Friday 15 June 2007

More goes in the engine bay

06 June 2007

Not much done this weekend. Jet lag and a general laziness is my excuse.

One of the reasons for fitting the engine (other than it needed to be fitted!) was to add weight to the front end, to help compress the springs, so I can undo the bolts on the front dampers. I also had to stand on the steering rack mountings to make sure.On top of the dampers I then bolted the Spax shocks reinforcing plate. A bolt should then pass throught the wheelarch to mount the top bracket.


This is an early version of the Spax kit and it was originally fitted to CLK???H years ago. It fitted CLunK quite well, It doesnt fit Jemima. The bracket has a large gap between it and the wheel arch which will need to be filled. I have looked at the new style lever arm that replaces the whole unit. A much better system but rather expensive at this stage.
While I decide what to do I removed the exhaust manifold. The gasket had stuck very well to all parts and needs replacing without ever getting hot. The manifold was removed to fit the exhaust insulation wrap.


I used this stuff on my TR5 when it had what I thought was fuel vapourisation problems. It successfully reduced under bonnet temperatures and delayed the problem of "Fuel vapourisation". The TR5 would run nicely if kept running or stopped only to fill up. If stopped for 5 minutes or more it wouldnt start until it had really cooled down - up to 45 minutes. This troubled me for years and embarrased me once on the M25 in the outside lane during the usual traffic jam. I had to use the starter motor to drive us to the hard shoulder. Just before I sold it, I replaced the coil lead, and the problem went away!

Anyway, I want to use the wrap to help reduce under-bonnet temperatures especially as the exhaust manifold is directly under the carbs. I then read in the sales literature "competition use only". What does this mean?

Also fitted the magnetronic electronic ignition.