Edelmann 7918 | Power Steering Pump Seal Kit

Nov. 04, 2024

Edelmann | Power Steering Pump Seal Kit

Description

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Edelmann Power Steering Pump Seal Kit is the ultimate solution for restoring the performance and reliability of your vehicle's power steering system. Designed to fit a wide range of classic and vintage models, this pump seal kit is compatible with vehicles such as the - Chevrolet Bel Air, - Cadillac Eldorado, and - Chevrolet Impala, among many others. Whether you're a professional mechanic or a DIY enthusiast, this kit provides all the essential components needed to effectively seal and repair your power steering pump, ensuring smooth and effortless steering. Crafted with precision and high-quality materials, the Edelmann Power Steering Pump Seal Kit is engineered to meet or exceed OEM specifications. This ensures a perfect fit and long-lasting durability, making it an ideal choice for both B2C and B2B customers looking for reliable auto parts. The kit includes seals and O-rings that are resistant to wear and tear, providing a cost-effective solution to common power steering issues such as leaks and reduced steering performance. For those concerned about safety and compliance, please note that this product comes with a California Proposition 65 warning for cancer and reproductive harm. For more information, visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. Enhance your vehicle's steering performance and reliability with the Edelmann Power Steering Pump Seal Kit, available now at PartsHawk.com.Premium quality parts for lasting repairs. Engineered to OE design and specifications.

Features

Comprehensive Compatibility: The Edelmann Power Steering Pump Seal Kit is designed to fit a wide range of classic and vintage vehicles, including Chevrolet Bel Air, Pontiac Parisienne, and Buick Skylark, ensuring a perfect fit for your restoration project.
High-Quality Seals: This pump seal kit includes premium seals that are engineered to withstand high pressure and temperature, providing long-lasting performance and reliability for your power steering system.
Easy Installation: The Edelmann kit comes with all necessary components for a straightforward installation, making it an ideal choice for both professional mechanics and DIY enthusiasts looking to restore their vehicle's power steering functionality.
OEM Specifications: Manufactured to meet or exceed original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specifications, this seal kit ensures optimal performance and compatibility with your vehicle's power steering pump.
Trusted Brand: Edelmann is a renowned name in the automotive industry, known for its high-quality power steering components and kits, providing peace of mind and confidence in your purchase.

Specifications

California Proposition 65:WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. (25)

Interchange

Omega Hose:
NAPA Power Steering Parts: 7-222, 7-262
Gates:
AutoLine Products: 5-
Carquest Premium Power Steering Hose:

Fitment

Fits select AM General, American Motors, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Eagle, Fargo, Ford, GMC, Hummer, International, Isuzu, Jaguar, Jeep, Lincoln, Mercury, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Peugeot, Plymouth, Pontiac, Renault, Saab, VAM, Volkswagen, Volvo. See buyers guide for details.

Buyer's Guide

Printed in Sidelights Spring - Now incorporates the Spring update

I know most people reading this magazine are long-standing members of the club, who have owned and maintained their cars for many years.

But, what about those people who have just joined the club, or who are thinking about buying their first baby Austin? Are you looking for a restoration project? What type of things should I look out for? Are there any peculiarities? What can go wrong? All these questions and more need to be asked before you spend your hard-earned cash on a car that you may wish to cherish for many years to come. Many things can, and do, go wrong. A quick fix can be often used get the car home after a breakdown or, to cover up a much more serious problem to sell a car.

This is by no way a comprehensive guide to buying a baby Austin, but a few things to look out for. If you would like further information then I would highly recommend a couple of books:

Post War Baby Austins by Barney Sharratt ISBN 0--710-6, published in . Although this book is long out of print, copies do still turn up.
Accessible Classics, Austin A30/35 by Kim Henson ISBN 0--0-8 published in .

The first thing to remember when looking for a car is, some of our Austins are now over 70 years old.

When you go and look at a potential purchase, always, take along a friend or a mechanic who is completely impartial.

It is so easy to take one look at a car, fall in love with it at first sight and hand over your money, without giving the car a thorough examination. Vehicles advertised on eBay are fine, as long as you view the car BEFORE bidding on it. Plus, ALWAYS, set yourself an upper limit. I know how easily auction fever can cut in and the excitement takes over. Buying the most structurally sound car, you can find will pay large dividends. Rust can often be the first major cause for concern when buying any car.

