Finally a tidy 3500S!

unstable load said:
JVY said:
Is b**^&ng stick imperial or metric :?: :D .
I have various sizes in both metric and standard format. Comes from working
on American helicopters with French engines..... :twisted:
Hmm. That sounds like metric and imperious. Thoughts? 8)
 
Ed Zackery, Tor! Added benefits are learning to curse in a different
language to encourage progress from recalcitrant bits that still offer
resistance... :LOL:
 
Fuel mileage update. From 14,5 l/100km when I took the car out, I've tuned, fiddled, re-tuned and thrashed the car about a bit, using it daily. Now it's come down to an even 13 (22ish mpg) urban. It seems it still gets better the more miles I put on it, as though I'm running it in. Which, in some respects, I am as it's been a garage beast for 14 years before I got it. I'm getting pleased with that, I reckon.

I also notice full-throttle pinking disappeared after I enriched the mixture a tad more yesterday. It would come on at around 2000 rpm before. Still, I'll be getting some needles to suit the modest engine upgrades I've made...
 
So I have my first proper oil leak. I guess it has to happen to everyone. Four little drippety drops under the rear of the engine after a quick jaunt, and a pint down on the dipstick since the last change. As per previous posts on the subject of crank oil seals I'll check breathers, sump drain plug and sump gasket before giving way to earnest concern over rope/non-rope seal fitment - which ultimately doesn't matter if it's the seal that's shot.

Not happy with my Biltema/Statoil 20W50 as there's distinctly more tappet clatter. Dropped in half a bottle of STP engine treatment just to see, and that sticky stuff does have an effect. I'll bung in the rest of it today and report back.

Replaced a bonnet hinge, the old one was full of play and allowed 'bonnet flutter' at motorway speeds and possibly some clatter too.
 
Hi Tor,

I know that crankshafts came with either a rope or neoprene front oil seal, but I was thinking that the rear oil seals were always of the latter type.

Do you know the zinc / phosphoros content of the Bilema/Statoil that you have been using?

Ron.
 
I couldn't draw them on it specifically, they would however reveal there's more than 1000 ppm of zinc in it. Anyway, I hope to find a good supply of more suitable oil.
 
Since my last update I've done quite little to the car, in fact getting a little put off by the number of time-consuming jobs waiting to be done - heater refurb, wiper mech service, front top links and springs, all UJs and the oil leak. Add to that thoughts of replacing my noisy, clunky diff and I've made myself a mountain.

So, I diverted attention. Refitted the old black Koni Classic shocks to the front on a high setting, and that made a world of difference to how the car takes bumps, how it rolls, steers and the rest of it. Superb results. Discovered in the process that the Koni Reds I had fitted were somehow valved the wrong way round despite having the same part number.

Then, following Rich "rockdemon"'s SU needle recommendations, I fitted BCG needles and springs, put 10W40 in the dashpots and fiddled the settings a bit. That was also a success. Engine now has significantly better low-end torque, is quite a lot quicker overall and just feels better fuelled. The exhaust smells a bit richer which makes sense. The change is also felt on the open road, in that I don't pay quite as much attention to compensating with the throttle maintaining speed up slight inclines as before. So, thanks Rich!

Only one setback. On a road trip yesterday to pick up parts for my E36 the cheapskate fuel pump I fitted last autumn decided to develop an aversion to its own operating temperature and left me sucking air half-way up a nice, long hill on the single-lane highway. Stacks of lorries and SUVs thundering past a misguided old P6 hugging the barrier as I started to count the real-life blessings of cutting costs with old cars. Fifteen minutes later it worked again, and I had to abandon said trip to limp home. Proper Huco fuel pump on order.
 
Tor said:
Only one setback. On a road trip yesterday to pick up parts for my E36 the cheapskate fuel pump I fitted last autumn decided to develop an aversion to its own operating temperature and left me sucking air half-way up a nice, long hill on the single-lane highway. Stacks of lorries and SUVs thundering past a misguided old P6 hugging the barrier as I started to count the real-life blessings of cutting costs with old cars. Fifteen minutes later it worked again, and I had to abandon said trip to limp home. Proper Huco fuel pump on order.

Hi Tor,
That must've been one hell of a trip for you :evil: I'm pleased you got home with the car and yourself in one piece :wink: I think that most of us have been down that road of trying to save some cash on budget parts, only then having those parts let us, and the car, down very badly indeed - a false economy every time.
 
Hi Tor,

Gee those BCG needles are seriously rich :shock: especially past the mid range. If the exhaust note sounds "heavy" and/or smells rich, then I'd be changing them.

Ron.
 
SydneyRoverP6B said:
Hi Tor,

Gee those BCG needles are seriously rich :shock: especially past the mid range. If the exhaust note sounds "heavy" and/or smells rich, then I'd be changing them.

Ron.

