For those who like a read...
Engine: Assemble!
With the parts mentioned earlier in this thread, I gave them all to one of my local garages to assemble, taking the missing good bits of my old engine (the sump for example). The two main reasons I asked a garage to do this were one: at the time, I wasn't confident in fiddling about with some of the internal engine parts. I reasoned I'd let a professional do the job. And two, back in 2017 I lived in a house which did not have a garage. I didn't have the space to assemble it myself. The garage I chose was one I'd been using ever since I moved here, I specifically chose them as they were older mechanics who had experience with older cars (I could see other customers bringing their classics to them). Certainly the first time I'd used them they were excellent.
You can see where this is going though can't you?
It took seven months to get the car back. Seven months sitting out in the salty sea air. Now I currently live in Orkney, and one of the many quirks of the culture here is that half of the garages/mechanics work in a rather strange way to me. Most people take their car to the garage and even if they're not given an ETA when they drop it off, the garage tends to do the job as soon as they can and get it back to the customer so they can collect payment. Not in Orkney, no, half the garages up here you have to actively chase them up to see if it's ready yet. It's strange. I breifly had a Vectra that took one month to get an MOT.
Anyway, even though I knew of this quirk at the time, I didn't expect seven months. And when I got it back it sounded horrendous. But it moved, and I missed it and I figured it was probably something that could be corrected with some tuning. I spent the next few days driving about the roads, breaking in the engine, doing oil changes. I even had the nerve to get the garage to retorque the engine for me. That only took them a few days though.
At this point I decided to consult someone who no-doubt knew how to correct the running of the engine: Gadge. He kindly agreed and round about March 2018 I set off down the country. (Normally I travel all the way down Scotland and back each month anyway, on this occasion I'd be going a little further!)
However about an hour in, the engine started jumping and then it just died. I got out and discovered my engine bay splattered with oil. When it was running, it seemed to come from the seal between the crankcase and the oil filter pulley. I got the AA the rest of the way down, contacted Gadge to call off our plan, spent a few days down in central belt Scotland then called up the AA to take me home again.
I took the car back to the garage, I even brought the replacement seal which I thought was the problem. They fitted it but it still slung oil everywhere. They then demonstrated that you could grab a hold of the crankshaft and wiggle it significantly. I can't remember exactly what I did next, but I someone got the car back to my house and contemplated what to do. Assembling all those parts cost a bit... and all for nothing really.
The pre-assembled engine
Not long after I had just sold a campervan and had a significant lump of money that I probably should have used to pay off a loan. Instead, I spied a preassembled/newly built BIS engine for sale at Fiat Fischer (by newly built, I mean they build to order from new old stock presumably). I took the plunge and a few weeks later a shiny new BIS engine arrived. I rest assured that it had been assembled by people who knew what they were doing, and all I need to do was mount it into the car.
(https://i.ibb.co/PhgXNQv/IMG-6721.jpg)
So I asked the garage to do it. Now before you cringe, I reasoned that since they literally just needed to lift it up and slot it on, and they'd had plenty of time getting familiar with a 126, they'd do it fine. And this time I would chase them constantly. It still took them weeks, and I had them fit a new fuel tank just for good measure. On this occasion it took far less time... but cost the same amount of labour charges. I questioned this... I'm not intimidating so I tried using logic to barter the invoice.
"Guys, how come it costs the same amount of money to fit an engine into a car... as it does to assemble an engine and fit it into the car?"
To add injury to insult, they failed it's MOT. I reckoned they were so sick of me chasing them up, so sick of seeing my car that they'd just pass the MOT and be done with me. Nope. Luckily it was only little niggly things... but I was still surprised. Finally, with the new engine fitted, MOT'd and insured, I set out. Ofcourse it didn't completely right, but it was a bit better.
But it jumped about. You couldn't cruise at a smooth speed, and after 60 miles it died.
Oh and before we go onto the next chapter, a few things I noticed during those 60 miles...
- The low battery light was on, and got brighter going over bumps... so I suspected a bad earth.
- The wire string that opens the front boot had been pulled and twisted, it no longer worked. Wonder what they did that for?
- The radiator fan, which in my ownership has always been manually controlled, no longer came on. Evidently the garage had buggered up the wiring, but I fixed it to my own design that achieved the same thing.
Third time lucky
I suspected my gasket had blown, as at one point in those 60 miles, the temperature guage had continued rising despite me turning the radiator fan on. I also found liquid in the oil cap and judging by the jumpy-performance and the fact the car no longer ignited I just knew it was probably gone.
And so, one year after first trying to visit Gadge, I contacted him again. He agreed, but then I had to cancel since when I was planning it out I could see I wouldn't be able to afford the journey. A month later I asked again and, despite a busy schedule and probably being a bit exasperated that this was the third time- he graciously agreed.
To get the car down to him, I used a local haulage company. Unfortunately they could only take it so far as their schedule was restricted to Scotland at the time, so I shipped the car down to my mum's house in central belt Scotland. Later in the month when it was time to spring into action, I travelled down and then called up the AA to take me down to Warwickshire (I do get my membership's worth out of those guys!) It took 12 hours, but I rolled up on Gadge's street, AA truck doing it's best to wake up the neighbourhood with it's flashing lights. Gadge and I pushed the BIS onto his driveway and he dropped me off at the inn round the corner.
The next day comprised of watching troubleshooting take place.
