Forum Replies Created
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Rev counter drive for such like the early Invicta and the military engines.
Best regards,
JulianPaint it gloss. Looks lovely.
J
Small pointer before you paint or powder coat any chassis parts.
Spray all the chassis parts with a good light base primer but only a thin coat.
Assemble the complete chassis BEFORE you paint it in top coat.
This is extremely important.
You will undoubtedly want to give the top coat a good few coats of paint and make a really good job of it. This requires a good thick coat of whatever paint or powder you use.
Now, when you bolt and rivet it all back together you will have a thick (actually now double thickness as you have mating parts) coat of paint between all parts. Good you might say? NOT GOOD, your chassis starts to flex when you drive and slowly the paint frets and gets broken down and suddenly your car feels all floppy. Your chassis will not be holding together correctly and you have a lot of work to correct it all. Same applies with wheels powder coated before the spokes are fitted.Assemble it all immediately after a light primer and then make sure that you cover the joints well with your top coat. This is by far the best way to get it all done satisfactorily for a long time to come.
Good luck,
JulianMorning Bill,
Funny you mention this as we are just rebuilding that engine at the moment via Formhalls. (Which is part of HCS now)
I was over there yesterday discussing this very subject.We are now converting it back to a more standard setting as the engine used to run at about 80 degrees on the gauge but the block was always reading much higher with the laser gun compared to the head, which is quite logical looking at the cooling flow.
The engine would also run very rough untill fully up to temperature and I think this was partially due to the head being over cooled compared to the block.
This will I am sure be sorted after / during this complete rebuild.
Interesting question and I will follow it up with our findings.Very best regards,
JulianI love it Jonathan,
What is a sensible offer?
No prices on the V&P site.Thanks,
JulianHi Bill,
I meant a modern unit.
I have spoken to quite a few people who even fitted them to V12s with disasterous results for the very reason above. V12 probably have the worst cooling flow of any engine I have ever seen. Modification here is the first thing I do if rebuilding a Lagonda V12.Shutters are not great either but useful in winter on a “6” if you do it manually and don’t forget.
Regards,
JulesHi all,
Some interesting comments here. May I add my peneth worth.The lower the compression the slower the burn and generally a worse burn but not always if setup really well and a very well designed engine, there are reasons for running low compression even now but would go out of the realms of this thread.
The low compression and slow burn does as is already mentioned, give more time to heat pistons, bores and combustion chambers etc and can cause a hot engine.
Too high a compression ratio can do the same for different reasons, Detonation for example, this is when the fuel near the spark plug ignites, as the flame is progressing across the combustion chamber, the yet to be ignited gasses are getting very very hot, if they get too hot before the flame progresses correctly then they explode causing detonation and a severe load on pistons and bearings etc.
We have to remember that the combustion process is a carefully timed “burn” not an “explosion”Now on to Volvo pistons,
These are ok pistons to use and do work, BUT you need to do three things to make them work ok.
1. Volvo pistons are made for floating piston pins, the Lagonda has a pinch bolt. So in order to let the pin work correctly you will need to loosen the clearance in the piston slightly, this should be set so that the pin does not go tight at any time, even with a cold piston. Otherwise bore/piston damage will occur very quickly.
2. Run a piston to bore clearance of 0.004″ minimum, Lagonda engines do not cool evenly on all bores and in order to keep things from seizing this is a strong recommendation.
3. The run in period and process. Piston speed is not an issue on this engine if running at sensible speeds, it’s well inside std levels.
However the load of a heavy car running low RPM and relatively low compression ratios (even 8:1 is considered low) the probability for problems due to heat buildup is at its greatest. Maximum danger point is low rpm coupled with heavy load. So at 1500 rpm for instance and max throttle you will kill your new engine dead! Light load and more rpm are much better for running in.
I always always always run the following procedure.A: With ignition off, turn engine to get oil pressure.
B: Run engine in car for 5 minutes at 2000 rpm with no load.
C: Turn off and check
D: Drive car at no more load than if you were driving on a flat road with the smallest throttle opening possible. RPM up to 2500 and no lower than 1800 is fine. 5hours engine running
E: Drive at similar conditions but using only slightly more throttle, really very little but again RPM is fine up to 2800 but no lower than 1500. 5 Hours
F: Drive as if on a very gentle drive with an egg under your foot. same rpm as E but no more than 1/3 throttle. 1 Day of good driving
G: Drive again in the 1500 to 2800 rpm range for another day of real driving using no more than 1/2 throttle, (my advice is to set max throttle to half position to make things easy) Again though imagine that egg under your foot.
