Trying to sort the carbs out...

Over the last few workshop sessions we have mainly worked on the carbs. And by "we" I mean Martin. The carburettors are no longer water-logged thankfully and have fully dried out but there are still some issues with the bank of four. The main issue in this regard is that some of the diaphragms look in poor condition. When the carbs were initially taken apart they did not look too bad but these rubber parts have since deteriorated. No one is exactly sure of why but we all reckon the water has had something to do with this. The use of compressed air to clean and dry the carbs, as was necessary, may have torn a slight hole in one of them as well and this will require replacing. Wemoto and David Silver Spares have these parts (we think) so it should not be a big, nor an expensive, issue to sort. For now the bank of carbs remains on the "clean bench" in the workshop.

Another issue we have been working through has been the electrical system. This may well be the thing that worries us the most as the relays may have fried themselves upon hitting the water, although we may be lucky here as without the engine on no current would have been flowing through them. We think. Either way the starter relay looks in poor condition but this is a common VFR symptom, with or without river water! My own VFR's starter relay was in poor condition not long ago with some of it melted and lots of corrosion on some connectors which in turn caused high resistance in the circuit and certainly helped blow a regulator/rectifier...or two. Starter relays are not too expensive so this should be an easy fix, we hope. This will begin the proper work on the electrical system as a whole.

Last night we connected a battery to the VFR and tried to crank over the engine as a test but there was nothing happening so next on our list is an investigation of the starter motor. The starter motor is located at the front of the V-4 behind the downpipes in that area and would certainly have been water-logged due to its low location. This may be at fault for the lack of cranking and so out attention will turn to that soon.

Unfortunately I did not shoot any photos of this last night but did take a picture of Nick's VFR next to mine in there the night before as I replaced my rear brake master cylinder. Two RC36s together!