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Bolly Dolly - Now boringly reliable - snoooooooooze


Guest Breadvan72

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Guest Breadvan72

Hmmm, I think I am getting clutch slippage, most noticeable in top gear, and there is a clutchy smell.  I have a spare clutch in the shed, and it might soon be time to get this put on.

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Don't know how it is on the bigger engined cars but I did my 1500SE many years ago and it's a lovely job compared to most clutches. As Sigmund says massive removable gearbox cover inside the car. Once you got the propshaft off from underneath you could sit inside the car and pull the gearbox back with it still sitting on the subframe. And again said subframe meant no trying to balance gearboxes on trolley jacks type malarkey when trying to get it back on.

 

That said, the 1500 had a smaller engine, smaller gearbox and no overdrive so I don't know if it's as simple on the Sprint. Nothing else is.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Breadvan72

The car now has a new clutch.  It's very light and doesn't have much feel, but I am getting used to it.

 

The rev counter on this car borked about two weeks after I bought it  For over 18 months it has remained broken.  The mobile mech dude has taken the instrument to his place and reckons that its chip is knackered, whatever that means.  NB the car has electronic ignition (whatever the fuck that is), and there are therefore some changes to the operation of the rev counter, so I gather, but frankly this stuff might as well be in Chinese, for all it means to me.

 

Anyway, I have bought from eBay an allegedly functioning re-manufactured tacho of supposedly the right kind.  I have a numpty guide on how to fit it, and am going to have a go at doing so, probably tomorrow.  There is no way in which this can end well.  The average shiter could do this job in approx five minutes without even putting down his or her tea.  It will take me all morning, will involve swearing of unusual witless crudity, and the best possible outcome is that the rev counter (a) won't work, and (b will fall out.  The more likely outcome is that I will be electrocuted, and/or that I will set the car on fire.

 

Predicted verdict: Omnishambles.

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Guest Breadvan72

Have I mentioned that this car has been slightly Barried, with coilovers (no,I don't what they are), asjustable shocks (I have a vague notion of what those might be), and possiby some other shiz?

 

I do not know if these make the car better than a standard Sprint, or are just for Barry effect.  The car has been slightly lowered.  It had an exhaust specially made for it by someone or other, but this (1) bumps against something underneath, and all attempts to stop it doing so have failed, and (2) made the clutch change a pig to do, apparently, because of how the exhaust is connected to the noisy and oily thing at the front, which I gather may be known as an engine.  

 

The garage that did the clutch is, in my experience, both honest and competent, and usually charges me fuck all for doing what seems to me a lot of work.  They are familiar with Dolomites, because one of the mechs there has had several, and they have two other customers with Sprints, or so they say (I have never seen these cars in the shop).  I trust the dudes, and was surprised that the bill for the clutch was so high.  Apparently they had to cut and then seal up a bit of the exhaust for some reason.  I still trust the dudes, and would recommend them to anyone in the area, but I was glad that some scoundrels that I represented early last year finally paid me this week .so that I could pay some bills (like all small businesses I am a free bank for my clients, who are often loaded, but take months or even years to pay, the tossers).

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Guest Breadvan72

Tachometer fixage progress report:  Big fat zip nothing happened.  Also Jack, bupkiss, nada, and sod all.  I went out driving in the car, couldn't be arsed even to try any fixage, and then had to drive off somewhere else in my modern and supposedly sensible vehicle. Probably a good thing, on balance, as at least I didn't make anything more broken.

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Guest Breadvan72

Various ups and downs

 

Ups - new tacho working well.  Also a new voltage stabiliser and a better alternator connector.  New tacho came with classy bling chrome bezel, but will switch back to old black one to match other clocks, though am tempted to shop for chrome bezels for all of them and go BLLEEEEHANGG.  

 

Downs - the water pump is leaking, so losing coolant, heater not working properly and so on. Hopefully will just need an O-Ring, but might need new pump.

 

Clutch - not sure yet whether fixed properly or still has a problem, possibly based on old bodges to clutch mechanism. For example, mechanic wonders if the actuator rod has been heated and  bent to take up some slack, or if the cylinder pushrod been elongated?    Will get water pump sorted first, then check further.  At least the engine itself seems OK.   Needs a new air filter and maybe time for an oil filter too.

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