Outer sills, inner sills, door frames and door bottoms, the lower rear portion of the front wing, inner wings, front wing leading edges, front panel, floor pans, rear chassis rails, spring hangers, wheel arch edges and boot floor should all be examined properly. Due to the age of the car, a degree of repairs will probably have been carried out over the years. Maybe a quick patch to get an M.O.T. or a full replacement panel. Welded patches are not always a cause for concern as long as the repairs have been done properly and that they are fully welded. More worrying, are patches welded over the top of previous repairs. The rust is often just plated over and not cut out. The rot is still there and will quickly spread into the "new" repair. Maybe, you are looking for a restoration project and a bit of corrosion isn't going to put you off. But a small amount of visible rust can soon escalate into a nightmare of unseen rust. Front and rear floor pans, sills, front wing repair panels and many other panels are available from some of the specialists who advertise in the club magazines but, quality and fit can vary terribly. Second hand and new old stock doors occasionally turn up but can prove very tricky to fit. Each door was made to fit the car it was assigned to at the factory. Sometimes drastic twisting and manipulation are required to get a good fit. Quite often it's better and easier to repair an original door rather than replace it. Boot lids and bonnets can cause similar problems.

An old tip, of taking a magnet with you when buying a car is always worth repeating.

Many rusted areas may have been repaired using just body filler or fibreglass. This adds no structural strength to the car and has certainly been done as a quick bodge. Sticking a magnet onto a filled area will result in the magnet falling off. Body filler does have its place in vehicle repairs, as long as it's used properly. Covering a hole in a sill, the size of your fist, packing it out with newspaper with yesterday's date on it and filling over the top is definitely not one of them.

The "A" series engine, originally fitted to our baby Austins, is available in 803cc and 948cc for saloons, AV4 vans had the 803cc, AV5 and AV6 vans had the 948cc with the later AV8 receiving either the 850cc or cc engines. Although it's not uncommon to find a van engine fitted to a saloon or vice versa. The engine is a fairly robust unit, although the 803cc engine is a little bit more fragile. All engines can sound a little bit rattly when running. Fitting a duplex timing chain and setting the tappets correctly will help considerably. See the Winter Spotlight magazine /16 for more details on how to do this. Blue smoke emanating from the exhaust on start-up maybe down to worn valve stem seals, or valve stems, but could also mean the piston rings are passed their best. Serious blue smoke will mean an engine rebuild is necessary. Parts availability is excellent, with the A series engine being used in a huge range of BMC models through the years. 803cc pistons are getting a lot harder to find now as are bearing shells. 803cc water pumps are quite expensive and so are older type oil filters. Many owners will fit an aftermarket adaptor kit that allows the use of a later, screw on type filter. A low rumbling, knocking noise from deep within the engine block will probably mean bearing failure. A full engine rebuild will be required. The crankshaft will have to be reground and oversized bearings fitted.

Normally the cylinders will be re-bored and oversized pistons fitted at the same time. This is not cheap and should be considered when thinking about the asking price of the car. A Zenith carburettor may have been replaced with an S.U. unit along with the associated manifold. This substitution has been said to give a couple more B.H.P. and a couple more miles to the gallon. Kits to repair both types of carburettors are available, although the Zenith is slightly less well catered for. Head gasket failure can be a problem. Although, this is normally down to using a cheap head gasket. A good quality, copper-faced head gasket should be fitted. The original cylinders heads are not suitable for use with unleaded fuel without modification. Unleaded head conversions are available for around £200 exchange and are fitted with hardened valve seats. Some people say that no long term damage will occur to the valve seats whilst using unleaded fuel. But this is open to debate. Fuel additives are available but, they can work out to be very expensive. Better to save that money and put it towards an unleaded head.

Complete exhaust systems are readily available. Either in steel or stainless steel.

Distributors are generally reliable although cheap, imported, points, rotor arms and condensers can fail quickly. An electronic ignition upgrade is a common fitment. Complete kits are available at reasonable prices.

Generally the electrics are quite simple and are well behaved. Common problems are normally down to a poor earth or corroded bullet connections. Also, the control box can play up. Cheap control boxes are available but can stop working after a relatively short time. The Austin A30 and A35s were originally wired positive (+) earth, although many will now be wired negative (-) earth. This is important to know if you want to fit things such as a modern radio, electronic ignition system, an alternator, a cigarette lighter or a charger.

