Bob Lewis's Journal
Home Page: Bob L
Danville, IN, USA
| Total Posts: 30 | Latest Post: 2022-07-23 |
| Table of Contents | RSS Feed |
I've had one of Basil's slick aluminum mono-covers for a couple of years now and just never have installed it, so I decided that now was as good a time as any for the task.
The cover had a couple of issues that I had to overcome. First, the rubber gaskets wouldn't stay in the milled slots in the cover so I had to put some gasket adhesive in the slots, put the gaskets in and then flipped the cover over and weighted it down while the adhesive cured. The other issue was the vent tube, which I will discuss later.
I must say that this task was a lot of work for one person alone. It took me a good part of one day and then a few hours on the second day.
My objective was to replace the side covers while disconnecting as little as possible to make it easier to reassemble. Accordingly, I began by just disconnecting the carb fuel line from the fuel filter and the vent hose from the front side cover.
In order, I removed the SU HS4 carb air filters, the carbs (I was surprised when the linkage fell out. More on that later), the heat shield and the intake manifold. I then disconnected the exhaust manifold and pulled it out of the way as much as possible. I had previously disconnected the exhaust from the bell housing.
Once all that was done, and the old covers were removed, I tried to install the new cover. It was really fiddly getting the first bolt started and my standing position was awkward so it was pretty frustrating. After the first bolt was in, getting the other one started was much easier. After tightening both bolts, I was ready to get everything back together.
I began the reassembly by installing a new exhaust manifold gasket and then bolting up the exhaust manifold. I used a jack under the exhaust under the car to help position the manifold. Then, I offered up the intake manifold and bolted it up. mounting the heat shield onto the 4 studs on the intake manifold was easy, so I was ready to install the carb.
Mounting the carbs onto the studs was easy as well, but getting the nuts started onto the studs was definitely not easy. After finally getting the four nuts started and tightened, I then picked up the linkage rods (one for the accelerator and the other for the choke) and tried to determine how they are mounted. After some trial & error, I figured out that there were two nuts on each carb that the linkage rod ends fit into. The problem was that the rods were too long to fit after the carbs had been tightened to the intake. SO, I had to loosen up the carb nuts that were so hard to get started to begin an attempt to mount the two linkage rods. After A LOT of struggle to no avail, I gave up and called it a day.
The next day I posted a question on the forum and several people responded with helpful advice. I went back and loosened up both carbs and pulled them almost off the studs and then was able to work the rods into their proper places.
Then, after a long struggle AGAIN getting the carb nuts started and tightened, the job was essentially done. After reinstalling the air filters and re-hooking up various hoses, I started the engine and all is well so far.
When I purchased the cover from Basil, I also bought a vent fitting from him. It's a 90 degree brass barbed hose fitting. I took it to a machine shop and had it installed in the cover approximately where I thought the OE cover vent was located. When I got ready to install the vent hose onto the fitting, It was apparent that the fitting and hose were very close to the exhaust manifold. I adjusted it slightly to get it as far away as possible, but I'm concerned that it places the hose much to close to the hot manifold.
I will report back after some time driving the car with the new cover has elapsed.
EDIT: After months of use, I decided to switch back to the stock side covers. I tried several different ways to vent Basil's cover effectively, but failed. When I routed the vent to the carbs, it made the engine miss slightly at low cruise RPM's. Then I tried several ways to collect the vented oil vapor and finally just added a small filter on the end of the hose that was attached to the vent. That resulted in oil vapors being blown all over the engine compartment. I replaced Basil's side cover with the original side covers and vented the front cover to the carbs and all is well.
The cover had a couple of issues that I had to overcome. First, the rubber gaskets wouldn't stay in the milled slots in the cover so I had to put some gasket adhesive in the slots, put the gaskets in and then flipped the cover over and weighted it down while the adhesive cured. The other issue was the vent tube, which I will discuss later.
I must say that this task was a lot of work for one person alone. It took me a good part of one day and then a few hours on the second day.
My objective was to replace the side covers while disconnecting as little as possible to make it easier to reassemble. Accordingly, I began by just disconnecting the carb fuel line from the fuel filter and the vent hose from the front side cover.
In order, I removed the SU HS4 carb air filters, the carbs (I was surprised when the linkage fell out. More on that later), the heat shield and the intake manifold. I then disconnected the exhaust manifold and pulled it out of the way as much as possible. I had previously disconnected the exhaust from the bell housing.
Once all that was done, and the old covers were removed, I tried to install the new cover. It was really fiddly getting the first bolt started and my standing position was awkward so it was pretty frustrating. After the first bolt was in, getting the other one started was much easier. After tightening both bolts, I was ready to get everything back together.
I began the reassembly by installing a new exhaust manifold gasket and then bolting up the exhaust manifold. I used a jack under the exhaust under the car to help position the manifold. Then, I offered up the intake manifold and bolted it up. mounting the heat shield onto the 4 studs on the intake manifold was easy, so I was ready to install the carb.
Mounting the carbs onto the studs was easy as well, but getting the nuts started onto the studs was definitely not easy. After finally getting the four nuts started and tightened, I then picked up the linkage rods (one for the accelerator and the other for the choke) and tried to determine how they are mounted. After some trial & error, I figured out that there were two nuts on each carb that the linkage rod ends fit into. The problem was that the rods were too long to fit after the carbs had been tightened to the intake. SO, I had to loosen up the carb nuts that were so hard to get started to begin an attempt to mount the two linkage rods. After A LOT of struggle to no avail, I gave up and called it a day.
The next day I posted a question on the forum and several people responded with helpful advice. I went back and loosened up both carbs and pulled them almost off the studs and then was able to work the rods into their proper places.
Then, after a long struggle AGAIN getting the carb nuts started and tightened, the job was essentially done. After reinstalling the air filters and re-hooking up various hoses, I started the engine and all is well so far.
When I purchased the cover from Basil, I also bought a vent fitting from him. It's a 90 degree brass barbed hose fitting. I took it to a machine shop and had it installed in the cover approximately where I thought the OE cover vent was located. When I got ready to install the vent hose onto the fitting, It was apparent that the fitting and hose were very close to the exhaust manifold. I adjusted it slightly to get it as far away as possible, but I'm concerned that it places the hose much to close to the hot manifold.
I will report back after some time driving the car with the new cover has elapsed.
EDIT: After months of use, I decided to switch back to the stock side covers. I tried several different ways to vent Basil's cover effectively, but failed. When I routed the vent to the carbs, it made the engine miss slightly at low cruise RPM's. Then I tried several ways to collect the vented oil vapor and finally just added a small filter on the end of the hose that was attached to the vent. That resulted in oil vapors being blown all over the engine compartment. I replaced Basil's side cover with the original side covers and vented the front cover to the carbs and all is well.
Sideplate
Want to leave a comment or ask the owner a question?
Sign in or register a new account — it's free