FAILURE TO PROCEED

I obviously did not cross my fingers firmly enough, as despite fitting the new Pertronix 12V Flame Thrower coil, Stella refused to start.

Before I called for the breakdown truck last week, firstly to determine that I did actually have a supply of petrol at the carburetters, I loosened the little jubilee clip to the petrol pipe just before the fuel filter and as I slipped the pipe of the spigot to the filter I was rewarded with a healthy spurt of petrol. Fuel pump definitely working, but I couldn't get the jubilee clip to re tighten,

Also, whilst I was waiting for the truck, a classic car friend pulled up behind my flashing hazard lights and offered his help. He held a screwdriver up a cap of one of the spark plugs and close to the engine, whilst I cranked the engine and then we confirmed my suspicion, No Spark. In fact at least four people stopped to ask if they could be of assistance, I don't suppose one would have stopped if it had been an anonymous modern car with its hazards flashing,

on Sunday, when I got under the bonnet, the first thing I did was to replace the clip. The last place you want a fuel leak is under the bonnet and right on top of a hot exhaust manifold.

The new coil was a piece of cake to fit, loosen the two bolts that secures the clamp that holds the coil and having pulled off the wires, lift the clamp and coil clear. Fit  the new coil in the clamp and bolt it back onto the engine, simples.

The cables are re-connected as before, except the new coil is 12 volts rather than the 6 volt old one and it needs an ignition switch controlled 12 volt supply, When I fitted the Ignitor back in July 2017 that also needed an ignition switch controlled 12 volt supply, so I hacked into that supply and ran a cable to the + side of the new coil and tucked the now defunct cables out of the way

All done and double checked, but sadly, although the engine turned over eagerly, she would not start. A new Ignitor is on it's way, so everything crossed that with a new Ignitor fitted, Stella will spring back to life.

Sorted!, the replacement Ignitor module arrived complete with new base plate, which I decided not to fit. I eventually found a small enough spanner to undo the two little nuts that hold the module to the plate, unthreaded the cables through the hole in the side of the distributor and removed the old module.

The new one bolted down into place, but it was rather fiddly getting the tiny washers and nuts into place, but using tweezers and a small spring claw recovery tool I manage without loosing anything.

All connected, distributor cap back on, go back and check all the wiring connections are correct and turn the key. Instant start, the very first turn, brilliant!

Just got to find out why my recently replaced electric aerial, just like the Duke of York, is neither up nor down, just stuck half way. Ho hum.

GRILLS AND BADGES

The Stag badge that sits proudly on the front grill of Stella, was in a disgraceful state and new ones have been as rare as hens teeth. the last time I had the grill off the car I realised the badge was loose, I removed it tarted it up and securely stuck it back into the chrome surround, but it was still cracked and tatty. However at the end of last year, re-manufactured ones were being offered for sale by the usual Stag suppliers, well done the Stag Owners Club.

 

Having removed the grill again, I prised the old badge out, and with a small chisel removed the clumps of Look no Nails from the inside of the surround. I then polished the surround and finally cleaned it with white spirit. I removed the protective paper from the adhesive on the back of the new badge and firmly pressed the new badge into the surround, I decided to leave the grill and badge in doors in the warmth for the adhesive to cure fully.

There was another small problem with the grill. There are four small brackets in each corner so that the grill stands proud of the metal work, only the two top clips had disappeared leaving a couple of metal blobs where they had been soldered/welded onto the grill. I bent up and drilled a couple of replacement brackets from 30x2 mm ali strip. I decided to glue these brackets to the grill using Gorilla Glue, I ground off the blobs of metal and sanded clean the back of the grill before gluing and left it a couple of days before reattaching to the car. Unfortunately at the first wriggle when screwing the grill back on, both brackets came unstuck, useless. I considered pop riveting them on, but that seemed a bit brutal, so I ordered a tube of PU18 polyurethane bond/sealant and re glued them, success, they are now really stuck fast.

The little plastic squares that the screw are protruding through are cut from a marg tub and keep the screws in place when the grill is being offered up to the car for re-attachment.

With that job done I thought  I would like to attach, to the front of Stella, my MAC (Midlands Automobile Club)  badge that Jacquie bought me at the Goodwood Revival for Marjorie, my Morgan Three Wheeler build. (Mac being my name of course) The perceived wisdom is not to attach anything else to the grill and restrict the airflow to the radiator, nor to drill into the front bumper to fit a badge bar.

I decided to make a bracket from the ali bar that I used for the grill and fit it to the bumper bracket. It looked good, but I like symmetrical and decided I needed another badge for the other side, a STAG OWNERS CLUB badge, that'll do it.

Having bent the brackets to the correct angles I was not happy with the dull grey finish, so although the brackets will hardly be seen I decided I would polish them. However they were very resistant to polishing, the strip of aluminium has obviously been coated with a very tough covering, which I had to scrub off first.

I used my electric drill first with a flap wheel to get rid of this coating and then I could use the polishing wheels on my bench grinder to get the finish I required. Both pieces of equipment clamped to my workmate.

That's better, both brackets nice and shiny and ready to mount on the the front of Stella. The first photo shows the difference between polished and unpolished and the second photo they are both done.

 

I think the 'Stag Owners Club' badge needs to stand about an inch higher to match the MAC badge, so I will probably make up a new bracket at some point.

At the moment though, I have a slightly more urgent job as Stella had to be rescued and piggy backed home the other day, as she failed to proceed. I was only a mile from home, but suddenly after a couple of hiccoughs she just stopped. No spark! A new coil is on its way and hopefully that will sort the problem, but the very helpful guy  at Pertronix said it is possible that the failed coil might have taken the Ignitor with it, in which case a new Ignitor will also be required, fingers crossed.

I have to say that the breakdown service provided by my classic car insurance company 'RH' was excellent. They kept in touch whilst I was waiting for the truck to arrive, ensuring that I was safe and OK. The breakdown guy not only got us home, albeit a short distance, but got her up the drive and helped me back Stella safely into her garage, I couldn't ask for better.