Silentblock wide bush engine mounts - limited space for carburettor

While I'm busy blogging I thought I'd share a picture of my engine mount and how it physically contacts both my Jetex 22mm carburettor and my fast flow fuel tap. There literally isn't any room to spare between them.

I've done over 1000km with this setup and my early concerns about whether engine movement might cause some problems have come to nothing. Of course the carb moves with the engine and its mounts, but the fuel tap obviously doesn't.

Replacing inlet manifold gasket

The most frustrating thing about replacing the inlet manifold gasket on a Lambretta (or mine at least) is that you have to drop the engine off its mount in order to take the manifold off its studs. Another 5mm and we'd be clear. Alas, this lack of space makes what could be a 15 minute job into at least an hour job fraught with potential complications.

On the bright side, we don't need much of a drop so there's no need to disconnect any cables or electrics. Once my engine was removed my engine still sat happily in place and could be cajoled most easily by dragging the scooter from side to side by grabbing the footboard mount. When pulling the frame this way toward the carb side it makes the engine drop enough so that the manifold can just be squeezed over the longer stud.

During all this I did have a trolley jack placed just beneath the cowl in case it decided to drop some more. This was also going to help me move the engine back into place when finished.

I scraped the old gasket off the manifold and the cylinder, being very careful indeed not to drop anything into the cylinder. With the new one in place I squeezed the manifold back over its studs. Previously I'd been using spring washers but after some reading and observation I figured that a crinkle (wavy) washer would be better due to limited space on the studs protruding above the manifold. I didn't have the right size crinkle washer so I made my own! I just took a normal washer and hammered it while held in a vice. Not pretty, but effective.

Jetex carburettor - sticking float

After fixing my inlet manifold gasket I stumbled into another problem. The engine wouldn't start, and then I noticed fuel flooding out of the carb onto the floor. The problem was an apparently commonplace sticking float. It wasn't sticking on the housing, but simply wasn't moving very freely on the pivot pin.

I considered removing the pin and float and sanding the float a little on the hinged faces, as per some ideas on the Lambretta forums. First of all though I though I'd get some WD40 into it and let it stand for a while. This did the trick - the float now falls freely under gravity and rises with the 'tide'.

Inlet manifold worked loose, gasket fail

So I've been using the scoot happily for a long time now with little bother, typically once a week getting to work in Bristol. It must be over two years of reliable starting and riding in all weathers - hot, cold, wet and dry. The only thing I've been having to stay on top of is a very slow loss of air from the rear wheel and regular disintegration of my air hose regardless of whether I buy Indian or Italian. Regular oil checks have revealed no noticeable oil loss through leak or burn. MOT's have gone without a hitch.

All good then, until a few weeks ago when midway through my journey home from work it started running rough - not idling without throttle, and low on power. A test ride the next day revealed that the engine would race frighteningly fast with choke on, and die without it. This is symptomatic of air getting into the cylinder not via the carb.

Then it went cold. Then it snowed:

Finally today the snow has gone and basking in 8 degrees warmth I was able to take a look at what's going on. The inlet manifold has become loose and part of the gasket disintegrated, allowing air ingress. With the choke on this had the effect of a wide open throttle.

So now I need to drop the engine by a few cm's (again) to get the manifold off, replace the gasket, and fit it back with some nylock nuts and wavy washers. Tight. And hopefully this time it'll stay on!

Trust the professionals?

In the age of the internet it's not a great idea to be dishonest if you have a business you care about, because sooner or later somebody will moan about it online, and you'll end up with crap on your digital footprint.

Well it's my turn for that moan. This isn't vengeance, it's a short factual story about a Bristol-based used car dealership called Automotive Solutions, and their 'sister' company, Edwards Car Care, that were dishonest to me.

I bought a used car off these guys. When I bought it, I asked specifically about a known problem to do with water ingress with this type of car, and whether it had had the fix done to it. I was told it had. Within a couple of weeks it became obvious it hadn't - it rained hard and the footwells were full of water, which just so happens to be the place where the computer that controls pretty much everything sits.

So, I took it back and within a day or two they had done 'the fix' and dried out the carpets. Now 'the fix' I refer to is a well documented directive from VW - it involves buying a new gasket strip for £10, and fitting it beneath a pollen filter inlet. The labour is probably about an hour.

When I picked up the car I inspected the work and noticed what looked like silicone sealant around the area in question. I was told they used this as a 'belt and braces' approach and had installed the correct gasket. I left satisfied.

Roll on two years...and things start going wrong with the car. I suspect water ingress, and sure enough after lifting the carpets I find the loom and the CCU (the computer for lots of stuff) is wet. This time I tackle the problem myself. I buy the correct £10 from VW, and start work. This is what I found:

So, what do we see here? This is a cowboy job. They didn't buy a new gasket at all. They couldn't be bothered to spend £10 on the proper part. Instead, they rammed the whole thing with silicone sealant - a hope-and-pray approach that was destined to be a short-term fix. In the first photo you can see the inner sponge gasket completely covered in silicone, and the outer gasket with a complete section missing along the bottom edge. The lower photo shows the gasket removed.

And the funny thing is they didn't save any time doing this - in fact it probably took them longer - you still have to remove the wipers, scuttle and pollen filter, and then refit. So the only reason for doing this is to avoid spending a tenner. And all this risked very expensive damage to my car.

Edwards Car Care website says:

"Edwards Car Care is a well respected garage, with many satisfied customers in the Clifton area of Bristol. Our professional, reliable mechanics and technicians and state-of-the-art equipment allow us to undertake any sort of work on all makes and models of cars."

Perhaps I was given the trainee? Perhaps they were having a bad day? Perhaps they think silicone was an appropriate fix, and lying was acceptable? Either way, from now on, if you Google 'Automotive Solutions Bristol', or 'Edwards Car Care' you may just see this story, and wonder if this is a business you can really trust.

I don't trust them at all. My car allegedly came with a new cambelt courtesy of Edwards Car Care. After this experience should I believe it?

Fender gone

Removed all the rubbish from the back of the back - lights. saddle, bags, saddles, rear fender. All that remains is the metal subframe which I'll chop off at a later date.

Shed some weight and tat

First step with the Honda was to remove some bits that I don't want and put them on ebay.

Things like this crash bar:

And the solid wheel covers, sissy bar and other small odds and ends. I also binned the saddle bags, the rear fender, some tassles and eagles. In total I made over £100 and shaved several kilos off the weight.

Honda Shadow VT600 bobber project

I've bought a running but slightly neglected Honda Shadow VT600 with the intent of turning it into an old-skool bobber. When I bought it it looked like this:

And the plan is to strip it down and make it look a little more like this:

I don't have a garage so work on it will be weather-dependent, and with three young kids time isn't particularly abundant, so this is going to take some time.

Crash!

Came off this morning in the wet. Was filtering slowly in Bristol centre when someone decided to switch lanes without checking their mirrors. I had to brake hard to avoid a collision, but unfortunately I was on wet painted lines, so lost the front end and ended up on the floor.

Almost effortlessly I was back on my feet shouting at the driver, part in anger and part in shock. He was very apologetic. I picked up the scooter and apart from the number plate falling off there was no damage done.

New panel flashes

Fitted these new panel flashes from ScootRS. Nice huh?

Also fitted yet another air hose. They don't seem to last long!