Barn Find Hopefully Saved

[Toledo Man]

Have you ever tried to adjust the points on the Delco dizzy? It is the work of the Devil. Give me the Lucas any day. In fact, I recommend either fitting electronic ignition eliminating the one irritating issue or fitting a Sprint dizzy. The Sprint dizzy (Lucas 44D4) give you more options for electronic ignition. It was the single best thing I did to my 1850.

[AlanH]

Anybody tried using a freezer spray on head studs?

I have used one on electronics that goes down to -40 deg.

[Jon Tilson]

If you have stuck head studs on an 1850 its time to go down the TR7 engine route.

Its a very hard problem to solve....the engineering cost of drilling out the stuck studs is usually more than the replacement cost IME.

Jonners

[Edin Dundee]

Anybody tried using a freezer spray on head studs?

I have used one on electronics that goes down to -40 deg.

I tried everything, every single bit of advice offered on here EXCEPT get the stud puller tool manufactured.
I have the drawings for this, BUT it would be quite expensive to get made.

The best advice I can give if the head is stuck on:

Remove the engine from the car.

All other options are the available, including the good old very large mallet.

Options are limited with the engine in the car.

[xvivalve]

Perseverance is required, not temperature. The head offers such a massive heat sink it is useless trying to either expand it or shrink the studs.

I purchased a SP concentric stud pulling set that operates with a standard ratchet; basically a hollow cylinder with three solid cylinders within that grip the threads of the studs. Often the studs are tight because of thick old oil between the shaft and the head. I mount the engine so the studs are vertical and create a reservoir around the stud with chewing gum or plasticene and fill with Plus Gas and leave it to seep down and in. Large hammer then gives sharp heavy blows to the top of the offending stud as if you are trying to drive it into the block, then gentle application of the stud puller. It is very easy to shear the top off a stud, so apply gently. If it doesn't give relatively quickly, then repeat the whole process. It can take days, but patience is your friend. I have only failed on one 1850 head and that was early on when impatience caused me to shear two studs...you must keep the stud puller concentric to the stud as you attempt to turn it, any deviation and it will shear.

[tony g]

Years ago when doing stag heads with the same issue, we used to attach the engine crane to the head in question (engine still in car) until the suspension was at full droop and apply diesel to penetrate and leave it. Then get an air chisel with round blunt end and rattle them one at a time. Which ever way will work it will take time and small progress is still progress. Good luck

Tony

[AlanH]

Interesting development.

I was in the pub the other night talking to a friend who is an RAC inspector. He said that the readings did not seem right (he said a lot more than that but that was the gist of it). So I borrowed another pressure tester and got 165, 165, 160, 150.

Now that's still not sparkling but I think I will look elsewhere for my engine woes and try to leave the head off for the winter.

I haven't tried my tester again mainly because it's a devil of a job to get in and I'm pretty sure the fault is with me, bit embarrassing really

Anyway, the new plan is to set the engine up the best I can and to push on to get it through the MOT. Meanwhile I will make a point of giving the studs a good squirt of Plus Gas on a regular basis.

As a footnote, the radiator blew yesterday, I'm not going to muck about with it, I will get it reconditioned.

I've got some photos Of what I have done so far and will post them in the next few days.

[Toledo Man]

As I said ealier, if the readings are within 10% of each other then they're fine. Check the ignition side of things and then adjust the carbs and that should sort out your running problems. Don't forget to change your engine oil and filters. I recommend the Millers 20W50 classic engine oil which you should be able to source for a reasonable price.

[AlanH]

Still got running problems.

Basically it seems to run and rev ok stationery but will not go above 30mph (2500 revs) when driven and get very erratic.

So far I have :-

Changed the dizzy
new capacitor
set the points (they were new).
new rotor
new distributor cap
new plug leads
new plugs.
set the timing with a strobe.

Blown out the carb jets and fuel lines
set up the carbs.
put in a fuel filter which shows plenty of fuel.

I am now at a loss and think maybe I should go back to my original thoughts and take the head off.

One of the plugs does not seem right, it is not wet but does not seem to have any colour. I have checked the cylinder with a colortune and it does seem to be firing.

Anybody got any thoughts.

Alan

[Jon Tilson]

2 thoughts....

New condensor may not be very good. Any evidence of burning at you new points would confirm this, as would a big flash at the points when you open them.
Its hard to see this though with the delco dizzy.

The other thing is the coil and is it wored properly for ballasted or non ballasted. Read this.....

https://www.dollywiki.co.uk/wiki/Igniti ... ss_removal

I would go down the electronic ignition route and 12V coil for future reliability myself....but a different coil is an easy swap and may fix it for you.

Jonners

[AlanH]

Definitely worth looking at.

Thanks

[AlanH]

I have found the problem, it's the carbs.

I fitted the ones from my 13/60 and it now goes OK.

I suspect that one of the float valves is sticking, but I'm going to leave it as it is until it gets through the MOT. Then I can take it out on the road and test it.

Unfortunately this means my convertible is off the road but the weather looks like it's going to change anyway !!

[AlanH]

It's gone in for it's MOT AT LAST !!!!!

It won't pass because it needs some welding at least.

As well as changing oil etc., so far I have

Overhauled the electrics
Painted the wheels
Had five new tyres.
Put in new headlamps.
Replaced the brake calipers.
New gaiters on steering rack
New gaiters on front suspension joints.
New track rod ends.
New coil.
New plugs
New plug leads.
Replaced the dizzy.
replaced the carb breather hoses.
Put in a thermostat.
Replaced the radiator and various water hoses.
Put in a steering bulkhead bush.
changed the wiper blades.
Had the rear exhaust bracket welded up and changed the rubber mounting.

Also temporarily replaced the carbs with ones from my Herald.

As I was checking it over yesterday, I had a visit from Tim, who also has a Dolly, who noted that a reversing light was not working. Easily fixed but then we noticed that the brake lights were also not working. This ended up with me taking the brake light switch off of the Herald (will I ever get back to open top motoring).

I have also made a point of replacing missing/wrong size bolts of which there are many. Is there a catalogue that gives bolt sizes?

So, hopefully, I'm approaching to the final leg of getting it back on the road.

I just hope that there is not too much left outstanding.

Here are a couple of before and after photographs of the front suspension and brakes. I don't take many photos because I'm usually too busy hitting things and swearing.

dolly_sus.jpg (29.96 KiB) Viewed 4011 times

[Jon Tilson]

If you are using HS4 carbs that were on a 13/60 they wont have the right needles for an 1850 or 1500 dolly.

You can easilly clear a blocked jet/stickking float on an HS4. The float chamber comes off with the jet on one bolt and a linkage clip.
Then you can blow through it. The float chamber lid is on 3 screws....

Easier to fix than swap the carbs over I'd have thought...

Jonners

[AlanH]

I have already blown out the jets and checked the floats etc without success. The problem was I was not sure if it was carbs or electrics.

It did not take very long to change the carbs over and that at least shows me where the fault lies. I'm sure the needles are not correct but they do work surprisingly well without any adjustment.

Until I get an MOT I can't do any road testing so my thoughts are to keep them in until it's has an MOT. In the meantime I can have a good look at the others.

By the way, what are the correct needles?