Anyway..........
I grabbed a couple of hours this morning, despite the hard frost.
I decided to remove the air filter to check underneath. It looks like mission impossible if you don't take the bonnets off, but by opening both bonnets it does slide out with a bit of a twist.
You may recall that I made my own stays from aluminium tube from Wickes, with fabricated ends. Only for garage use though.
Once removed I discovered that the Plus 4 air filter element is the same unit as the S1 Roadster. My Roadster was fitted with a K&N, but the original (as new) filter element came with it. I may as well get my moneys worth and use both these up before going K&N!
This is the part number as at 2005.
This is the part number as at 2012. IS71 9601 AB, and S9EO8 is common to both.
Here is another chafe spot, where the hose passes too close to an electrical plug which presses into the side. I've re-aligned the stainless tube which runs along the top of the engine, but this is still too close. It seems that the Plus 4 layout has several designed in chafe spots on coolant hoses so you really need to check this out. In addition, the Jubilee clip on the air intake in the same location was chafing the fuel pipe, and had worn through the insulation. I've relocated the Jubilee clip screw housing so that's no longer a problem. You can just make out the shinier insulation which I've added.
So re-aligned, and with a layer of woven insulation as protection.........
One day I will drain this down and replace the hoses with reshaped replacements to get rid of all the chafe points I've found.
All that was left to do was to apply some reflect-a-cool to the underside of the air filter housing.
And that was this morning's work done.
I also lubricated the throttle cable because it has a slight stickiness on take up, so we'll see if that improves matters.
I've also received two new pedal rubbers from BHM - superquick delivery. The originals are tending to jump off, and are past the point of repair, although I did repair them with superglue as a stop gap.
Next will be the rain cover for the engine.
Here's a taster.................
