colino

Couple of other bits done too.
Few bits and bobs cleaned up and primed. 
Some rust treated with the awesome hydrate 80 stuff from bilt hamber.
also refitted the hardcore tow bar. Which weighs at least 12 tons.

Actually refitted parts! And broke out the filler and sander. Progress in the air.

Still going on the crispy wonder.
part way through welding my patchwork outer arch on.
Where there is no weld in the pic here, basically needed to be cut out. This was all done in small sections to avoid distortion.
tacked and ground back, These tacks were filled in to create a seam weld.
The black dust is a guide coat, I was checking the levels.
The lower bit welded on, with a skim of p40 across the welds. This should reduce the amount of filler later.
arch welded and skimmed with p40.
Inside view, there’s a nice gap between inner and outer arch here, so I can get some wax in later.

 
filler time. Hadn’t used filler for about three years! Took ages to set in the cold.

then started on the other side.passenger side arch looks better than the other. It’s a very low bar, granted.

Quick update, in lieu of access to a laptop and plus I'm frozen with the f**king cold.
Jack's on axle stands now, I've taken the new subframe and put it underneath, looking to see if it fits. It's looking good!
I've removed one bolt, attaching the wishbone to the subframe on the passenger side. My brand new DeWalt 950nm unga dunga got that off no bother, but has stopped dead with the driver side. It's too cold and wet to do any more tonight, so I will be at it tomorrow.
Very happy so far though. Autodoc parts turned up Thursday (as can be seen on the Autodoc delivery thread), need to buy two bushes for the wishbones though as I'd like to change them given I'll have it all apart.
Huzzar!

I know Hoovie and the mechanic go back a long way, but someone who takes a hole saw to a Lambo because he didn't check over a very expensive, second hand part out of a crashed car,  cannot diagnose a misfire because the car didn't have a diagnostic port and hates the complexity and poor quality of BMWs but loves modern Land Rovers really isn't a, "mechanic" you can take seriously. 

I know Hoovie and the mechanic go back a long way, but someone who takes a hole saw to a Lambo because he didn't check over a very expensive, second hand part out of a crashed car,  cannot diagnose a misfire because the car didn't have a diagnostic port and hates the complexity and poor quality of BMWs but loves modern Land Rovers really isn't a, "mechanic" you can take seriously. 

I would use standard mild steel studs and nuts.  Introducing stainless steel between mild steel and cast iron, no matter how much of your favoured anti seize compound you use, will gall up and leave you in a similar situation in the future. 

I've been a bit slow in picking up on this, but I don't think it's been mentioned here before, so will give it a share anyways.
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/humber-car-collection-allan-marshall-4379039
A rather  story about the world's biggest collection of Humbers having been removed and put up for sale. 

I've done quite a bit more work since the last update.  Over the past year or so since I painted it I've spent a lot of time with the car and got to know every defect no matter how small.
Something I decided to do a while back was repaint both quarter panels when I had the opportunity.  When I painted the car originally I had never done anything like it before.  As a result my filler work was basic and only focused on areas I could see or feel.
The results of that method are missing ripples and shallow dents.  Once the paint goes all of them show up when you look down the side of the car.
Now with more experience, the right tools, products and method I set to redoing the rear quarters.  I rubbed them down with a long block which shows up all the highs and lows.  Applied a skim of filler to the entire panel and then blocked it down.  It's much more involved than that but you get the idea.  I found lots of issues and worked hard over the course of 4 days to get them right.

Primed the panels and blocked that back to prepare for paint.  About two days to prime, prepare and paint.  Much happier with it now.


It won't look all that different in pictures but it really has made a massive improvement to the car.
With that difficult and daunting task complete I flat and polished the panels to remove the orange peel.  Then put everything back together, about a days work.

Back on track I continued adding the final few parts.  This is a factory under tray, not often seen in the UK but was an option on these cars.

Cleaned up the jack and spare wheel hardware.

