the end
it's started producing a lot of blue smoke on the overrun / coming off throttle to change down. I'm hoping valve seals, as I have a spare
set of them. Does anyone know if they can be done without removing the head? Is there a special tool / technique?
Other niggles include losing a side repeater lens somewhere near Tomintoul. They are the clear oval ones, looks like it smashed clean off, leaving
the bulb exposed. Replacement should be easy enough.
The fan only works intermittentley. Suspect wiring fault following nearly submerging the car in flood water.
And the most interesting fault was at some point between Bonar Bridge and Loch Shin, I lost the end of my exhaust can. The end cap and 90 degree bend
fell off and I didn't notice (had ear plugs in and was pressing on!). I think when I repacked it, I'd used either the wrong size or spec
rivets! Doh!
The end cap falling off, allowed the perforated titanium inner pipe to slide backwards and touch the rear wing / stone protector, directing the hot
exhaust gases straight onto the wing. Not a problem when I was pressing on, as the cooling effect of the wind must have kept the fire out.
But when I stopped in the first passing place on the single track to Tongue, the rear wing burst into flames. Interesting!
Got it put out quickly and thanks to some fence wire, a commercial sized can of baked beans and some top quality bodging by Dave I managed to complete
the tour under my own steam (smoke).
So 907 has kindly offered to repair the can for me and I need a new pair of rear arches. I know I can get them from MK, but it's a bit of a pain
getting down south to pick them up. Would the Haynes roadster ones from Saturn fit?
We had two cars fail to finish, unfortunatley they were both of the organisers cars, a Caterham R400 with a holed sump and a Westie with a broken
diff.
Other interesting incidents included the rear window on an Elise completely shattering, wheel bearings needing adjusting, a broken ARB on a Westie,
broken clutch and throttle cables. Cars running out of electricity.
Oh and the most fantastic blatting round some spectacular roads, through some spectacular scenary.
Mike
[Edited on 2/6/10 by Guinness]
Sounds like an awesome holiday, can you post up the route?
quote:
Originally posted by alistairolsen
Sounds like an awesome holiday, can you post up the route?
you'll have to take the head off because you'll need a valve compressor to take the collets off and then remove the springs to get to the valve seals . it will be easy tho in the car,,loads of room to work around . getting the timing right when you put the cams back in might be a little awkward tho depending witch cover you have to take off to get the timing marks
Glad you had fun. Hopefully you can get those problems sorted on your car.
Take the other coast next time ;-)
A good time had by most. I'd heard about Mike's broken drive shaft, but not the R400. How far into the trip did they get?
Where's the scenic arty photos then?
Sounds like a bit of a hoot
I'll have a look for that lens you lost near Tomintoul next time I'm up... shouldn't be all that hard to find!
quote:
Originally posted by Andy D
A good time had by most.
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Where's the scenic arty photos then?
Sounds like a bit of a hoot
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
I'll have a look for that lens you lost near Tomintoul next time I'm up... shouldn't be all that hard to find!
Mike, sounds awesome and the weather looked OK.
Take it the over-heating probs. sorted then?
Regarding valve stem seals there are a couple of ways without removing the head:-
1) buy a cylinder pressurising air tool from Machine Mart to use with the compressor. Theory is that it keeps the valves up whilst you release
them.
2) Bodge job - stuff thin rope (non hairy stuff) down the plug holes to support the valves.
Contemplated both on mine but finally decided that I rather have a good look around the head/bores etc. whilst I was at it so took it off. It's
the more costly option though by the time you've bought all the gaskets etc. plus any spare parts but it has bought some peace of mind.
HTH. Cheers, Pewe
quote:
Originally posted by Guinness
I'm hoping valve seals, as I have a spare set of them. Does anyone know if they can be done without removing the head? Is there a special tool / technique?
[Edited on 2/6/10 by Guinness]
Mike, the rear arches I've seen form Saturn look identical to mine.
May be worth having a drive down and seeing if Andy has any in. Saturday open day with a barbecue.
Fancy a ride down?
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Mike, the rear arches I've seen form Saturn look identical to mine.
May be worth having a drive down and seeing if Andy has any in. Saturday open day with a barbecue
Fancy a ride down?
quote:
Originally posted by Guinness
As some of you may know, the NE7ER's have just got back from our Fu*king Big Blat round Scotland.
Newcastle to Aviemore, Aviemore to Ulapool via Tongue and Durness, then Ulapool to Crief and finally home via Kielder.
1000 odd miles, 20 ish cars and 3 bikes. Was fantastic fun, but as ever there is a price to pay.
I'd fitted a new (to me) ZZR engine a couple of weeks before the blat, so it was pretty much unknown to me. It started fine, but by the end it's started producing a lot of blue smoke on the overrun / coming off throttle to change down. I'm hoping valve seals, as I have a spare set of them. Does anyone know if they can be done without removing the head? Is there a special tool / technique?
Other niggles include losing a side repeater lens somewhere near Tomintoul. They are the clear oval ones, looks like it smashed clean off, leaving the bulb exposed. Replacement should be easy enough.
The fan only works intermittentley. Suspect wiring fault following nearly submerging the car in flood water.
And the most interesting fault was at some point between Bonar Bridge and Loch Shin, I lost the end of my exhaust can. The end cap and 90 degree bend fell off and I didn't notice (had ear plugs in and was pressing on!). I think when I repacked it, I'd used either the wrong size or spec rivets! Doh!
The end cap falling off, allowed the perforated titanium inner pipe to slide backwards and touch the rear wing / stone protector, directing the hot exhaust gases straight onto the wing. Not a problem when I was pressing on, as the cooling effect of the wind must have kept the fire out.
But when I stopped in the first passing place on the single track to Tongue, the rear wing burst into flames. Interesting!
Got it put out quickly and thanks to some fence wire, a commercial sized can of baked beans and some top quality bodging by Dave I managed to complete the tour under my own steam (smoke).
So 907 has kindly offered to repair the can for me and I need a new pair of rear arches. I know I can get them from MK, but it's a bit of a pain getting down south to pick them up. Would the Haynes roadster ones from Saturn fit?
We had two cars fail to finish, unfortunatley they were both of the organisers cars, a Caterham R400 with a holed sump and a Westie with a broken diff.
Other interesting incidents included the rear window on an Elise completely shattering, wheel bearings needing adjusting, a broken ARB on a Westie, broken clutch and throttle cables. Cars running out of electricity.
Oh and the most fantastic blatting round some spectacular roads, through some spectacular scenary.
Mike
[Edited on 2/6/10 by Guinness]
I would go with the Saturn ones, lot thicker than the flimsy ones on mine. The extra money is worth the extra glass!