New Restorer - Advice on DJ4 Dizzy Base

[Eddamoo]

Must say I rather like the blue frame!

Thanks Chris - was the old-man's idea, but i'm growing to like it!

Whilst my two cars used for competition have Bosch 009 type distributors, my SWB Saloon uses a DJ4 and I have a second one as a spare. I did have a third one but I lent it to someone and if only I could remember who that was I might be able to get it back! Both have damaged base plates repaired with traditional, slow setting, Araldite and work fine. As ever when using Araldite, cleanliness and the tightest joint possible are essential but as long as you can achieve that, it should work. The DJ4 is an excellent distributor as long as there is no play in the bushes, no up and down movement and the rotor arm is a tight fit on the spindle.  I've never found a rotor arm that wasn't a loose fit but a slip of paper between the two solves that problem instantly.

If you do, ever, find a source of replacement base plates, I'd more more than interested.

Steve

Thanks Steve, will be sure to let you know if anything crops up!

I wonder if they could now be 3d printed in resin?

Peter

Now that's an idea!

If the pic of the distributor base shows something snapped, I can't see it - apart from the top missing from the right hand cap clip.   New clips are available, but that one wouldn't stop the engine running.

One of the good things about Sevens is that they will work even with a large amount of abuse - so although it is good to know what they should be like, you can usually get away with "oh, it will be ok until I get round to doing it properly".

So keep asking questions, better still, join a club and get a local to drop round and assess what needs to be fixed straight away, and what doesn't.

Simon

Sorry, i only posted the photo of the Part Number - i foolishly neglected to take a photo of the damage!  Your advice is absolutely sound and we will be running it with the bare minimum of work, so to have the pleasure of using her!

I'll definitely have a look for some clubs nearby...  Were in the Peak District, next door to Bakewell.

Hi,
If you put a bit more bend in the cap clips that will stop some cap movement.
New caps are available which will fit better than a worn old one.
I have used non setting gasket goo under my rotor arms for years which works really well.
I once broke  a rotor arm in half while out on a drive, I just wrapped it in insulating tape to get me home ( just not over the contact surface )

Thanks Dickie, will give the extra bend a try!  Will bear the tape in mind as part of the essentials for running!

[jansens]

Thanks for updating the pictures. Isn't it nice to have a lovely clean engine. Trick is keeping them clean!

I've just been ordering brass compression fittings to connect my crankcase to an external oil filter. I was going to use barbs and rubber hoses but having recently seen a clean engine with nicely done copper pipe it gives a much cleaner, vintage look and is easier to keep clean than black rubber hose and hose clips. Just trying to find 8mm cupro-nickle pipe locally now.

Simon

["Slack Alice" Simon]

I took my engine apart, and put it back together using silicon gaskets:

Block - crankcase gasket from cherished supplier

Water manifolds and studs, nosepiece to 'case, dynamo housing to 'case/nosepiece, sump, sump plug - all home made from a sheet of cooking silicon from Ebay.

And so easy to make, with a hole punch and a pair of good  scissors.

The main reason for dismantling was horrendous oil leaks from the usual places.

So bad, it was embarrassing to park anywhere.   And as you have probably gathered, I am not given to being over fussy about my Sevens.

200 miles after the rebuild there is not a drop of oil from the engine.   Nothing.

I have a deep distrust of anything silicon.   I do not expect this situation to last.   But it has been a revelation.

If there was a gasket material a little less hard than the usual paper and a little more firm than silicon then we could change the oily image of the Austin Seven!

Simon

---

I took my engine apart, mainly because of the horrendous oil leaks.   It was embarrassing to see the mess after I had parked the car anywhere.

You will have gathered that I take a relaxed attitude to my Sevens, but this was just awful.

I put it back together with silicon gaskets.


Block to crankcase gasket came from a cherished supplier.

Water manifolds and studs, nosepiece - 'case, dynamo housing to nosepiece/'case, sump, and sump plug were all home-made from a sheet of cooking silicon from t'internet.


They are very easily made using a pair of good scissors and a punch or two.

200 miles later there is not a drop of oil coming from the engine.   Nothing.

I have a deep distrust of silicon.   I do not expect this situation to last very long.

If we could find a gasket material a bit more squishy than paper and a bit firmer than silicon, we could change the image of the oily Seven!

Cheers

Simon

[Roger]

Hi,
What type of front brakes are they, do you have a photo of the cable linkage, it looks different to mine.

Roger

[Dennis Nicholas]

Eddamoo.   Looks good.
Did you check that the king pin eyes in the axle had bearing surfaces that were at right angles to the pins.....ditto for the stub axles.  Also the brackets for the rear spring pins....were the inner surfaces square to the pins????  On my car all surfaces needed grinding to get them back to square......the rear brackets were worn at the lower faces........once square any gap needs to be shimmed out so axle can't move sideways on pins.  Non square surfaces in any of these positions will lead to rapid wear and car will not feel nice to drive anyway. 

Sevens will indeed put up with a lot of misuse/misassemble and run BUT that only puts off the inevitable.....sometimes catastrophic failure of bits, now becoming ever rarer.  Also I prefer a machine to run just right and get no pleasure when things are just hanging on by a thread and making wrong noises and rattles.  Sorry for bit of a rant but too many bodges get passed on to unsuspecting new owners who in their ignorance of nicely running A7s think that the bad bits are just normal for these cars.

Dennis

[Eddamoo]

Hi,
What type of front brakes are they, do you have a photo of the cable linkage, it looks different to mine.

Roger

Im unsure - much of the car came as-is from a previous restorer (who gave up part way through) some 30-odd years ago.  Ill be sure to get a decent photos next time im working on her.

Eddamoo.   Looks good.
Did you check that the king pin eyes in the axle had bearing surfaces that were at right angles to the pins.....ditto for the stub axles.  Also the brackets for the rear spring pins....were the inner surfaces square to the pins????  On my car all surfaces needed grinding to get them back to square......the rear brackets were worn at the lower faces........once square any gap needs to be shimmed out so axle can't move sideways on pins.  Non square surfaces in any of these positions will lead to rapid wear and car will not feel nice to drive anyway. 

Sevens will indeed put up with a lot of misuse/misassemble and run BUT that only puts off the inevitable.....sometimes catastrophic failure of bits, now becoming ever rarer.  Also I prefer a machine to run just right and get no pleasure when things are just hanging on by a thread and making wrong noises and rattles.  Sorry for bit of a rant but too many bodges get passed on to unsuspecting new owners who in their ignorance of nicely running A7s think that the bad bits are just normal for these cars.

Dennis

Many thanks for your kind advice Dennis.  I will definitely go through all this carefully soon before we crack on with the body!