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theredkite

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About theredkite

  • Birthday 10/16/1965

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  • Location
    Herts/Bucks border
  1. Hi Alex. Welcome to the world of CVRT ownership! I'd say you have years of fun to look forward to, without (too much) hassle either! Good luck and have fun!
  2. Today's "long read" in The Guardian is an interview/visit with Kevin Wheatcroft. Given the newspaper it's in it's I'd say it's actually a pretty fair account, and as far as I know it's not very often Mr Wheatcroft opens up! Anyway, here's the link: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/24/the-man-who-sleeps-in-hitlers-bed
  3. Well the campaign against the cuts is at least getting a fair bit of publicity, thanks no doubt in some part to those of us who have signed the petition. Even the FT has it on the home page of its website at the moment (the FT uses a paywall so you may not be able to read the article, but it includes a quote from a former Director-General of the IWM who has signed the petition!): http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2c1d49f8-6bfa-11e4-b939-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3J3rK2BM9
  4. If you want to sign the petition opposing the closure, then you can do it here: https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-george-osborne-mp-urgently-reverse-current-and-future-cuts-to-the-uk-imperial-war-museum-s-annual-operating-grant-in-aid-so-that-it-can-maintain-services-and-preserve-its-standing-as-an-international-centre-for-study-research-and-education
  5. "But did you get the plug out..!?" Sadly not. As I need to move the vehicle in the next couple of weeks, I was happy just to get the engine running (and to my ignorant ears it doesn't sound too bad now...) But when I'm properly set up in our new place I will re-apply all the advice here and get it out - I'm pretty sure I'll have to cut the lead and then use some of the sockets recommended.
  6. Success! And I definitely couldn't have done it without the advice here - thanks. First I checked the cold start and throttle butterflies at rest - they both looked "pretty much" closed (v hard to see the cold start one from above), but in any event I moved the cold start right over to rest, using the lever on the carb not the connector in the driver's compartment. Fired her up - straight up to 2,500 revs (an improvement but still not right). Then by pulling back on the throttle control (I hadn't been near the pedal) managed to bring it down to 1,000 revs, and after a while right down to 600. It currently "idles" at around 1,500. When the engine was warm I tried adjusting the idle screw at the bottom rear of the carb, but it made no difference. So I guess the answer is, as suggested above, that if the cold start and throttle butterflies are open at all the engine was flooding itself. I don't think I would ever have worked that out from looking at the butterflies, which as I say looked closed/nearly closed. (And previously I'd tried pulling the throttle control back as far as it would go while it was over-revving, with no success, I guess because the cold start butterfly was a little open?) I'm going to keep the deck off for a while and check her regularly. The opportunity to give everything proper attention will come after she's been moved to her new home in a couple of weeks. Incidentally I reckon the original problem I had, of not getting her to start, was due to old fuel. Having not been driven much in the past three years, when I pumped out the old fuel it looked quite opaque, v different to the new stuff I put in. I can't be completely sure, but I reckon it was tired fuel that was my original problem, that's (another) lesson learned for me! Many many thanks - couldn't have done it without this forum . Mike
  7. Tim It feels like I'm making progress, thanks to the help I'm getting here. I now know it's not the electrics, the fuel or the fuel pump - narrows it down nicely! Yes I've got the deck off, and I've had the carb off before. That's not to say I haven't somehow fouled it up, but I didn't dismantle it at all, just gave it a good spray with carb cleaner. The cold start seems to be working fine, the mechanism on the front of the carb moves easily enough. I've tried the throttle with the engine switched off and the top off the carb, although the two jets don't spurt brilliantly equally, fuel does come out of both into the main chamber of the carb. What's weird for me is the way it suddenly shoots up to such high revs - I guess something is either stuck or flooding it? I'm ready to take the carb off again (hate that job - I know sooner or later I'm going to drop something somewhere I shouldn't ) but I'd love to have a suggested cause before I do! Cheers for the help and support, Mike
  8. Tim - thanks for the suggestion. Yes, the fuel pump is working fine, I spent a couple of happy hours pumping out the old fuel into assorted jerry cans. Tiffy, I'm not keen at the moment on changing the leads, might be an idea when I have a bit more time, but that distributor looks a bit evil to get at (and I always drop stuff in the engine bay!) So, the electrics are (kind of) sorted. The situation now is as follows: the beast isn't easy to fire up, but if I pump a little fuel in first and then fire the ignition, the engine quickly races to over 4,000 revs (and I have to shut everything down). I've tried moving the idler screw, to no effect, and it isn't the throttle linkages (the throttle has no effect at all). It's all very all or nothing, can anyone suggest why it's doing this, I'm guessing it must be something to do with the carb? Cheers, Mike
  9. Cheers for the help, I went blue in the end. I won't be changing the coolant now as my priority is to get the beast moved, but it will be a priority when I have the time to give her some proper tlc. Incidentally when I was cruising the web for tips the Army Rumour Service website had a chat about coolant - apparently in service (much higher usage than most of us I guess) failing to change the coolant regularly was a major cause of J60 failures. Mike
  10. Hi, having got the engine to run with some fuel in the carb, I want to top up the coolant before I go any further. I've had a look on this forum and on the wider web, (and in the manual), but I can't see if there's any particular coolant I should use? Many thanks again, Mike
  11. Thanks again for all the suggestions. I have to move the poor wee beastie in the next couple of weeks, so I'm trying to avoid as much "damage" as possible. Anyway, having replaced five of the six plugs and pumped out all the old fuel, replaced it with some lovely new 97 unleaded, nothing. I then tried putting some of the new fuel directly into the carb, and she fired up at what seemed v high revs (the counter said 2,000 but I'm not convinced...) So the electrical system is working okay, may be a problem with the carb still, but I need to top up the coolant level. On to a new thread (and thanks again!) Mike
  12. A couple more pictures and questions. There are two flexible pipes which come out of the air cleaner and the metal housing that sits on top of the carburetor. The one from the air cleaner has split where it joins the air cleaner - how important is this? (Obviously ideally I'll replace it, but I'm trying to get the engine started and previously the engine was firing and then quickly dying). The one from the top of the carburetor has a big kink in it - same question really, does it make any difference? I can't find them in my parts catalogues, so if I do need to replace them some help properly identifying them would be great! Many thanks, as always, for any help. Mike
  13. Thanks for the tips, guys. Unfortunately after a week it hasn't budged - one of the bolts on top of the block makes it impossible to attach even a flare nut spanner onto it (which I suspect is why it's been allowed to get so firmly stuck over the years). I've replaced the other five plugs and I'm going to try to get it started with five good ones and 1 stuck one! I've a couple more questions, which I'll put in a different thread so it has the right topic!
  14. A few years back I used to use the Alvis Fighting Vehicle Society forum, and that gradually got quieter as people came here. I haven't been back to the AFVS place for years. Hope the same thing isn't happening here!
  15. Many thanks Robin. I'll begin the process and let you know how I get on! Mike
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