An alternator conversion is a sensible upgrade if you intend using the car a lot in colder weather. The charging power is much greater at lower engine speeds and it is possible to do away with the problematical control box. A classic Mini alternator is ideal although you will need to change the bracket bolted to the engine block and a shorter fan belt will be required. A kit is available that includes all of the necessary components, at a relatively low cost from specialists who advertise in the magazine.

A30 and A35 brakes are adequate as long as they are treated with respect. A lot of people do moan about them. After driving a modern car, they do take some getting used to. The most common problem is often just down to poorly adjusted brakes. An article published in Spotlight summer covers adjusting the brakes in detail.

Often, brakes are upgraded. The front hubs, drums and shoes etc. from an Austin A40 Farina can be fitted quite easily giving you 8" drums rather than the standard 7". Fitting a servo is an option. Or even disc brakes from an MG Midget along with associated parts are often used. Brake shoes are available at reasonable prices (sometimes new old stock). 7" and 8" brake drums are still available. New front wheel cylinders, master cylinders and the rear frame cylinders are commanding high prices. The club spares system hold a few of each of these items in stock. Many cylinders will have been reamed out and a new stainless steel sleeve fitted along with a new piston. A30 and A35 wheel cylinders incorporate the brake adjusting mechanism. This is often seized to the piston. Often an owner will grab the nearest pair of mole grips and try to twist the adjuster. This usually just ruins the brake adjuster, although the club spares have pistons with the adjusters attached in stock. The brake pipe that goes from the 3-way union on the bulkhead to the master cylinder can only be replaced whilst the engine is out. The master cylinder is located under the driver's floor as is subjected to water and salt thrown up by the road wheels. Several options involving locating the master cylinders onto the bulkhead are available, but that is the subject of another report. On the whole, the handbrake is usually very effective. Often problems are overcome by properly adjusting the rear brakes. Suspension and steering wise the cars are normally quite good, although regular oiling and greasing are essential to the longevity of components. The steering can feel quite heavy as there is no power steering. The steering box AND the steering idler should be regularly topped up with EP90 gear oil. There are several grease points on the front and rear suspension that should be greased every miles or 12 months. A full report about rebuilding a steering box will be featured in a later magazine article. Kingpins, lower fulcrum pins and wheel bearings should also be thoroughly checked during any examination of any A30/35. Any play in any of these components will make the car handle badly and is potentially fatal. New wheel bearings are widely available. Kingpin kits for the saloons and vans are available via the club spares scheme as are lower fulcrum pins and the lower fulcrum threaded bushes. All of the rubber bushes for the front suspension are also available via the club spares. Front shocker absorbers are available but beware of buying "reconditioned" ones. Quite often they have just had a coat of paint and have been refilled with a thicker grade of oil. Rear shockers are harder to find. Rear leaf springs can fracture and crack. They can also wear at the extreme ends of the leaves if they are not kept clean and lubricated. This can lead to a slightly notchy feeling in the rear of the car when going over bumps. New van (11 leaves) and saloon (8 leaves) springs are available, but some after-market ones do make the car look too high at the rear when fitted. They do settle down after a while.

The original gearbox, on an A30 or A35, has no synchromesh fitted to 1st or reverse gears. This is not normally a cause for concern as you soon get used to it. One thing that will help prolong the life of a gearbox is to learn how to double de-clutch. Basically when changing gear you press your foot on the clutch pedal and engage neutral. Then slightly increase the engine speed with the accelerator pedal. Put your foot back down on the clutch pedal and finally select the next gear. It sounds more complicated than it actually is. Two types of gearboxes are fitted to our Austins. These are known as smooth cased and ribbed cased. The ribbed cased is normally considered as the slightly stronger 'box. Bearing noise can become an issue. Jumping out of gear whilst driving is also cause for concern. Expect to pay around £300 - £350 + VAT for a gearbox rebuild. Bearing kits are available but due to the complex nature of the gearbox I would entrust this to a specialist. Plus you have the added protection of a warranty. 20W50 engine oil is used in the gearbox. 21i.il pints of oil will be needed after draining the gearbox. The filler plug is located under a rubber bung in the gearbox tunnel. A tip passed onto me by another member is make sure you can undo the filler plug before draining the oil. Guy the gorilla could have tightened it last time!. A simple tip that can save hours of heartache. Gearboxes can be swapped between the A30 and A35 variants, but it's not as simple as swapping one type with another. Several modifications need thinking about. This will be another subject printed in a future magazine. Also, there are two sizes of the clutch. 6 ¼" and 7 ¼" Again they can be interchanged but not easily without modifications.

