JPSC Forum

well this is a long over due update on my Sylva rebuild....

main jobs now done (in no particular order) -

propshaft centre bearing replaced as rubber had perished
prop cleaned up and painted then installed
rear axle now fully rebuilt with corrected backlash, new gasket and drain plug seal.
rear springs cleaned up and repainted.
new rear shocks.
new rear brake cylinders, shoes and replaced incorrect Girling shoe pins with Lockheed - thanks to Mark for the info on getting shoes back in place!
cleaned up rear drums and painted with high temp black paint.
installed rivnuts into chassis to mount petrol tank, previously had nut and bolt fixings going up through chassis and body which I didn't like.
rear end of chassis cleaned up and painted matt black.

after all this the body was wanting to get back on the chassis

so I obliged

now the front end is off to give full access to engine and chassis.

Always a pleasure to help where I can !

I tell you what every time you post you inspire me to get round to stripping mine - which is well over due - and when I do I'll be on here every week after some help

Have fun

Mark

I would say go for it Mark! Nice to know I have a clean, rust free chassis (rear)....

Fingers crossed the front end turns out to be good too. Its wire brush time!

Had a go at getting the Weber carbs back in a useable state.....this is how they looked when I started -



Not the best on the outside. But not as bad as inside -




What you can see is a load of dried up petrol varnish/gum/residue. Lovely

Next post I'll show how they ended up looking.

I never realised how many parts were in a DCOE carb, which makes it even better when you have 2 of them to do.

A combination of Wynn's carb cleaner followed by thinners got all the interior circuits cleared out. All the brass parts (jets etc) came up lovely after use of citric acid/lemon juice (it was in the kitchen - don't tell the wife).

I was thinking of getting the bodies wet grit blasted but decided I didn't want them to look too "new" if that makes sense.

Brass brush and elbow grease cleaned the outside of the bodies well enough for me.

2 service kits ordered and used to replace all gaskets etc.

Looking a real smart job!
Might have a couple of Dellorto's for you to do
So do you reckon you'll get it on the road this summer?

Still not got my Star at home, been distracted by a couple of other projects:
The first pic is when we moved in 3 years ago, the other is of a few months back, took longer than anticipated probably something to do with having a couple of sprogs at the same time ...

Might have a couple of Dellorto's for you to do

I'll have to politely pass, but I would say give them a go - I'm sure a quick Googling would get you a copy of a instruction manual.

So do you reckon you'll get it on the road this summer?

If I'm honest with myself I would say no. Its going to be next year before its MOT'd and taxed - planning to get it done before the summer so I can go out and enjoy it.

Still not got my Star at home, been distracted by a couple of other projects

your garage is built (looks great), what's stopping you getting the Star in there?

what's stopping you getting the Star in there?

Now there's a good question... thinking that myself

Well... two things...
1) SWMBO says the garden has to be finished before I start anything else.
The grass is still be be laid, and some decking and railings need to get up as she is paranoid that our boys will injure themselves.
The track up the back to get to the garage needs some attention as the ruts in places are too deep, so the car can't actually get up there.
All doable

2) My brother seems to think that his Star which is in bits is going in there first so that I can complete the wiring loom
My fault for building a loom from scratch rather than buying a pre-fab one, has taken an age longer than expected.
Should have made it first out of the car and then installed it more or less complete, rather than wire by wire - doch.

OK an update is well over due so here it goes....

hoisted engine and gearbox out.....

firstly took the gearbox apart to check all internals


thankfully all OK as parts are quite expensive. slight wear on teeth of reverse gear but nothing bad.


now working on engine:

checked crankshaft - all OK.
connecting rods - all OK.
bearing shells will be replaced, some had slight wear but just normal use I would say.
cylinder bores worn out by 0.05mm so need to get the piston clearance back down to recommended levels....planning on getting my current pistons ceramic coated on the skirts to build up diameter by 0.1mm and get block honed to suit. been in touch with the guys at http://www.camcoat.com about it and they seem to know what they are talking about. only seen good things about them online.

I've taken the bare block to http://www.southwalespistons.com/ so they can hopefully rescue the cylinders without needing a re-bore and new pistons.

Fingers crossed!