Red free

Fit the Third

So now I'm under and I've checked that power is getting to the pump (it would help if I set the universal meter correctly before probing), and I need to remove it.

A rather surprising piece of tubing is brushing my face as I work — it isn't attached at this end, is it a venting tube? Just hanging down?

I disconnect and get the pump off and go back to the diagrams in the Parts Catalogue (Moss) and look at the owner's maintenance manual, too. There are really good instructions there, and the parts are just discernible in the pictures. I need to take it apart.

This is nasty, since I don't have any gaskets or other replaceable parts, I have to be careful. But, hey ho, nothing ventured, and I can always buy another one if this one is damaged by my fumblings.

Inside the diaphragm is clean and sweet, the seals are re-usable, the springs are good and the points — uh oh the points are black.

Some paraffin later, and some ginger repositioning and I'm ready to try again.

Reassembly is a little awkward — I have to squeeze the five silicone plastic 'figure-of-eight rings' that centre the solenoid into their groove and then adjust the solenoid 'throw' by screwing it in and out. Unfortunately, this requires holding onto the diaphragm itself and turning. Not something I want to do with a lot of force. But the rings in place make this hard, so I remove them again (prise them out) and with just three of them in place I can turn it. When it seems about right (pressing in and out against the spring shows when this is) I align to the nearest set of holes to fix this setting and reseal the pump chamber. Tricky stuff.

I now reassemble the electrical end (don't ask) and notice that there are two venting tubes on the pump. One from the solenoid housing and one from the points end. Quick glance back to the parts manual: aha! there is supposed to be tubing from here to... where?

That tube — where did it go? After some scrabbling I find there is a T-piece, the two aligned ends of which simply open into the well of the boot. Actually there are two of them! Are these the places that the vent tubes should be connected to? Yes! I see in the parts catalogue that this is right! But the tubing I have doesn't fit on the vents (it is too big) so I suspect that this pump is not original. At some point in the future I'll get some more tubing and refit the T-pieces. For now they are removed.

Much later I read, in a book about restoration of Midgets and Sprites, that these are vents which were fitted to the earlier MkIII models. It's nice to have confirmation of one's guesses.

Now to try the pump again — it is a little awkward refitting the pump, there isn't a lot of room to tighten the connections — and I'm just a tad apprehensive when reconnecting the battery.

All is well; the reassuring 'clicking' sound is back. How could I have forgotten it? And Red starts first time.

Now all I have to do is start researching and fixing the rough running!