Finally safety wired the caliper bolts after rebuilding the fronts. Need to replace the ball joint rubbers. Weather will warm up to low 60’s starting Sunday, so I’d like to back it into the sunshine and slowly raise the soft top after being laid down for 7 years.
1 Like
Funny you should mention it, one of the folks on the Cascade Oil Leak last month had a caliper come off! Made me a believer in safety wire. (I use locktite, lockwashers and safety wire on mine).
Cheers,
LLynn
I reset the needles on my '73 yesterday. I had issues with drivability on the Oil Leak and with the help of a couple of folks on the OL was able to get them at a point where the car would drive pretty well but I decided I had better go through them again. One of the ‘helpers’ had a micrometer so we set them all to 41 mm but when I was checking them yesterday I noticed that the seats were at slightly different depths. To the best of my knowledge the seats on the S3’s are not adjustable so I set the needles to take into account the slight difference. I also set the ‘reference’ needle at the midrange of it’s adjustment (approx. 3 3/4’s turns from all the way up to disengaged). Seems to be running better but still need to check the airflow when it gets warm enough in the garage again.
Again my thanks to those folks who gave me a hand beside the road!
Cheers,
LLynn
2 Likes
Belt, suspenders, and BOTH hands! 
1 Like
I drove over Galena Pass into Idaho’s Stanley Valley. Empty roads and incomparable views of the Sawtooth Mountains. The gas station in Stanley even sells Ethanol free Premium. Fall colors and early mountain snow. A great destination any time of the year.
6 Likes
Beautiful car and magnificent scenery.
Cheers,
LLynn
1 Like
Thanks for the info. Here’s a cross section of the new seal that I have. From what you described I’m assuming this is the correct orientation — top of seal, as shown, fits in hardtop channel.
Jim
Got it. Thanks for the quick response.
Jim
If tightened properly, they don’t fall off…
1 Like
Yup, that looks like mine. The way you are holding it there is correct fitment.
I have changed the water pump this morning.
I ve adapted on from an XJS and placed the 4 grooves from the e type.
I was on the way to place back the belts on the steering. The engine comes from an XJS. Bad news. The pulley is too large. I need to find an E Type V12 one which has a smaller groove.
I m interesting to get one !
I removed the pistons from the 4.2 engine. I want to replace the rings but don’t know what size to order.
I measured the pistons and the crank big ends, but don’t know what is standard size. Any help for checking which size rings and bearings to order would be appreciated.![IMG_3195|375x500]
The rings look good, but I guess if I’ve come this far…they may as well be changed?(upload://bC7qjh9qr7cP6kd92xvY93laE67.jpeg)
What is the standard cylinder bore dia and crank dia too please?
I was bored this morning so I took an old burned dizzy that I had laying around and turned it into a tool for holding the distributor/oil pump drive gear:
Cheers,
LLynn
The size of the piston should be on the crown, if oversized.
1 Like
Finally backed the car out since the brakes were done. Let it sit in the sun and while the air temp is only 60F, I opened up the soft top and let it get warm. It hasn’t been up in 7 years, the last time being during a toad strangler of a storm outside Sweetwater. The top itself is over 30 years old and came from G.W.Bartlett, now OSJI. The plastic window didn’t crack, is still pliable and while it has a soft crease where it was folded while in place, is still in great shape. It’s a testament to the materials they used. Couldn’t be happier.
I’ve been using coolant, and while I’ve found that the radiator drain has a slight drip, I decided to run a camera into the cylinders to see if I saw any head gasket leaks into any of them. There is no coolant in the sump at all. All the cylinders except, 5, looked like this
However 5 was sooted up with carbon.
I assume it’s not water or it would have cleaned the piston. I’m assuming its fuel or oil. Anyone have some thoughts?
BTW, although I didn’t get focused correctly, the little $40 endoscope from Amazon that someone linked to a topic on the forum works wonders. To think this technology was hundreds of dollars a few years ago and didn’t even connect to a phone for taking pics is amazing
It’s probably not fuel or you’d see the same thing on the ganged cylinder, #6 on a triple carb car. It could be fuel if #5 was misfiring maybe but I’d think you’d notice that in the performance.
That would mean burning oil is more likely. Try turning it over until that cylinder is at the bottom and stick the camera in again to see how scored that cylinder is. It could still be a broken ring though even if it’s clean. I swear, these cameras, sometimes you’re better off remaining blissfully ignorant 
2 Likes
Best to check the intake manifold gasket for coolant leaks. I believe coolant being ingested could be cleaning your clean cylinders.
Possible. Old school remedy to clean out carbon is to slowly pour a fizzy mineral water into the carb(s) at 2000 ish rpm…
I’ll try getting it down lower and look at the walls. The camera actually does a pretty good job. I can still see hone marks so if there is a vertical scratch it should show up.
I’ll also check the spark on #5, although as you said it should be evident if a misfire.
Engine only has 1500 miles since I rebuilt it in 2012. But I could have broken a ring when installing I suppose.