VAR Forum

Martin - you obv have experience of these troubles! I have a hub/key setup that works loose - with a 'bruised'-looking taper, and slightly widened keyway. The hub/drum isn't bottoming out (and I dressed/ground the 'bruising' as best I could) - so could the problem be too big a key? I guess a ...

Interested in this, as my (rather motley) collection of exhaust valves on the 12/4 show a build-up of gummy stuff on the stems: an oil expert said he'd heard of this on other cars, and suggested that 2-stroke oil could help clean it off (or stop the delayed burn that causes it?) Now I know the right ...

Hi Ian - I usually tighten by the 'Union Jack' method: i.e. Start with stud in the middle, then middle each end, then corners (jumping from end to end). Basically spread the load as if the head was a flexible object - and don't tighten each nut once only.

I may have said this before, but having ...

All 12/4s seem to have a vibration period - usually up in the high 30s - but I think that's engine related. I delved into this because I had a horribly vibratory engine - but I established by coasting etc that it was NOT the transmission, which yours seems to be. Mine was internal horrors in the ...

Hi - is your fuel gauge still for sale?

Mine have greasers and oil holes (no channel in lining though), so I have kept them lubricated - not least to stop the side plates chafing on the strap that wraps around the unit. After several thousand miles they still work (I also lubricate the wood-disc Andre dampers on the Riley, ditto), so it ...

I'm interested in t his, as I've recently had the head off my long stroke 12/4 (twice!), and in both cases torqued it down to 36/37 lb/ft. I'm wary of more, having stripped threads on my Riley Nine (which has weedy little studs...) I shall tweak it up a but more now. Just to put in a plug for the ...

Hear hear! I think it was the promise of this forum that persuaded me to renew my sub this year (coming round again - dang!). I had previously urged its adoption on an - apparently reluctant - committee, citing the brilliant pre-war Riley Forum (free membership, minimal format, lots of experienced ...

Hi - I read in one of the mags that the blue antifreeze is best for our cars: it should also be better than none, as it is supposed to stop corroding of non-ferrous parts, eg the water pump body, which sounds useful!

If you are draining down, remember the little tap under the carb in 12/4s: I ...