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Father Ted

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Fitted a 21 century stereo to The Volvo this afternoon. It's not totally 21st century, though, as it has a CD player:

 

photo_2018-08-24_02-05-32.jpg

 

Only took a minute to install (ISO connectors FTW), but will most likely take rather longer to set-up correctly. I've already got it to work with my DAB adaptor, which is good :)

Now there's someone who could do a similar job on my CX....

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I did a buy.

 

Taxi to the kerb too?

 

What spec, it looks damn tidy & even my rough old starship mileaged one is a great car.

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When I was a kid, I got in trouble for 'breaking' the indicators on my dad's Hillman Hunter. Frustrated at not being able to use the indicators while pretending to drive, I used the hazards instead. Only problem was, I hadn't quite turned them off all the way. With the switch jammed, the indicators didn't work, which took my dad quite a long time to discover. He wasn't best pleased...

 

Reminds me of the time I re-set the trip on Dad's Minx.   I had to sit there and wind it forward to 7 hundred and something.  Should have told him it was only on 43 but I think he knew roughly what it had been.....

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Master brake cylinder on knobvan shouldn't be too hard to sort.

Unfortunately its not the only thing it needs. The pump also started to leak. 

Personally I'd put a better engine in it. For the cost of pump replacement, I paid £60 from scrappy and I had to take it back coz fucked and replacement started to leak in a couple of weeks, master cylinder and a cambelt kit, needs it, for a somewhat tired engine that on 160000 has about had it, I don't think it's worth the repairs. 

Nine years ago mine was on about the the same mileage and was in the same condition so I got a better lump.

If anyone is up for taking it on I'm up for getting rid. All the welding was done by the FOAD fella and it looks tidy. Mot till next Feb/Mar, can't remember exactly. Would need trailering.

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Taxi to the kerb too?

 

What spec, it looks damn tidy & even my rough old starship mileaged one is a great car.

It's an Aero and is pretty tidy. It has an awful misfire (hoping plugs or fuel filter but probably coil cassette) and back suspension is fucked but seems pretty sweet otherwise and only 134000 miles.

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It's an Aero and is pretty tidy. It has an awful misfire (hoping plugs or fuel filter but probably coil cassette) and back suspension is fucked but seems pretty sweet otherwise and only 134000 miles.

 

Not even run in, nice.

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i take it that trabbi is one of the later ones with a polo engine?

 

hell whats not to like, they are kinda made out of glass fiber!

 

now for black ungratefull little shit heap beauty news, have got the back wheel bearings changed. , 

 

so, new rad in, wheel bearings done, engine kinda washed out, so all great yes?

 

no, no not quiet, as it is running like a bag o' crap. at low revs, like setting off, it just doesn't want to know. it stutters, coughs, splutters, like there is no power there. ticking over, fne, and running with plenty of rev's on, again fine. its the inbetweeen part that currently sucks......

 

so, we know its saggin air around the carb and that its got a weak mixture,so our next task is to get the original spec manifold and peashooter exhasut on, and get it properly tuned up. maybe then it'll drive with some vigure and vurve. and even better i'll be able to trust it somemore. we are hoping to go to Ripon Racecourse tomorrow, so its going to be Cocopop and/or Marvin. depending on how i feel.

 

ah well, not too worry!

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9 hours later, we're finally back in Oldham from Cornwall. Lovely place, bastard nightmare to get out of!

 

The duster has performed sterling service all week and despite being sat in the car park masquerading as the M6, it's done 62mpg on the way back.

 

Tomorrow's job is to try and put some electricity back in the Punto and get it to turn a wheel. Anyone have any Marelli loom smoke, I fear it's all out.

 

don't worry Magneto Marelli took over the old Lucas factory in Shaftmoor Lane so the loom smoke is compatible with the Prince of Darkness® brand smoke

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i'm wondering if the indicators and hazards on trigg's marina run through the same relay?

 

we've had no end of bother with the indicators on the black mini, no hazards on that cos its too old.... but we've had a couple of flasher relays on it,

 

the current one is working, after a fashion.... well put them on, they start flashing slow, then pick up speed!  iis like the relay needs to warm up before deciding to play nice.

