What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Malcolm Parker]

If your sports engine came from Thirsk then I know it well.  It was put together by a friend with meticulous attention to detail.  I saw it running on the test bed and I was very impressed (ie jealous!) of its response and smoothness.

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Today, having returned from a short break in the Lake District, I decided to have a look at the engine in my RL saloon.  I was on my way to the VSCC hillclimb at Harewood last Saturday when it suddenly developed nasty noises 5 miles from home.   Opening the bonnet there were exhaust gases coming out of the carburettor and everything suggested a problem with a valve to me.  I managed to limp home requiring first gear for some of the hills.
First job today was to remove the tappet chest cover.  Before doing this I took the manifold off complete with carburettor.  There was some coolant water in both the valve chest and some of the ports in the block.
The valves all looked okay (I had forgotten that it had double valve springs) so I checked the block nuts for tightness, all okay.
Next off with the cylinder head, a Ricardo aluminium head fitted to the car in 2016.    This revealed that the head gasket had failed between the exhaust valves of cylinders 2 and 3.  In fact a sizable piece of the gasket was missing.    
There was some water in the bores of cylinders 2 and 3.  Everything was cleaned up, the valves given a light wire brush and a new gasket fitted.       The previous one was a modern copper sandwich type from one of our cherished suppliers but the new one, bought last year, was noticeably heavier and seems to be of better quality.  I gave it a thin smear of Loctite copper silicone each side.  I also sprayed the manifold with Lidl heat resistant black paint (worth getting when they have it).
As you can see from the photos, the cylinder head is stained black where the gasket failed which suggests that the problem is long-standing.      I suspect that the problem may have started when i was on my way to the Centenary Rally back in July 2022.  Driving down in 40 degree heat the radiator overflow became detached and the engine (and me!) got very hot indeed.   The car has gone well since but for the last year has been rather unwilling to start, unusual as over the last twenty-some years it has always started without any bother.
Having fitted the new gasket the engine started without any bother and it sounds like it should do.       Tomorrow I will take it out for a decent run, weather permitting.