The SkillShack experts offer advice and tips to help you deal with common classic car maintenance and restoration problems.
If laying your car up for a period of more than a couple of weeks, it will be beneficial to over-inflate the tyres by about 10psi, providing this doesn’t exceed the maximum pressure marked on the sidewall. Keep them topped-up and periodically jack and rotate each wheel to ensure it doesn’t sit too long on
A basic, ‘one-man’ brake bleeder is essentially a length of hose with a one-way valve to allow fluid out and prevent air being sucked back in. The very cheapest tyres have a bung in the end of the tube and a lengthways razor-slit just above it. They work fine, but after a year or so,
It’s amazing the number of classics where an aftermarket temperature gauge or sender doesn’t read ‘normal’ when it’s fine in reality. Owners know these quirks and many simply choose to live with it, knowing that the needle just before the red is fine but any higher is less so. Sender units and gauges are matched
Whining may have more than one cause, so it’s important to try to understand where it’s coming from in the first place. It’s important to stress that whining that slowly asserts itself over a period of time is not generally a sign of imminent collapse. A sudden onset of noise might be a harbinger of
If your classic car makes a grumbling noise when warm, first make sure the carburettor mixture is correctly set. Then, try retarding the ignition timing a little at a time. Growling or vibration is sometimes symptomatic of the pistons pushing down on the crankshaft before the crank pins have gone over centre – and this
Touching in the damage as you describe will never win any awards for prettiness, but it can do an excellent job of preserving the panels against further rust pitting. You’ll first need to remove the scabby paint and as much of the rust underneath as possible. For the smallest nicks, we’d suggest the tip of
In theory, any air in the system should be quickly pushed through and ‘burped’ out into the carburettor float chamber. Unless there are any peculiar loops of piping which are much higher than the carburettor, we’d suspect that air is continuously finding its way into the fuel system. Closely examine the pipework between the electric
Use standard ethylene glycol antifreeze mixed with deionised water (or soft tap water) at a ratio of one-part antifreeze to two parts water. It would do no harm to flush the system a few times with plain water to remove sediment. Fill it up, run the engine until hot then drain the water. Allow it
We spoke to paint specialists at Western Spray of Crediton, Devon. They advised that microblistering is always a result of moisture that was already present in the primer coat or undercoat, regardless of the material the car’s made of or the paint system used. It can remain sequestered within the primer for years without harm
First of all, check the float level in both carburettors against the figure in the workshop manual. Next, plug the brake servo take-off stub on the inlet manifold to eliminate possible air leaks here. Use a short length of rubber hose with a bolt tightly screwed into the end. Take the car for a test
This is a problem we’re all likely to experience at some time or another, so we’ll consider both common types of starter motor in our answer. A pre-engaged starter has the solenoid piggy-backed on the motor. The solenoid acts as a heavy duty switch and also pushes the starter drive into contact with the flywheel
Secondhand seat belts can be a gamble, unless you’re sure the car they came from has never been in an accident. Not only can the mechanism be strained or damaged, but the webbing is designed with some energy-absorbing ‘give’ which will not be present if it’s been stretched once. New belts are relatively inexpensive and
