BW35/ Intermittent mis-firing

[alastair.wilson@domain.elided]

I thought I'd drop a line with some good news which hopefully will be of
help to other users.

My BW35 appeared to have a small but persistent leak.  I had a couple of
Automatic Transmission specialists look at it.  They replaced the input
shaft oil seals and sump gasket, but no difference.   They also replaced
the input shaft itself in case there was any scoring which was allowing the
TQF to seep through.  No difference.   I finally had the local mechanic in
my friendly country garage look at it. Being a common sense chap, he found
the problem.   The large banjo-type bolt connecting the dipstick tube to
the gearbox should have a copper washer on either side of it, i.e. one
between the bolt and the tube, the other between the tube and the gearbox.
At some time in my car's past the copper washers had both been put on the
gearbox side.   Blindingly obvious, brilliantly simple, and a fortune saved
in TQF - check your washers today!

And another tip:

My engine was misfiring intermittently with no apparent cause.  After lots
of head scratching and testing we traced it.  There was an intermittent
(and tiny) short from the elderly electronic ignition spindle to the
distributor base plate.   I replaced it with trad. distributor with
condensor and points and it's been completely trouble free ever since.
I'll probably fit a newer electronic ignition in due course, but it's
fairly low priority behind some bodywork restoration which I'm about to
begin once the garage is a bit warmer....

Any tips on successful door re-skinning would be gratefully appreciated....

Alastair Wilson