On the road again!

Demetris

Demetris

Well-Known Member
Last night i took the car out for a good 50 Km drive.
And it feels nice. I am surpriced by how much more quiet and smooth it feels now. It is a new engine yes, but i guess that the new mountings have also to do with it. I have to confess that after what happened in my last ... test drive i felt a little uncomfotable in the beggining. But soon confidence started to built up. There are a few minor things to be done too. It seems to pink sligtly with 95 octane petrol (it's a 10:1 engine) so i filled up with 100 octane and i wait to see the results. It is more expensive but at least throughout the running in period i want to protect it. Later i can see if retarding the ignition helps. Also the clutch should be adjusted properly, there is some clutch spin when the gearbox oil gets hot, that shows as sligtly crunching when selecting reverse. All the other gears select smoothly and with little effort either hot or cold, stationary or on the move.

It's good when your efforts are paid off :D
 
I think it's great when people write about the sucess that they have with getting another one back on the road or overcoming some problem that they have had.
What do you call expensive for petrol? I saw some the other day for £1.20.9 and just a few miles further one for £1.16.9
 
TheCamel said:
What do you call expensive for petrol? I saw some the other day for £1.20.9 and just a few miles further one for £1.16.9
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Over here (Greece) the usual price for 95 RON unleaded at the moment is 1.2 - 1.3 Euros ( 0.95 -1.027 GBP) per litre. The 100 RON is at 1.35-1.55 (1.066 - 1.22 GBP). Last night i bought from the most expensive one (Shell) because my usual (cheaper) fuel station was closed. I paid 40 euros (31,6 GBP) for 25 litres. It felt miserable.

So, do you think this is cheap? This is what our government says (all of them). Let's compare our wages. I earn 1300 euros (1027 GBP) per month and i am a higher education agronomist with a PhD, working on field research.

Do you still think that fuel is cheap over here?
 
Demetris,
I used to have the crunching when selecting reverse, whether hot or cold. Until some old guy told me to put it in 3rd first, then select reverse. Guess what? no more crunching! Apparently selecting 3rd before reverse stops some other gear or selector from moving, allowing the reverse to be selected smoothly. The same thing works in my mates Vauxhall Viva!
All the best, Drew
 
kiltyarse said:
Demetris,
I used to have the crunching when selecting reverse, whether hot or cold. Until some old guy told me to put it in 3rd first, then select reverse. Guess what? no more crunching! Apparently selecting 3rd before reverse stops some other gear or selector from moving, allowing the reverse to be selected smoothly. The same thing works in my mates Vauxhall Viva!
All the best, Drew
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip Drew.

It sounds sensible and 'll give it a try, but i will also make sure that everything is adjusted correctly.

Demetris
 
chrisyork said:
Well done Demetris! Remind me - have you finished up with 2000 power or 2200?

Chris
Click to expand...
Hi Chris,
it's a 2000 TC. It's the engine i bought from Peter from Scotland.
But i kept my old 2000 block and i still have 2200 pistons.
Something for the future.

Demetris
 
Well done Demetris!!

One thing that seems to work well with mine is using Castrol Valvemaster Plus. It's an octane booster with valve seat protection added. I never get any pinking with the standard timing, although mine is a later 9.75:1 engine
 
Thanks Richard,

the cylinder head on this engine is supposed to be built for unleaded. I 'll take a look at the valve clearances though from time to time.
As for the octane booster i have to decide if it comes cheaper with the additive in comparison with straight 100 octane petrol.

P.S. Drew's tip on selecting 3rd before reverse to avoid crunching worked for me too :D
 
It is perfectly normal for the gears to crunch when reverse is selected, especially on a warm gearbox.

When the box is in neutral, everything is merrily spinning away, when you press the clutch and select a forward gear, the syncromesh stops the gears spinning for that gear as you engage it, and it goes in without a crunch.

There is no synchro on reverse, so if you enegage the gear quickly without waiting for the gears to stop turning, you get a crunch!

Going into 3rd the reverse has the same effect, as it stops the gears turning when you engage 3rd.

I don't think you have much to worry about, just check that the clutch is fully releasing by pressing it down with the engine running, wait a minute or so, then gently engage reverse. If you still get a crunch, you have clutch spin, where despite being fully pressed down it does not completely disengage drive. This can be adjusted!

Hope this helps.

MainFrame
 
I've been selecting 3rd before reverse for so long it's become a habit
I think I started in the mid 80's with a Mk3 Escort that had clutch drag
 
Thanks mainframe,

it is exactly as you describe it. I adjusted the pedal a little, and now even when hot, if i wait a few seconds it doesn't crunch.

However, there is a mystery, faint, ratcheting noise when i lift off the throttle in either 1st or 2nd gear only....

Now the next things on the list, either new tyres all round (not too bad but noisy) or new rear springs to improve stability on rough roads.

cheers,


Demetris
 
I used the car on the last 2 days for my daily commute to work to speed up the running in period and it already counts almost 300 miles. Apart from the necessary adjustments on the carbs and ignition the only thing that came up needing attention is an exhaust manifold that needs tightening.
But how should i do it on an assembled engine? Is it possible to do it from underneath?

Thanks,

Demetris
 
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