classic armstrong siddeley uk

Bit by Bit – Draining the Gearbox and Stripping the Carburettor on the 1953 Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane

As part of its recommission, the Bridge Classic Cars have the 1953 Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane has been up on the ramps for our workshop team to get to work on.

To start with, the team have drained the gearbox on the car. Whilst it was draining, Jon noticed several chunks coming out of the drain. After checking, the gearbox had a layer of sludge along the bottom of the plan which has to be pulled out and the whole unit flushed through several times to try and get it to clean out.

This involves filling up the gearbox to its correct level, running it up to temperature and then draining again. Before this, Jon inspected and checked the fuel tank of the car to make sure it wouldn’t pull any debris into the carburettor if it did start. All was ok but Jon did find the fuel had gone slightly stale. So, the team have pumped the old fuel out of the tank ready to be refilled.

Then it was time to keep moving forward to the engine bay to check everything over. For this, Jon began to inspect the carburettor of the classic Armstrong Siddeley. Upon inspection, Jon found several parts had seized which meant it was removed from the car to be completely stripped down and inspected by the team. Then, it can be installed back on the car and the gearbox run up along with the engine.