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Post by Matt of the Vivas on May 4, 2017 20:05:24 GMT
This car is cursed!
Seriously.
It went to a car show on Sunday and was perfect for 50 miles, the gearbox is lovely, and the electric fuel pump coped well with the heavy traffic. Sorted!
Until Tuesday, a quick trip out and "whats that noise when i press the clutch?". Needless to say it got worse rather fast, and a quick look through the bell housing aperture revealed a shattered carbon release bearing. Great. It was a repro part, and managed 60 miles. Ive got an OE one coming, but it means the gearbox has to come out AGAIN.
ARRGGGGHHHHHH!
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Post by penguin45 on May 4, 2017 22:43:22 GMT
Matt, do me a favour and stick the broken one in the post will you? Me and Two Stroke Ady have got some experience with alternative solutions for clutch release bearings. I'll PM you the addy.
P45.
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Post by Father Ted on May 6, 2017 10:22:05 GMT
Never mind sticking the broken one in the post, I would be inclined to take it back to wherever it came from and stick it where the sun don't shine!
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on May 6, 2017 21:25:51 GMT
Heres the broken one.... I slung it, with some force, into a bin after this photo. I may be able to retrieve it....  With the hard work done, i spent today doing some more fun things. With 300 miles on the clock the new engine is freeing off nicely, so i spent some time optimising the carb and dizzy settings. It runs really well now and sounds good through the exhaust. Ive also spent some time cleaning and painting various bits in the engine bay to tidy it up, topped off with a proper "BOND" rocker cover instead of the "RELIANT" one. I sprayed it gloss black, pretty happy with it.  |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on May 6, 2017 21:32:12 GMT
Fuel vaporisation is pretty rare in this country so unless there is a lot of noise about this on the Bug forums it's likely not the problem. Derek Its a very, very common problem on Reliants, and Bugs especially as the engine bay is so packed. Theres various fixes suggested, ive done most of them... Hoping it will sort itself out as the engine frees off. |
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Post by Derek UK on May 8, 2017 20:05:41 GMT
Not in reasonable, that's why I mentioned noise on the Bond forums. Latest pic looks VERY smart. At a couple of shows I've been to here in Kent in the last moth, both have had a Bug attending. One nice one and one not so nice.
What I need to know is how to remove the Bond Bug under my Avatar. Mail me off list?
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on May 8, 2017 20:09:55 GMT
What I need to know is how to remove the Bond Bug under my Avatar. Mail me off list? You need to post more, then it will change to a far more decent vehicle automatically. |
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Post by bent8rover on May 9, 2017 11:37:10 GMT
Yes the 'Bond Bug' is your 'Custom Title' You will achieve four wheels before you realise  |
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Post by Derek UK on May 10, 2017 15:20:58 GMT
Perhaps I could have carried some over from the old forum, but I admit I was hardly prolific over there!
Bond Bug specific, the very old friend of mine who bought the now Hayabusa engined Bug new back in 1972, sadly died in Southend Hospital on Monday. RIP Fred, you were good guy.
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Post by bent8rover on May 10, 2017 16:53:31 GMT
Perhaps I could have carried some over from the old forum, but I admit I was hardly prolific over there! Not silent though I do have a bit of a backup of some of your posts - mainly the helpful ones inside other folks' blogs. |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on May 23, 2017 21:08:20 GMT
Now completed 300 miles since the rebuild. Engine is freeing up nicely, its very sweet. Not using oil or water, theres a very slight leak from the gearbox front seal but not worth pulling it apart again for. Still gets warm in traffic but apart from that its a pleasure to drive, i really like the stupid thing. Planning on piling some miles on it and hopefully it wont break....
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Jul 20, 2017 22:22:18 GMT
Still piling on the miles as and when i can... 500 miles in now. Im getting a little list of Things That Are Not Right to sort through. Top of the list is the exhaust - its still running the standard 700cc exhaust with the very restrictive manifold. Reliant Spares do a nice 4 branch manifold with a straight through exhaust, should free up some horses.
The rear axle is leaking oil - its coming from the joint in the casing which means a complete stipdown, not a bad thing as theres too much backlash in it for my liking anyway.
I still need to sort the door tops out as well so its weatherproof.
And it overheats in traffic which means the carb vaporises, not sure what im going to do to solve this one as its an endemic Bug fault. Might try ducting some cold air in from the front.
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Aug 6, 2017 19:35:12 GMT
 Nice photo of Basil Bug taken at a car show today. Ive not done anything to it since the last update, just been enjoying it.... It really is good fun! Its booked in shortly to have a new exhaust made up and fitted, its blowing quite a bit. And ive bought a second hand Rialto axle to liberate the high ratio diff from it, that will happen over winter i reckon. |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Aug 18, 2017 21:28:37 GMT
The engine is well run in now, but didnt feel that rapid - so as the exhaust was blowing i decided to get a new, free flow system made up.    It was done by the local Powerflow franchise in Norwich. The system is fine, well made, but the fitting was poor. They removed the dynamo for clearance and on replacing it managed to trap the fanbelt between the waterpump and fan, rather than in the pulley groove.... the squeeling on the short drive home gave the game away! It also blew badly from the manifold as they didnt replace the flange gasket. With that lot put right, the next run out was... disappointing. Power was no better than before. On a hunch i removed the air filter and ran with an open carburettor intake. The difference was amazing, its turned it into a genuinely quick car. I wimped out at 80mph but it had more to give... Im obviously going to have to run an air filter, but theres no room for a decent sized one in the engine bay, and its breathing red hot air there anyway. Im going to mount a large foam filter under the floor and duct the carb to it to get a decent supply of cold air. |
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Post by Father Ted on Aug 19, 2017 19:15:46 GMT
fitting was poor. They removed the dynamo for clearance and on replacing it managed to trap the fanbelt between the waterpump and fan, rather than in the pulley groove.... the squeeling on the short drive home gave the game away! It also blew badly from the manifold as they didnt replace the flange gasket. It is worrying that professionals so frequently make schoolboy errors like that.  |
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