richard sweeney

have just removed the handbrake cable along with brake expander unit from the passengers front side, i want to disconnect the handbrake cable from the expander unit so i can change the body of the expander unit for a spare i have which has a decent bleed nipple on it.( as the old ones bleed nipple is snapped off inside the body of the brake expander unit.) i have got this far and am stuck on how to remove the hanbrake cable from the unit, anyone know how to do this ? i know the picture is of poor quality but you can see the brake cable going into the piston on the expander unit. i take it i need to remove the piston but how !!!

Update:fully rebuilt fuel pump has been bolted on, brake lines are in place just need nipping up then bleeding. However big problem is the bleed nipples which have welded themselves in place , i have tried one of the front ones and despite welding a socket onto it i cant seem to budge it ( the weld just came away with the top of the bleed nipple ) Soaked it in WD40 type stuff for the moment but considering welding something to it, letting it cool and then heating the casing of the brake expander unit whilst trying to undo it, would this be safe to do ? Nearly finished replacing the front rubber bellows: firstly removed shock absorber then unbolted brake expander unit and next was the cotter pin to remove. Applied loads of heat then slakened the nut and hit the cotter pin upwards and out. unscrewed the adjusting bushes and hit the threaded pin out ( in pic its reassembled ) cut the old rubber bellow off to allow easier access Then removed the outer access bolts and knocked the mills pin out, undid the 4 nuts and bolts which secure the tracta fork casings to one another supporting the hub with an engine hoist i slowly lowered and slid the forks off of one another , being careful not to damage the seal and shims. was then time to slip the new boot on Lined the hole for the mills pin up on the outer fork with the hole in the inner fork , raised the hoist and then when aligned correctly the spline slipped onto one another and the holes line up.( i found due to play in the outer fork i had to pull the holes together using a fine screwdriver. I then aquired new mills pins as it states not to reuse them and mine where so tight that in driving them out they got damaged. the replacement pins are on the right of the picture with the old one on the left hand side after this its just replacing the adjusting pin and bushes, cotter pin , shock absorber and brake expander unit. unfortunately i noticed a small nick in the new passengers side boot and so carefully fixed with sealant and will observe to see if it gets any worse. will also try and source some new jubilee clips. next is to sort out the fittings for the ends of the fuel lines as whilst i have copied the lines in new 10mmm copper piping the ends of the original lines seem to be enlarged to accomidate the unions?

new exhaust sytem is now on and bolted together just need to attach the brackets and manufacture the rear bracket as it was missing. inside is painted in red oxide, LOOKING FOR REV COUNTER CABLE though as it has snapped. Thermometer still doesnt work !! bought some copper nickel 5/16 piping ready for brake pipes to be changed just need flaring tool engine is running nicely and im about to do an oil change and service aswell as coolant change. i have removed rear wheel arch , ground off the rust that has attacked where the original , higher wheel arches had been and started tacking in new metal just untill i learn to tig weld and can make some more substantial welds! pics to follow soon

Right, been doing work on the pig and going well. Got a solex carb kit from Banisters the other day( £60 ) and have made a start on that - all jets cleaned and one accelerator pump replaced so nearly there just trying to remove end of the other accelerator pump that has snapped off flush inside its hole ! front two wheels are off , one is split whilst the rims are sand blasted, other is in the proccess of being split - ive removed all the paint from each bolt but after two weeks with loads of corrosionX on them and with a breaker bar ive only managed to remove 3 and loosen 2 ! Inside the humber ive sanded down ready for some paint nearly

that looks fantastic , are those the proper colours the carb should be in or all light green? also anyone know what these fittings are for on my humbers roof found the piece of paper stored in the engine bay and the history of my humber - found by Chris who gave the humber to me.

i will put some money aside for this as it needs to be done. I will make sure i take lots of photos, cant afford to mess it up ! time isnt a problem but out of interest how long does it take to do when you have the parts ? and how difficult is it - i have done some more advanced jobs like, timing chains on a v6 with OHC , headgasket changes etc but need to have an idea of whether im capable?

carb removed and had a look at the diaphragms. the right one is slightly leaking and stuck depressed. Just had a quote from richard banister for a carb service kit - £45 without economy pump - £60 with. Also for fuel pump service kit it is £40. reasonable ? should i strip carb first or wait for the kit to come, i was thinking wait ?

I have been feeding it in where the banjo bolt is , it was only the first time we tried starting the engine that it had been fed in through the breather pipe entry's but hasnt been done since. I just wondered it its accumulated petrol from the first time we tried thats leaking It was leaking today when using a tube where the banjo connector goes into.

ok this would make sense and explain a few things. However i had my dad feeding the petrol in at first through the side of the carb into where the two ( return ? ) fuel lines come out without realising. at this stage lots of fuel was being spuirted in - so could this leak just be the excess fuel put in ? i guess if the diaphragms have become porous/split ill need a rebuild kit. thanks for reply !

started her up, ran for a few mins before springing a leak from carb. its leaking near the accelerator linkage but not sure why. any ideas ?

ah right , the return spring was missing so i used one from a renault 5 that appears to fit . Im only feeding petrol in via a bottle. If i had fuel in the line coming from the bottle and pressed the accelerator pedal would it still prime ?

going to warm it up properly this weekend just need to get enough fuel ! just been run for 5mins , i didnt touch accelerator just had the fuel runing in and choke on setting one. revs where 1000rpm then when i clamped the fuel line slightly revs dropped a bit , will this drop to normal when its hot and choke is turned off? also the coolant temp reads max all the time , when fiddling with the wires behind the instrument panel it sometimes moves off max but then straight back. Open circuit?

humber is now started. The chokes in its first position and the petrol is being fed from a litre bottle but is very thirsty. The revs stayed around 1000rpm without the throttle being touched atall. i tightened the clamp slightly on the fuel line and the revs dropped slightly to 750rpm with the choke still on but throttle untouched. when i warm it up properly and release the choke will the idle reduce to normal? coolant guage fixed corroded connections needed a clean up. Barracade Ram rubbed down fully then painted in rust inhibitor

does anybody know the normal idle speed for a humber ? - B60 engine

im keeping the revs as low as possible untill the oil change but whats your opinion on if i can warm the engine up? thanks for the tips im going to get some more petrol and listen out for any noises using the technique youve said. i will also do the trick with the oil that you suggested, i want the pistons moving freely up their bores before increasing revs. the smoke was whitish to start - i assumed this was the corrosion X and WD40