Turns out I owe the members of the Petrol Hose Manufacturer’s Association of Great Britain an apology… it wasn’t the hose that was leaking but the Filter King regulator I got all the way back in 2006. It was dripping unseen onto the overbraided hose which then got soaked. At least needlessly going to the motor factors to get some new hose gave me a walk in the fresh air 

The glass bowl on the filter is made out of some special kind of flexible glass, which I guess anyone who’s not in marketing might call “plastic”  Either way it seems to have gone a bit out of shape. I’ve nipped it back up as tight as I dare and it seems okay for the minute, but I’ll keep an eye on it. Might drop a line to the importers, as a quick Google suggests mine’s not the only one to suddenly spring a leak.

I’ve just got off the phone to Glencoe, (who are the UK importers for FSE, Sytec, Facet & Malpassi), and they’re kindly putting a new glass bowl in the post to me FOC. 

 

me: There was a distinct lack of glass bowls falling through the letter box, so I chased them up and they fessed up they forgot to send it. On its way now I’m told. 

Bypassed the Filter King as I didn’t think an MOT tester would appreciate the fuel dripping on him, gave it a good all round check, bit of a wash and booked it in for a test. It’s had no road miles in six years and it’s even still on the same tank of fuel, so it was mainly a case of “it is what it is” and I’ll deal with whatever comes up when I get the chance.

Went out first thing this morning and an hour later it had a certificate with advisories on a tiny exhaust blow and the solid brake lines wanting a rub down and greasing.   

Intentionally took it to a local place that deals with a few classics, so we could have a chat and a poke about, rather than be left sat in some sanitised waiting room. Main thing of note is the CO2 reading of 0.48% against an allowable 4.5%

Opinions? Running lean? Stale fuel with very little RON left? A combination? Something else?  Probably more to the point, what should I do about it…

Graham: that will be CO not CO2. the CO2 reading should be roughly the same as the O2 content of the exhaust but for your purposes its irrelevant

if it idles ok then your 0.48% is fine, lets not forget on the mot they are only measuring the idle mixture, it has no bearing on whats going on when you drive the car

exboyracer: Put a fresh tank of petrol in it, and worry about it later 
me: Excellent guys, thanks  Any solution that involves me doing bugger all is fine with me… in fact I’ve just ticked it off the list