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Russ Jackson
United Kingdom
140 Posts |
 Posted - 29/03/2025 : 19:57:42
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quick updated BW dropped off the little J2 yesterday (many thanks Barry) I was a little concerned that it wasn't fitting in the garage at first by about 6"....bugger....but manoeuvring my 4 bikes around and a reshuffle of the garage and bingo fit in like a Glove with room to spare.....happy days so today insured the J2 with FJ's flex policy so both my Vintage bikes and the J2 all on the one policy Fully comp and all covered by RAC breakdown  at a fairly reasonable £500 being a member of MGOC didn't discount the premium at all......so couldn't wait to get it out the garage this morning (10.30am) a beautiful sunny bright blue skyed day the little J2 started on the button whence I managed to pull away in 3rd gear...oops...LOL...once I'd got my head around the gearbox clutch and gear ratios everything was a breeze well almost amazingly there are still some gears left in the gearbox.....Hahaha.......be kind....it's a steep learning curve you know....Hahaha.....suffice to say I got back at about 5.30pm and must have covered about 150 miles and drunk many cups of tea at various cafes along the way I never exceeded 4000rpm in any gear or went faster than 55mph as I was just generally bedding myself in to a more considered way of driving feeling the gears knowing what gear to be in when coming into round abouts and the like double de-clutching occasionally I say occasionally as sometimes I could feel my way through the gears where it just snicked in other times it just seemed to catch and crunch a little bit 4th to 3rd was ok double de-clutching and matching the engine /revs 3rd to 2nd was more of a challenge and then other times making a complete dogs of it resulting in the horrible crunching of gears......fortunately as I got more in tune with the driving experience the crunching of gears became a lot less thank god......as a drive though I thought it was brilliant extremely mechanical and having to have your wits about you at all times the more I drove the better it got I haven't stopped smiling yet.....and for me that's what it's all about and as you lot know 50mph is more like 150mph..... .....anyway I can safely say I am well and truly smitten.....but I do have a few questions to ask of you.....so after a fairly longish drive is there a check list of things I should do before the next drive or should everything be fine till whenever it should have a proper service oil change and the like here's a few questions below:
1. should I check the Engine oil
2. should I check diff oil
3. should I check the gearbox oil
4. Should I check radiator coolant
5. check points are clean and gapped
6. should I check wheel spinners are tight
7. should I just run a spanner over every nut / bolt I can see
8. should there be things that need greasing or oiling
or am I being over cautious? to be fair whenever I go out on my Vintage bikes the first thing I do is cast a Spanner over front and rear wheel spindle nuts, Girder fork Spindle nuts, Carburettor fixing clamp, Cylinder head bolts exhaust nut handle bar nuts Clutch center nut then check oil then a touch of oil on the top of the valves (open valve assemblies) a quick wipe of the points with a lint free cloth then fuel on oil on and away we go.......it sounds a lot but it only takes 5 minutes....I call it my pre flight checks....Contact, ignition and choks away....LOL
(I may not be a clever man but I know someone who is) |
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zth
Switzerland
14 Posts |
Posted - 29/03/2025 : 21:21:04
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Nice report. I also have a J2 from BW. I would check the oil level at the beginning before every ride, also the tire pressure. If everything is OK, you can extend the interval.
The difficulties with downshifting from 3rd to 2nd gear are well known, you are no exception :)
I wish you lots of fun and a ride without breakdowns with the J2.
Thomas from Switzerland
J3545 |
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PeterL
United Kingdom
1799 Posts |
Posted - 29/03/2025 : 21:35:47
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Check the water level.
Look for leaks (oil and water). If no leaks but water level drops, check the sump! (May just be an F problem, leak via a head stud passage in the head...)
Cheers
P |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6533 Posts |
Posted - 29/03/2025 : 22:09:10
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Yes, third to second can be challenging - just be glad it’s not a PA which has a much lower second gear! And something I hadn’t realised when I started driving my J2, but which was explained to me by someone with much more experience than me, is that you don’t need to double declutch changing up. It’s sufficient just to pause between the gears.
I must admit I don’t check the back axle and gearbox oil very often - I don’t think they’ve ever neededtopped up although I have change oil a couple of times. But engine oil and coolant I keep an eye on. This is what can happen if you don’t!
Simon J
J3437 |
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tholden
United Kingdom
1663 Posts |
Posted - 30/03/2025 : 13:12:48
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Russ the answer is yes - regular checks on all the things you list and more are very worthwhile on any vintage car.
TH |
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JMH
United Kingdom
934 Posts |
Posted - 30/03/2025 : 19:18:03
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Two other things (which have served me well):
1. Oil takes a while to get to the rocker gear and rear main (particularly if you have a remote oil filter fitted). So, if the car has been left a while; plugs out, rocker cover off, oil the lot and hand crank until you see pressure on the guage.
2. The thermosyphon is deceptive (the temp will be up in head & header tank, so showing on the guage, but block & bores still cold). Always wait until thoroughly warm through before giving it revs & beans.
