What did you do today?

[captain_70s]

IMG_20200328_112656.jpgI'll try again in the morning, it was a fresh battery but all I was getting was a clunk from the starter when I turned the key.

Starter might need a bit of "encouragement" from a soft hammer if it's not been used for a while, a bit of cleaning to the contacts can also work wonders.

[mercrocker]

That pretty pink Gazelle just needs a caress. Beautiful......

[slowanimals]

I did try rocking the car in gear, that's worked before when the Westminster starter stuck but not this time. I'll go and give it another look shortly but for now it's my usual Sunday morning routine of coffee, fags and watching this week's Cold War motors update.

[CLINT]

Been trying to get a mower working.
It's a Honda. Good old mower but it got flooded a few weeks ago. By flooded I mean water and silt... I took the plug out the day after and out oil down the bore and turned it over a few times then left it.
Today I cleaned out the carburettor. I didn't look as though the water got as high as the fuel tank so the fuel is clean. I managed to lose the spark plug so took one out of an old Briggs&Stratton. It now starts with the aid of some GT85 in the air intake but it doesn't run very well at all. Sounds like it's only running on one cylinder...
Any ideas? (Yes I know it is actually only a one cylinder engine)

Would the plug cause this? No idea what model it is so can't really order the correct one. There was a sticker like a VIN plate but it was starting to peel off at the corners so I peeled it carefully off and put it somewhere safe...

[DodgeRover]

Did you clean the carb with compressed air? Sounds like it's possibly picking up a blob of water?

[slowanimals]

Victory! Now for a wash.

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[CLINT]

Lovely old car! Tell us more!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Nice Coventry plate as well. Has it gone far from Ryton?

What's the badge underneath the Gazelle script? Not Easidrive?

I had a '59 Rapier in 1982, that was rotten then.

[slowanimals]

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I should have warned you I could bore for England about this shit.. Despite the Coventry plate this was the demonstrator for Anglian Autos, the Rootes dealer here in Colchester. Annoyingly I know a chap locally who was an apprentice there at the time but he doesn't recall the car. Sold in autumn 1960 to a man from Braintree who kept it 30 years or so, it went through a couple of owners before my mate Jason bought it in 1997. We went everywhere in it for about eighteen months (there's a YouTube video of a Rootes clubs meeting at Burford in 1998, the car is featured at the end) before it came off the road for a reason I don't now recall. He died in 2016 and I just had to have it but it's pretty much been sitting since I got it, bar a visit to the village show in 2017. Anyway, here's a couple of pictures taken just now before putting it away. I'm not going to lie to you, this has more or less made my day just having it out under its own steam. One of four survivors this colour as far as I know, I've only seen one other though.

[Nibblet]

Back on the Saab today. After the successful central heating interlude I came up against a problem...
The Nikki carbs I intended to use all have a slightly smaller base than the Ford inlet manifold and intermediate plate with vacuum pipes for the brake servo and ventilation for the rocker covers.