Well some have asked how heavy the car but the wood I've put in the back can't weigh any more than some passengers in a standard car. That's why I think a look at the engine might be next on the cards mate. All I've done is clean it up and adjust the valves really. Uncle Ken did adjust the points for me at last year's National but he said that it might need looking at again. Is there an idiot's check list of stuff to check?


I found a flip down 7" TV with freeview built in on ebay that I'm going to mount under the box I built above the front seats

Can't be any heavier than a 400?



Nice, Ideally you need a projector so you can watch cinema style on the marquee. haha.

Oh, it can.

The 400 shell is heavier than a car, sure - but it's (just) carriable by two people. It's comfortable to carry with three - and that's with glass, wiring, and rear doors fitted.

as was Belinda's shell. I'll get her down the local weighbridge one day, I'll know for sure then

Why no 123? No more adjusting points, never!

Because after reading loads of posts debating the points/123 issue (and at risk of turning this thread into one )

a) there seem to be a lot of people who think that a well set up car on points is just as good (if not better) and

b) if I do decide eventually to try 123, I want to make sure everything else is ok first.

It seems that a lot of people think 123 will cure everything but cancer

Of course not but it sure makes life easier.

Fair do's mate but it's definately one for my desireable list rather than essential

Just a quick post to say that Belinda & I travelled from Northallerton back to Lincolnshire last night in the rain & snow and we actually had quite a pleasant journey. The heater was adequate and Belinda sat at her usual 50-55mph most of the way with brief periods of 60-65.

Following on from my previous post about the engine not being what it should - I'm just wondering if it's me that just thinks there's something wrong when there's not. To be honest it sounds really quite sweet when we're pootling through town in 2nd & 3rd and it's only noisy when pushed. I've not really done anything mechanical to the engine since I got it and supposedly it had just sat under cover for quite a while so maybe it just needs a combination of using it more, a bit of tinkering and some more soundproofing. By tinkering, I mean some further valve & ignition timing, mixture adjustment and a new set of plugs & new filter element.

I dare say that the different shape of the Bedouin's front end will alter the acoustics inside the engine bay and as there is still no soundproofing on the actual bulkhead, it's bound to sound a bit rougher inside the cabin compared to a nicely soundproofed standard car.

It is me!! I had a good look around the bulkhead last night and noticed that there was still a grommet with a slit filling a hole where the previous owner had routed the accelerator cable to a floor mounted pedal whereas I now have a pendant type. As I figured that was going to let some engine & road noise in I welded a shaped plate to cover that once and for all.

That helped but I was still aware that the engine sounded a bit harsh when pushed so I remembered what you said Adrian and decided to momentarily block the 2 heater tubes where they enter the cabin with foam (one for feet & one for windscreen demist). Lo and behold, the engine now sounds more like Dave Holmes' 2CV that I was in last weekend

Although it's now a LOT quieter, blocking up the heater tubes is obviously not a solution but thinking about it - I used silicon tubing during the rebuild as I couldn't use the original cardboard ones. These tubes, whilst looking nice don't have any foam in. All may not be lost though as I have some pipe lagging which looks as if it may fit inside my current tubing so I'll try it tonight to see if it makes a difference.