Rootes75

I am erring on the side of poor spark at the moment, the spark is quite hard to see. And as many have pointed out it should be a big fat blue spark. I have a spare coil so I could swap that over at the weekend and see if that makes a difference.

Whoops, didnt realise I had done that. When I posted it first it threw back an error message so I hit submit again. I presume its best to close this thread and use the other.

Thanks David. We have checked and double checked the firing order against the plug leads and she is right. I know what you mean though in making a simple mistake in the order. When we checked for the spark from the lead against the head with a screwdriver I was a bit concerned that the spark was weak. In our experience with our other Commer even with the timing out she will still fire and start but just run very poorly (we have sorted her timong out). This Commer simply wont actually fire up.

The plug leads are all new and so are the contacts. We have checked and she does get a spark at the lead ends.

Very useful I'd say. Easy to follow if its all in a central location.

We are having issues with our Commer truck, issues in her not starting. She has a 6 cylinder sidevalve petrol engine with the Solex 40 FAIE carb. We have set the timing, checked all gaps and plugs for sparks, all fine. We found the manifold gasket was leaking so thats been replaced. Next we fitted new fuel lines and cleaned down the carb, we have checked and she is getting a good fuel supply. We have also checked the compression which is good. So, with a good strong battery she turns over lovely, but thats about it. Once in a while she does fire/engage but never actually starts. She then just floods everytime. It you put her on full choke she tries hard to fire and almost gets there but floods very quickly. Even a shot of easy start didnt do anything. We are ticking off things to try out but seem now to be going round in circles. Any suggestions, no matter how simple, anything could help.

We are having issues with our Commer truck, issues in her not starting. She has a 6 cylinder sidevalve petrol engine with the Solex 40 FAIE carb. We have set the timing, checked all gaps and plugs for sparks, all fine. We found the manifold gasket was leaking so thats been replaced. Next we fitted new fuel lines and cleaned down the carb, we have checked and she is getting a good fuel supply. We have also checked the compression which is good. So, with a good strong battery she turns over lovely, but thats about it. Once in a while she does fire/engage but never actually starts. She then just floods everytime. It you put her on full choke she tries hard to fire and almost gets there but floods very quickly. Even a shot of easy start didnt do anything. We are ticking off things to try out but seem now to be going round in circles. Any suggestions, no matter how simple, anything could help.

Looks in great condition for a tenner, just a light clean up needed by the looks of it.

I have had a look at the quick assemble steel garages, I wouldnt mind one of them but definately dont have the room. My friends all say I have too many projects so cut back and then I dont need the extra space!

Our Commer is currently outside, it has a waterproof car cover over the cab and then over that and the body is a heavy old style lorry sheet. Our problem is the amount that this al sweats. It keeps the rain off ok but the panels are still damp in places. We take them off on a Sunday morning and let it air. We are having a big move round in the shed so in the next few weeks I hope to get her inside before the proper winter weather arrives.

Steve, that really must hamper being so far away from the project. Not like you can just pop down the shed for an hour. And with the current situation it has changed so much of our travelling habits.

It looks superb, what a great finish. Very much worth the effort.

My friend at work is a keen diver and only the other day when we were asking him about his favoured dives he talked about the Thistlegorm. Very interesting.

Well, Speedy Spares have come up trumps again. After stripping the Manifold from our Commer Q2 we found new gaskets were definately needed. An email to Speedy Spares and an hour later they had found some, £8.50 plus post and they have arrived the very next day!

I relate to that of buying a project and thinking of putting it to one side for a later date but then having a little look and before you know it putting in some proper work!

I like that stance with the Berliets, restoring them and loaning them out to museums for people to actually view. Better than being locked away never to be seen by the public.

Its the same as the recent thread about replicas, if its a replica and stated its a replica then thats fine. If its a replica but then stated as an original thats a different matter. Its also down to the individual, go with what you feel is ok for you. Who are we all to really judge anyone.

I still cant see much changing with it tbh. It only got halfway to its advertised price, I wonder how much under that £28k the vendors would accept?

So up for auction again? Doesnt that happen quite often if they dont get sold it then gets put in the next auction?

I think the Hillman Gnat replica is a good thing personally. In this case there are not know to be any survivors so a replica to show what it would have been like is good education. I recall only 3 or 4 were ever produced in the first place. They make no instance that it is anything but a replica which is good for me, I dont agree with trying to peddle a replica as original etc. Also noting some points, plenty of us who restore could say that very little of the original vehicle ever survives, we 'replicate' parts and that is essential if we are to preserve these machines for future generations.

We use a company at work called Precision Profiles for any thicker material (our machines punch a max of 3mm thick). You can also go direct to the mill, one we use are called J Uptons (Uptonsteel) and they can generally get their hands on anything but obviously smaller amounts wil cost more to run.

It does look like they have had plenty of work completed. Couple of super trucks.

Sounds like an interesting Museum Wayne.

Superb looking machine and such high quality work.

I will try on the pc at work tomorrow and see if it asks me for my password, not that I think I can remember it yet though!?!