The days are starting to get longer and it is not as cold anymore. Last week I read a good blog post over at AnnoyingLittleCars. That reminded me to complete my tasks list for Maggie’s spring service. As mentioned before, I currently have not a lot of time and therefore I don’t post about the few short moments when I have a chance to get into the garage. Since January I have changed the entire rear suspension and quite a bit on the front. This is all completed and resulted in new oil in the rear axle, greased up front suspension as well as new brakes incl. new fluid.
So many annual services tasks were already done. What was missing was: checking valve clearance, oil and filter change, compression test, ignition timing check, spark plug check plus a few other items. Today I got my act together after work almost completed all of it. First I checked my service notes and realized that the ast oil change was in Oct 2022 – not even 5000km ago. Compression test was good – all four cylinders between 170 and 180 psi. In the past I had issues with too tight valve clearance a couple times. With the change to the standard cooper cylinder gasket in 2022 – this did not happen again. I only had to correct three valves that had slightly too much clearance – 16 to 17thou instead of the 14thou recommended for the cam.
Checking the ignition timing did not work out. As the saying goes: if you buy cheap, you by twice. Or three times in my case. The bulb in the inexpensive timing gun I got from Amazon is broken. Unfortunately, it is not even easily replaceable. When VIktor Günter Motorsport in Cologne did the fine Weber and CSI Pro fine tuning back in Spring 2022 – the engine ran really well. I decided tonight that I will try to get another appointment there – and afterwards measure, mark and record the timing they set.
Last but not least I am close to complete the engine test stand I started last year. I have build a control box hat allows to start the engine, control ignition, fuel pump and radiator fan (yet to be mounted). A radiator is now fixed to the frame. Wiring should be completed by next week – along with better engine brackets for the B-Series engine. The test stand can also be used for A-Series Mini engines and doubles up as an assembly table.
Fixing C6622 
Good stuff Tim thanks sounds good!!!
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