Rear axles are quite long lived as long as they are looked after. Keep the oil level topped up at all times. But never overfill an axle as the oil may seep through the oil seals and rear gasket and contaminate the rear brake shoes. Rear wheel bearings are lubricated with grease and some of the oil from the axle.

Rear wheel bearing replacement is seldom necessary. Half shafts can have a habit of shearing at the end where they attach to the differential. The standard shaft is not hardened as much as it should have been. A common upgrade is to use MG Midget or Austin Healey Sprite half-shafts. These are slightly harder and can be identified by the small groove at the end of the shaft that goes into the diff. Several rear axle ratios are available and there is a comprehensive article on this in autumn Sidelights .

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Original interior trim is very hard to find, but kits are available to re-trim seats and door cards.

The headlining is very easily damaged and torn. Replacements are available, but renewal is quite an awkward job. The rear screen needs to be removed as does the rear seat. Then the frame needs to be very carefully removed. It's very easy to damage and bend the frame. Also scratching the paint around the car's header rail. Placing several strips of masking tape along the header rail will help. Carpets sets are available from many suppliers, but quality varies. Soundproofing is a sensible option if you use your car regularly, the Austin can be quite a noisy car, especially compared to a modern. Some cars had rubber mats fitted to them from new and these are now all but extinct. Those mats that do find their way onto the market command extremely high prices.

Original starter pull cables and choke cables are also hard to find new. The original door check straps are almost impossible to find new although kits are available to replicate them. A heater, if fitted, normally gives no problems if maintained properly. Although the Bowden cables can be awkward to set up if they have been disconnected from the heater unit at any point. Exterior trim and rubber seals are quite well catered for. Although the front and rear quarter light rubbers are very difficult to find. New front rubbers can be obtained, but the fit is not always as good a fit as it should be. Door seals for the 4 door vehicles are often a very tight fit when new and can make closing the door very difficult. Some people have even done away with then completely. But they do settle down in time.

Original front grille badges are another rare item although some are being re-manufactured. Van and countryman specific trim can be much harder to find. The various original Mazak chrome plated components will probably be very pitted by now.

All chrome items are available via specialists who advertise in along with over riders are being re-manufactured although commonly in polished stainless steel rather than chrome plated. A full set of bumpers with over riders will cost you in the region of £600. At the time of writing, second-hand spares are fairly easy to obtain, but this is likely to change sooner rather than later.

So there we go. I hoped this has helped a few of you out and let's hope you find that dream car soon. Until the next time, enjoy your Austins.

The text from Jeff Carter's updates from Sidelights Spring has been added below. Photos to follow asap.

Club magazine editor Jeff Carter updates his comprehensive highlighting the highs and lows of buying a baby Austin.

Minimising the risk factors

Buying any vehicle has its risks. Even a relatively new, low mileage example can have severe faults. Whether the vehicle has been accident damaged, involved in illegal activity, just bodged up to make it presentable or to get a quick MoT. Over the years, many unscrupulous car salesmen have taken advantage of the buying public. Hopefully, this guide will help you avoid many of the common pitfalls. This is by no means a comprehensive list of things to look out for.

Moreover, things that I have learned over manyyears of buying and working on older vehicles. If you have any tips or advice that you feel would benefit fellow club members, then please get in touch. Before spending a large amount of your hard-earned cash, it is vital to decide what type of thing are you looking for?

Are you looking for a restoration project?
Are you looking for a roadworthy vehicle that can be used straight away but could do with a few running repairs?
Are you looking for a show winning car that needs little or no work?

This is where things start to get more complex as each category can overlap considerably. More of which later.

