Jobs to do before Castle Combe on the 28th November:
Replace damaged fuel pipe
Replace fuel filter
Spanner check rear suspension
Fit ansa manifold
Adjust exhaust system accordingly
Check all hoses and fluids in engine bay
Change induction system
First, I tackled the most important job, the fuel pipe. I noticed that before Curborough, one of the pipes looked like it was under pressure, as it had become slightly kinked and as a result was starting to wear. It wasn’t leaking and looked like it was only the outside wall, so I taped it up as a bit of an insurance policy and it didn’t cause any problems.
I then got to work in removing the fuel tank. Firstly disconnecting the three wires for the fuel tank sender unit:
Then the other relevant pipes (Easy when you don’t have an interior):
Fuel tank drops down easily with the trolley jack:
The offending ½” fuel pipe (Tank to pump):
The new pipe I bought is braided so should be a slightly better quality and will help prevent the kinking that occurred with the rubber one:
I decided to replace the fuel filter while I had the tank out, its still the original from when I got the car, and not knowing the age, fitting a new one cant be a bad thing. This is the old filter and the filter to engine pipe that seemed to squirt out a bit of fuel under the jubilee clip before anywhere else, so I replaced this pipe also:
Here is the new filter fitted in bracket, bit rusty but still doing its job (Cleaning and painting things will be a job for the winter):
All pipes connected back up again, quick test of any leaks and the pump working, then fuel tank re-fitted:
I then tackled fitting the ansa manifold. When raising the front of the car, I was pleasantly surprised that the rear wheel also lifts quite happily off the ground at the same time, when being jacked by the rear of the front subframe:
Once the car was raised as high as possible on axle stands, the whole exhaust system was removed, leaving the front section. This was a much easier task removing than fitting the ansa. With this removed I attempted to fit the ansa, finding that I needed to disconnect the front anti-roll bar for the manifold to go up through; with this disconnected from the wishbone and loosened from the mounting on the subframe, it just squeezed through, also with some wriggling to get it past the steering rack. At this point, the idea of keeping it as clean as possible had gone out of the window. After some strange angles and various lengths of sockets, extensions and spanners I managed to get it on tight, even though 2 or 3 of the nuts looked physically impossible to do up when initially looked at; and here it is fitted:
With this now on, I fitted the rest of the exhaust to the best I can do for now. Its not at the perfect angle nor position but does its job.
With these jobs done, a more rewarding and cleaner job was tackling the induction system. With the hose loosened off I removed the large flat air box and am replacing it with a cone K & N filter. I started off with a new paper element of which I then replaced for a K & N panel filter, but I honestly noticed no difference and if there is an improvement it would be at higher rev’s as the car seemed more responsive at lower revs with the standard paper element! For now it sits quite nicely on top of the engine but not exactly the most ideal spot for cold air (Cold air feed pipe to be fitted):
I didn’t quite realise how big it was until it arrived but JUST fits under the bonnet in that position; but at least you can see the engine unlike the eye saw of an air box. Due to the filter being of 76mm ID and the air flow flange OD being 68mm, two aluminium joiners and a red reducer pipe does the job nicely, and I think looks quite smart, if not a bit boy racey (o dear). Ideally I’ll probably fit it in the inner wing near the alternator away from heat when I get some more pipe/hose; but the perfect location would be on the nearside inner wing with a direct cold air feed; only problem being that the battery is in the way. Move battery to boot, hmmmm, another job on the future list.
All pipe connected again, initial start up created lots of steam with various moisture, oil and dirt burning off.
The hose pipe was on standby as I was told by a friend his heat wrap caught alight when some oil dropped onto it. This is what it looked like after having the engine running for 15mins and fully upto temperature:
Apart from a slight blow at one of the joints (just needs to be slid further down) everything seems fine, and there seems to be noticeably less back pressure at idle from the exhaust.
