J4mes

Right on time, My contact from the east arrived. We met near the (Devon and cornwall) border. I greeted Arek and, looking to my left and right under the dim streetlamps, handed him a brown Envelope. My comrade then unloaded the goods and we parted........
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

So I robbed the plugs and HT leads off the Panda and spent a while fannying about swapping stuff back and forth which made it run better with all four sparking properly but still really shitty overall.
I spent a while prodding at it and sulking, then decided to do a compression test because why the fuck not?
results....13 bar, 13 bar, 13 bar, zero....wait, what? try that again.....
Yeah 13 bar for the first three but number four not even giving the faintest puff. WTF?
 
If you watch the rebuild video above at 1/4 speed, at 22 seconds or so, you can see what went wrong. As I tightened down the rocker shaft the rocker closest to the camera doesnt drop into the cup on the end of the pushrod, it somehow balances right on the edge of the cup so the valve was being held slightly open all the time.
 
I lifted the rocker cover, slackened the four nuts on the shaft and it popped into place...tightened up and refitted the cover and it fired right up and is running well. I got it plenty hot and did a couple of oil changes after 15 minutes of running between each with cheapo oil to flush out the coffee clag, then did a final change with a new filter.
 
 
 
And thats about it for now. Its been parked up round the back of the garage until I get the motivation to swap the engine into the panda. I thought about saving this wee cinq, but just dont give enough of a shit TBQFH. If i keep it, I need to register it, which means I need to insure it....etc etc....Im spunking out enough money on cars I never drive as it is without another one.
Grim photo. Grim cars. Grim mood. Grim weather.

 
Amusingly, it reversed right into there first try. Getting the Freelander into the same space required shifting the Metro and Panda and still took about 15 back n forths to get round the corner post.
 

Onto the Alfa, head is almost fully rebuilt, had to order the correct Locktite for the new variator, its arrived now so will try get that done tonight, then its hope for a warm day to try and get things back to together!
 
20171105_142332 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
New variator:
20171105_142452 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Correct tool:
20171105_142614 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
New waterpump:
20171105_142628 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Cam lock tool:
20171105_142336 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Also did a bit of 'weight reduction' on the Corolla:
20170820_203544 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170820_212244 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
About 5-6kg removed from both sides, which isn't bad, it had to come out on the drivers side anyway for a rust repair as someone had used the floor pan as a jacking point in the past.
 
Accord could do with a wash mind:
20180119_115723 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Being as you don't need to pull the engine out of the Cinq to fix it then there is some sense in running it for a few hundred KM to check it's OK after you've fixed the gasket.   That way you can find out that the car crabs slightly, gives you a bad back after 20 miles and catches fire when you operate the heater and indicator at the same time.
 
If it doesn't do those things then find another engine, preferably a Punto engine like Dirk suggested.

Put the cinq engine in the Panda and buy a cheap 1.2 out of a MK1/2 punto for the cinq; I drove one about 10 years back that somebody had with that engine and it was a lovely little thing

Yeah so I'm not the best at keeping things up to date, the whole Photobucket thing killed most of my threads across the forums, and my enthusiasm suffered. But I'm back now with Flickr, which I'm still trying to work out..
 
Anyway on to the cars!
 
Puncture on the Accord (1st one ever!) killed a Goodyear Eagle F1 with 5mm left, was not happy. I was even less happy when my tyre man couldn't get hold of Assymetric's only A 3's, which meant 2 new tyres.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Don't bother with the Assymetric 3's as they're shite, worse in every possible way. Time to find a new fave tyre I think!
 
Had a day off so decided to hit the Accord pretty hard.
20170817_114841 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Sheared bolt in drivers side strut 'fork' was nice and 'safe!'
20170910_124303 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Good job I'd spotted it and blasted and painted a spare.
20170910_124301 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Bottom balljoint was an absolute slag! But got there in the end.
20170910_113614 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_115236 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Top wishbone was nice and simple, balljoint was ok, but I had one in stock so it got chucked in.
20170910_124839 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
All back together:
20170910_151658 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_151653 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 

I've also been make a few extra quid when work is quiet and I'm stuck in the workshop. Been buying, blasting and rebuilding Accord Type R calipers, then flogging them on. It's starting to get really hard to find places with them in stock so its a bit of a 'gap in the market' type thing. They're a really popular upgrade for other Honda's so the market is quite big.
Thinking of expanding into other brands, any ideas what's in demand?
 
