Part of my Bugatti essential gear has always been ear plugs they have saved me money and sleep, however since the crown wheel and pinion replacement they have become optional with it appears disastrous consequences in money and sleep.

On a run back from lunch the other day I was stuck on the freeway at freeway speeds without earplugs so plenty of time to ruminate over the exhaust note that was not the sweet purr it had been with plugs, sounded rough so for some reason I have come to the conclusion that the carburettors are not synchronised.  Type 37’s came with one carb, mine has two, they are the barrel type Solex like the single one but smaller.

Here is a quote from the Solex handbook: “We would remark that more than fifty patents have been taken out in all countries to protect the details of construction, and our trade mark SOLEX is registered in all civilised countries.”

I have enclosed a photo of the two throttle barrels you will note that Australia may not be included in the “Civilised” countries from the workmanship. I can imagine that WOT works but who knows what is happening at partial openings.

Know anyone with a 30mm Solex throttle barrel (actual diameter 38mm)?

It has been some time since my last confession, no excuses really although the Bugatti is still dissected waiting some small but vital parts, the Douglas is still front brakeless, the Lotus is nearly ready to be registered, the Sizaire and Citroen have not been touched.

The Bugatti winter refurb has dragged on a little, after taking off the scuttle body work, so much was revealed that hitherto I had been ignorant.  Winter was to be spent fixing small stuff like the tacho which was about 25mm out of line with the pulley that drives it.  A fare portion of the wiring was unfused and not protected from chafing, the bake pedal sat too far back so I made new stops and shimmed the shoes.

New front wheel bearings as one side was sealed the other not, both with a bit too much play. New clutch through bolts, new cotton reel bolts, gearbox input flange reattached and pinned with a roll pin this time and lastly I am putting the engine oil system back to standard by removing the Toyota spin-on filter that was mounted under the dash. I am currently waiting for some solder-on brass nipples to go on the ends of the copper tubing, hopefully finished next week or at least by Spring.

Did I mention a Lotus earlier? Well I have sold the Darracq back to Warrick and thought I would replace it with another vintage tourer, then I really could not think of anything that would not feel a bit woolly after the Bugatti so decided on the modern day GP Bug …a Lotus Elise, weighs the same, about the same dimensions and a whole lot of fun.  This could be construed as a bit late for a  mid life crisis.

When I had the lower body under tray off a couple of months ago, I found all sorts of detritus, amongst it was a sheared tapered pin that I assumed was from some long repaired mishap before my ownership…wrong.

The front input flange on the gearbox is located by a keyed taper and secured by a tapered pin which is a rather odd way of doing it when a big nut would have been much nicer. The pin had sheared and fallen out (although the nut end remained) the flange moved forward allowing the the keys to wriggle half out of there slots destroying the oil seal and so it gradually ratcheted toward the clutch taking up all clearance.

The way to fix this was brute force with a No.3 Thor, eventually the cotton reel was persuaded to to move out and thus the clutch assembly is now on the bench. I’m just hoping the taper isn’t completely buggered but that is what winter is for …isn’t it?