Lady Charlotte - 1966 2000SC

My '69 2000tc with AC (and alternator) never had a heat shield as far as I can tell Harvey. I did notice the wires were a little crispy so replaced the worst of them and used a heat shield sleeve over them when I fixed it for that reason.
 
I'm not sure how close the TC exhaust gets to the alternator, but the SC exhaust exits the manifold at the front of the head and runs right over the top of the dynamo, hence the heat shield. The alternator is quite a bit shorter than the dynamo, but the exhaust downpipe runs over the top of the rear regulator pack, hence my question. Perhaps the construction of the alternator lends itself to dissipating heat better than the heavy lump of iron that forms the dynamo.

Dave
 
Ah, good point! On the TC it's pretty close to the Dynamo or alternator. With a tubular manifold wrapping ahead of the engine mount bracket and then back. It sounds pretty similar to your setup.
 
Dave, you could always transfer your dynamo heat shield to the alternator.

It would need a bit of modification Demetris as the alternator body is a wider circumference and the heat shield clamp is too far to the rear of the alternator....but that's an option yes.
 
You may recall a couple of months ago I was replacing yet another burnt out exhaust valve.

What the hell is happening to my exhaust valves?!

Well you'll never guess what I've been doing again this weekend? Yes, more exhaust valve failure. Not long after replacing No 4 exhaust valve in June I took the good lady down south to Brum for work. She was running very well until about half way back on the M6 when she started getting a bit hot. Since then she's been running roughly, using more fuel and slowly losing power. This weekend I cleared the decks and took the head off again for a look. Fearing the No4 had gone again I was pleasantly surprised to see that No 4 was in fact okay. The same couldn't be said for the other 3 exhaust valves. Luckily I'd picked up a used TC head complete with valves. I stripped the valves out of it last weekend and 3 out of 4 exhaust valves were okay. One was showing very early signs of burning out so I binned it.

This is the good lady's head as it came off, cylinders 1 & 2



3 & 4



Nothing for it but to replace all 3 exhaust valves, which I've duly done. This is getting kinda tedious and it seems that no matter what I do the good lady seems intent on munching exhaust valves on a regular basis. That, as well as a number of other factors has led me to take the decision to retire the good lady from daily use before the end of this year. The main factor is time. I have less and less of it available to carry out the routine maintenance needed to keep a 50 year old car in daily use to the extent that I use it. I simply can't keep up and I haven't been able to do any of the preparation I usually would do in the summer to see her through the winter. So I don't want to put her through another winter. It wouldn't be fair on her.

I'm fortunate in that I almost run her as a company car, but I'm now waiting for the arrival of a new company car so the good lady will be having a rest. The new car is expected around November some time.

Watch this space for more info :)

Dave
 
Dave, i would say that your last batch of exhaust valves were not up to the task.
At least in the last photos the 1, 2, 3 look funny, as if they were starting to overheat and give up from one side.
With the genuine TC valves you will be OK now.

I took the same decision with you last summer, and put my TC to gentle use / rest mode. Until last summer, like you, i was covering a very high mileage under any conditions. And although the car could cope, and it never - ever let me down, i found myself that i could not keep up with the required maintenance. With over 20 K miles per year you need a healthy supply of consumables that in my case they were not exactly easy to find. And of course winter use deteriorated the structure. I wondered what was the point of wearing out so much a car that i brought it back to life after so much effort. Also the fuel costs were getting too much. No matter how reasonable the fuel consumption was for its case, i really needed a modern diesel for fast motorway use. Not to mention that 98 RON unleaded over here is over €1.6 per litre, in comparison with the €1.1 per litre of the diesel. Anyway, in my opinion you took the correct decision. Like this you will be able to take her out whenever you feel like, not only just because you have to.
 
Can't believe your going through so many valves. Sure your not running her to lean.

I've purposefully been running her on the rich side just to make sure.

Dave, I would say that your last batch of exhaust valves were not up to the task.
At least in the last photos the 1, 2, 3 look funny, as if they were starting to overheat and give up from one side.
With the genuine TC valves you will be OK now.

Demetris, I think there's a lot of cheap crap out there that would no doubt stand up to the occasional use that many owners do, but not the high use that I do. I also think modern fuels have a lot to do with it. I've gone from using standard 95 RON with Castrol VM+ during which I covered 50,000 miles before first exhaust valve burnt out. After having several go shortly after that, I switched to using Tesco Momentum 99 RON with Castrol VM+ and a valve lubricant, since which several more have gone. Hopefully, as you say, these TC valves will sort it now.

Dave
 
It's interesting to read that you've decided to stop using Lady C daily Dave. Part of my reasoning to sell HOT recently was not wanting to get sucked into a life of perpetual car maintenance and watching you taking yet another weekend off to change the head gasket to fit new valves etc made my mind up. I still love driving my V8 on nice days but it's nice not to have to rely on it.

I hope you've got something interesting lined up for your new daily.
 
It's interesting to read that you've decided to stop using Lady C daily Dave. Part of my reasoning to sell HOT recently was not wanting to get sucked into a life of perpetual car maintenance and watching you taking yet another weekend off to change the head gasket to fit new valves etc made my mind up. I still love driving my V8 on nice days but it's nice not to have to rely on it.

I hope you've got something interesting lined up for your new daily.

I absolutely love driving these cars and so many people around this area know me as the guy that drives the old white Rover. BUT, yes you're dead right, it does suck up a lot of our lives if we are determined to use any 50 year old car as a sole means of transport. I'm looking forward to getting the V8 back on the road and enjoying that too (don't ask me when or how it's going. Progress is slow but it is progressing).

As for the new car, I'm getting a VW Passat 2.0 diesel estate in GT spec. It's perhaps somewhat apt that it will have a 66 reg plate and be almost exactly 50 years younger than Lady C :)

I'll post some pics when it gets delivered.

Dave
 
Jeez, can't believe it's been so long since I posted in this thread :oops:

Lady C continues to relax in her garage awaiting the better weather, and my time. Hopefully she'll see the road again in the next few weeks in time for Drive it Day on the 28th April.

Dave
 
Good to have you back. I've been a fairly frequent visitor in the past, and an occasional poster, and I have greatly enjoyed your stories of Lady C. I dropped out when I sold my second 2000 (a white Series 1 like yours but 1965) a couple of years ago, but I am about to re-acquire the first one, a grey 1967 example bought in 2014 and sold a year later, which I should never have done. So I shall once again be following the forum with great interest.

John
 
Good to have you back. I've been a fairly frequent visitor in the past, and an occasional poster, and I have greatly enjoyed your stories of Lady C. I dropped out when I sold my second 2000 (a white Series 1 like yours but 1965) a couple of years ago, but I am about to re-acquire the first one, a grey 1967 example bought in 2014 and sold a year later, which I should never have done. So I shall once again be following the forum with great interest.

John

Welcome back John

I look forward to reading about your new (old) aquisition.

Dave
 
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