type 9 gearstick adjustment and steering end stop

If you get the shortening of the housing slightly wrong then gear selection isn't easy!

not easy to see in the photo - but I had to push slightly down on the gear lever to select first and second - which leaves you open to the possibility of reverse at the wrong time.

The selector shaft gearstick connector needed to be rotated a small amount clockwise and be re-secured to fix the issue.


The steering arm on the drivers side would make contact with the oil cooler/filter housing.

After a while it was realised that the series 3 has an adjustable steering end-stop on the lower wish bone.
A tweak with the 9/16" socket and the steering was slightly restricted stopping the steering arm from making contact with the oil cooler.

First V6 road test

The engine started to sound a bit rough. Like some metal on metal grinding noises.

Then a small leak started from behind the fan on the water pump.

Not a good time to start getting stressed.

An endoscope was used to have a look around and inside.
Removed the oil filter to inspect the oil and see if any contaminants were inside.


All seemed ok, but the noises don't sound good or healthy.

 The timing was adjusted and it was decided a run to the office would be a kill or cure solution.

First and second gear is a bit hard to select, so needs adjustment. First gear is a bit redundant (too low a gear). But the drive was a revelation in comparison to the previous auto box. Excellent fun.

After a rest at the office I added some rad-weld and drove home. No more leaks. Not the best fix but it worked.

Hand brake cable was then lubricated and adjusted. It had always been an issue - binding on - the cable wouldn't push back.  I rotated the cable 180 degrees at the handbrake end - it's much better now so the handbrake can be used.

A Speedo cable was purchased for type-9 gearbox to Jaeger clock from Speedy cables  which was also fitted today.
Now need to go for another run to see how far off calibration the speedo is and then do the calibration routine.

Sunbeam home with a new exhaust system

Sunbeam was trailer-ed home after the exhaust was finished as yet again she refused to start.

As soon as she was offloaded I tried the starter and she fired up instantly!

She ran for 20 minutes then stopped - refusing to start again.

The fault was eventually traced to the Capri original plug connectors, one or both was making not good contact. Once bypassed no more issues starting. Will now need to replace and rewire the plugs.