Richard Farrant

Clive, The ECM curve (399) and Advance degrees (14) are shown the same on both 40308A and H. It will be an obscure difference no doubt. The early K9 distributor 40147 was superseded so may be the reason you cannot find it or the RAF did not procure any of the early K9's.

Hi C, Going by the arrow on the cap it is the wrong rotation. If the lower part of the distributor is also CCW then the auto advance will not perform, and performance will be poor. There is a small plate on the lower body with Lucas part number, if you can read it I will let you know what engine it was intended for. Richard

Hi Clive, 40308 was one I found in the Army Vocab. It listed the first 700 K9 trucks were fitted with 40147 and this item was superseded by 40308 ........ a CW unit. Richard

Hi Kloud Nine, A thought has just occurred to me, if you have a screened ignition distributor in your K9, it may well have an arrow showing rotation on it, these distributors were fitted in other engines during 1940's and 50's with differing rotations. I have heard of engines with the wrong rotation distributors fitted and performance is obviously poor, maybe this is the problem with yours. The original K9 engine should be CW rotation of distributor. If you can find the tag on the screened distributor with Lucas number, I can identify it. regards, Richard

Thanks Sean, amended now, it should have been 1967. I have not dealt with late 4 litres from 1960's, but wondering if they changed the cam drive from chain to gear, this would be the obvious reason.

More info straight from the Army Vocab dated 1955. The K9 was fitted with a CW dizzy, part no 40147, for first 700 vehicles, then superseded by 40308, again showing as CW

Do you know for sure which way you engine turns the distributor? Reason I ask is that all Austins, cars and lorries in the 1958 Lucas spec are using CW dizzys, where as in the 1967 issue of Lucas catalogue, all Austin lorries and Princess cars are showing CCW units, there are at least three different units for 1967 and all are CCW and all three units in 1958 are CW, so you need to ascertain the dist rotation on your engine.

I fail to see how polarity affects a distributor, the condenser is definitely not polarity sensitive. As for CW, I quoted the number straight out of a Lucas catalogue for Austins current at 1958. I know these engines well and am unaware of a change of rotation in the dizzy ...... it would have to be a major design change. Unless Lucas catalogue is wrong.

Actually called a Citroen Kegresse. Kegresse was the designer of the track system, later used on other makes of vehicle. My grandfather drove one of the first to be sold in England.

The 1958 Lucas list for Austin shows the Series 3 lorry had a DM6 distributor, part no. 40472A, but the Princess had a different part number, this may only have been a difference in cap, or maybe the advance degrees.

Canadian Lanc currently circuiting the Coningsby area. Just picked it up on Flightradar.

Make sure the Forward/Reverse control is lubricated and free to move. When you shift from one to the other, do it in one swift movement, do not hesitate. They will go in then, exactly the same with Ferret, Saracen, etc. If it grinds, you have not changed quick enough.

Hope this is of interest as it appears to be about a certain forum member, well done to him. Hope you arrived safely. http://home.bt.com/news/uknews/wreaths-begin-journey-to-france-11363925962366

I knew of that actual halftrack, it once belonged to a friend, he was not aware of the Royal connection until I found the photo many years ago and asked him what the British census number was (I had seen the number painted on it once), he then said that confirmed the identity as there were two holes in the top of the radiator surround where the Royal flag was fixed. I think it also had a post-1949 army number on it, so wonder how long it remained in service.

Nic, I remember one of the early private owners of a Saracen was one of our club members who had his own garage business. He had similar problems to you and fitted an electric pump near the changeover tap as the pipe work is accessible also it is easy to take a feed from the battery. He had a manual control, ie a switch by the pump that he could flick on when vapour locking occurred or the engine showed signs of faltering. Retaining the mechanical pump of course. The pump pushes the fuel through rather than the mechanical pump drawing it from the tank and an area where the vapour locks could be occurring. A relatively simple solution to his problem ...... maybe worth trying.

Andrew, that plate is probably the Contract number. regards, Richard

Terry, The reverse flow fan blades are angled the other way to draw air in to the beehives over the engine and out through the radiator. What has happened on Nic's Saracen is that a past owner has removed the shroud (some people think them unsightly!) and fit conventional fans which draw from the front. There is no way the hot air is going to exit through the beehives in large volume and it ends being forced down past the gearbox and fuel tank so that the fuel pipes are subject to vapour locking. I have seen this before but these problems have only arisen in private ownership where unconventional mods have taken place. We had little problems when they were in service. regards, Richard

Glad to hear that Paul fixed the problem :thumbsup:

Peter, is geography not your strong point? It is from Canada, not Australia !

Lanc has just taken off from Keflavik airport in Iceland ....... on its way !

Problem now rectified, thanks

Thanks Ted, Never had this happen before so looks like the server has done something during the day.

This is on the page that comes up; http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/index.php has been blocked by BT Parental Controls because the account holder has Custom filters on. FAQ: A site is being blocked incorrectly by BT Parental Controls. How can I report this? I have no Custom filters and nothing has changed since this morning. I have reported it, and will see what happens.

Thanks guys! I can access it on my iPhone, so will have to make do with that until I can get hold of BT . This lack of contact I find frustrating, that and unhelpful information which tells you how to get around the problem but when you get the page up it bears no resemblance.

Hi Nic, What I stated re. bleeding is from the EMER, but to be honest you will loose very little oil if you remove the pipe from the accumulator and plug it and any small amount of air will do on harm in this line and no more than the air from a leaking seal within an accumulator.