Ah... yes Ron Them BCGs are well rich. I tried the BCA needles, and found that they were very savage indeed, and needed a stiffer damper spring to be used. But the BCG needles just dump fuel in at an alarming rate on a heavy throttle:shock:

Perhaps your pump is fine Tor, and it's your needles that are a tad too rich, thus flooding the engine on a heavy throttle?
 
LeeEFi said:
Ah... yes Ron Them BCGs are well rich. I tried the BCA needles, and found that they were very savage indeed, and needed a stiffer damper spring to be used. But the BCG needles just dump fuel in at an alarming rate on a heavy throttle:shock:

Perhaps your pump is fine Tor, and it's your needles that are a tad too rich, thus flooding the engine on a heavy throttle?
Pump is cooked. Starts ticking away again once cooled...

Can you help explain to a layman what difference a stiffer spring makes to an over-rich needle?
 
There is one long coil spring inside each dashpot which opposes the upward motion of the piston. The stiffer the spring, the lower the piston will sit for a given volume of engine suction. The spring though shouldn't be changed to compensate for the wrong needle which is too rich. The needle should be changed for a leaner one.

When you next go for a drive Tor, pull the choke right out. If the engine bogs down, then the current needles are too rich. Needles which are essentially correct for the given engine configuration will see the engine performance exhibit no change at all when the choke is pulled out. Incidently, I am not talking about doing so at idle, rather at a number of different rpm points off idle.

Ron.
 
Excellent. I will do that, Ron. By bogging down, does that mean it'll drop rpm? I anticipate that it'll exhibit a bit of chug chug?

Tor
 
Yes, the rpm will drop and performance will be noticably compromised, so choose a nice quiet road with no cars behind you. Just as a needle which is too lean for the task will compromise performance, so does the needle which is too rich. Both will damage the engine, but in different ways.

Ron.
 
Ron, I did as you said and it does bog down. Not massively but clearly nonetheless. I suppose one step down from BCG might be better.

Rich's programme suggested this for my setup without a modified exhaust:
"BCG is 2.8% rich top end and 1.1 % lean mid range
BCA is 4.2% lean top end and 3.8% lean mid range."

Or do you think I am far off the mark? Visually, the BCG needles are something like half as thick as the stock ones...
 
Tor wrote,...
Ron, I did as you said and it does bog down. Not massively but clearly nonetheless. I suppose one step down from BCG might be better.

Rich's programme suggested this for my setup without a modified exhaust:
"BCG is 2.8% rich top end and 1.1 % lean mid range
BCA is 4.2% lean top end and 3.8% lean mid range."

Or do you think I am far off the mark? Visually, the BCG needles are something like half as thick as the stock ones...

Hi Tor,

Is your engine configured the same as when it left the factory, ie standard air filters, canister, camshaft, P6B heads, exhaust manifolds etc. Is there anything different about your exhaust system from the manifolds onwards?

What type of fuel do you use, does it contain ethanol?

When Rich's programme states that a needle is either too rich or too lean at a particular location, by what measure is that taken against? Is it a comparison against the air fuel ratio required for maximum power or the equivalent lambda value or %CO?

Ron.
 
Hi Ron,

I've no idea how Rich's software calculates, I'm afraid. The engine is stock save for the Ignitor and Flame Thrower coil, Magnecor leads, sports air filters inside the can, and the engine fan has been removed. Or the engine has been 'de-fanned' 8) Minor mods all in all. Oh, and it's got a Rover Classics s/s exhaust. And that has two good-sized cans on it, whereas the rear on a factory exhaust would be a resonator and thus less restrictive.

I run it on 98 octane, unleaded. No ethanol that I know of...
 
Hi Tor,

So in terms of flow volume both in and out, your engine is pretty close to factory standard. The original needles specified for the 10.5 : 1 CR engines running HIF6 carburettors were BBG and for the 9.25 : 1 CR engines BBV, which were ever so slightly richer. I would opt for a pair of BAF needles which will be, apart from the idle mixture, richer right across the board, but nothing like the extreme richness of the BCG and BCA.

The original factory needles were in terms of obtaining maximum acceleration, on the lean side, not sufficient to result in engine damage though.

Ron.
 
Today I've refitted my old BBG needles as I was getting terrible mpg for little more action. I did get significantly more low-end from the BCGs but not enough to throw good money away for. The poor and irregular adjustability of my HIF6s has again come to light, though, so I'll open them up to see if I can make them behave alike one day soon, as I have seals kits for them now. Then, I'll either follow Ron's suggestion and buy a pair of BAFs or hold out for a Weber conversion when I have the funds for it. It's a mod I'm realising that I really would like.

I've also noticed that my horn/indicator stalk circuitry seems to have stolen one of my high beams. I kid you not! When switched on, I have three full beams and the LH inner has a faint glow. However, when gently persuading a black Yaris to take the plunge into an intersection today, reflected off his tail end I saw that same lamp flash brilliantly in concert with the high tone horn :| The fun never stops, but where do I start to look?
 
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