overrun Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 What's wrong, are they just rusted blobs of steel, now? Irwin Bolt Grips are your friend. Seriously, these things are ace! Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted November 22, 2016 Author Share Posted November 22, 2016 They've gone kinda organic, plus you need to take the bumper off to get at them. See blurry pic - this is inside the micro-gap between wing and bumper. The 'bolt head' on the outside is a smooth dome. I'm all for a set of Irwin bolt grips for Christmas though, they've been on my wish list for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_Q Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 That looks like a captive nut type thing, is there a bolt head on the other end of that ie behind the valance or whatever that is on the right of the picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted November 22, 2016 Author Share Posted November 22, 2016 Not an obvious one, no. That's the bumper on the right; possibly prising off the black domed head on the other side will reveal a screw or bolt head. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, it's just a symptom of how little time I'm getting to spend with the Rancho and how ineffective I am with that time. The workshop manual will help: so would handing it over to a competent professional. Now there's a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mally Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 A competent professional will require in the region of £60 an hour.That's if they will touch it at all.Stick with it a while longer. Have faith. Faker and Skizzer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outlaw118 Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Having just read this from beginning to end, I confirm that i too have a model - a Burago, but I can't remember which colour, and also confirm that U DA MAN. Tried desperately to get Fatha_Outlaw to buy one of these back in the day, but I think we ended up with a Montego instead. Which was shit. Will keep an eye out round here for orphans parked up - i'm sure there's one down here somewhere. Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 I think the post confirming the deal had been done remains the most "liked" post I've ever seen on Autoshite. Skizzer and egg 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 Work has finally begun! The esteemed Mr Braddon81, himself a serial Talbot botherer, came round to the shed this afternoon and we set about the Rancho with spanners, screwdrivers, Innotec De-Block Oil (which is like PlusGas) and (briefly) a bradawl and a dead-blow hammer. 1984 Talbot Matra Rancho by Skizzer, on Flickr You'll be pleased to learn - God knows I was - that the doors still open and shut just fine with the front on axle stands. And that the axle stands haven't gone through the floor, at least they hadn't as of about 5 o'clock this afternoon. The method for removing the bumper became obvious once we'd taken the wheels off, there's a nice big bolt. One side undid very easily; on the other side, the captive nut let go. So there's a whole load of other bolts to undo to remove the rather complicated Heath-Robinson bracketing arrangement that holds on all the various bits that turn a Simca 1100 into a macho Rancho. We're not quite there yet with the bumper - some more bolts are soaking in de-block oil - but we're out of the starting blocks at last. Further inspections haven't shown up any more rust, nor any signs of horrid historic bodgery. Long may this continue. This is the view inside the front wheel arch looking back at the footwell/bulkhead: 1984 Talbot Matra Rancho by Skizzer, on Flickr Massive thanks to Braddon81 for 1) nudging me into getting on with it and 2) doing about 80% of the work. More progress hopefully in a couple of weeks. Dick Longbridge, Vantman, scdan4 and 30 others 33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cort16 Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Are you going to go for a full strip down or just try to get it into a state fit for an mot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 I'm aiming for a useful regular driver rather than a show winner, but it's going to need a fairly thorough strip down even so. I want to rustproof it properly and it needs a full respray; the suspension will all have to come apart to get new bushes and subframe mounts so it might as well get cleaned up and painted with POR-15 while it's in bits; the interior will have to come out so it doesn't catch fire. I don't plan to take the engine out unless I have to though, or repaint the engine bay. It might get a bit of a clean up I suppose (and certainly new hoses and stuff for reliability) but I'm perfectly happy with 62,000 miles' worth of honest Schmutz under the bonnet. Magnificent Rustbucket, Junkman, oldcars and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Skiz, PM me your address pliz. I've remembered I need to send you the distributor cap that's been in the 205 for a couple of months now... Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Breadvan72 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 OMG RANCHOKAOS!!! I have only just discovered this thread, and just want to say - Skizzer and Junkman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holbeck Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Just out of interest Skizz, did you manage to get that Manual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 No, I promptly forgot all about it, because I'm hopeless like that. I should still have the contact details you gave me, I'll get on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oman5 Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Holy crap. I've only just discovered this thread. What a hero you are sir! The last one of these I ever saw belonged to a friend of my dads who ran it from new in 1981 up until 2001 when there was no good metal left underneath to weld to. The engine was on 200k and still running fine, too. Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 We did some more tinkering this afternoon. The front bumper still can't be persuaded to let go as various bolts are just turning, so we'll have to cut some slots in the domed bolts with a Dremel. I have one, but it wasn't on site. We drilled out some rivets and removed a side panel to have a look at the rust: Ok, yeah, that's definitely rust. Still, it came with an inner and outer panel that goes here and the subframe itself doesn't look too awful so there's hope. Took the upper tailgate off and started de-trimming the interior: Boot floor is all good. There's a little bit of cracking of the GRP around one hinge bolt but not much - should be a straightforward repair I hope. The metal reinforcing behind it is good. Not a big update, then, but still no new nasties. I'll take that as a victory. DeeJay, They_all_do_that_sir, holbeck and 19 others 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 I'm mightily jealous of your workshop. HillmanImp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holbeck Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 That looks promising. Hmm... Skizzer nosing ahead in the Rancho MOT race. Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 More dismantlification has occurred. More rust has been found - but actually not much more. Sideways pic because iPhone, sorry. This clearly* shows some (reasonable) patching to the rear arch, and some frilliness around the seat belt anchor point. All very fixable. Rear subframe mounts are fooked but we knew that. The floor looks good, just a wee bit of rust in one corner so far. The estimable Mr Braddon81 is going to have a chat with Aled the Welding this week to see what he reckons to it. oldcars, Junkman, Largactil and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Longbridge Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Just found this thread again - did anything happen with the Rancho, or is it back in long-term hibernation? Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy18s Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Just found this thread again - did anything happen with the Rancho, or is it back in long-term hibernation?Dammit,was hoping for an update from the Skizzmeister.... alf892, tooSavvy, DeeJay and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Soz, not been online. Bugger all has happened this year, really, as I've barely had any weekends off and what little car time I've had has been spent fiddling with the Rover (now going well), the Lancia Gamma (electrical fault continues to elude resolution), the Lotus (separate mini-update to come) and the Vauxhall (which continues to resist all attempts to get it to run properly). The interior is mostly out ready for metalwork; next job is to drill out some more bolts to get the front bumper and wings off. Then I need to book in a visit from Braddon81's mobile welder mate. Asimo, Dirk Diggler, chaseracer and 17 others 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Get some welding pictures up. I do enjoy looking at a good bit of welding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 "The lotus" looking forward to hearing more about that one! I would imagine say an early Elite would fit perfectly with the fleet. EDIT just read your signature, brilliant! Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bezzabsa Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 the more I look at the Rancho the more Disco-like it becomes - even the rear lights (as pointed out previous) are very Maestro van / discovery like.. Must admit to liking these when they were new..prob why I've owned 5 Discoveries LOL never realised they were a fibreglass body on a pick up though!! Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austat Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 How's the Rancho coming along? I've been interested in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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