Lifetime timing belt - I don't think so!

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Lifetime timing belt - I don't think so!

Yes same here my 1.8 astraGTE had no problems.
Another bad vauxhall to suffer was the viva 1.3, my mates first car, he bought it to me because it "sounded tinny", took the rocker box off and found the pushrods had bored through the pressed steel rockers.
The parts bloke at the dealers just got them off the shelf and said " we sell thousands of them" think I had to set them with engine running or was that my ascona 1.9 🤔
I remember that wee OHV engine quite well. Done more than a few rockers too! It was indeed recommended to adjust the clearances with the engine running and wasn't difficult to do until you came across one with wear on the "toe" of the rocker - where it pushed against the end of the valve - The worn rocker then acted rather like a punch/hammer and munched up the feeler blade! I always did them static after I encountered that problem but it wasn't as simple as doing most OHV engines of that era - BMC "A" & "B"series, Ford Kent, etc, etc - because each rocker had it's own stud which incorporated a hemispherical bearing surface on which it swiveled and incorporated the adjusting nut ( a very "American" way of doing it but even then the "Yank" engines usually had hydraulic lifters so needed no adjusting) so you had to gently wiggle the rocker side to side as you adjusted it so you got the point of maximum clearance. I seem to remember that that engine also had problems with abnormally rapid distributor wear? Typically the car would come in with a very poorly running engine, very poor idle, possibly misfiring, and lacking power. When you put the Sun/Crypton machine on it you would immediately notice the points dwell was all over the place. When you removed the distributor (Delco I think?) the shaft would be found to be slopping about in it's bushing. I think the problem was that the bush was a very short length, compared to the Lucas for instance, and just not up to the job?

Ah, all these "delicious" forgotten memories. Problems which were so simple to solve compared to today's vehicles.
 
Never had to do any MK3 cortina bushes, managed to keep well away.
The Ventora 3.3 6cyl was a great engine, so much torque. Quite an old engine, all iron, so very heavy. We had an early Ventora with that engine as a workshop hack for a time. Was traded in, not a retail prospect, but no trader wanted it. We used it to tow the car trailer. Could put anything on the trailer and it would pull it without any trouble. 3-speed manual box, column change, and a front bench seat. The passenger door seemed so far away.
Damn it PB, I knew I should have bought one! Was it basically the same engine from the Cresta?
 
Yes, same engine as Cresta, went back to the early Cresta I believe, the late 50s one, all curvy and 'american' looking.
The PA Cresta? another "lovely" looking car. I've always liked the "American" look of that generation of car - Mk2 and 3 Zodiacs look pretty good too? - My Dad nearly bought a PA Cresta but bought a Phase one Standard Vanguard instead. (which he followed with a Phase two which I thought was a much nicer looking car) I guess he was glad he bought the Vanguard now looking back on the rust problems those early Vauxhalls became well known for.
 
I remember that wee OHV engine quite well. Done more than a few rockers too! It was indeed recommended to adjust the clearances with the engine running and wasn't difficult to do until you came across one with wear on the "toe" of the rocker - where it pushed against the end of the valve - The worn rocker then acted rather like a punch/hammer and munched up the feeler blade! I always did them static after I encountered that problem but it wasn't as simple as doing most OHV engines of that era - BMC "A" & "B"series, Ford Kent, etc, etc - because each rocker had it's own stud which incorporated a hemispherical bearing surface on which it swiveled and incorporated the adjusting nut ( a very "American" way of doing it but even then the "Yank" engines usually had hydraulic lifters so needed no adjusting) so you had to gently wiggle the rocker side to side as you adjusted it so you got the point of maximum clearance. I seem to remember that that engine also had problems with abnormally rapid distributor wear? Typically the car would come in with a very poorly running engine, very poor idle, possibly misfiring, and lacking power. When you put the Sun/Crypton machine on it you would immediately notice the points dwell was all over the place. When you removed the distributor (Delco I think?) the shaft would be found to be slopping about in it's bushing. I think the problem was that the bush was a very short length, compared to the Lucas for instance, and just not up to the job?

Ah, all these "delicious" forgotten memories. Problems which were so simple to solve compared to today's vehicles.
Absolutely! The dizzy was a problem yes as was the diaphragm in the stromberg (?) carb? The sun machine, arrgh yes in all of its red, white and chrome beauty lol, as you say simpler times but more importantly, simpler fixes.
 
Absolutely! The dizzy was a problem yes as was the diaphragm in the stromberg (?) carb? The sun machine, arrgh yes in all of its red, white and chrome beauty lol, as you say simpler times but more importantly, simpler fixes.
Oh, Stromberg carbs. Although the BL stuff mostly came with SUs they would turn up from time to time on the likes of Triumphs especially. Much more troublesome than the "good old" SU. I learned a lot more about them later when I got into Hillman Imps but not a carb I would go out of my way to use.
 
I had a Vauxhall Victor 2.3 that one day started with a big end death rattle. The oil pump was on top of the block so any wear meant it struggled to collect oil during cold start. Mine was still hammering 30 seconds after starting. Poor design killed the engine.

