By Jove! I think he's got it

It took a few goes to get out of the driveway but in the end it slipped and slid out onto the road. It was bitterly cold but well worth the effort. Extremely apprehensive after trying several solutions to solve the speed limiter problem without success. The roads were very slippery so had to take it easy but managed to get into the red in first and second without problem!! Is it really solved? I don't want to be too hasty until I can get it out for a full blown test when the nice weather arrives but so far I feel pretty confident.

A new, more powerful fuel pump - is that all it was!

Fuel pump change

Had a word with Peter at GKD about the speed limiter problem. He suggested replacing the fuel pump with something a bit stronger. I found a Walbro GSS 342 kit on ebay which provides 255LPH, plenty for most applications. It's actually quit a straightforward change; the pump didn't actually come with any instructions which I've notices is quite common when buying things from ebay. Luckily enough there's loads of help one can find through google.

Started by disconnecting the fuel pump and fuel level plugs and cleaning up as much as possible before removing the M6 bolts around the sealing ring. once the ring was off cleaned again and removed fuel pipe. 

Put the bolts back in and cleaned any dirt that was left making sure it didn't fall into the tank. Gradually lift the pump housing out through the hole, twisting allowing the filter and fuel level arm to follow.

Here's the old housing and new pump kit. Not everything is needed.

The new pump is thinner as well as being shorter. Use the foam sheath to keep it place. I wasn't so happy that there was nothing really to keep it in place, the old one has a lip that slots into the housing. I found no suggestion to solve this. I tried a large jubilee clip but it wasn't so successful.

I cut the connectors off the old wires and soldered them to the new connector wires and used shrink shielding.

Then it was just a case of re-attaching the old fuel pipe from the housing to the pump using one of the jubilee clips provided. Take care putting the pump into the housing using the three rubber mounting pushes. add the filter and the jobs done!

I really wanted to take her for a test spin but had to remove yet another load of snow that had fallen since the digger was here. I gave up after too much wheel spin and more snow fall. There's no way I can get up enough speed while the roads are so slippery.

I haven't experienced a worse/better(!) winter.

On the road again and only February

I went out on Saturday with the sole purpose of spending a good few hours getting rid of the snow and ice that had completely blocked the driveway. I had cleared away about 5 spades worth when low and behold what was coming down the road towards me? A backhoe type digger! So I flagged it down and asked the driver if he could clear the ice away for me. 

Brilliant - Job done in 10 minutes!

Before I could get the car out again I had to fix the  front offside brake calliper  It was sticking so I stripped it down, cleaned the cylinder etc. got rid of the rust, masked the disks and spray painted with heat resistant paint.

Hope the rust stays away for a while.

Then it was time to take it for a quick spin to check the speed limiter. The temperature was about -8 again so a bit chilly. Firstly I drove around the block but couldn't go fast enough in second to check the revs but in first gear there was no speed limiter problem at all.

First gear.

Had to drive further a field to check second gear. It wasn't exactly a thorough test but at least I could rev high enough to see what was happening.

Second gear.

Instead of limiting to 5200 rpm, it misfires slightly but continues to go up to the red. Is it an electrical problem or fuel or something else? James suggested I install a fuel swirl pot which should stop any fuel starvation. I'll do this anyway but I'm not totally convinced that it's related to the speed limiter problem as that can be temporarily solved by disconnecting the battery.

Next step install a fuel filter and swirl pot.