This article features mainly on buying a restoration project. When viewing a potential purchase, it's advisable to take along a friend or a mechanic who is totally impartial. Falling in love with the first vehicle you view is a very common mistake and can be an expensive miscalculation. I would always advise viewing more than one vehicle that is for sale. Of course, this isn't always possible, but it can save you many hundreds of pounds in the future. Waiting for the right vehicle to find you is usually a much better bet. Buying a vehicle advertised on eBay is fine - if a thorough inspection is done before you start bidding. Always set yourself a strict upper limit to how much you wish to spend on the vehicle. Auction fever can very quickly set in, and the excitement takes over. An old tip of taking a small magnet with you is always worth repeating. But always ask the owner's permission before prodding at what 'could be' an expensive paint job. But, if the seller has too many objections, then it's maybe a good time to walk in the other direction anyway.

Buying a restoration project

Buying a restoration project can be a very daunting challenge for many. But it can have its advantages. When you view a prospective restoration project, what you see is what you get. The vehicle may well be 50 shades of grey, green, blue, black, red primer and of course, rust. But very rarely is a restoration project 'tarted up' before being sold. It is important to note that any restoration project is not going to be cheap. Even if all or most of the work is done by yourself. Restoration expenses often spiral out of control, and you will very rarely recoup any investment in time or money. A typical re-spray could cost £3,500 ' £5,000 alone. Of course, this is fine if you want to keep the vehicle for years to come and possibly hand it down through your family.

What to look for when considering a restoration project

One of the most common problems with the A30 and A35, whatever the variant, saloon, van, pick-up or countryman is corrosion. All vehicles can and do rust anywhere and everywhere. After all, the very first example of an AS3 was produced over 70 years ago. Even the youngest vans are around 55 years old now.

The bodyshell is a fully stressed, monocoque, chassis-less design and structural integrity can be severely compromised by rust. Areas such as the outer and inner sills, floorpans, inner front wings, inner and outer rear wings, front and rear chassis legs, suspension mounting points and boot floor etc can be severely corroded or missing completely. Offside inner sills are complicated by the fact that the handbrake lever is bolted to the inner sill at the lever's outer end. Often leading to the handbrake lever floating around, mid-air.

The bulkhead in and around the battery area can corrode badly due to battery acid spillage.

Checking panel gaps will help check for accident damage, bearing in mind that panels were not fitted to such fine tolerances as vehicles are today. I saw a vehicle a few years ago at the Practical Classic's Restoration Show at the N.E.C. in Birmingham. It had a genuine miles on the clock and the car was completely original and unrestored. The panel gaps were appalling. But whist checking a vehicle over, things like the roof, sills, floorpans etc should be ripple free.

Another, often less obvious problem: Are all the outer (bolt-on) panels available with the vehicle? Door frames, door skins and door bottoms can corrode badly. Rear doors on four door models seem particularly vulnerable. It's easy to think that just buying a replacement panel will solve the problem. But, good quality, replacement panels are now getting very hard to find and will more than likely have been repaired at some stage in the past. Outer panels were fitted on the production line and persuaded to fit each, individual vehicle. It has been said that one of the most often used tools used when fitting a door on the production line was a length of four by two wood. How true this is I don't know. A replacement door will often fit very poorly or not at all and repairs to the original panel are often the only option. Bonnets and boot lids can pose similar problems. Another, major concern can be front wings. Due to the poor design of the rubber seal (see below) that runs down the rear of the wing, water and mud can collect at the rear lower corner and can quickly destroy the sill nose cone, door hinge support panel, strengthening brackets and the lower portion of the outer wing. Repair panels, for the outer wings are available, but it's not an easy repair. Front wings also corrode badly around the headlamp bowl, headlamp mounting, along the top where it is bolted to the bonnet surround panel and the front leading lower edge, and for the A35, the indicator plinth (see right). New, old stock, or second-hand front wings do turn up occasionally, but they can be expensive, and the fit can be questionable. Old stock is usually still available because it was deemed unsuitable to fit when new. It's interesting to note that van and saloon wings differ slightly. The van wing has a somewhat sharper radius around the wheel arch section to accommodate the slightly larger tyre profile. It's not unknown for a saloon to have a van wing or vice versa. To further complicate matters, fibreglass front wings were produced a few years ago. But the moulds were made using one car wing and one van wing. So, some vehicles ended up with mismatched front wings. Not necessarily a problem, but something to be aware of. Fibreglass wings were not easy to fit either. New fibreglass wings are available, but many owners still prefer to use steel wings. Original A30 front wings don't include the cut out for the indicators. But many will have been modified to include updated indicators. Inner wings can corrode badly anywhere. The front panel can often corrode inboard of the front wings. Also, where it is welded to the windscreen scuttle panel. Rot in the front panel can also creep into the front chassis rails. Again, repairs can be tricky. Rear wings can also suffer badly. Once more, a rubber strip is the only defence from water and crud getting between the inner and outer wings and wheel boxes (particularly bad example pictured below). This can also lead to major repairs being required to the chassis leg/leaf spring mounting along with some tricky repairs to the boot floor (see above). The area around the rear shock absorber also needs close inspection (see below). It's not unusual for the spare wheel well to have quite severe corrosion. Bonnets and boots also corrode in unusual places. Good quality, handmade, bespoke panels are produced by Hans van Elswijk from Holland. Hans often brings a large stock to the International Rally although it's best to contact Huib Eggen in the first instance as Hans speaks very little English. Hans' panels are also sold by Robert Prinn via Austin Motors near Southampton. Various other panels are available via ESM Morris Minors Ltd (Clayton's Austin A30 & A35 Spares) formerly part of Bull Motif. Again, more details can be found in the magazine. Vehicles are still being broken for spares and a few good quality, second-hand panels do turn up occasionally. But, as stated earlier, be prepared for some hard work making them fit. Many repair panels, even some with quite tricky shapes can be made quite easily, at home, using very basic tools, hammers, and equipment. A little bit of thought and ingenuity can often produce excellent results. Pictured (below) is a rather overly engineered, two-piece press that I used to make the pressings in a front floor pan. A standard 10 tonne press was enough to press the flat steel into shape.

