Thanks Rob.  I'm to blame, silly me   I have found the problem. Not enough vacuum. The reason is I made a rookies mistake when installing the booster. I fitted a T at the carby in the line that feeds the vacuum advance on the distributor. I should have connected the vacuum line to the inlet manifold where the vacuum wipers were originally connected. The brakes a now operating well with a much lighter pedal. Terry from Hydroboost was happy to check the unit out if needed.

Keith

A few years ago I fitted a newly rebuilt VH44 from a southern firm on my 59 Fc with standard brakes.  I have never been happy with the hard pedal on hard braking  but assumed that is normal.  Today I checked the vacuum to the booster - all good. It is plumbed correctly.  Contacted the firm who suggested to drive it with the vacuum clamped off.  I removed the hose and blocked it off.  The braking on a hard stop was softer and a much better pedal feel. They will service it for me if I send it to them.   Is there something I have missed or is the unit faulty?  Just want to be sure that I have not missed anything.

One suggestion the firm made was that the diaphram is most likely faulty. This being caused by the petrol fumes being drawn off the vacuum feed at the base of the carby. To prevent the fume damage I should do like they do on the red motor and draw it from the inlet manifold near number 6 cylinder. Anybody heard about this?

Thanks Rob for your suggestions.  Checked the clutch fork travel and free play.  All was good. I have cured the problem now. A suggestion on facebook was to hold the clutch pedal with a piece of timber between it and steering wheel for 24 hours.  I did this for 12 hrs and this morning  securely chocked the front wheels, left the timber in and with the car in first gear hit the starter.  After a bit of a thud the motor turned over normally.  The clutch was free. Loaded it up for around 20 seconds slipping the clutch.  Went on a club run today without any further problems. Three weeks of very wet weather and 100% humidity was the cause of the problem.


Keith

My 59 FC. The car was used  four weeks ago without any sign of problems.  Went to take it out of the shed today, started it in neutral however when I tried to put it into gear very big graunch.  Tried rocking car in neutral and in gear several times without sucess. Drove the car out of the shed on the starter motor, ignition killed, in neutral to try to disengage the clutch - no luck.  Ended up driving it back in the shed in first gear until ignition fired an did the jobto get it back up the slope.  Engine stalled when I applied the brakes. Have tried just about every method to disengage clutch.

I am lost to find a suitable fix.  The weather here in the last few weeks has been quite wet and high humidity.  It has been like that on previous times and caused no problems..  The travel on the slave cylinder arm is around 1 1/4 inches.  The pedal feels normal.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.  Keith

I had my wheel cylinder sleeved with stainless steel and had some new pistons mad of brass. 6+ years ago and not a great deal of use.  All been good to date

I used POR.  Some people use KBS a similar product

Amen

Nice

https://automotivehistory.org/automotive/september-16-1908-the-birth-of-general-motors/

Thanks Gary and Harv.  No plate it is.

Keith

Fitting a set of Jack Myer headers.  Is it necessary to cover the bottom of the inlet manifold where the original exhaust manifold was attached?

Keith

I forgot to mention that with the 185/80 and the standard diff the speedo was spot on.  When I put a 3.55 diff in the FJ speedo gear corrected it

Keith

I run Maxxis 185/80 radials on the standard rim, no tubes, without any problems.  To correct the speedo reading I use the gear from an FJ gearbox.  I think it is 22 teeth however a search on the forum will give the correct answer as the topic has been discussed several times.

Keith

Thanks Harv and Fraze. It seem like I do not have any problem.  I'll reroute the heater hose to the front port and put the idiot light in the thermostat housing and hopefully things should be good.

Keith

I have an FB head on my grey.  From the outlet on the back of the block I run a Smiths temperature gauge and from the front outlet I have the "idiot " temperature light connected. The gauge has recently been repaired and calibrated. A while ago I tested the temperature light switch and found that it switched on at 210 degrees.  When driving the temperature sits at 180 degrees or a little below.  I find that the "idiot" light comes on when the temp gauge reads around 190 - 200 degrees. The car never boils or use any water.  What temperature difference would be expected between the two points on the head.

Yeah and vintage cars can break your thumb also if you don’t have  the thumb on the same  side as the fingers when cranking

Thanks Weddo for your help.  I appreciate it.  Some of my rubbers that have deteriorated are around 6 years old and have been that way for a few years.

Keith

My Rare Spare rubbers have also perished.  Not impressed with the quality of them.

My late 59 was original and had a black hockey stick and grey and filler cap.  Distributor base, starter, generator and fan were black

Keith

Just asked the supplier to mix the colour and add some flattener to it.  Just sprayed it on the dash.  I think the smallest quantity I could buy was 1ltr