What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[JonE]

well where abouts was it showing signs of leaking in the car?

[squeak]

Took the petrol tank out as it was leaking, put it on the bench filled it up with petrol and can’t find any leak.  Only appears to leak in the car, tried all the brackets but no leaks (chummy tank) even tried a bit of pressure but no leak.  Any ideas.

Douglas,I would give it a dose of modern ethanol resistant slosh sealant and put the tank back. The problem then can only be the cap or tap. Over here I use Redkote with success not sure of UK varieties. I suspect that stories of sealant degradation relate to older formulas breaking down in contact with current ethanol petrols.
 I have an example of a much older installation from the UK which has turned stiff and cracked and flaked off, but I have had no such problems with Redkote seals I have done in the last 5 years.
I use whatever is cheapest petrol at the pump, including ethanol mixes.  regards  Russell

[Douglas Alderson]

well where abouts was it showing signs of leaking in the car?

Leak was around the corner by the tap / bottom bracket.  Would prefer not to use a tank sealer and was happy to resolder but not knowing where the hole is makes fixing difficult.  Left it full of petrol over night so see what happened overnight.

[Howard Wright]

well where abouts was it showing signs of leaking in the car?

Leak was around the corner by the tap / bottom bracket.  Would prefer not to use a tank sealer and was happy to resolder but not knowing where the hole is makes fixing difficult.  Left it full of petrol over night so see what happened overnight.

Hi Douglas

It isn't the tap is it?  I've had a mysterious weeping of fuel in this area and found that petrol tends to defy gravity.  My leak was coming from the tap to tank thread and the tap itself but appeared to "stain" the whole corner of the tank.

Howard

[Douglas Alderson]

well where abouts was it showing signs of leaking in the car?

Leak was around the corner by the tap / bottom bracket.  Would prefer not to use a tank sealer and was happy to resolder but not knowing where the hole is makes fixing difficult.  Left it full of petrol over night so see what happened overnight.

Hi Douglas

It isn't the tap is it?  I've had a mysterious weeping of fuel in this area and found that petrol tends to defy gravity.  My leak was coming from the tap to tank thread and the tap itself but appeared to "stain" the whole corner of the tank.

Howard

Howard 

Have you been spying on me? Checked tank this morning no leak.  The car is new to me and clearly has been leaking, my dad suggested are you sure it not an old leak which has been fixed, he has no sense of smell.  No I can definitely smell petrol and the tissue I put there are wet with petrol when in the car and carpet has petrol.  I work on other bits on the car, leave dad alone then he says you know the tap leaks, doh.  The tissue picked up the petrol and moved it back in to the car, this was while it was parked up.  So new tap, that was an easy fix.

[Howard Wright]

well where abouts was it showing signs of leaking in the car?

Leak was around the corner by the tap / bottom bracket.  Would prefer not to use a tank sealer and was happy to resolder but not knowing where the hole is makes fixing difficult.  Left it full of petrol over night so see what happened overnight.

Hi Douglas

It isn't the tap is it?  I've had a mysterious weeping of fuel in this area and found that petrol tends to defy gravity.  My leak was coming from the tap to tank thread and the tap itself but appeared to "stain" the whole corner of the tank.

Howard

Howard 

Have you been spying on me? Checked tank this morning no leak.  The car is new to me and clearly has been leaking, my dad suggested are you sure it not an old leak which has been fixed, he has no sense of smell.  No I can definitely smell petrol and the tissue I put there are wet with petrol when in the car and carpet has petrol.  I work on other bits on the car, leave dad alone then he says you know the tap leaks, doh.  The tissue picked up the petrol and moved it back in to the car, this was while it was parked up.  So new tap, that was an easy fix.

Hi Douglas

You may not need a new tap.  I wrapped the thread between tap and tank in ptfe tape and installed a new fibre washer. Then ground the taper of the tap with a very small amount of fine grinding paste. So far it seems to have cured it but I've read others having limited success with old taps!

Howard

[Douglas Alderson]

well where abouts was it showing signs of leaking in the car?

Leak was around the corner by the tap / bottom bracket.  Would prefer not to use a tank sealer and was happy to resolder but not knowing where the hole is makes fixing difficult.  Left it full of petrol over night so see what happened overnight.

Hi Douglas

It isn't the tap is it?  I've had a mysterious weeping of fuel in this area and found that petrol tends to defy gravity.  My leak was coming from the tap to tank thread and the tap itself but appeared to "stain" the whole corner of the tank.

Howard

Howard 

Have you been spying on me? Checked tank this morning no leak.  The car is new to me and clearly has been leaking, my dad suggested are you sure it not an old leak which has been fixed, he has no sense of smell.  No I can definitely smell petrol and the tissue I put there are wet with petrol when in the car and carpet has petrol.  I work on other bits on the car, leave dad alone then he says you know the tap leaks, doh.  The tissue picked up the petrol and moved it back in to the car, this was while it was parked up.  So new tap, that was an easy fix.

Hi Douglas

You may not need a new tap.  I wrapped the thread between tap and tank in ptfe tape and installed a new fibre washer. Then ground the taper of the tap with a very small amount of fine grinding paste. So far it seems to have cured it but I've read others having limited success with old taps!

Howard

Howard thanks will give it a try.  Douglas

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I have used Gold Hermatite (smeared on the taper of the tap itself) to seal petrol taps successfully. Hard to get now but somebody may have some.

Nick Turley uses a tap that he tells me works very well indeed - I cannot find the link to it, perhaps he will post it here for us?

[Bob Kneale]

Today being Armistice/Remembrance Sunday, like Tony Betts, I took my '34 RP Lulu to the village commemoration (St Tudy Cornwall), where she was very much appreciated and admired,and was told 'how nice to see a more appropriate car', even though she was not around for some 16years after WW1!
I sadly didnt manage to photograh the scene. Did anyone else attend a similar ceremony in their seven?
The (temporary 3 bearing ) engine currently sounds like a sack of old spanners, and is making a noise like a Gatling gun under all load conditions. Having rebuilt the bottom end less than 60 miles ago, I'm suspecting the camshaft is floating excessively fore and aft, and needs a better solution to restrain it than the square headed bolt.
Any wisdom gratefully received -now going out to set the tappets on the 2 bearing replacement!
Cheers
Bob

[jansens]

I've been tinkering with a little GPS speed display to give me a speed reading to check against the speedo in the Austin. Also just as an excuse to fiddle with some neat gadgets. Last time I played with GPS was professionally about 17 years ago. Back then it was relatively expensive still. This is before phones all had it built in. Things are much different now.

Electronics wise it's actually very simple. I really just wanted an excuse to play with one of the tiny GPS modules. A ridiculously cheap $5US GPS module, an Arduino microcontroller and a 4 digit LED display. It shows KPH in the left two digits and MPH in the right two. I figure for an Austin 7 two digits will be enough! This is it bread-boarded up for testing. I really want to take it on the bus with me tomorrow to see if it works in a vehicle ok. I am sure it doesn't look suspicious at all!



The GPS module is the little board under the display. The ceramic thing to the right of it is the antenna for it. I am using an ancient (huge!) Arduino held on with the yellow rubber band for prototyping. The actual device would use a much smaller one, like the one next to the button cells, so the finished unit will be much smaller when complete if it works well enough to be worth building. Some sort of temporary, non dodgy looking housing before I take it out for tests might be a good idea though.

Simon