Yesterday was two weeks to go before we set off in our 1934 MX4 SuperSports for Bruges ( Albert Ball do) then on to Monthery for the Vintage Revival track event.
Over the last couple of weeks I have had the Mogs three speed gearbox out and fitted a new set of Close Ratio Gears, a nice piece of kit.
The old gears whined like a b****** in first and second and were well worn. The noise made an M3W Bevel Box whine seem quite tame !
All went well and the rebuilt gearbox/forks etc went in well.
Those who know are aware that the engine has to come off the front so the propshaft central knuckle joint can be engaged, it is impossible to do without doing this.
So whilst the engine is off it was prudent to check all the gubbins that sit behind the radiator. Like oil/fuel pipes and wiring etc which is difficult to check when all together.
I had drained the oil from the oil tank which is in a compartment, integral with the petrol tank but split by a tin soldered compartment.
At lunchtime on Thursday I was getting ready to begin putting the engine back on when I smelt a strong smell of petrol. My heart sank immediately, fearing the worst, because it usually is with a Mog.
Inside the oil tank was a gallon of petrol which had seeped through the partition due to breakdown of the partition joint.
Many owners have failed to spot this problem and of course the big end gives up quite quickly when the oil is diluted with petrol.
This is not a new problem, owners of Vintage mogs have seen this time and time again. This actually happened to me 10 years ago and I got the partition resoldered that time.
A good look around in the tank with a camera and there was considerable rust around the partition area, would a resolder do the trick again ?
Over a cup of tea I rang a few contacts and amazingly came across a chap in the Midlands who, after listening to my story and where we wanted to be in a couple of weeks agreed to make a complete new tank in 2mm Aluminium. All I had to do was get the old tank to him for 08-00 hrs next Tuesday 23 rd April and the tank would be ready for collection Friday that week. Giving me a few days to fit it, put the dash back then Radiator and Engine lastly. Quite a bit of work actually. It seems that we are on course to make Montlhery after all, or are we ???
Ian. pictures to follow.
