Thread: 1955 S1 86" addition to the stable

My goodness 6 months flew past! I finally had a bit of a chance to have a look at the '55 today and just saw my previous post on this was 6 months ago! Ah well.

So progress today was I cleaned up the distributor cap and replaced all the HT leads. Then I removed the fuel filter, fuel pump and carby. Cleaned the filter up (photo's tomorrow) and it came up like new. The inside bottom of the glass bowl was full of crap, the glass itself was coated in a hard crusty film but all cleaned up to mint with some elbow grease. There was still fuel in the bowl, although its smell was quite off. The fuel tank itself is dry as a bone and mint clean inside except for maybe a dozen grains of sand.

Tomorrow I'll clean up the fuel pump and carby and get them back on. A bit more lube down the plug holes and I might take the starter motor off to clean that up internally a bit. I'm going for a start in the next few days.
Once it's a running engine I need to remove everything in the cooling circuit and sort out several leaks, but getting the engine running will be a big motivator to press on.
Ciao
John B

Okay, a few photo's as promised. Firstly yesterday's work result - the fuel filter bowl. I didn't get a "before" photo unfortunately, but you'll get the "picture" seeing the differences in some of the other work. (Or check under the bonnet of your own unrestored S1 as it's likely to be in similar state to how mine looked "before").


The fuel pump was next on the hit list. I discovered that the plastic cap is slightly broken, but not badly enough to worry me too much at this stage in the game.


I stripped it down and cleaned everything inside. Most of the internals were covered in a fine white powder. The gauze filter in the bottom was also coated in this powder but cleaned off okay. The wire wheel took care of the outside and the brass fittings. Result ...


I next moved on to the fuel pipes and flexible lines. I didn't bother taking photo's of those. After that I started on the most important part, the carby.


I got the float bowl and float itself pretty clean and then removed a jet and cleaned that. Ran into a significant problem when I replaced the jet in it's home ...


That kind of took the wind out of my sails a bit. By this time I was also late for going to the movies with the wife and sister, so I'll face reality tomorrow when I find out whether the broken part is replaceable from my '64 S2a donor. If not, I'm up defecation creek without a paddle.

Ciao for now.
John B

Originally Posted by JayBoRover

Ran into a significant problem when I replaced the jet in it's home ...
b

Hi John

Sorry to see that part has broken on your carby.
I'm currently working on a carby for 'HECter', sadly I am still waiting for a new after market carby to show up that I ordered from a seller in 16-Nov-12, now I have been forced to open a dispute in the Resolution Centre because of the cutoff date arriving.
I can't say any more than that, other to say, I am deeply disappointed with that seller.

That broken piece, is that part of the body and not the top cover?
I will have to look at my carby again, as I think I am missing the same piece that has broken on one of the two Solex Model; 32PB1-2 that I have here.
That leaves me with only one undamaged Solex that I can use, but I still have some other parts missing, when I find the union banjo and the banjo bolt with it's gauze filter and the washers, I will be able to rebuild and fit an original carby.

I personally don't like the Stromberg for steep country, as their float arrangement allows the fuel level to vary too much as the vehicle tilts.
.

Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

Hi John

Sorry to see that part has broken on your carby.
I'm currently working on a carby for 'HECter', sadly I am still waiting for a new after market carby to show up that I ordered from a seller in 16-Nov-12, now I have been forced to open a dispute in the Resolution Centre because of the cutoff date arriving.
I can't say any more than that, other to say, I am deeply disappointed with that seller.

That broken piece, is that part of the body and not the top cover?
I will have to look at my carby again, as I think I am missing the same piece that has broken on one of the two Solex Model; 32PB1-2 that I have here.
That leaves me with only one undamaged Solex that I can use, but I still have some other parts missing, when I find the union banjo and the banjo bolt with it's gauze filter and the washers, I will be able to rebuild and fit an original carby.

