Forum Replies Created
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Hi Mark,
Assuming V12, newly made ones, complete and parts separately, are available from Ecurie Bertelli … at a price, but at least an option.
Laurence
My LG6 special was fitted with a Kenlowe fan by the previous owner. essential, as the special was built with a custom radiator which slopes backwards, leaving no room for the original engine mounted fan.
My experience was that the thermocouple was unreliable; sometimes the fan would be on when the engine was not that hot, and not on when it was! This culminated in a trip to Prescott, where unbeknownst to me, the fan must have been working permanently, with the battery finally running out of juice well into our return journey. For some reason I had a spare battery in the car! After that, I disconnected the thermo arrangement and simply switched the fan on when I saw the temperature gauge reading too high … and that worked very well. Clearly the LG6 has a substantial dynamo and voltage regulator. That said, when the regulator failed due to a fused connection during the Champagne Rally, I was able to start and drive the car for several days, with no charging whatsoever. The key was having a substantial battery … perhaps a battery with more amp/hours capacity would help.
Laurence
Hi Dave,
Many thanks for the link.
Laurence
Those on ebay appear to be copies of those made in period by Jarrot, of Wimbledon. I have one I purchased years ago for my LG6, but unfortunately wrong diameter.
Excelsior crossply tyres seem to get poor reviews, however they also produce radial tyres for early cars, which have a very good reputation, indeed I bought a set for my Riley RMB. All the benefits of radials, but, crucially, the dimensions and appearance of period crossplies. They certainly make them in a size to suit the V12 and LG6, so quite likely for the 16/80. Only downside is … they aren’t cheap! They should however last far longer than crossplies. I think North Hants Tyres are the only UK suppliers; Longstone don’t stock as they erroneously presume Excelsior radials are as bad as their crossplies.
Hi Bill,
Found Mahle OC132: https://www.distriauto.fr/mahle/oc-132-1130865-oc-132-1132281
The original oil filter, assuming it was the same as that fitted to my LG6 (S4) engine, appears perfectly good and effective to me … “modern” cartridge type disposable filters which have many other applications, and thus remain easily and cheaply available. Indeed, it’s the same element as used in my Riley RMB engine filter. Puzzled as to why people change to an alternative. Strangely the filtration system on the otherwise somewhat archaic Meadows engine is light years ahead of the state of the art V12’s original filtration … that needs updating desperately!
Laurence
Same on my LG6 engine, but with a fifth nut between and below the upper two. Unfortunately my engine is elsewhere so I can’t check any further. Maybe this was where the “Autokleen” arrangement was, on earlier versions of this engine.
Laurence
Hi Hans,
My engine was subsequently rebuilt professionally, and I see they replaced the original bellows arrangement with a modern graphite/viton seal, with a ceramic? ring araldited to the rear face of the impeller. I went to that firm because I knew the guy had much expertise on these engines, including reliable race versions … so I’m satisfied his conversion is a good one. Basically, there is plenty of room there to make up your own arrangement. You just need to be satisfied that the seal itself is watertight where it fits, and that the sprung pressure against the impeller is neither too heavy or light. I presume the ceramic ring either presents a better sealing surface for the graphite face of the seal … or it is a means of extending the impeller sealing face rearwards to suit the replacement seal. Be aware that you may well have brass shims for the body casing of the pump. These are to facilitate positioning of the pump body so that the impeller does not contact either internal face of the pump. The impeller sits on a taper, so its position there cannot be altered.
Hi Hans,
Not sure that making a different gasket is the answer, you may be fixing a problem that does not exist. Be careful, you deviate from standard with these V12 engines at your peril.
Annoyingly there is a fair bit of dismantling to do to get to dismantle the water pump itself. If the engine has been standing and not run for some time, it may just be that the sealing carbon ring needs to bed to its mating face on the impeller. If the seal is original, it will be a brass bellows with graphite ring bonded. The bellows may have fatigued. Most importantly, the dome nut retaining the impeller has a left hand thread. If you try to unscrew that in the “normal” direction, you will break the threaded spigot off the water pump shaft … just as a previous owner of my V12 did.
Ignition timing. I’ve read the Club revised handbook, and it is not specifically stating 30 degrees as a timing setting … merely that, if the distributors are still functioning as they should, that a maximum of 30 degrees advance should be apparent. This revised book is no more helpful than the original handbook as to actually setting the timing. All that either state is that one should set the STATIC ignition at top dead centre. That should be used as a starting point. Modern petrol is far superior to that available when these cars were new, furthermore if your compression ratio has been increased, both factors would make an original factory setting useful as a guide only. Therefore I can but suggest you set static at TDC, run the engine up and watch advance increase, and hope it gets to around 30 degrees. You then know things are working as they should. From there, you can try altering the timing to see if it runs better at a different setting. You should have a vernier setting with degrees marked on the distributor mounting, which at least makes adjustment easy.
This will be easier to follow if you could take photos of your block and heads bare, and with the gaskets in place. That said, if you compare the images of the Club Spares gaskets on this site with your gaskets, and the holes match, I wouldn’t worry about it. It is fairly common for gaskets to have holes with no apparent purpose, and indeed for orifices in cylinder heads and blocks to be blocked by the gasket/and/or their mating block/head surface.
Laurence
Still hoping someone can kindly trouble to check their tool kit and respond; meanwhile, Happy New Year!
Yes, correct, male thread on crankshaft. The dog nut is hollow, so you can judge how much you will save by removing it. Standard right hand thread … check if it is lock-tabbed. If it hasn’t been removed for ages it may be difficult to undo. Mine unscrewed easily, but the engine had been rebuilt 10 years previously. You need a spanner, ideally a ring spanner, that is a good fit. This is the sort of job where shock is more likely to succeed than leverage … so whacking the spanner with a copper hammer is likely to free it.
Laurence
Hi David,
Mine is an LG6 so sorry I can’t offer a correct solution. However, if the damper is the issue, this is only held by the starter dog nut (which may be lock-tabbed), so maybe removing the damper and refitting after mounting the engine would resolve the issue? Note the damper is pretty heavy. If you remove piece by piece, there are springs inside so be ready to catch those. You should also find that the rotors are stamped for balance, so take care to ensure those markings are aligned when re-assembling.
Laurence
I always assumed two 6 volt batteries were used, as a 12 volt of similar capacity would be rather heavy. However, when speaking with the proprietor of Lincon Batteries, he averred that two 6 volt batteries were more powerful than a single 12 volt battery. I can’t see how that can be the case, though. These batteries are 1.5 volt cells (individual batteries), linked by bus bars (connecting links) … so, 4 cells for a 6 volt, and 8 for a 12. The cable connection between the two 6 volt batteries needed to link them to make 12 volts is surely none other than a bus bar, so how extra power results is … mysterious!
On this topic; does anyone have period pictures of the original battery fitment in a V12 or LG6? I have the steel cross straps, and the lugs for those are still extant … but I can’t envisage how these straps actually held the original batteries!
I too have heard bad reports regarding Forlife antifreeze. Fernox products, although intended for household central heating systems, seem to be good for our cars. Their technical department is helpful, furthermore going by the VSCC forum, many VSCC members favour Fernox Alphi 11 … indeed I’ve bought some to use in my V12, once it actually gets to the stage of being running! As an aside, Fernox DS40 is recommended for cleaning rust and scale, and without attacking aluminium, so I will be using that before the antifreeze stage.
Laurence