What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Malcolm Parker]

Over the weekend I got the new engine back in the Ulster after sorting out a loose flywheel and fitting a longer starting handle shaft.  It fired up immediately on the handle with a duff battery and old petrol in the tank.
I let it idle for about ten minutes and yesterday, with a new battery,  took it up the road to check the clutch operation and the brakes which had been adjusted.
There was some hesitation when the throttle was opened, more than simply a cold engine and a cold day.
On looking at the plugs, number three was sooty and there was evidence of some water getting into cylinder.
Today I took the head off.  The new gasket I had fitted when I put the engine together had failed between the bores of number 3 and 4 cylinder, see photo.        The gasket was one I picked up at a jumble a few years ago.  It broke up when I removed it.    
The cylinder head on the engine was an angled early head with quite a high compression ratio.  This head measures 37mm at the nearside and 33mm at the offside.       
I am replacing the gasket with a copper/'asbestos' one from our cherished suppliers and will be fitting a less aggressive angled head which measures 38mm on the nearside and 34mm on the offside.      It is interesting to see how the combustion chamber shape alters radically with an extra 1mm off the face.
I will report back in due course!