Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[mickthemaverick]

Yes Jim, missed opportunities there Zel!! Unless.......?.

[CitroJim]

Yes Jim, missed opportunities there Zel!! Unless.......?.

At least you now know you won't need to shell out too much for one Zel - unless it needs a new shell...

[Zelandeth]

Problem with anything like that from an auction is it's such a gamble. They're both cars which can rot to a terrifying extent and isn't too difficult to tart up to look halfway decent for auction photos.

I'd not consider either unless I had a whole bunch more pictures or knew the seller well enough to trust their description that it indeed wasn't a rot box. While I don't mind tidying things up a bit, I'm really not looking for another major project.

Much though I agree that the Spitfire is a lot of fun, sadly I really don't fit comfortably in the driver's seat of one so that wouldn't be on the list for me.

[Zelandeth]

Had a spare half hour this afternoon so decided to have a look at the Rover. Needed to be a pretty quick one rather than anything particularly in depth. My choice was the fuel pump.

This is an SU electric pump and I'm pretty used to how these should behave when all is well. Few rapid clicks while the system fills the float bowl, then just a click every ten seconds or so as it keeps up with fuel demand. This one clearly wasn't happy as it was clacking quite loudly and erratically. My guess was that this was happening as there was air trapped in the pump. These pumps should be mounted with the outlet uppermost so that any air can be expelled - the pump here had notably been mounted with the outlet at the bottom.

After a bit of faffing about I managed to manipulate it into something vaguely resembling the correct orientation. This obviously isn't the correct pump so there was a bit of swearing involved in getting the lines to reach. The cable tie is also temporary - I'm also missing the original mounting brackets.



While it's a mess, the pump does seem to be happy now. It's clicking quietly once every five to ten seconds when the engine is running. Before it was clacking quite loudly and the rate was all over the place.

Only a little job, but that was one I really wanted to get to the bottom of. Especially with all the fuel pump problems I had on the P6, that's something I really want to trust!

[CitroJim]

Ahh Happy memories of the old SU electric pump! That one looks as if it's been fairly recently refurbished?

At least it looks to be in a slightly better place in the Rover then in the old, original Mini!

[Zelandeth]

Ahh Happy memories of the old SU electric pump! That one looks as if it's been fairly recently refurbished?

At least it looks to be in a slightly better place in the Rover then in the old, original Mini!

I think it's just a new one rather than refurbished. If they had gone down the refurbishment route the original pump would probably be there. Which is annoying as they are Not Cheap - £3-400. Which I'm guessing is the popularity tax as they're also used on some of the Series II/III Land Rovers. The original one was basically two SU pumps bolted together with the output chambers combined together. One drawing from the main and one from the reserve lines to the tank. Nice redundancy having a totally separate pump (and more importantly set of points!) on hand at the flick of a switch.

At some point it will be returned to the correct configuration - but that sort of expenditure to replace something that's working fine is a fair way down the priority list at the moment.

[CitroJim]

To have two totally independent pumps and a reserve system was a most excellent idea Zel, knowing how troublesome those pumps could be.

[Zelandeth]

To have two totally independent pumps and a reserve system was a most excellent idea Zel, knowing how troublesome those pumps could be.

This is the original pump arrangement.

J R Wadhams product page.

Quite a substantial looking lump.

[CitroJim]

To have two totally independent pumps and a reserve system was a most excellent idea Zel, knowing how troublesome those pumps could be.

This is the original pump arrangement.

J R Wadhams product page.

Quite a substantial looking lump.

Gosh! A double-ender

[xantia_v6]

Not to be confused with the very similar double ender fitted to V12 Jags 1971-74, which only had a single inlet.

[Zelandeth]

Not to be confused with the very similar double ender fitted to V12 Jags 1971-74, which only had a single inlet.

Well when you're measuring fuel use in gallons per mile you're going to need a pretty substantial pump!