So, Sadly the company in Leighton Buzzard refurbishing my carb couldn't return it in time to fit and test for the Welland show next weekend, so very kindly a friend has lent me the carb from their Goddess for a few weeks - yes, an odd loan I know! Anyway, it was fitted today and after having swapped the battery to the one from my Land Rover Defender as the Goddess battery was dead, it fired into life straight away!
A quick test drive showed it ran very well although very soon the loud squeal on the over-run was back. So it's not the carb then! What could it be?? My friend who was there had no clue either - "..never heard that before, ever..." . So a few laps of the local roads provided the opportunity to drive with the engine cover off. It was obviously air - but from where? Not the carb - all tight. The vacuum pipe connection for the servo? Nope. There doesn't seem to be anywhere else where air can get in like that. But wait, might it be the old, crimped pipe mounted at the front of the inlet manifold which used to feed the old (and since removed) vacuum powered windscreen wipers? My friend threw a cloth over it and it got much quieter.... It was! So we stopped, removed it and hammered the end flat and hey presto - silence! Probably for the first time in ages as it's always squealed in my ownership!
A good day, just the oil and filter change to do now and a wash and refuel before Welland next weekend....
