In a message dated 08/22/2000 5:17:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
brad.kahler@141.com writes:
> I'm happy to say that I finally got my Mayflower engine....I ended up
taking the head to a respected machinist that I know [for MUCH work]....He
did an excellent
> job and I'm quite pleased with the end product. Wasn't cheap at $200 but I
> do know he charged me a lot less than he should have based on the number of
> hours he had in it.
I've been in machine shops where they charge almost that much just to come up
to the front counter and acknowledge your presence. Seems like a da*n good
deal to me!
> What I did was to start cranking the engine over, spray the valves
> constantly with rust bomb and when I saw a valve stick open I wacked it
with
> a rubber mallet. After about a half our of this game all of the valves
were
> free and moving on their own.
Yeah, and somehow this mental image I have of Brad with a mallet playing
"Whack-a-Mole" with valves as if he were at a Chuck E. Cheese is, well,
almost too much.... :-)
> I did take it for some drives around the neighborhood and had a blast
doing
> so! Had to pump up the brakes a bunch of times but they finally seem to be
> holding ok. Its definite that I have to completely rebuild the suspension
on
> the car. It was still fun to drive however!!
That they are, Brad! That they are! Cars like the Mayflower just seem like
time warps. Too much fun, and they really change your whole perspective on
"motoring"!
I've been puttering just a little bit with "Priscilla" (my own Mayflower, see
VTR's web page on Mayflowers) in the last couple of weeks; tricky at the
moment, since I really need to buy a decent 12v car battery for it -- one
that will hold a charge. But unless you grew up with a Mayflower or other
Triumph or British saloon of the era (or maybe a 1950s American car or old
Peugeot or Saab with a column shift), you've truly missed something.
Something in the feel, in the smell, the sudden urge to watch episodes of
"All Creatures Great and Small" or similar "period" setting British TV show.
Who needs overhead valves, anyway?
--Andy
Andrew Mace, President, The Vintage Triumph Register
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