After much messing about with hoses and water, I couldn't get a reliable water circulation. There was a 'high' point in one of the hoses to the pump (intake) which would air lock and then stop the flow. Knowing the seals in the pump were iffy to say the least I decided to pull it to bits. Oh dear, not a pretty sight! Faced with the option of buying a reconditioned pump at well over £100 I decided to see if there was an alternative. An electric one was a possibility, but again, about £150.00. Trawling the Internet for Hillman Imp parts I came across http://www.corley-conversions.co.uk/ A phone call on Saturday morning resulted in the answers I wanted to hear, 'Yes we have a rebuild kit and you are welcome to collect it anytime today'. Armed with the bits of my pump I took a drive and met Ben Boult who gave them the once over and all the tips on rebuilding it. Thanks Ben!
By late Saturday afternoon the pump was refitted in a different position to avoid air locks. Now circulating fine, and seems to keep it's cool, although I think there is a need for a larger capacity header tank which I will plumb into the top hose.
I reconnected the Alternator (which didn't seem to work when I tried it a couple of months back) and after a few seconds of the warning lamp flickering it went off and gave an output. Perhaps worth the tenner after all!
Thought I would include a video of the engine running. A shame the camera started to slip...........
An easy starter, and sounds like good throttle response. Have you checked it out with the Colortune yet? I found the one I have, and might see if it works on one of my bikes. I have a Honda 550 that needs some carb setting work. Might have a go with it.
ReplyDeleteHi Larry, yes colourtune worked well. Probably will need further tweaking once driveable, but has got it in the right ball park. Well worth giving it a go on the Honda. Is that the 550 Four?
ReplyDeleteA total disaster with the brakes, those bargain 'imported' master cylinders are only fit for the bin!
Yes, my 550 Four. Have never used a 'Colortune" before, sounds like a great idea though. The late 70's Hondas seem to be jetted extremely lean. I put jets from a set of 750 carbs in since I installed an RC Engineering 4 into 1 exhaust. I'm not running an air cleaner at the present time as I could never get it to run right with the oiled foam cleaner that was on it. I'll have to see if I can find a K@N for it. I'll probably be blogging about my Hondas again at some point. Right now it's full steam ahead Triumphs. Last couple of years I've had some real trouble with 'import' car parts. The time lost installing bogus parts can be real frustrating.
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