sunday the gf is over and she hates my head under the bonnet that day (dont ask) i havent been showing her much appreciation lately.

i was actually thinking that today ballistic, i realised today i never have really looked at the rocker clearences since i bought the car and the people that did it are mini specialists that cant be named. the reason the guy that checked it out said it could be the head is because the heads missing a stud and bolt.(was missing from when i bought it) and he said it be a good excuse to do the head and get that fixed up. i agreed.

ive been meaning to fix that stud for a while but didnt want to pull the head off unless it needed to come off and even if the head isnt playing up now it still be good to get it fixed and modded and converted. the unleaded canister you buy that apparently gives you lead additives for about 5 years is about its time to change so i may as well do it now. but i will check out the clearances anyway.

im interested to know why the cyl 3 and 4 are fouled with oil yet doesnt blow smoke.

_________________
oil leak?..what oil leak..that puddle under the car is just sweat from all that horsepower

white deposits on the plugs is from oil, black and gungey plugs are from rich mixture

petrol smell in the oil is rich mixture (obviously). If it's been running with petrol contaminated oil for any significant amount of time, say goodbye to your bearings

trouble with having a head reconditioned and slapping it on to an unknown/old motor, is that all of a sudden the pistons are seeing compression again, and hey presto, the bottom end decides it's had enough - you might as well pull it out now and rebuild it.

I can't believe anyone would drive a car around with a head stud missing - how could you spend $800+ on a set of carbs, and not have something as trivial as a missing stud taken care of. The basics have gotta be spot on before anything else has a chance of working right

I have a million questions to ask about what might or might not go on where you work based on that precidence alone - but I just can't do it...

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I can't believe it hasn't blown a head gasket yet. A series heads need all the studs/bolts they can get.

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

im actually amazed myself doc. and i havent gotten it done yet because the place i said to do it said its not worth pulling the head off until you have the money and wanna convert it. so nows the time. i hope the fuel in the oil isnt to bad. but i change the oil every 5 times of drive it really especially after a big cruise. so fuel doesnt sit in there long enough

_________________
oil leak?..what oil leak..that puddle under the car is just sweat from all that horsepower

Simon,
remember the old adage though, mechanics have the worst maintained cars, panelbeaters the grottiest. It can be a case of not wanting to work on your own after working on everyone else's.

I know some chefs in London at some of the best restaurants (note spelling Joe!), who have KFC for dinner on the way home.
KB

_________________

yep... I'm with you on that... but at least those chefs actually feed themselves (or fix things that are obviously broken)

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

My panel beaters car:



His wifes car:

_________________

http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

Now show us the car he uses to pick up parts in.

prime example of cutting corners... didn't even bother rechroming the bumpers, probably just bogged up the dings before painting them

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Its the white AU ute. Oh and no need to re-chrome Mustang bumpers, you can probably pick em up new at woolworths...! Mustang parts are more common then mini bits!

_________________

http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

Obviously not busy enough if he has time to do his own cars
I guess they are the daily drivers too

_________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMkVq1jRGU

He has currently put in 800+ hours into a XW GT HO I with racing history. The owners will be getting a nice $100k+ bill at the end. They are giving it to there daughter as a wedding present.... And no, obviously not daily driven. His mrs has a XR6T for that and he has his AU ute.

_________________

http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

Joe , I'll be in Sydney next month , PM me your address so I can come around and belt you around the head with a mini jack for driving it for so long with a missing stud . We talked about this months ago and you were going to fix it then ...

You don't really need to take the head off to replace the stud unless the old one is broken off in there and if it is it probably means the rest are going to break as well .

_________________

Hahahaha!

_________________

http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

A drill, Easy Out and some patience Oh and hope it comes out 'easy'