H: Setup day, drive and use the car as if driving on a long trip in the gentle hills of the Berkshire downs (feeling home sick now) with the odd full power run on a flat road, rpm up to 3300, (tip here, if the engine goes well up to 3k but loses some power thereafter, richen it up, I find this a lot but nowadays do all these tests with a Lambda fitted and usually on a rolling road but not always)
I: Enjoy your car with very little to worry about.Don’t let your engine get above 90 degrees at any time during the running in period. Avoid like the plague! Some places will be over 100 when your gauge is reading 90. The gauge is an average meter remember and don’t use a thermostat in a Meadows 6. You have been warned and would be amazed how poor the circulation is. Although if all is up to scratch, they generally don’t overheat.
Hope this helps.
JulianGreat Adam,
As Bill has said, the input / main shaft Spiggot bearing is very important, it should be moving on both internal and external surfaces but should have minimal play. The club have them in stock I believe, T8 and G9 use the same bearing.
Regards,
JulianMorning Adam,
My advice would be to go all the way now you are this far.
At least as far as stripping the main and input shafts.
A crack in any of these castings can be welded, I have done many but they do need carefull preparation first as they are usually a bit oil soaked.Good luck and feel free to phone and ask anything, I know these boxes very very well.
Best regards,
Julian+32 489712608
Colin M34 wrote: Hi Julian,
Interested to hear the news about HCS and Formhalls. As you know I am a satisfied customer. My M45 had white metalling by Formhalls and runs very nicely. I was very pleased with their service.
With the new ownership, have other members of the management team remained as well?
Colin M34
Thanks Colin,
Yes, the whole team is staying (the guys are great so it really is important to keep the workforce as is) and nothing really changing other than adding my contacts and HCS backing, we will be pushing some of our engine rebuilds to Formhalls and due to their size we are aiming to offer a “fast track” White metalling service if people genuinely need things done fast.
The nice side effect of Terry being less loaded with hassles of ownership is that he will have more time to oversee quality control etc and therefore make sure we have a constant stream of happy and satisfied customers.
Thanks for the kind words Colin and hope we can help everyone in the future.Best regards,
JulianHi Tim,
We can supply basically any and all parts for the Meadows 6 cylinder engine,
Most parts off of the shelf.
You should see some of our adverts coming out later this year.
New maybe a bit pricey for you but to be honest the extra strength and quality will pay off in the end.
Anyway, parts are available if the second hand search fails.As a foot note and may be of interest to others.
HCS has just taken over as new owners of Formhalls Vintage, White Metaling and engineering services.
After a very good relationship with Terry Formhalls of more than 20 years Terry and I had always hoped we could work more closely together, so now that Terry is a ‘little older’ we have taken over the reins to allow Terry to relax a little. Terry will carry on as usual at the workshop to add his considerable expertise and experience, but will not have the strains associated with owning and running what has now become a sizeable company.
I hope we as a team can help our fellow Lagonda owners further into the future.Best regards,
JulianHi Bill,
Give me a call, I can supply all parts that you need.
Best regards,
Julian+32 3353 3331
+32 489712608Hi Andrew,
With the thought in mind that I am advertising my own stuff but at the same time trying to help,
I would strongly advise fitting one of our composite Graphite / steel gaskets, these were specifically made to combat the typical problem you have just encountered.240 Euros each and in stock.
Hope this helps,
Best regards,
Julian
Give me a buzz on 0032 489 712 608Thanks Bill,
It’s all of you guys who put me where I am today so I will be here for a while yet :o)
Thanks and best regards,
JulianHi all,
Small mention that the HCS workshop has rather a few special Lagondas in at the moment.
Lovely LG45 DHC once owned and rallied by Allan Good himself,
Another fantastic LG45 DHC came in today from Switzerland for work,
A 2 litre Low chassis in for engine work, 2 Rapiers, a great looking M45 with rare T5 bodywork in for an engine rebuild and gearbox upgrade. Another M45 for restoration and a couple of 4.5 litre engines for upgrades.
Amongs all the rest of the various cars ranging from no less than 3 Talbot Lago T26s, 1 Vauxhall 30/98, 1 Ferarri 250, 2 WO Bentleys, 1 Derby Bentley, 1 Alfa Romeo 1750, 1 Maserati 350GT, 1 Talbot 105 and god knows what I have forgotten while I type this. we are packed and keeping our 6 full time workshop technicians and 2 office staff very busy indeed.
YES I did say ‘6’ 😀 😀
I of course do nothing but drink Coffee and the work just pours in on it’s own but you all knew that already didn’t you 😀 😆 😆
Anyway, it’s 8pm and I had better get back in the workshop to help the pixies fix the cars over night or the guys will shoot me when they get in in the morning and nothing has changed.
Maybe see one or two of you at the Palais het Loo at the weekend?Tatty bye,
Julian