Made and fitted the last bit of trim for the boot.  This covers a void between the quarter panel and boot floor.  It's originally filled with foam but I've left that out as it causes rust in the wheel arches.
 
Finally I flat and polished the sills and ordered some new tyres.

Very close now, perhaps another 8 hours of work and the car should be finished.

Quick update on this, not a lot is happening TBH mainly due to abysmal weather and also all my spare time is being used up renovating the bathroom in my house. Thats nearly finished though thankfully.
One bit of actual news is that the truck is now back on its wheels, sitting on springs that give more or less the right ride height.
I took the 'new' springs to Midland Motor springs in Notts and asked them to increase the camber from 3.5" to 5.5". They did that, charging me £150 for the job.  I then brought the springs home and waited till @cobblers was really desperate for his axle stands back, before I fitted em in the pissing rain, almost squashing my leg to f*** under the axle while i was on. To my huge relief they look much more like it, a decent few inches of clearance between the tyre and the arch, and some decent curvature remaining in the springs under static load. I've still got quite a lot of bongo car mags in the back as well although I have got rid of about half of the full stash so far.
Then in the best news of the whole friggin story, my credit card dispute was concluded in my favour and I got the full £400 refunded onto my credit card last night! So fucking chew on that Owen Springs!!!!
Anyway I'm gonna spend some of that on a few new door seals & other bits from Rock Auto, plus a couple of new rear axle bump stops and valve extensions & whatnot. Still have to change the screen too, I am gonna call in an offer of help from @Ian_Fearn on that if we ever get out of friggin lockdown. Cheers!
 

So, the car was thrown back together over Wednesday and Thursday morning, I got the train over on Thursday so I could drive the car to the MOT station and then take the Saab to work.
Behold the winter wonderland and natural beauty of Central Scotland:


Naturally things didn't go entirely to plan. The handbrake cables are slack as buggery and even at max adjust aren't great, the auto adjusting drums also weren't keen on auto adjusting, or indeed adjusting reliably at all. 
We also noticed a nut was missing for the rear suspension arm for the passenger side was missing. It must have been removed to facilitate moving suspension component during the rust repair and naturally we couldn't find the nut. Indeed, the only thing we found that'd fit was a wheel nut, so that was deployed a temp measure.
The world's most convoluted (5 fucking hoses to multiple pipes) fuel tank breather system was re-attached.
Fuck it, need to go now or I'll be late for work. About a mile down the road it was fairly obvious something wasn't right, the car wouldn't pull at anything under 3,000rpm, spluttering and misfiring like a bastard. Above that, smooth as silk.
Well, it's a Honda engine so that still left 4,000rpms to play with. Upped my gear change target from 3k to 4.5k and hit the motorway hoping a long blast would clear it's throat a bit.
Ran well once up to speed, bombing along at 70mph. The steering feels heavy/tight as fuck after having PAS for the last few months, took a while to re-adjust.
Coming up to my exit slip road on the M8 heading towards the Clyde Tunnel I ease of the throttle and go for the brake to give a lorry some space and the brake pedal goes straight to the floor and nothing happens.

Yes, complete brake failure. For the second time for this fucking car.
Thankfully the sliproad is long as fuck, has a hard shoulder and the handbrake was functional enough to stop me.

Went underneath and couldn't find much wrong aside from a brake pipe rubbing against the rear axle strut thing. This pipe felt quite hot to the touch when I bent it back to where it should have been. My first thought was that friction from it rubbing had heated it up, but I think it's more likely the drum on that side is binding and had boiled the brake fluid. The reservoir still had plenty left in it and after a few mins of me lying underneath the car the brakes pumped back into life.
I gingerly drove the car the 2 miles home. OG plan was to go straight to the MOT centre, which is about half a mile up the road from my flat, but I figured I'd try and sort some bits out last minute Friday morning and then drop it off.
I then dashed out to work, came home 9 hours later to find the passenger door hadn't closed quite right and the interior light had been on forever.

