Project PUS (Sapphire Sprint)

[sprint95m]

When sitting in my Dolomite and looking at the buckle the "PRESS" is the right way up .

[Mad Mart]

Woohoo! PUS's engine lives again.

After checking & double checking everything, I filled the engine with oil & used a leccy drill to pump the oil round via the hex oil pump drive. I then refitted the dizzy which was now complete with leccy ignition. I then cranked the engine over to further get the oil distributed & make sure there wasn't any obvious nasty noises. Finally I fitted the plugs, dizzy cap & leads and cranked the engine again. I checked for a spark & that was fine so I then had a look at the ignition timing. With Mary cranking it over I got the strobe on the crankshaft pulley. It was on 12 deg. BTDC which wasn't bad as I'd only set it up by eye. Anyway I set it to 10 BTDC. I then remembered that I hadn't put any fuses in Cranked it again but still it wouldn't start, so I sprayed some quick start juice in the carbs and it did fire a few times but failed to run. So I thought it must be fuel. Took off the float lids and sure enough no petrol in them. After topping them up I then tried again and bingo, the engine ran for a short while until the fuel had been used from the float chambers. Looks like the fuel pump isn't doing what it's supposed to do so I will be on the phone to Fitchetts in the morning to order a new one.

Apart from getting the engine started we have now put the majority of the interior back in, Tunnel, parcel shelf, front seats. The bonnet & boot lid arrived last Wednesday so they are lying patiently on the spare bed ready to be fitted.

[Oli_88]

Is it just the lighting in that picture, or are the dash/glovebox/door cappings a darker shade to normal?
Looks good...

[Purplebargeken]

Oli, to me the glovebox veneer looks lighter. Probably just down to flash, etc. All looks good though.

[Oli_88]

In one the glovebox looks lighter in the other... it looks lighter too...
Scratch that.
But yes, it does look very good.

[Jon Tilson]

Has the pump been off? Its very easy to refit it with the lever missing the cam.

Winns have a good deal pumps last time I bought one.

Jonners

[Mad Mart]

Door cappings were done by Mary. They were stripped of all the old varnish & then given 3 or 4 coats of clear gloss yacht varnish.

The dash I got from MikeyB and it is a bit darker than normal. The glove box door is however a bit lighter for some reason although it is a match for the surrounding wood.


Jonners, yes the pump has been out and was replaced on the cam. After last years problems with THJ I'm not faffing about with an old pump so have ordered a new one.

[TahitiSPRINT]

Hi Mart, swift progress and great attention to detail as always

May I ask where you’ve found the bulkhead insulation pad? I’m still looking for one (LHD)

Thanks in advance!

[Mad Mart]

Hi Ronald, I got it from MikeyB. It's not perfect but it did scrub up well.

[xvivalve]

tandem brakes?

[Mad Mart]

tandem brakes?

Correct.

Fitted the new fuel pump this evening and let it tickover for a couple of minutes.

All the lights are now working, slight dodgy connection on the l/h front indicator which I need to sort out (connection just needs cleaning up). I had to dismantle four of the bulb holders in the rear clusters to clean up the earths(returns). What a crap way to connect something.

[tangocharlie1]

Excellent thread as always Mart, thought you might be interested in this i found in my (sad i know), extensive Sprint picture collection. not seen it posted before (happy to be told otherwise) but im assuming it was taken during Callum's ownership, he may be able to tell us where and when it was taken.

Enjoy..

[Mad Mart]

Excellent! thanks for posting the pic Chris. Has anyone got any more early pics?

Mike, there's only the previous owner on the V5C, that being you.

[Mad Mart]

On Saturday we put the boot lid on but I can't get it to close. The rubber seal seems to be stopping it. So we moved on hoping that will fix itself.

After getting the engine running last week (fuel pipe from the pump to a container on the floor) I thought it was about time I fixed & plumbed the fuel tank in place. After, Mary poured a gallon of petrol in but fuel started to leak from the pipe below the boot. At first I thought it was leaking from the rubber tube but then realised there was a pin hole in the pipe itself. I phoned MikeyB & luckily he had a spare and was coming past my house yesterday. So I fitted the pipe this evening and all is well.

I then filled the cooling system and managed to get a puddle under the engine. The leak was coming from the 'H' piece. On closer inspection I had forgotten to tighten one of the four jubilee clips. doh!

[Oli_88]

Woohoo! PUS's engine lives again.

After checking & double checking everything, I filled the engine with oil & used a leccy drill to pump the oil round via the hex oil pump drive. I then refitted the dizzy which was now complete with leccy ignition. I then cranked the engine over to further get the oil distributed & make sure there wasn't any obvious nasty noises. Finally I fitted the plugs, dizzy cap & leads and cranked the engine again. I checked for a spark & that was fine so I then had a look at the ignition timing. With Mary cranking it over I got the strobe on the crankshaft pulley. It was on 12 deg. BTDC which wasn't bad as I'd only set it up by eye. Anyway I set it to 10 BTDC. I then remembered that I hadn't put any fuses in Cranked it again but still it wouldn't start, so I sprayed some quick start juice in the carbs and it did fire a few times but failed to run. So I thought it must be fuel. Took off the float lids and sure enough no petrol in them. After topping them up I then tried again and bingo, the engine ran for a short while until the fuel had been used from the float chambers. Looks like the fuel pump isn't doing what it's supposed to do so I will be on the phone to Fitchetts in the morning to order a new one.

Mart, from this post I am assuming it is ok to briefly run an engine without the rad plumbed in?
I really need to get my... self in gear and get this car done now. So want to be certain the engine is in good health before I pull it out to do some tidying of the engine bay in the next few weeks. I probably won't even run it properly tbh, all the fuel (Approx 4 gallons of the stuff ) will now be very very stale and demoted to parts wash duty. So just spinning it over to check for horrid noises may be of benefit... Sorry to post a potentially silly question in your thread, feel free to pm me the answer if you wish.
Cheers.