November 1999

ot too much to do on the car now. I've got to fit the carpets and interior trim, but that won't take too long to do.

6th November

Been working away all week so I haven't had time to complete the vehicle registration form. Took a look at it today. The explanatory booklet arrived during the week. The registration form is 2 pages of A4. The accompanying booklet explaining how to complete the form is about 17 pages of double sided A4!

14th November

Worked my way through the form filling I needed to do to register the car today. Even with the explanatory booklet I still found it difficult. The form is non too clear but I believe I've filled it in correctly.

19th November

I telephoned the Department of transport today to see how things were progressing. I was told that my car had been given the old registration number for the Daimler I'd used for much on the Cobra. So no Q reg which I was pleased about. Also because the plate is a 1973 plate I can use black and silver instead of the yellow and white. So I also ordered a set of black and silver number plates.

20th November

Tax disc and registration info arrived in the post this morining. So I rushed out to get some number plates made up until the black and silver ones arrive. Unforunately it rained all day so no ventures out in the car.

21st November

This morning arrived sunny but cold. I started up the car and Jill and I went for a little run. Not too far just in case. I took the precaution to pack a lot of tools in the boot and a mobile phone just in case. As it turned out we didn't need them. However the engine did develop a small misfire and seemed to be gasping for fuel. Up on returning home I noticed yet again that the fuel filter was blocked again! There was no alternative I would have to strip out the petrol tank and flush it out properly.

22nd November

Thankfully I'd just finished a contract and had a week in hand before my next one started. So today I stripped out the petrol tank and flushed it through. There was still quite a bit of fibreglass dust in the tank plus some more sealant. So it was a worthwhile job to strip out the tank. I cleaned up the gasket on the petrol sender unit and removed any excess sealant to stop any future problems.

I reassembled the tank and filtered the petrol and put it back in the car. I restarted the car and checked the timming. The supplier of the engine recommended a timming of 10 degrees BTDC at 850 rpm with the vacumn advance disconnected. So retimed the engine and checked the sparkplugs and regapped them. I took the car out for a run and it still wouldn't pull cleanly above 2,000 rpm and backfire on hard acceleration. Over the next couple of days I messed around with the timming and retarded it because I was running on unleaded fuel. But whatever I tried I could not get rid of the backfiring and the hesitation on acceleration. Below 2,000 revs it's ok but above that it is very hesitant and lumpy.

26th November

I arranged to get the car into a rolling road next week for them to look at the engine. When I first started the car and drove it on John's airstrip it was fine so I believe it is down to this problem with the sealant in the fuel line. Althought the inline filter caught most of the debris I wonder if some bits have got into the carb. I've decided to let the professionals have a look at it and at the same time they can set it up properly on the rollingroad.

27th November

I decided today that I would strip the carb down to see if there is any sediment in the carb bowls. Yes I know only yesterday I said that I would leave it to the professionals but I thought I could fix it. I will still book it in for the rollingroad but at least it will eliminate one possible problem.