Those 2 (& regular oil changes) will help ensure your engine outlasts you.
JH
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Russ Jackson
United Kingdom
140 Posts |
Posted - 31/03/2025 : 16:42:43
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Update second drive out......so racked up about 300 miles in the old girl over the weekend I must have done every cafe in South East England well it felt like it anyway and drinking copious quantities of builders brew....:D I'm now in the all England world cup peeing team...anyway what a glorious Weekend blue sky and sunshine making for a knackering weekend so is all I can say is unbelievable never has 40 to 55 mph been so thrilling and so much fun I'm still smiling now and so involving including the non stop chat to everyman woman and homeless person......LOL....so not being too unfamiliar with Vintage machinery it didn't take too long to get to grips with the quirkiness of the sweet little 4 speed gearbox or the vagaries of pretty much non existent brakes even though they're uprated with Morris 8 hydraulics and slightly wayward steering.....the gear changes go better as the drive progressed it was just a case of learning the ratios and where they liked to be with regard to cornering stopping round abouts etc. 4th to 3rd down changes were smooth once I'd established where the engine speed and rev range needed to be i.e the engine had slowed sufficiently to allow a quick blip of the throttle to balance and boom 3rd gear nice and smooth no crunching 3rd to 2nd rather more challenging apparently it's usual to crunch the change I soon worked it out that the 2nd gear ratio is so low 2nd that you've almost got to come to a stand still to drop it into second which to be fair most corners can be navigated in 3rd and 2nd was low enough to be able to pull away easily from 5 mph so first was pretty much redundant apart from pulling away from a stand still...to be fair you can pull away in 2nd without frying the clutch......up changes are smooth but it's not a gearbox that can be rushed so out of 1st gear into neutral pause a fraction of a second then slip into 2nd all as smooth as butter with no crunching same for 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th.....it's a perky little engine and whisks the little car along with ease along the flats the approach to inclines is a little more considered as not carrying enough speed into the incline results in the power disappearing in short shrift meaning you got to find a lower ration usually 3rd gear suffices depending how steep and how long the incline is.....if anyone knows Boxley Hill just outside Maidstone I managed 3rd for half of it but had to drop into 2nd for the other half as it gets steeper there and it is quite steep those who know know braking Hahaha....that's a definite challenge and requires a firm foot when I say a firm foot I mean with the weight of about 10 stone.....LOL....I got that more than covered but it still requires major forward thinking as there will be nothing approaching an emergency stop so if you got to do an emergency stop it will result in crumpled metal....I filled up with Esso Supreme 99+ so that's 13 gallons then and not because I was searching for more power....LOL....but because it has no Ethanol in it even though it says E5....bearing in mind it's 850cc OHC it is running 2x Dashpot Carbs so the little buggers quite thirsty also it has no water pump the water circulates by thermal convection the radiator a good size but fortunately it has a Kenlow electric fan to keep things in check in the busy modern traffic so the temperature doesn't get any higher than 75 / 80ish stuck in traffic....I'm not putting much stock in the accuracy of the gauges when I say gauges it's really only got the 2 and they are the important ones Temperature and oil pressure it's running good oil pressure at about 70 / 80 psi the amp meter is all over the shop LOL you get what they spitfire pilots finger constantly tapping at the glass to get the needle to correct....hahaha.....steering is as you might expect slightly loose again a more considered entry into corners is required as you turn in you can feel the steering tighten as the slack disappears as the corner tightens you can apply more lock all the time whilst leaning into the corner bodily it's a real hoot remember it feels like your flying around the corner at about 80mph the reality is more like 35 to 40mph the perception of speed in this thing is like you're in some kind of time distorting wormhole....Hahaha......anyway I love it it's the best thing I think I've bought in years I'll have to stop myself from wanting to keep driving it everyday otherwise I'll wear it out in no time at all.......Brooklands this Sunday coming see you there if your going hopefully I'll have my 1927 Sunbeam model 9 up and running as I got to go anyway I have to pick up a low gear for the Norton mines knackered and it keep slipping out of first gear......cheers.....by the way I now know I should have gone to Brands Hatch funny thing is I nearly did but alas I didn't
(I may not be a clever man but I know someone who is) |
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Westbury
United Kingdom
2211 Posts |
Posted - 31/03/2025 : 20:56:13
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Russ, your enthusiasm knows no bounds!
Wonderful, entertaining read, many thanks!
Cheers,
Chris |
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MarkH
United Kingdom
153 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2025 : 12:26:25
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Ross,
I would suggest also adding to your checklist topping up your Marles-Weller steering box with 'Worm oil'. It has a very thick condsistency so I use a small funnel and keep topping this up over a 24 hour period until the gear chamber is full. I attach a pic, as I happen to be going through this as a pre-season chore. I check the oil every six weeks during the summer, as there is always a little leaking over time and usage.
All the best!
Mark
MSH |
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MarkH
United Kingdom
153 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2025 : 12:37:21
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My apologies for mispelling your name Russ.!
MSH |
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Finally did it......First Drive in the J3113
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