Yesterday evening I was finally able to start with the engine assembly. Ten days later than planned. The punishment for the delayed start followed yesterday evening in a few ways. After laying out all parts I noticed that the new thrust-washers are missing. They were on the invoice - but I did not noticed the... Continue Reading →
Productive Friday evening
The TLDR version of this post would be: Mildred is/is not finished, Miffi's block has new cam bearings and needs to get painted, Miffi's subframe is back in and new Rover V8 SD1 parts are slowly showing up. It has been a long evening. It was 5pm when I got to the workshop and I... Continue Reading →
Getting started with Miffi’s front subframe
Although I spent a few hours in the garage yesterday, I did not really achieve as much as I wanted. Partly because I was still exhausted from a quick trip to Austria. Before leaving on Thursday to Friday night I picked up the freshly painted Mini front subframe. An irresistible opportunity to get two Mazda... Continue Reading →
Back at last – fixing Powdercoating F&@¢-up
A relaxing week a little east of Ierapetra on Crete turned into a wet weather catastrophe. As you can see in the picture below I made sure to stay hydrated and enjoyed the sea view. After some nice hiking trips in the beginning of the week, the rain started. I have never seen that much... Continue Reading →
Saab 900 headliner replacement
With the Maggie back on the road with Mildred's engine, it was about time to finally tackle the headliner situation in Saabeth. It has been a long way to this point. The removal of the old one was done last September, when I decided that my son's Saab needed a bit TLC for the German... Continue Reading →
HIF4 carb rebuild
With the rolling road appointment at Peter Burgess coming up the high idle RPM issue still bothered me. And while cleaning up and sorting parts last weekend - I found a HIF4 rebuild kit I bought a few years back. This kit was intended for a second pair of used HiF4 carbs - but never... Continue Reading →
Bits and Bobs
The first part of the title is quite literal as I spent a significant amount of spare time last week with development. A first peek (actually a prototype) is currently on my website - but this is just a small part of what I am working on and already not up-to-date anymore. 30 years ago... Continue Reading →
The Rebuild Calculator
When rebuilding an engine or overhauling the suspension of a classic vehicle there is a point when you need to order new parts. And often enough there isn't a single choice - you think about options. Should I can an upgraded camshaft? if so - which vendor? What would it cost if I choose components... Continue Reading →
Mildred’s 18V581 engine rebuild – Part 5 – Runing-in-period
A day after Part 4 was released a 20min run with 2000-3000rpm to settle in the cam-follower was completed successfully. But with Mildred's body-shell is still far from being ready - it was unclear when I could test the engine. And with a few smaller issues in Maggie's engine and an ever louder noise coming from the... Continue Reading →
Mildred’s 18V581 engine rebuild – Part 4 – First Start Success
Hard to believe that five months past, since we assembled Mildred's engine. A few open tasks and issues prevented the final completion. The biggest problem was that I bought ARP main bearing studs instead of bolts. The 18V engines need those as otherwise the oil sump cover does not fit. Although I know that it... Continue Reading →