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OK, now that the engine is running well, time to get back to the fuel system. The banjo fittings for the pickups are at the *very* bottom of the tank, so they silt up with rust and whatever else finds it's way into the fuel tank. I think this is my third or perhaps fourth time draining the tank...

I gather that motor was used in some other vehicles, I'd love to find a head gasket and other parts so that when I do eventually need to do a valve job I'll have parts on-hand. I see reference to how the engine is designed to burn some oil. I suspect a fair part of that oil use would be that...

So much better. About 20 miles of local and freeway traffic (cruise at 51 to go easy on it) and it's running better than any time I've owned it. It's a huge relief to have reasonably consistent and reasonable compression as I'd had visions of needing to pull the engine and find enough parts to...

straighten out the cup on the pushrod and reinstall, another cylinder pushing at least 90PSI. Started and ran better than ever in the time I've owned it. Next I'll put the rocker cover on and hit the road to see if it holds up.

PROBLEM FOUND. Inspect the plugs, one was oily and nasty, clearly fowled and not one that had previously had low compression. Hmm... Compression test showed the five other cylinders had increased and much more consistent compression: 90-105PSI, very reasonable for such a low-compression motor...

Ha-ha, the joke's on me. it was sucking air from the selector, but that's mostly because the tank pickup was plugged up for the third or fourth time... usual Ferret things. In an effort to do something about the lack of power, low compression on a couple cylinders, and just generally not...

Ferret fuel system strikes again! The last few times I've run the Ferret, it's seemed like it was taking more time to get fuel into the carburetor and has been longer to warm up and run right. Well, things came to a head last trip out when it stalled completely and would not restart. The...

I did try making a teflon sheet one and it wouldn't seal so I went with cork which is doing fine thus far. There was a cut into the back surface right by one of the gasket locating tabs that was low and it leaked there. I suspect if I had set the valve in the mill and faced that surface .020"...

14.5 miles R/T commute to work and it went fine overall. I can't say it's something I'd want to do with any frequency though and I can't even imagine that big multi-country road trip the Brits did in the pair of Ferrets back in the day! Question for the Ferret owners among you: My fuel tank...

Turns out a previous owner switched some wires around between the headlight circuits and the turn signals, sorting that out has gotten me working turn signals at long last. In celebration of it being at least somewhat reasonable to drive the vehicle alone, I'm using it as transportation to work...

July 1, the longest run yet. Still no video though. After months of sitting it started with little complaint and all systems worked as well as when I parked it. Not the highest bar but reassuring to be sure. Almost exactly 10 miles travelled today. First from my house to the local CHP...

I can barely manage to drive, let alone document the event. My assistant in the commander's seat was clinging to the hull with one hand while holding his glasses on with the other so wasn't in much better shape to snap pics. ;-) but fair enough, next run I'll try to tape on a camera, or better...

Longest trip yet. I needed to make some space at the shop so used it as an excuse to hit the road with my Ferret. So, with more than a little trepidation I checked the major fluids, kicked the tires, and hit the road. 7 miles, just over half that on the freeway, then a steep road to an even...

I did play with the timing today at last. Measured at 750RPM I started around 3 degrees of advance and it was running quite poorly. Things got better with more advance. At 7 degrees it didn't backfire as badly, almost usable but did stumble. At 12 Degrees I actually felt some acceleration. I...

They aren't common it's true. Had them shipped over from the UK, like most of the other parts. One fit in it's bracket fine, the other bracket was too tight. I stopped before it latched but even so managed to dent/scratch the thermos some. I'll have to find another bracket or figure out why...

The vehicle idled somewhat poorly but accelerated pretty well (for what it is) before I did the electronic swap for the distributor. It then idled very nicely after the swap, all without me moving the distributor. As a result I'm reluctant to fool with it until I know I'm very close to the...

7 degrees advance. The manual specifies TDC at static timing (0RPM) but the distributor has a pretty significant (and two stage I think) amount of mechanical advance once the motor is running. I suspect my static timing is within just a degree or two of TDC.

Looks like I outsmarted myself. I got the vehicle with major clogging of the fuel system. After draining and doing a basic rinse of the fuel tank I put it back in service and it was working fine. Fine that is until I filled it up. Looks like filling it and taking a short drive was enough to...

I suspect you are right, but it's hard to find that last digit! I found a little more in the way of markings. Usually they snuck up on me so critical parts are missing by the time I start careful restoration: This one I spent a lot of time on the letters before pulling away enough to realize...

Well, I finally did find some concrete evidence of it's Canadian heritage! 54-8252? is what I was able to salvage. There is still a chance I could find more on the transom or brow but I'm not at all sure I'll get any more than I've gotten. The good news is lacking any unit markings or history...