 

i think many of the issues we have had with them is due to using 40-odd year old NOS flasher relays.....

 

is it dynamo?  my M reg was altenator and never did the slow indicator thing

 

try the minmetro trick- swap ign bulb for higher wattage usually 1.2w--->2w it lowers the rpm the altenator starts charging apparantly

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Bear with me, this is a long one.

 

It's been a slightly frustrating week, automotively speaking.  I came out of the house on Tuesday morning to find both the Focus and Hiace had suffered from some attention by drunken passers-by (they're both parked in the road on a quiet residential street just outside town) and as a result the Focus' driver's side mirror now looks like this:

 

post-5492-0-02365500-1535223843_thumb.jpg

 

The glass was no-where to be seen.  Both that one and the Hiace's passenger mirror were road-side, the van's had been pushed backwards and popped back into place easily enough, they'd have had to put some considerable force on it though to do that.  Alas, a few days later (I cycle to work and haven't driven either vehicle much lately) I realised they've also smashed the glass out of the driver's side mirror on the van as well.  Sigh.  Fortunately it's £3.50 for a new piece of glass, otherwise I'd have to get a whole mirror secondhand at £65+.  The Focus' was cheap enough at £20 for an entire heated electric replacement, it was a bit battered anyway.  I do hope they trod in something unpleasant on the way home.

 

To treat the Hiace, seeing as it's got a lot of mileage to do in a couple of weeks when I travel up to Scotland, I decided to finally change the brake master cylinder seals today as the pedal sinks slowly when pressed hard and they are a little mushy.  I've had the seal kit for ages so laid out a temporary work bench and got to work.  I'd already been to Wilkinsons and splashed out a whole £1 on a turkey baster for slurping out the contents of the reservoir, handy thing to have for the future but I might rinse it out before using it on the Sunday roast.  

 

post-5492-0-53699800-1535224117_thumb.jpg

 

The old seals were visibly knackered when compared to the new ones, one appeared to have flipped over.  I didn't get any 'during' shots as at this point everything I touched got brake fluid on it and frankly my phone has suffered more than enough of this sort of thing.

 

post-5492-0-16350500-1535224086_thumb.jpg

 

It all actually went very smoothly in the main, aside from a bit of hassle getting the piston out of the cylinder as it wedged itself quite well.  I can say this much - access for this job is superb, there really isn't anything in the way at all, it's even at the perfect height with no need to lean over a long engine bay. 

 

post-5492-0-08264800-1535224181_thumb.jpg

 

Someone's obviously re-flared the pipes or put a new master cylinder on in the past as it fouls the fuse box a little. 

 

post-5492-0-75344800-1535224283_thumb.jpg

 

Also, behold the electrical complexity of Toyota's finest:

 

post-5492-0-88295700-1535224359_thumb.jpg

 

All was reassembled with minimum hassle and a slight worry that this was all a bit too straightforward.  Something's not right, there's an ominous feeling of wrongness, a sense of imbalance; this can only mean one thing.  Despite this, I remained optimistic, got in the cab and pressed the brake pedal.  Zero movement, rock solid pedal, completely 100% inoperative. 

 

Ah, there it is.  Balance has been restored.  Off it comes again.

 

As it turns out, the little screw in the bottom of the master cylinder needs to be wound in with the piston depressed, otherwise if fitted whilst it's in its 'rest' position it prevents the pistons moving down the cylinder; I believe it pre-loads the springs.  Initially I had tested the operation of the new pistons on the bench prior to adding this screw, which was a mistake.  Nevertheless, I reassembled it once more and had another go.

 

This time, the pedal went straight to the floor.  Sigh...oh no, wait, this is OK!  I've obviously let a whole load of air into the system, so out comes my trusty Draper brake bleeder, which hasn't seen much use since I had my Nova back in about 2012.  It was then that I thought about bleed nipples and felt that same feeling of foreboding again.  Sure enough, the success rate was a middling 1 out of 4.  I managed to get loads of air bled out of the passenger front caliper and that now works, the driver's side rounded off almost immediately and the ones on the rear drums look hilariously scabby and I can't really reach them without jacking the van up anyway.

