Flash's 1965 Ford Thames

[Flash]

Many moons have passed since my last Thames related catch up, so I guess it's time that I updated you all on the latest happenings.

Over the past few months we have been driving the van heaps, but to take full advantage of the cooler months all of our spare time has been focused on getting some things done around the house and garden. The result has been no time to tinker on the van, but I have been adding a few items to my "to do" list. Now that the days are starting to warm up, it's time to start executing some automotive related activities.

First major thing on the list is to deal with cabin temps and some of you who spotted my posting under the tech forum a few months back will have already heard this story, but for those who haven't here is a repeat:

The short story goes as follows. On hot starts I would need to crank the engine for a good 20 to 30 seconds before the engine would fire. After eventually firing into life the engine would stumble along for a few minutes before settling down. I suspected that we were experiencing fuel vaporization and started a tech topic to gather suggestions on possible cures. As is always the case a number of wise old schoolers provided some suggested solutions which I gave due consideration. At the end of the day I took the lazy way out and have now wired the main thermo fan switch to permanent power. The result is a thermo fan that now runs independent of ignition power. Not only has this solved our fuel vaporization issue but it has also decreased the air temperature in the cabin when parked up after a long run and the strong aroma of "hot engine" inside the cabin has also gone. I'm thinking that the mighty 3Y and its mechanical fuel pump was unhappy with the coziness created by the miniscule engine box that the Thames is blessed with. This fix has been in place for a few months now and is working well so I'm going to leave well alone for now.

The next major item is to sort out our a/c related issues and this is getting critical now that the weather is warming up. So when I last talked about the a/c I was experiencing excessive drag on the drive belt which was shedding rubber flakes like confetti and was needing adjusted after almost every drive. I eventually ended up removing the drive belt and we have been without a/c through the winter. I suspect I've either got an issue with the tensioner pulley or the pulley on my second hand compressor. I did ask the opinion of my a/c guy and he immediately said a/c compressor but I'm hoping this isn't the case as that is an expensive fix. Anyhoo the only way to get to the pulleys is to remove the radiator so I made a start on that today. With the wind deflector under the engine removed I started off by draining the radiator and while that was happening  I took the opportunity to unbolt the gear shift cover which can only be done from underneath with the wind deflector removed. The reason I wanted to remove this is to solve another irritating issue which is a creaking sound that comes from the rubber gear shift gator which is especially bad in colder weather. The gator is an old Cortina MK1 that my mate Grant donated to the cause, but the rubber is pretty hard and I suspect that is half the problem. Did a bit of googling and a NOS rubber goes for over $300.... yikes, so I started looking up some old wive's cures and one suggestion is to soak the rubber in WD40 to soften it up. So after pulling it off I popped it in one of those zip lock sandwich bags and sprayed a whole heap of WD40 into the bag. Google says to remove as much air as possible from the bag and to then let the rubber marinade for a few days, so I was able to squeeze out quite a bit air before sealing the bag.  Looks like so:

Over the weekend I'll get some time on the a/c and will keep you all updated on my findings.

Thanks for reading.