Beta Coupe Project, Shropshire

[smithymc]

Not a great test drive this evening- got about a mile and it broke down again, so the dirt in the tank issue is still active and calls for more drastic measures.

Lucky not to be selling the wreckage for spares  from the number of dozy too fast/ too close/ asleep people about. It really was inches rather than feet a few times, as she conked on the A5. The AA man seemed to not want to take too much apart for some reason, but we got it home, me kangarooing in front while he followed.

Has put the AGM off the menu, I'm just amazed how it went so well for so long for Betameeta.

Mark

[Neil-yaj396]

The particles required to block the jets can be so minuscule and it just takes a few of them to be dragged through I guess. I'm still not sure how they get past even cheap filters though. Are all the rubber fuel lines new? If not, the modern fuel could be eating at them too?

Pity you'll miss the AGM. The Chocolate Lime would have been a good addition to the recently thin Beta line up! I'm away at 1130 to go to a wedding near Derby, so FNC will only be displayed briefly.

[smithymc]

Everything forward or rear of the metal lines is new, so I guess it must be the tank. Need to get my finger out and do something with the tank quickly, but really busy elsewhere at the moment.

Sorry to miss showing the car tomorrow but it's virtually all motorway for me, so a 'limp it and fix it' approach isn't really on - hope all goes well after your organisational efforts. Well done.

Mark

[peteracs]

Hi Mark

How new are the hoses and have you taken them off to look if there is ANY attack on the rubber by the petrol (even on relatively new hoses)? There are instances of folk who have changed hoses and they have split due to fuel attack within 12 months.

Also have you given the carb a really good blow out/clean to make sure there is nothing still hanging around?

Peter

[Ammy]

Peter is so right.  I'd "cleaned" my carb. then swilled a drop of petrol from side to side and was amazed to see the amount of "crud" that appeared in the bottom.  Removed it,  carried out another swill and even more appeared.  It sits in the drillings at the bottom of the carb. and needs patience to get it all out.

[smithymc]

I better get some carb cleaner then! The lines still seem fine- the crud is hard 'mineral', looks sandy or rusty.

Thanks chaps.

Mark

[Neil-yaj396]

I better get some carb cleaner then! The lines still seem fine- the crud is hard 'mineral', looks sandy or rusty.

Thanks chaps.

Mark

Those ultrasonic cleaning baths are apparently the best for fully cleaning carbs. A friend once told me he but a carb body that he'd previously cleaned manually in one and the fluid was black with dirt in a couple of minutes.

Don't know anyone who has one sadly.

[smithymc]

I washed out the lines this afternoon and am suspicious now. There is definitely hard sandy stuff in the filter but also black stuff that my be rubber( or just crud that has fallen from the outside of the hoses)

Have ordered some Danish made(Coadn)ethanol safe hose that is supposed to be good.

[WestonE]

Darren Cooksey has an Ultrasonic Bath and frequently cleans carbs in it as he spends a lot of his time re-building the increasingly worn and fragile OE carbs

[smithymc]

Got some decorating time off for good behaviour this afternoon so, after a mouthful of super unleaded and some swearing, tank is now off again- must say it was rather easier last time with 1- help and 2 - a pit, rather than on the floor with just some blocks to lift the rear 100mm.

Again loads of fuel left in with gauge on red and having siphoned 20L off- just managed to store it all, and crud could be clearly seen again - it must be an issue beyond the visible area/baffles.

Have touched up a few bits of surface  rust on perimeter around tank with satin hammerite, but all very sound as ever. Main odd issue is blistered under seal, which I put down to exhaust heat ( it is pretty close at one point) but also present a over tank, which hope doesn't get hot!

Now for the POR process of lining, so may even be roadworthy next weekend.

Mark

[Neil-yaj396]

Underseal can blister when it gets penetrated by damp, as well as by heat.

[smithymc]

Thanks Neil, will cut out and repair with rubberised paint stuff I have obtained. Then see how it goes.

Interestingly, the 'dry' tank sounds like a maraca this morning. Would like to get as much as poss out, so lots of manic shaking and inverting of tank this morning to entertain neighbours!

Mark

[smithymc]

Ok- technique sorted - tape up orifices except one breather and stick a vacuum cleaner hose down the filler neck . Hey Presto! No rustle or rattles from within.

[HFStuart]

tape up orifices except one breather

The tank's or yours?

[smithymc]

It was hard to tell, I was so knackered from shaking the tank about!

[smithymc]

Tank cleaned out, and resin in. After another session of tank dancing to amuse the neighbours, it is now dating for the required 96 hours- so it should go on this weekend.

Main tip - read ALL of the instructions and don't wear anything you might ever need to wear again. Oh, and double glove. If this stuff sticks to steel like it does to human, it will last pretty well.

Really didn't want to put her away not running.

Mark

[smithymc]

Tank in and car running, but new fuel leak now on return line. I assume either a cracked 40 year old line, or the internal pipe in the tank is blocked and it it back pressuring the return line. It would be nice to know how long the line is inside the tank to feel sure it is clear. I put wire down and blew all the pipes out when I drained the resin, but this one is so small a blob may have blocked it.

Bugger- it was going so well and I really fancied a drive today when I saw the weather forecast earlier in the week.

[smithymc]

The saga and the frustration continue.

Hose on return line changed and petrol can be heard trickling into the tank nicely as the car runs.

BUT, when I switch off, I have petrol ( small amount) fizzing up around the sender bolts clearly under pressure, the little nuts on  which are as tight as I dare. One stud sheared off anyway under virtually no torque, but oddly no leak from that one. The issue only lasts for a minute or so after switching off, seemingly until pressure equalises.

The one issue I noted with the resin solution is that the 'floating' ring clamp inside that tank that the sender bolts to no longer floats. The resin is so hard, I even think a drop in a thread may have caused the stud to shear before it was even home, so no idea how you could free it.


With the broken stud I am on the search for a new tank anyway or looking at getting one made, but quite like the idea of a smaller aluminium tank inside the old one.

Any ideas on any aspect?

[peteracs]

Hi Mark

Sorry for being a bit dim, but are you meaning the level sensor which has the outlet and return pipes on it?

Peter

[Neil-yaj396]

The sender unit can be tricky to seal down at the best of times. I take it you used a new gasket? Probably academic if one of the studs is broken though.

Are you thinking that one of the breather outlets is blocked, over pressurizing the tank as well?

I'm not familiar with the floating ring clamp?