The battery had been trickle charged overnight, now on fast charge.
The headgasket was replaced.
The valve tappets were set.
The points were set.
The timing was set.
The oil was replaced, the coolant was replaced, the cooling was bled.
The fuel filter was replaced... loads of bits in it!
The timing was set again. The points were set again.
The choke cable was fixed.
The carb mixture was set... but it was way too rich, even on the lowest setting. The carb was cleaned, jets, bowl, float set. Still too rich... but it ran.
The theory was that the new plugs fitted would soot up when I got so far since it was running rich. But with that theory in mind, nothing else could be done and after a full day's work... it was time to try heading back.
The Journey
I had initially planned to spend four days travelling back to Orkney without using the motorway and travelling via backroads that I can carefully routed using a website that exports gpx files. A gpx file can be loaded by a satnav or phone app and this would guide me. I had planned to do it this way because the engine needed to be broke-in, varying revs and not labouring it. Gadge reckoned I'd be ok to go on the motorway... just not too fast, and I ended up taking his advise. At least it would be easier, quicker and wouldn't snap my clutch cable.
The first part of the journey in Warwickshire was lumpy, but as the engine heated up... it ran fine. When it came to idle it vibrated, but cruising up and down the revs on the M6 was quite bearable. Overall I was travelling 38-50mph, averaging about 44, and very occasionally going up to 58. I made it as far as Lancaster and stayed over in a Travelodge. As I was approaching, it was dark and with my lights on, the battery light glowed very very dim. Not as much as it had previously, but still... I have an electrical problem.
The next day I had just crossed the border when I noticed that my temp gauge was not decreasing despite turning the radiator fan on. I pulled over into Lockerbie and flipped the switch to find the fan was not turning. Spent the next half hour fiddling with the connectors, trying to find the problem. Ended up taking the back seat out, and inspecting the cable under the floor. But nothing. So having spent enough time that the engine was cool again, I headed into Dumfries where the nearest Halfords was. I bought a bunch of bunchs and electrical connectors and wired up the fan straight to the battery- it worked, so it as definitely the connection. I bridged the fuse... and it worked, so I looked at the fuse again. But it wasn't broken, nor was the fuse holder. Then I tried putting another fuse in and suddenly the fan worked. Scratching my head, I reasoned that the original fuse's slightly rusty pins must have been the cause.
Got as far as Hamilton and the fan did the same thing again. This time it was the fuse holder. Fixed, now onward.
Got to my mum's house, it was Mother's Day. Mission half accomplished. The overly-rich mixture carb had got me to Scotland.
The next day I rested, and today, Tuesday I travelled the next half of the journey, with no problems. I am typing this in my bedroom in Orkney, the BIS sitting outside. Its little engine has pushed me about 800 miles over these few days, tomorrow I will attempt to retorque the head.
(https://i.ibb.co/f48Wnm5/Screenshot-2019-04-02-at-21-15-43.png)(https://i.ibb.co/gMTpbm5/IMG-7262.jpg)
Then I've got a few things to fix...
- That battery light that comes on slightly when the headlights are on
- Only one of the lights in the instrument cluster turns on when you turn the headlights on
- The interior fan only works on full speed, not low speed.
- The first AA guy that took me down the route to Gadge towed me, so my mileage counter went up 82 miles.
- When the fuel tank is full, the fuel gauge is zero and only displays the correct amount when the tank is 95% or lower. Earth problem?
As for the carb...
- When the engine is cold, the car is a bit jumpy initially. And when you stick your foot down, the engine has a major flat spot for a split second then starts speeding up as expected
- I shall need to see if it still is running too rich, or if it's rich to a lesser extent
- Moreover I'll see if I can try a different carb
I travelled up to Scotland a couple of years back, it took forever, all the way to the beautiful Pennan Bay, it felt like the edge of the world, I can’t believe that you are even further up North!
I've been there too! Bizarre to think that it's a village all on one coastal/cliffside street. If I remember correctly it doesn't even have a street name, you just live at, say 14 Pennan. I've lived in Orkney for 3 years now, I do miss "normal" Scotland sometimes!
Stick with it, Lachlan, from what I can see you are doing an amazing job!
Honestly, I'm this close to selling it. My appreciation of it and my motivation to continue have only been kept going by my memory from when it did work consistently.
Remove the plugs, remove the fuel pump charge up the battery overnight and spin it over in the morning that should clear it :thumbup
I read this last night but didn't memorise it exactly the same: this evening after returning from work I removed the fuel line from the pump and cranked the engine with the throttle down. The theory being that in doing so, both flaps would be open and as much air intake would be cranking into the cylinders, the cylinders would then be pushing any liquid out via the exhaust.
Turns out the starter motor was fine, the reason it stopped working was my battery terminal had came loose. So I was able to crank. I must have cranked for about 10 seconds then decided to fit the new sparks. Here are the old ones:
(https://i.ibb.co/30vxVY3/IMG-7269.jpg)
One thing occured to me as I was screwing the new plugs in... how do you know when to stop screwing? I tightened them up by hand until I couldn't any more, then I took a ratchet to them and screwed until it... felt tight enough? Attached everything back together then cranked... still nothing. It almost fired into action at one point, but then a few seconds later a loud snap-like bang which I can only assume was a backfire out the exhaust. Kept cranking, but nothing.
Tomorrow I shall try some starter fluid.