Before we move onto the mechanical issues there is one more thing to check. Fuel tanks can often be very badly corroded and holed. Finding a good second-hand fuel tank is sometimes possible. Fortunately, the Club Spares Scheme have had a batch of new fuel tanks made. They are not quite the same as the original pressed steel type but have certainly become a very popular addition to the spares department.

Mechanical items

The 'A series' engine, originally fitted to our baby Austins, is available in 803cc and 948cc for saloons, AV4 vans had the 803cc, AV5 and AV6 vans had the 948cc with the later AV8 receiving either the 848cc or cc engines. Although it's not uncommon to find a van engine fitted to a saloon or vice versa. (Van engines were low compression units designed to run on poor quality fuels so lack some of the saloon power).

Alternative engines from the Austin A40 Farina or Morris Minor are often installed. (Minor engines can often be identified by using a yellow cooling fan blade. Austins would have been fitted with a red fan blade). This gives the added advantage of using the S.U. carburettor and associated manifold. (Although an SU carburettor and manifold can be fitted to all 'A series' engines) The cc A series as fitted to some M.G. Midgets and Austin Healey Sprites along with the A plus engine as fitted the Morris Marinas is another popular fitment but is outside the scope of this article. It's worth noting that the transverse A series engines fitted to the Mini, Metros and ADO16 and etc. variants will not fit without some major mechanical engineering. Again, this is outside the scope of this article.

The A series engine is a robust, overhead valve unit although the 803cc engine is a little bit more fragile. The little 803cc unit can struggle with inclines and must be pushed just that much harder. This puts strain on the main and big end bearings. 803cc water pumps are peculiar to the engine and were hard to find for a while. E.S.M. have 803cc water pumps in stock, but you will need to retain your old mounting boss and locknut. All engines can sound a little bit rattly when running. Fitting a duplex timing chain and setting the tappets correctly will help considerably. See the Winter Spotlight magazine /16 for more details on how to do this.

Blue smoke emanating from the exhaust on start-up maybe down to worn valve stem seals, or valve stems, but could also mean the piston rings are passed their best. Serious blue smoke will mean an engine rebuild is necessary. Parts availability is excellent, with the 'A series' engine being used in a huge range of B.M.C. models through the years. 803cc pistons, piston rings and bearing shells are becoming increasing difficult to find. The older style 803cc oil filters were quite expensive when I wrote the report in . But E.S.M. have them back in stock at £12.95 including VAT. Many owners will have fitted an after market adaptor kit that allows the use of a later, screw on type filter. On all engines, a low rumbling, knocking noise from deep within the engine block (this will become more pronounced if the engine must be pushed harder I.E., going uphill) will probably mean a worn crankshaft and bearing failure. A full engine rebuild will be required. The crankshaft will have to be reground and oversized bearings fitted. Normally the cylinders will be re-bored and oversized pistons fitted at the same time. This is not cheap and should be considered when thinking about the asking price of the car.