The car is currently running the Dolomite's battery which thankfully has plenty of life in it having been regularly charged.
This morning I slept in, typical. Dashed out and hoovered out the interior 'cause it was bogging and emptied all my shit out of the thing, then put the rear seats back in.


BRAEV SOLJER

Then went to my local hardware store to find a more appropriate nut for the rear suspension. They didn't stock M14, joy. Drove to B&Q, their hardware section was in the usual state of disarray. I eventually found an torn open bag of M14 nuts with two left in it. Anyway I don't know what happened after that but I found one in my pocket later on, guess it was there the whole time.
Anyway, it didn't fit. Wrong thread, looks to be slightly thicker. Fuck it. Wheel nut back on, drove to MOT place, was gonna' say "look, find something that fits this and chuck it on pls" but no need 'cause their computer had died to death and they wouldn't be doing MOTs until *insert future date here*
Naturally. Sod it. Gives me more time to find out what the fuck is going on with the brakes and to find a more appropriate nut for the suspension arm.
Oh, the car is now utterly filthy too and I can't really wash it 'cause the paint is still soft (we're hoping some UV exposure will sort it out). I see why these came with front and back mudflaps as standard now!



To-do list is something like this:
Replace suspension nut
Change numberplate light
Reattach front upper bumper trim
Reattach missing wing rubbing strip
Refit various interior plastics I cunningly left at the workshop
Service and re-balance carbs (suspect a pilot jet has some shit in it)
Adjust rear drums
Tweak door hinges for better panel gaps
Replace bumpers
Mega clean inside and out
Hoping to get some of the more MOT critical stuff done this afternoon...

Thank fuck the weather has remained ideal for finishing this thing and not a mixture of rain, snow and freezing fog....
Oh wait.

Now back to functioning as An Car, just needs some fuel hoses for the tank breather system and the handbrake adjusting before work tomorrow and I can drive it to the MOT station.
There is still a bit to do, interior and trim needs a massive clean and fitting, a few panel gaps need tweaking, wheels need painting and the FUBAR bumpers replaced but the big stuff is hopefully done...

It has been a while since I posted about the Santa-Fe so here is a quick update.

It's been running fine and providing reliable and cheap motoring. Admittedly the mileage this year will be low due to COVID and all of that but she's doing everything that I'm asking her to do.
If fitted some 'Event' ML698 off road tyres as they were an ebay bargain along with another set of wheels. The tyres are noisy but then do grip well in the soft stuff.

I've also had a towbar fitted. I actually paid a man to do it as the car doesn't really owe me any money and I've supported a local business too. Its an excellent tow car with the 2.7V6 and auto 'box provided that you don't set the trip computer to MPG
The only problem that I have had is that the digital clock on the dashboard has stopped working. I guess that they don't make cars like the used to 🤣

👍👍👍 My Disco shot thru with no advisories,when I got a quid I'm defo gonna grab a lottery ticket!😃

Yes it's true, other than smelling of diesel, the Merc is in fact sorted once again, and I'm pleased to report the auto box has emerged unscathed from it's trip behind the van (that'll be for sale soon too if anyone fancies a slightly down at heel Peugeot Expert Hdi) 

"So, how did you have a nice evening?" 

 
Why yes actually... 
VID_20210112_185900.mp4

Progress achieved:
Broke out the welder and grinder and got a good four hours in today.
- repaired n/s/r body mount
- repaired nearside rear boot floor, and the lower 4 inches of the inner arch. 
 
I reckon there’s about another 6 hours in the rear arch this side to do. Then it’s the floor, sills and inner sills. Before the same the other side! One step at a time, eh?
Will update with pictures.

Not my style, ordered another one from Merc (after an attempt and fitting a new end to the hard pipe failed). 
Another fifty odd quid in. 

Luckily not too far from base, so we gave it a tug with my dad's van. 
I shall have it apart again tomorrow I suppose for an autopsy. 

Could be a MOT testers tic.  Mine will say some nonsense about panels fitted obscuring view if there's nothing else to write down on a straight pass.

