bob the builder

[bob the builder]

hello staggers out there just wondering if anyone can help me here, i am in the stages of rebuilding my stag engine after extensive work carried out on engine some years ago, by engine specialist. engine rebuild carried out by previous owner but sadley never completed and i purchased car in pieces, and engine still not in car as yet ( still on bench). i have a new 12 vain water pump and fitting in the aperture for it did not realise that there is meant to be a stated gap between pump top bolt and underside of pump housing. so fitted pump then fitted inlet manifold, then bolted down head.pump rotated all ok when engine turned over with spanner. could anyone tell me how crucial that gap is as dont really fancy going back to removing manifold after nice snug fit now.spoke to some in club and there view is it should be ok, but wanted couple of more opinions on the matter. with thanks bob the builder.

[Ian Durrant]

It really needs to be right. If its too tight (gap too small) then the cover will add a frictional load to the bolt in the top of the pump and could cause the skew gears to fail early. if its too loose this is less of a problem, though you are then reducing the efficiency of the pump as the vanes are not close enough to the cover. In practice I would guess that the loss of efficiency is small.

I have seen pumps fail because the gap was too small. It was obvious because the bolt top looked polished and the cylindrical protrusion in the pump cover was rough and scored.

I think I would have to disassemble and check it properly.

[bob the builder]

thanks ian for your advice, i may well disassemble and re do pump now that i am aware of it, do you think the manifold will go back ok if i dont take off head?

[Stagdad]

Don't disturb the head unless you have other issues ,manifold will go back on without touching the heads.Im with Ian ,I would take it off and do the pump cover again.

Cheers Steve

[Ian Durrant]

I don't think you need to remove the heads again. If your heads have been skimmed you may do well to get the manifold gasket faces planed as well to make fitting easier. You can work out roughly how much needs to be skimmed by offering up the manifold with and without the gasket and seeing how much the thickness of the gasket affects the bolt hole positions. If you then measure the thickness of the gasket you can guestimate how much needs skimming.

[bob the builder]

having the manifold planned sounds like the obvious answer and have never heard of that before, as your local to me you would of heard of goosnays in romford and i reckon they would carry out that sort of task thanks for your help on this, could i ask you another question while i am here, could you tell me what the electrical connection under passenger seat is for? and do you go to the meetings at the old windmill at hanningfield at all?

[bob the builder]

bob the builder

thanks for tip and giving second opinion aslo, reckon i will do as you both recommend.

[Ian Durrant]

I have never used Gosnays in the past just because it looks like a breakers yard. However, I have it on good authority that they are really very good (they have certainly been around a very long time!) I will be using them in future. The electrical connection is for the seatbelt warning light, a switch in the seat senses when someone is sitting in the seat and lights the dash light if the belt isn't plugged in when someone is in the passenger seat.

I haven't been to a Hanningfield meet yet, though I have met Andrew S on here who is the area co-ordinator and I will go when I get round to it, probably when my Stag is back on the road.

[Stevekid1]

I have used Gosneys in the past, 30 years ago to have a MK2 cortina engine rebuilt that I managed to blow up and again in the 90s to have a cavalier cylinder head reconditioned. Both times they were very good.

You should both come to the meetings, it would be good to meet a couple more Stag owners that live close to me. You dont need a Stag to turn up. In fact it is extremely rare that the first thursday of the month coincides with decent weather and most tend to go in their everyday car. If you wanted to meet a few of us there will be 8 or 9 Stags on show at Redden court school in Harold Wood on this coming saturday for St. Peters Church Classic car show. Mine will probably be the one with the hard top as the soft top leaks a bit and once again the forecast looks a bit grim for saturday.

Steve

[bob the builder]

hello steve thanks for your opinion on gosnays, my stag engine was reworked there althought 7 years ago by the present owner the bill coming to nearly £1500 so was hoping its ok, the guy never finished the job and i bought it half rebuilt and its not been in the car since, so in a way nearly a brand new engine so looking forward to the day it goes back in car. i do go to the meetings at the windmill and have been on most since i joined in january also did the frostbite run not in the stag thats still away from being finished yet, its off this week for some welding on the chassis before engine goes back in. sorry cant make st peters this weekend as away on break but look forward to meeting you at club one night, bob.

[bob the builder]

you should go to club some time you will be given a warm welcome there, i have been to most meetings and even managed to fit in nice meal there this time before meet it will be awhile before my stag is ready to get there but hope to be going there in it by next year, from our way its a nice drive in the summer what ever your in. thanks for info about seat wire, it does make sense now, i did think for a minute it was a seat heater but silly thought as they probably were not even about then. anyway look forwar to meeting you at some stage, with thanks bob.

[Ian Durrant]

I will be popping in at St Peters this weekend so look forward to meeting you all there. Sorry you can't make it Bob, but if you need any help with your car let me know, always happy to help out a fellow stag owner if I can!