Monthly Archives: May 2013

Never Assume

Posted on by

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?

Gearbox Flange

Winter Warm Up

Posted on by

Winter is just about here, perfect weather to be in the shed and as it happens the cars all seem to agree. The Citroen has sprung a leak in the radiator, the Sizaire needs its clutch pulled apart as its wobbling all over the shop, the Douglas front brake has only servile* rather than servo action  and like a spoiled child the Bug has decided on a long confinement in case I get any ideas about spending time with its siblings.

The Bugatti clutch after originally giving me grief has been faultless, but when I last pulled the covers off to do the 1000km adjustment  I noticed brass filings in a nice arc on the inside of the cover and here is the mystery.  As you can see in the picture below the clutch output flange clearance has closed up (there was clearance before)  and is grinding on the brass tube the clutch mechanism slides on. For this to happen either the engine has moved or the crankshaft has lots of end float or the gearbox has moved or the gearbox  input shaft has moved forward or the spigot bearing is collapsing and pushing the clutch shaft back. I would put money on the last couple but I would be in real trouble former possibilities come to roost.

The other problem this has created is that the gearbox will now have to be removed as there is not enough clearance to remove the “Cotton Reel” (short flanged shaft between clutch and gearbox). Where did that clearance go? Send in your guesses and I will get a bit oilier tomorrow and hopefully come up with an answer..or not.

* Doug Kephart

IMG_2150

Incontinent Citroen with friends waiting in vain for attention.

flange clearance

Solex?

Posted on by

This has been a bit of a Solex week, firstly the Bugatti seemed to be running a bit rough so I thought I would check the float levels. If you had any other sort of carburettor this may be a bit of a task, however with the Solex you undo the “nut” and the bowl drops, disengage the main jet, turn 90 degrees tighten nut then same with the other carb and you can eyeball the levels directly. Unfortunately the levels were both about 3mm from the top of the main jet tube so it’s probably something else or as the diff is no longer screaming my brain is looking for other distractions.

The second Solex moment happened on Sunday when out in the Traction (11BL Citroen) and was confronted with a Toyota Corolla road slug sailing along at 50kph in a 100 zone, so pulled out to pass only to find a gasping sound from up front and the Corolla obligingly slowing leaving me stranded on he wrong side of the road. Eventually the corolla got the message and buggered off, I came to a halt.

At this point I was wondering if the car had any tools in it…. No tool bag but I did find a shifter and a screwdriver. Now the hunt was on for the main jet and of course being a Solex they are all accessible from the outside, there were 4 in all and it was the last that proved to be the one and it was blocked although offering little resistance to me sucking on it.

The day ended nicely at Jinks Creek Winery where I washed the petrol taste away with a good red. So what happened to the Solex Company? They are now buried in Magneti Marelli with Weber, Veglia Borletti, Carello, Siem and Jaeger.