Whilst outside and freezing my conkers off, I've reattached the door card, replaced the window switches and stuck the speaker grille back on. 
I also fixed the loose kick trim. 
 
There's still a decent pile of random screws though... 
 

Well, in the freezing temperatures of a Lincolnshire morning, I did attempt to re-introduce the pump to the engine. 
It's quite fiddly to realign the drive plate in the cam, but eventually I managed it. 

I had to utilise a bojing strap for the plastic lines as the original clips broke. This just keeps them away from the aux drive belt (which probably needs immediate replacement due to having a wd40 like substance on it 🤔) 
I also replaced this little expensive bastard breather £7 for a lump of plastic. 
 
 

But does she run? 
 

VID_20210107_100714.mp4 That'll do for now!
 

Well today, in preparation for going back to work next week, I thought I'd have a look at this. 
Somewhat jealous of the attention thoigh, coupled with the fact I'd been looking at petrol turbo models, my V70 decided to have an electrical shit fit, causing the heater vents to smoke and filing the car with acrid plastic burning. 
I quickly switch the car off and found there to be no actual fire, but when switched back on I had nothing working on the dash except the cig lighter and stereo. Fuck. 
I got the car home and had a quick google; a decade ago some damned Yankee had the same issue on a similar aged A60, and he'd found as did I, fuse 24 blown. 
Replaced that and the car behaves perfectly again save for the SRS fault you get when the clocks have died. I don't like that sort of issue. 
Anyhow we didn't come to the Murcedes thread to talk about Volvos, did we? 
No.
So my last post was me lamenting the incontinence of the HP fuel pump. 
So this afternoon I set to it armed only with a Halfords 170 kit and a few flat screwdrivers. 

Thankfully the pump was extracted without breaking any of the pipes, and just before it began pissing it down. 
Leaving a hole like this... 

And a grufty handful of Bosch pump... 

 
Firstly find a clean* work space... 
I bought a pump rebuild kit from http://www.x8r.co.uk/ and followed their video during the rebuild. 
Under the first cylinder head, it looked properly rough, you know sometimes your doing things and wonder if your car will ever run again? Yeah. 

I used the Dave21478 method to clean up the heads and a scraper and wet and dry on the body to tidy it all up. 
Properly. Fucking. Rough. 

Not too many pictures as by this point I'm covered in diesel and just want the job over with. 
At locking up time, the bench looked like this;

The pump is back in one piece, and I just hope that I have got it all together properly. 

 
Cunt. 

@Motown that’s no bother mate. Was a pleasure to meet you and am pleased I got the chance to throw my limited skills into the ring to get this back on the road.
Regarding the more serious rot in the passenger side roof line, I was thinking...... If you can get this back on the road with an MOT, once my wife has been vaccinated and Covid is a bit calmer, why don’t you bring it down to Derby for a long day? I’ll show you how I would go about the repair, give you some welding practice and we can work together to get that area sorted. 

Huge thanks to @Ian_Fearn who came out to weld the holes in the windscreen aperture today.
Despite the bitterly cold weather and the metalwork being stupidly thin it didn't phase him one bit.  Ian has done an amazing job and given the car a bigger chance of survival. 
Thank you again kind sir your a truly a legend amongst us!

 

***UPDATE***
I managed to get my hands on a new pump today so i removed the knackered old pump from the car and decided to follow the advice of  @Isaac Hunt  making one functioning pump from the two broken ones i have. The V6 pump which was used for testing before failing is on the left and the original pump from the car is on the right. 

 
Taking the pump apart was alot simpler than i had imagined after removing the three electrical connections then the pump mechanism i blew air through the pipes to clear any debris.
 

 
I then added a tiny amount of fuel to the new pump mechanism and tidied up the rest of the pump the best i could before reassembling everything

 
I was doubtful to whether it would work or not as this was my first attempt at refurbishing a fuel pump however the car is now running again 
More to come soon. All the best 👍