2 March 2011
Its March already and old Betty only came out of the shed once. We were up there at Trevs a couple of weeks back and I thought I'd better just start her up seeing as its been a while. So I ferried the kids about a bit, and then took her for a run down the road and back.
Then the 6th was coming up and the SFCC was doing a Classic Ford Cruise from Thornleigh in Sydney up to The Entrance. I was keen for this one so thought I'd better get Betty checked over profesionally. So I took her down to Selbys for a once over. The alternator light was staying on and it looks like the alternator needs looking at. Hopefully it'll be fixed in time. They also couldn't sort the rough idling. It might be old fuel, or maybe the carby is a bit gunked up. He said to stick a tank of E10 in and that might flush things out. So I put half a tank, cause I'm just not sure about it. So here's some pics while she is sat in the garage waiting her fixed alternator, and a wash before heading to Sydney on Sunday.
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5 March 2011
The guy had the alternator ready to go Friday, so I picked it up and chucked it back on. She started up fine again and was charging away nicely. Then Saturday I gave the old girl a wash and clean up. By Saturday night she was looking good and ready to roll.
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6 March 2011
And then it all went pear shaped. Old Betty hummed along beautifully till we got to Berry. Then after the speed camera she chugged a bit and then died. After a little while she started up again so I drove the back streets a bit to see if she'd go. All looked ok again and I was going to push on to Sydney. But then when turning around she died again. So I decided to head for home instead. I made it part way back before she died once more. By this time I'd given up and rang Trev to ask for a tow back home. It sounded like gunk in the carby, no doubt caused by that stupid E10 fuel. I'm kicking myself I even thought it was a good idea to put it in. Once home I pulled the carby off and got to draining the fuel. Once gone I pulled the tank out too. It was a bit messy underneath there so figured I'd give it a cleanup while it was all out.
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12 March 2011
I managed to collect all the bits I needed to sort the old girl out. I pulled the carby apart and liberally sprayed it with carby cleaner till no more dirt came off it. I blew out all the jets too. I didn't see any junk come out, so hopefully I have fixed the problem. I put it all back together, bolted it back on the car and then tried to remember where everything hooked up to it. I blew out the fuel line too. While the tank was out I wire brushed and then rust converted the tank well in the boot. A bit of matt black after some primer was chucked on neaten it up a bit. While the matt black was out I slapped some on the tank too. I'm just waiting for my new filler hose to turn up in the post and then we can fill it with premium fuel and try to start her again. Fingers crossed I've sorted the problem, otherwise I could be in trouble :)
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25 MArch 2011
I managed to get myself into a brand new set of 13x7 minilight style alloys for old Bandit2. I got a tyre put on one, and one on the 13x7 steel wheel, just so I could do some test fitting. And I just had to see what they looked like on Betty. The tyres are way too big, and the guards would need some work to stop some rubbing. But she looks pretty cool.
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12 April 2011
Gee time gets away from you. I got the fuel hose and put the tank back in and made sure it was all hooked up ok. Loaded up with some fuel and then gave the old girl a try. But again, nothing. Sounded like she might fire and go, but just wouldn't. So I posted a video on the forums asking what's going on. Turns out it might be the coil or condensor in the dizzy. The spark is very weak. So I thought I'd start by getting a new cap, rotor and condensor. But of course there were none in stock, and when they arrived they'd ordered the wrong ones, and the Lucas ones I needed were proving hard to find. So while I waited for the new cap and rotor I thought I'd change the condensor over. But a nice simple job went wrong when I dropped the screw down into the dizzy body. Bugger. So the dizzy had to come out. What a bastard of a job that is on this Lucas setup. After much swearing I managed to get it out, recovered the screw, cleaned it up (it was a mess), and then managed to get it re-fitted. It even looks like its kinda in the same position it was when it came out, so hopefully I haven't mullered the timing too much. I'm now waiting for the new cap and rotor to show up so I can see if they fix the problem. If its not them then I need a new coil. And if its the coil then it was probably that to begin with, so all this pulling apart could have been avoided!
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11 July 2011
So after getting Selbys to try and get the car running properly again after I pulled the dizzy out, and getting the carb sent up Sydney for a cleanup, they found that the plate in my dizzy was loose so the timing wasn't staying where it was meant to. So I said stuff it, and bought a new electronic one from Smcka and got them to chuck that on. It still wasn't running real well and the brakes were dragging really badly. So I thought I'd try one more garage before giving up completely. And lo and behold, Kennedy's fixed her up sweet. Turns out all this time the exhaust valve clearances weren't set right, plus one of the rear wheel cylinders was stuffed and locked on. I thought Selbys may have thought to check these things, but no. So I won't be taking Betty back there again. So in time for the All Ford Day Betty was running beautifully and like new again.
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31 July 2011
And so finally time for the first show of the year for Betty. We motored up to Eastern Creek for the All Ford Day. And motor she did. Sitting on 100kmh all the way up the freeway she was running like a dream. I am a happy boy. Parked up with the rest of the SFCC guys on turn 1 and spent the day wandering and gas bagging. At the end I actually heard them call out my rego plate. It turns out I won a trophy too. A great surprise to me considering the quality of the other cars in the club. But then on this day of mixed emotions just before I was back at Carol and Trevs to pick up the girls, I managed to clout a bloody wallaby. Lucky it was on an uphill section, so when I locked everything up we actually still lost a lot of speed. I guess it could have been a lot worse, but it dented the front panel and numberplate, and pushed the bumper back a bit. Not happy!
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31 August 2011
So after the wallaby incident I was straight on the phone the next day to Jim Campbell from the club, who is an awesome panel beater up in Windsor. He said to bring the car up whenever I was ready and he'd sort it out. So after going to Cooma and the snow with the kids on August 24 I took the afternoon off work and drove Betty up to Jim's shop at Windsor. Again she drove beautifully and roared along at 100kmh. Dad had meetings in Sydney so was able to drive me back home. Then the next week Jim sent me an email with some pictures of all the work done. So On September 3 I jumped on the train and had a 4 hour ride up to and through Sydney. The old girl looked spot on, so after handing over the cash I roared oon back home via the highlands and Kangaroo Valley (thankfully there was no more wildlife on the road). I just need to put the front numberplate back on as I got Jim to weld up the old holes so I can get rid of the alloy back plate and just have the small historic plate on there. I just think it looks a bit neater. I'm also hoping that I don't have to spend any more money on Betty this year!
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28 October 2011
After Betty sat in the shed for a month or more with no front number plate, a couple of days before the SFCC concourse and display day I thought I'd better pluck up the courage and drill some holes in the front of her to get the plate on. I was pretty ginger at first, but all went well and I got things all bolted up ok. I was very surprised at how much bog was under the paint. It was pretty damn thick there.
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6 November 2011
And then it was time for her last show of the year (probably). We had a nice run up to Sydney and met up with Steve along the way. Rocked up to the show, which was now at Haigh Park in Moorebank. It was a much better spot than last year cause it was a very hot day and there were plenty of trees around for shade. It was great to see all the excellent cars in the club, check out some new ones, catch up with some old ones and generally have a chat. There was a bit of rain on the way home, but that didn't stop old Betty from roaring back down the highway home. Up and back was all done on the one tank of fuel too. It was a great day out and nice to be back behind the wheel and running ok.
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