22 Austin A60 Cambridge
More problems for John, but he’s relived that his A60 Cambridge is almost whole again
1966 AUSTIN A60 CAMBRIDGE
BMC Farina expert Steve Turner started on the re-assembly of my A60 once the engine bay had been painted, phoning or emailing me as problems arose so that I could next visit the car armed with the parts needed.
His first job was to rebuild the brakes using new copper pipes and, after some discussion, DOT 5
Silicon Brake Fluid, both from brake supplier, Automec. If I was going to use silicon fluid now was the time because you can’t use it in a brake system that has had normal brake fluid in it.
I had a chat to Jon at Automec, who was very helpful, and decided to go for it because this car is probably at least a year from completion, more likely two, to be honest. I wanted it to have brakes so it’s safe to move around, however. With silicon brake fluid my new wheel cylinders and master cylinder are not going to degrade through lack of use. Steve also fitted an MGB remote servo, available off the shelf and which fitted on the MGB manifold. Once the brakes had been sorted, he turned his attention to actually fitting the MGB engine, new clutch and overdrive gearbox, which mechanically went smoothly because the snags had been sorted during the test fit – or so we thought. When he came to connect the clutch flexi, however, he realised that the A60 system uses a different size fitting from the MGB slave cylinder. I contacted Chris Lovegrove at
OWNED SINCE May 1984
MILEAGE SINCE LAST REPORT 0 TOTAL MILEAGE 500,000 LATEST COSTS £520
Nelson Stokes, who made me up a flexi hose with an A60 top and MGB bottom end. Steve made up a dummy hose in the length needed, with the correct ends on, which he posted to be copied because actually measuring the threads and giving them their correct name is fraught with confusion.
The next issue was that the Specialist Components fuel injection billet-alloy combined temperature sensor and thermostat housing was facing the wrong way for the radiator. I didn’t want to change the radiator because I’d spent a fair chunk having it recored with a modern and much larger core by Autocool Radiators in Scarborough – mindful that the engine will be producing double the original’s power and thus more heat.
I sent Jack and John at Specialist Components some pictures and we were in luck – the radiator of the later rubber bumper MGBs faces that way, so we were able to swap the part out for the item used in its rubber bumper MGB fuel injection kit. This also meant my lovely big Revotec electric fan and large MGB oil cooler could be fitted as planned. The next part of the jigsaw was a real bolt from the blue.
I’d been assured by CambridgeOxford Owners’ Club members who have trodden this path before that a left-hand-drive stainless MGB exhaust manifold would be the way to go and so had ended up ordering one from the USA, which Her Majesty’s customs had charged me an arm and a leg for. Unfortunately, it hadn’t arrived when we did the trial fit and that was crucial because, although it fitted in the hard bit we’d focused on – the gap between block and chassis leg – it was too deep!
We considered cutting the crossmember that was in the way and welding it but that would have meant taking the engine out again and more delay, so instead I started researching. Here I must say a heartfelt thanks to the superhelpful Owen at Moss Bristol who, after I’d sent him an email with some dimensions on, spent the best part of morning measuring MGB performance exhaust manifolds and eventually came up with one that he thought would fit.
It was, of course, the most expensive one it sells, but it was still better than no exhaust manifold or cutting the crossmember, and what’s more Owen agreed to take it back if it didn’t fit. It fitted a treat and the relief in Steve’s voice as he called to pass on the good news was palpable.
That left only the bit that Steve had been dreading – the fuel injection.
He’s a great engineer and friend but as he said: ‘I work on classics so I don’t have to touch all that electronic nonsense!’ The first snag was not of the electronic kind – once again, it simply didn’t fit!
Neither of us had thought to put the fuel injection in place with its air filter on when did the test fitting, so now that the engine bay was painted there was only one option – cut a hole in the inner wing to allow clearance for the injection unit. Steve doesn’t weld so I asked him to get on with cutting a hole, fit it all up and then I’d get it welded in Birmingham.
Steve got all the mechanical aspects of the fuel injection in place – the boot-mounted swirl pot and pump, fuel return pipe coil pack etc. – but wisely decided not to attempt the wiring. So we now have a car that looks like it will go, but actually still needs quite a lot of work before it can move under its own power.