I loved the SU carb so easy to tune. I followed David Vizard's advice and gas flowed a 1.25 inch to flow the same was a 1.5 inch. Mixture was adjusted by raising/lowering the main jet on a screw. The needle taper could be tuned by filing a flat on one side to increase fuel flow at one end of the range. The pair were balanced by listening to the intake pops in each bell mouth. The balance bar was adjusted until both had the same sound. The 1275 gas flowed head made the old Metro fly and the small but high flow carb was economical - ish. The additional power was too much fun.
 
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This is a nice idea. They have incorporated the adjustable main jet (SU style) into a slide carb with underslung float chamber. Three of these would be great on my Suzuki GT750 Kettle.

 
This is the correct belt for all 90HP Panda Waze Twinair engines. I guarantee none will be harmed by this!
Sorry if I'm being a bit "thick" here. The twin air is not an engine I am familiar with but I thought it is a chain cam engine? - Or have I misunderstood your post altogether?
 
Oh, Stromberg carbs. Although the BL stuff mostly came with SUs they would turn up from time to time on the likes of Triumphs especially. Much more troublesome than the "good old" SU. I learned a lot more about them later when I got into Hillman Imps but not a carb I would go out of my way to use.

Since it looks like you're reminiscing on here I'll drop my own tiny bit in if you don't mind - Ford tried to do their own version of the SU, the variovent, but mounted the needle sideways for some bizarre reason (presumably they thought it could defy gravity), and had numerous other issues. I bought a poorly-running (but otherwise immaculate) Capri once with one of those horrible things fitted. On the drive home the fuel cut off solenoid failed very noisily so I coasted it into some services, bought a Bic Biro, unscrewed the solenoid, rammed the end of the biro down the hole to stop leaks, then loosely screwed the solenoid back in. I think that was the most 'Heath Robinson' get-you-home repair I'd ever done, but it lasted 'til I got home. Needless to say the horrible vv went straight in the bin when I got back to be replaced with a Weber twin choke, and the poor running issues instantly went away.

BTW I take a slightly different view of the 'lifetime guarantee', I figure it means the component is guaranteed to work until it breaks, since then it's lifetime is over :D
 
Since it looks like you're reminiscing on here I'll drop my own tiny bit in if you don't mind - Ford tried to do their own version of the SU, the variovent, but mounted the needle sideways for some bizarre reason (presumably they thought it could defy gravity), and had numerous other issues. I bought a poorly-running (but otherwise immaculate) Capri once with one of those horrible things fitted. On the drive home the fuel cut off solenoid failed very noisily so I coasted it into some services, bought a Bic Biro, unscrewed the solenoid, rammed the end of the biro down the hole to stop leaks, then loosely screwed the solenoid back in. I think that was the most 'Heath Robinson' get-you-home repair I'd ever done, but it lasted 'til I got home. Needless to say the horrible vv went straight in the bin when I got back to be replaced with a Weber twin choke, and the poor running issues instantly went away.

BTW I take a slightly different view of the 'lifetime guarantee', I figure it means the component is guaranteed to work until it breaks, since then it's lifetime is over :D
I really like your definition of "lifetime" and I think it's a good one to adopt! I remember the VV quite well. I believe it was supposed to be one of the best carbs ever made for emission control but they were very well known for causing no end of problems. Our local, and much revered, Motor sports accessory shop "Sports Tune" sold Weber kits, complete with manual choke conversion and all the bit's and pieces needed to convert to it. We fitted a number of them and the cars ran soooo much better with the Weber fitted. Although they, "Sports Tune", closed up their Edinburgh shop many years ago their Garage, just outside Longniddry in East Lothian, was still functioning many years later, I think it was heavily into Minis at one time. It's all closed now although the buildings are still there and I have a standing invitation to call in when I'm passing for a chat and to see the old photos of their garage in it's hay days. Their website has a few interesting pictures for anyone interested: http://www.sportstune.co.uk/about.html.

Any of you from around my area remember it?
 
Vauxhall's version of "lifetime guaranetee" is 1 year, then we'll see how much it'll cost, followed by lots of unhappy customers.
Hence why they stopped all their lifetime guarantees.
 
Two stroke was even simpler with many having no moving valves
 
Same idea for all smaller older motorbike engines,

I had an RD125, I had to take the cylinder off to check the rings. I'd only worked on cars at that point, and had to wonder "what black magic is this?"
 
Those VV carbs had a bad habit in that after a fast run say on the M-way
you lifted off to come off and when you touched the throttle to join
the normal road it would backfire through the carb and set the car on fire.
Such fun.
 
Those VV carbs had a bad habit in that after a fast run say on the M-way
you lifted off to come off and when you touched the throttle to join
the normal road it would backfire through the carb and set the car on fire.
Such fun.

A true marvel of engineering :D

I reckon the fuel cutoff solenoid was supposed to prevent that happening, but since it was a long, bendy pin with a blob on the end I bet most of them just jammed, like the horizontal metering needle which was no doubt responsible for the problem in the first place.

Edit: actually no it couldn't have been, the cutoff solenoid was only operated by the ignition switch (presumably to stop over-run) so the 'toast your engine' feature must have been down to the metering needle binding in it's housing.
 
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