Fully rebuilt, exchange engines are available from various specialists and can be offered in standard tune or upgraded, including the fitting of an unleaded cylinder head. Head gasket failure can be an issue, but this is usually caused by using a cheaper type of head gasket. Good quality, copper faced, gaskets will often cure the fault. The original cylinders heads are not suitable for use with unleaded fuel without modification. Unleaded cylinder head conversions are available from E.S.M. Prices range between £197.50 and £449.50 (plus £175 surcharge) depending on engine size and type. (prices correct October ) These are exchange units and are fitted with hardened valve seats. Some people say that no long-term damage will occur to the valve seats whilst using unleaded fuel. But this is open to debate. Fuel additives are available but, they can work out to be very expensive. Better to save that money and put it towards a converted cylinder head.

Bypass hose

The cylinder head is connected to the water pump via a small bypass hose. This hose can fail, and replacement can be fiddly. The concertina type of hose often sold to replace the old hose isn't always the best way to go. Much better to remove the water pump, or cylinder head and fit a solid hose. Upgraded hoses are readily available and cheap. Before fitting a replacement bypass hose it's a good idea to look at the steel pipe that is screwed into the cylinder head. One A35 owner posted on Facebook that he had noticed water dripping from the bypass hose and had assumed that the bypass hose had failed. However, once he had removed the bypass hose there was very little left of the steel pipe that is screwed into the cylinder head. Concerned that he would have to replace the whole cylinder head he asked for help. This is a fairly common problem and one which I have had first-hand experience of. The steel pipe is threaded into the head and can be replaced. Removal is often not as easy as it should be, but with great care, the old pipe can be drilled out and the cylinder head tapped with a suitable tap. The thread size is somewhat peculiar though, being 5/8' UNS (16 Tpi). I have included a picture for reference purposes (above right). If you need to borrow a tap and the associated drill bit, then I have one that can be loaned out. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any use.

Fuel

The new E10 fuel can cause several problems for use in older vehicles. The reasons would fill a whole article. But Kim Henson has a few very informative articles on his website. Just visit www.wheels-alive.co.uk and type in E10 Fuel.

The 'A series' engine is generally a very basic unit and can be a great starting point to gain a few mechanical skills.

Oil Leaks

All 'A Series' engines can suffer with oil leaks. It's a well-known fact. But there shouldn't be too much cause for concern providing the engine oil level is kept topped up with 20w50 engine oil.

Starting from the top of the engine.

Rocker cover gaskets can leak badly. The gasket is made of cork and can crack or harden over time. Often, just over tightening the rocker cover bolts will cause a gasket to fail. Repairs are cheap and very easy to fix
The front timing chain cover can also leak quite badly. There is an oil seal in the centre that can become brittle and harden over time. (This could also be a good time to upgrade to a duplex timing chain)
The tappet chest covers on the left-hand side of the engine, behind the exhaust pipe are another common area for oil leaks. The gaskets are either cork or rubber and can be changed quickly and easily
Sump gaskets are made from cork and can also leak quite badly. The sump can be removed (after draining the oil) with the engine in situ and is an easy job
More serious oil leaks from the rear main crank seal in the engine has always been an issue with the A-series engine. See Steven Hames' comprehensive article how he tackled this problem in Summer Spotlight

Gearboxes

Engine oil 20W50 grade (mineral based) is used in the gearbox, 2' pints (1.33 litres) of oil will be needed after draining the gearbox. The filler plug is located under a rubber bung in the gearbox tunnel. A tip passed onto me by another member is make sure you can undo the filler plug before draining the oil. Guy the gorilla could have tightened it last time! A simple tip that can save hours of heartache. Gearboxes can be swapped between the A30 and A35 variants, but it's not as simple as swapping one type with another. Several modifications need thinking about. This will be another subject printed in a future magazine. Also, there are two sizes of the clutch: 6¼˝and 7¼˝. Again they can be interchanged but not easily without modifications.

For more Steering Seal Repairinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

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