Exeter Kit Car Show 26-27/10/2013

[James Doulton]

Are any SWeDO's (South West Dutton Owners) thinking of going to the Exeter Kit Car Show, if so which day? I am determined to get there in my Legerra for its first showing (not that it is a show car). It is 80 miles from my door, so I reckon that I'm pretty likely to make it without incident. It would be a good chance to meet up and show that Duttons are still viable fun cars. Let's hope that the weather is friendly.

[James Doulton]

I'm thinking "water in the inlet manifold". I had a leak before when the inlet manifold came loose. I will have to take the head off to fit my new cam sometime over the winter.

[Adrian Southgate]

James, what ratio diff have you got in that, 3:54?

[James Doulton]

No, I have a standard 3.89. I get exactly 20mph/1000rpm in 5th.

[James Doulton]

I'm running 185/65x14s on the rear which I reckon are about 6% larger diameter than 165/70x13s that I regard as 'standard'.

[James Doulton]

Maybe the Legerra is more slippery through the air. I was using my cushion-under-the-knee cruise control and my speed hardly waivered. We did 60mph exactly on the way down and I did 70mph on my own on the way back, according to my GPS. Doing 60mph in convoy on a busy motorway was pretty crap as you are barely passing the lorries and it takes ages for the convoy to reform.

[James Doulton]

It was a cloud and the car was lumpy until I got going properly. I didn't smell it but Anthony Godden might have done as he followed me from Exeter Services. I checked the water before I came home and it took a little but that was the first time I've topped it up for a few weeks.

[3a038xvsl2h4u]

I didnt notice any smell, but Mr Kerswell has a point about the low point in the exhaust. Your exhaust does point up a bit.

[James Doulton]

Those 7's sound a bit posh - I don't have a servo!

I keep coming back to the idea of it being water in the inlet manifold because I had a problem with that just before Stoneleigh. On that occasion I had a short spell while the engine was warming up, just before the thermostat opened, when water would leak into the inlet manifold and give a similar effect. I cured that by tightening the manifold fixings which had worked loose.

Maybe there is still a small leak there, I'll probably find that the gasket needs replacing. So perhaps I now get a small leak when the engine is hot and the cooling system is under pressure. While I am driving then the trickle of water is too small to notice but when I park then it continues to leak and then when I restart I get all that steam in the exhaust. Plausible?