 

It was at this point I realised something else wasn't right, the pedal moves freely for about half an inch before it meets the piston on the master cylinder.  Sigh...possibly I've pushed the piston too far in now, so that screw presumably needs to be inserted at the right point of compression.  I have no idea how you're supposed to identify this.  Either that or the kit's wrong and the indent on the end piston is too deep...not sure.

 

At this point, I am calling it a day on this job, I've used up too much of the day on it now and the tinkering mojo can't withstand much hassle these days, it now has some semblance of brakes so I'm going to very gingerly take it over to my tame mechanic, where he can once again clean up my mess.  He'll probably smile quietly to himself and be very polite but I die a little inside any time I have the 'please can you finish this, I've run out of talent/enthusiasm/tools' conversation with him. 

 

To make myself feel better, as the ST170 has barely been used for the last few weeks I got in it to go for a late afternoon hoon.  It's caked in grime from being sat by the roadside for several days so I switched on the wash/wipe.  Screeech.  Yes...the wiper blade's slipped out of its clip and the metal end has scored a nice arced scratch over the entire wiper sweep.  Sighing quietly to myself, I put the wiper blade back together, checked that the wing mirror remains were securely attached with gaffer tape and drove off, noting that it's still hesitating around 2-3,000 RPM and the horrible gearchange is becoming properly recalcitrant.  I ended up in a pretty little village, decided to go for a wander and when I parked up, I dapped the bumper on a stone wall.

 

I've now come to the conclusion that cycling is much, much better in every respect.

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I can't wait! I really, really need a holiday. I was going to go over to Europe but I've decided to save myself £300 on ferry tickets this time and go check out the rest of this island, I've never been north of Edinburgh.

 

Any Scottish shiter gatherings happening in mid-September?

Post up a thread and I'm sure some of us can be tempted out for some scran

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passed one of these crazy flippin' things today.

 

white and very much like this on the malton road, between kirby moorside and amotherby.

 

2011-09-09_2_Carvers.jpg

 

google says this is a "carver" and is a real thing.

 

i'd sooner have a reliant......

2 of these in convoy passed me the other month going the opposite way, I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a picture of them though
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Had another look at the Marina earlier, removed the nearside headlight and tested it on the battery and it has indeed blown, fortunately I had a spare Lucas headlight in my loft that was in the back of the Civic when I bought it so popped that in and now it works fine, I also had a look at the hazard switch, one of the pin terminal wires was off and after stripping it down it looks like someones tried to fix it before as you could see the brass pins were all scratched, I gave it a clean again and now it works but I've ordered a NOS one of eBay for £9.99 anyway as I think it's still causing the indicators to work intermediately.

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I can't wait! I really, really need a holiday. I was going to go over to Europe but I've decided to save myself £300 on ferry tickets this time and go check out the rest of this island, I've never been north of Edinburgh.

 

Any Scottish shiter gatherings happening in mid-September?

I recomend getting a ferry to Mull.

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I had been hoping to take the Renner Six to Kings Lynn today, but I got up too late to get it sorted, and thinking about it, taking a 46-year-old Renault which hasn't been more than 10 miles from home since 2008 on a 60-mile run along a busy trunk road in bank holiday traffic didn't seem like the best idea.  So I ended up wafting over in the Rover 75 - still sans tunes though as the sat nav screen I ordered hasn't turned up yet.

 

My mate Anthony drove over in the MGB GT he bought off me a couple of years ago.  Again it was its first long run for a while, and it made it fine but is burning quite a lot of oil - not sure entirely how it's getting into the cylinders though as the valve stem seals have just been done and a compression test didn't seem to suggest that the rings were particularly knackered.

 

Anyway, he's done a fair bit of work to it since he bought it off me, and it now looks like this:

 

post-190-0-08190300-1535233307_thumb.jpg

 

So somewhat more respectable than when I originally bought it:

 

post-190-0-11646500-1535233589_thumb.jpg

 

(Apologies for my phone camera's inability to accurately render Sandglow.)

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