Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2009 9:13:04 GMT
Hi folks,
Pleased to see it now looks like quite a few of you will be attending the Brooklands bash. Do try to bring dry weather along with you!
Thought I'd update you with the latest trials and tribulations of my progress with WGW 343M.
After the eventful weekend at Silverstone for the Ford Fair, in which it appeared that either the clutch or the Type 9 gearbox were slowly disintergrating, even though operation and change quality still appeared to be first-rate, it turned out that the culprit was actually the viscous fan unit gradually self-destructing.
Such had been the extent of the vibrations and intermittent noise coming up through the gearstick that it completely fooled me into not looking any further than the transmission.
So, having arranged anyway to replace the Type 9 with the even stronger Borg Warner T5 (Cossie) unit (thanks Stevo!), the good news was that it did at least mean I still had my superbly smooth Type 9 to sell on, complete with that rare bellhousing from a Consul GT or similar.
But unfortunately for me, the problem didn't actually confirm itself until I was nursing WGW across to Tickover Clive's to have the transplant carried out along with the Lumenition and Kenlowe installations, the latter in further pursuit of keeping things cool in traffic. Cue the viscous fan letting rip straight through the fairly recent rad only about ten miles short of its destination, and of course on the M25. Cheers then.
I did limp it off to relative safety, but it had dumped all its coolant instantly and there was certainly no scope to nurse it to Clive's without risking further damage. At least Mr. AA was very quick and efficient, and also very interested in WGW.
So... I now have the car back with a few more 'secret' mods and the added peace of mind of being able to override the (very quiet) fan when required. Surprisingly, the Lumenition seems to have made no difference whatsoever to performance, whereas it was expected that the fatter spark at low revs would improve bottom-end smoothness and help combat the slight fluffiness that the bigger carb suffers at low revs, thanks also to the slightly more peaky nature of the uprated heads and cam.
Anyway, time will tell, and time permitting I may well have done a bit more tinkering by the time Brooklands comes. The T5 is certainly a delight to use, but rather more aurally agricultural at present in comparison to the Type 9, so it will be treated to a strip-down and full examination during the winter to quieten it right down.
All of which means I've spent far more on WGW this year than was planned and I'm now flat broke, and working it would seem many more hours than I was two years ago for a lot less income. Welcome to Rubbish Britain, whilst Smarmy Blair's still coining it in.
But it does mean I now have some bits for sale which I can bring to Brooklands with me should anyone care to put their name to them.
These comprise firstly, the original 4-speed Bullet gearbox from WGW which was in perfect and as-new working order, and was only replaced because I decided that more relaxed cruising was more important to me than invisible authenticity.
And secondly, I have the Type 9 5-speed 'box and bellhousing combination. Now I know that Type 9's are commonly available from 2.8i's, but they are often pretty coggy and whiney in operation. This one was an absolute treat to use, in fact much nicer than I'd ever expected it would be, and it was quiet a mouse throughout. In my view it completely transformed WGW in terms of refinement at speed. Anyway, of course it's attached to one of these mega-rare bellhousings which I'm told are the only way of linking the Essex lump up to the later 5-speed gearbox.
I guess I'm open to sensible offers for these items, but will hang on to them if there are no takers.
Please contact me on nashionalbus1@btconnect.com or call me on 07836 656692 to discuss further.
Thanks, Mike
Pleased to see it now looks like quite a few of you will be attending the Brooklands bash. Do try to bring dry weather along with you!
Thought I'd update you with the latest trials and tribulations of my progress with WGW 343M.
After the eventful weekend at Silverstone for the Ford Fair, in which it appeared that either the clutch or the Type 9 gearbox were slowly disintergrating, even though operation and change quality still appeared to be first-rate, it turned out that the culprit was actually the viscous fan unit gradually self-destructing.
Such had been the extent of the vibrations and intermittent noise coming up through the gearstick that it completely fooled me into not looking any further than the transmission.
So, having arranged anyway to replace the Type 9 with the even stronger Borg Warner T5 (Cossie) unit (thanks Stevo!), the good news was that it did at least mean I still had my superbly smooth Type 9 to sell on, complete with that rare bellhousing from a Consul GT or similar.
But unfortunately for me, the problem didn't actually confirm itself until I was nursing WGW across to Tickover Clive's to have the transplant carried out along with the Lumenition and Kenlowe installations, the latter in further pursuit of keeping things cool in traffic. Cue the viscous fan letting rip straight through the fairly recent rad only about ten miles short of its destination, and of course on the M25. Cheers then.
I did limp it off to relative safety, but it had dumped all its coolant instantly and there was certainly no scope to nurse it to Clive's without risking further damage. At least Mr. AA was very quick and efficient, and also very interested in WGW.
So... I now have the car back with a few more 'secret' mods and the added peace of mind of being able to override the (very quiet) fan when required. Surprisingly, the Lumenition seems to have made no difference whatsoever to performance, whereas it was expected that the fatter spark at low revs would improve bottom-end smoothness and help combat the slight fluffiness that the bigger carb suffers at low revs, thanks also to the slightly more peaky nature of the uprated heads and cam.
Anyway, time will tell, and time permitting I may well have done a bit more tinkering by the time Brooklands comes. The T5 is certainly a delight to use, but rather more aurally agricultural at present in comparison to the Type 9, so it will be treated to a strip-down and full examination during the winter to quieten it right down.
All of which means I've spent far more on WGW this year than was planned and I'm now flat broke, and working it would seem many more hours than I was two years ago for a lot less income. Welcome to Rubbish Britain, whilst Smarmy Blair's still coining it in.
But it does mean I now have some bits for sale which I can bring to Brooklands with me should anyone care to put their name to them.
These comprise firstly, the original 4-speed Bullet gearbox from WGW which was in perfect and as-new working order, and was only replaced because I decided that more relaxed cruising was more important to me than invisible authenticity.
And secondly, I have the Type 9 5-speed 'box and bellhousing combination. Now I know that Type 9's are commonly available from 2.8i's, but they are often pretty coggy and whiney in operation. This one was an absolute treat to use, in fact much nicer than I'd ever expected it would be, and it was quiet a mouse throughout. In my view it completely transformed WGW in terms of refinement at speed. Anyway, of course it's attached to one of these mega-rare bellhousings which I'm told are the only way of linking the Essex lump up to the later 5-speed gearbox.
I guess I'm open to sensible offers for these items, but will hang on to them if there are no takers.
Please contact me on nashionalbus1@btconnect.com or call me on 07836 656692 to discuss further.
Thanks, Mike