I personally don't like the Stromberg for steep country, as their float arrangement allows the fuel level to vary too much as the vehicle tilts.
.

hi ring me i may be able to help jim

Originally Posted by JayBoRover

That kind of took the wind out of my sails a bit. By this time I was also late for going to the movies with the wife and sister, so I'll face reality tomorrow when I find out whether the broken part is replaceable from my '64 S2a donor. If not, I'm up defecation creek without a paddle.

Ciao for now.
John B

looks like the perfect scenario for using loctite 454 industrial superglue

use the primer as well...

So I completed the cleaning of the carby and glued up the broken bit so had to leave it undisturbed to harden. My attention was diverted for a while to finishing the re-wiring of a trailer but then decided to make a start on checking the cooling system on the 86".

First up though, here's the cleaned up distributor and nice new HT leads:

I struck a bargain on the leads. Went to a REPCO and asked for 7mm stranded HT cable. They found a roll out the back so I asked for 2m - enough to do the 86" and 80". He enters it in the till and says "That can't be right. It says its $.378/m. I think it should be $3.78/m." So he picks up the phone and rings the REPCO service centre and I hear him state that he has a "cost price greater than customer price" issue and he states the stock number. They must have responded that its okay as he hangs up and then says "2m ... that'll be 75 cents". I respond "2m? ... No, I need 10m." So I hand over a fiver and get change!

Then onto the cooling system. First job was to remove the radiator. I want to give it a good look over and cleanup. It will also give me a chance to have a good look at the hoses and thermostat housing, water pump, etc. I start by spraying a bit of WD40 on the various nuts and bolts and in the process discover where the original owner hid the spare key:


Radiator out:


Looks to be in pretty good condition!


No major drama's in getting this far. The top and bottom radiator hoses are both going to need replacing and I had to cut one of the clamps off. The thermostat housing is in better condition than the photo makes it look, but I'll have a good look at it tomorrow. All the radiator bolts came out without issue, making me think the rad has been out in the not too distant past which explains the condition of it as well. It was good to see the front cross member looks as good from the top as it does from every other direction. The chassis in this 86" is a very good one. I understand it had been in covered storage for 20 years before I got it.

Another day tomorrow, so let's see what that brings along.
Ciao

More action today. I could get used to this having time off work to play with Landy's. Shame I have to go back to work on Wednesday.

Anyway, the target for the day was the thermostat housing so I could get a better look at it and see what needs attention. I also figured that getting a good look at the housing and the various pipes attached would give me a good idea of how serious I might have to get with the engine.

So I got the hoses off, that was a tough job that took a fair amount of sweat! Needless to say, none of the hoses have survived.


I got the nuts off the top of the alloy housing easy enough (back and forwards a fair bit and lots of penetrating oil) but the housing itself was stuck onto the steel housing pretty solidly. I decided the whole thing would have to come off so I could attack it in a big bench vice.
Note the unusual arrangement for the water hose connection on the lhs in the photo.



So a fair bit of rust came out! This is about half of it. The other thing to note in this photo is the oval pipe shape for the hose adapter fitting. The correct fitting had obviously been damaged, lost or corroded away in the past so the farmer had a "fix" - in true outback bush mechanic fashion.



One large nut with two smaller nuts welded on to make the "oval" shape. There was lot's of silicon sealant smothered around it too. Classic stuff!



Then a couple of steel fittings to make a smooth diameter section for the hose to clamp over and Bob's your uncle. Of course the use of steel fitting didn't do a lot for the long term survival of the cooling system. I found a couple of ports completely blocked by rust so I suspect the engine may have been retired after over heating one too many times. Maybe I'll need to have a look at the insides after all.

I am a little lucky in that I was given an engine a couple of years ago that is completely stuffed (head was left unbolted with the engine in the weather behind a farmers shed for many years) but it has a fairly good looking thermostat housing and the correct pipework and hoses. (They're the only reason I took the engine). It's stashed away in the back of a shed lean-to, so I'll have to do some digging past lots of others bits and pieces to get to it and have a good look.

Till next time.

Good to see you making progress. Didnt know they had thermostat housings made of cast, better than ally ones. If you need parts for that area talk to Chazza, he made me one for klonk. He does the side pipe for the housing as well as the accel pedal housing.

Cheers Steve