20171128_101046 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20180102_152204 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Managed to do this in December:
20171128_150203 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Reversed into my own house, late night, pissing rain, steamed up car and screaming child were my excuse!
Luckily only smashed the light and grazed the bumper, but that already had a crack in it.
Light has been replaced, but really struggling to find a bumper locally, even standard Accord bumpers without the lip. The search continues..

The Toledo keeps on doing what it does, just about to click over 230k miles (170k odd on clocks but its had replacements).
 
All it needed for the MOT was a rear shock.
20170902_112828 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Click and collected from ECP and fitted in an hour, and back in for test. £38 for another ticket is good value in my eyes. Although I've been experiencing some funny electrical gremlins which are starting to wind me up!
 
The dash lights sometimes stay lit, even when the car is locked up (they'd usually go out). Completely intermittent problem so I investigated the clocks and headlight switch but can see nothing untoward.
20171010_194957 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20171010_200836 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Needless to say, I've ignored it and it still comes and goes!
 
Hopefully related to the above its got a failed indicator stalk which has resulted in the headlight dipped beams being out and a clicking hazard relay. I've got a replacement (£22!) on its way, hopefully solve everything!

Yeah so I'm not the best at keeping things up to date, the whole Photobucket thing killed most of my threads across the forums, and my enthusiasm suffered. But I'm back now with Flickr, which I'm still trying to work out..
 
Anyway on to the cars!
 
Puncture on the Accord (1st one ever!) killed a Goodyear Eagle F1 with 5mm left, was not happy. I was even less happy when my tyre man couldn't get hold of Assymetric's only A 3's, which meant 2 new tyres.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Don't bother with the Assymetric 3's as they're shite, worse in every possible way. Time to find a new fave tyre I think!
 
Had a day off so decided to hit the Accord pretty hard.
20170817_114841 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Sheared bolt in drivers side strut 'fork' was nice and 'safe!'
20170910_124303 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Good job I'd spotted it and blasted and painted a spare.
20170910_124301 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Bottom balljoint was an absolute slag! But got there in the end.
20170910_113614 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_115236 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Top wishbone was nice and simple, balljoint was ok, but I had one in stock so it got chucked in.
20170910_124839 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
All back together:
20170910_151658 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_151653 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 

Quiet day at work today so made a start on polishing the manifold.
Under halfway through:

Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Bit more done:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Still got a few more bits to do, especially on the flange, then needs a proper polish with a mop and autosol.

So decided to change my front engine mount for a Vtec Direct solid mount. Supposed to be a good upgrade, plus mine felt pretty shagged.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Original at the rear, VD one at the front.

Nice and easy to get to, had to take both fan shrouds off, but to get one shifted I had to undo the top rad hose, like so:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

As suspected the old one was borked, I could feel it on gear changes and engine breaking when 'going for it.'Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr


All buttoned up, was a nice satisfying job.Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr


Next up thought I'd wang some new plugs in. The proper recommended NGK ones @ £38 for the 4.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
(Photo for part no.)

Took all the old plugs out, they were NGK but not the correct ones. They were also soaked with oil, so that'll; a)explain my slightly increased oil usage, b)be the spark plug gasket seals that I replaced last year being shite. They're BGA ones rather than the recommended OEM ones so it's my fault as I thought I knew better..ah well I'll order up a gasket set @ £50 odd!

On a final note, this happened:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr


Well happy as I'm usually on top of the maintenance but I'd been slightly neglecting it since it had been hit- anyway the motivation is back now!!

Started doing my pre-MOT checks on the Accord last night.
Up on axle stands, all bushes/boots look fine. I might as well take out the arch liners, clean out any muck, might as well clean the K&N Typhoon while I'm there (filter is below headlight and behind arch liner/undertray).

Greeted with this after removal of intake pipe and arch liner:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Get the fuck outa here!

After cleaning it back to fresh metal:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Not too big then!!!

This bit looked a bit sus (bulkhead):
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

After some hot angry grinder/cutting disc action:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

FUCK me it's getting scrapped, this was immaculate 2 years ago. I made sure as they all go here.

So I stop kicking off with it, decide not to buy another car and man the fuck up, half day from work acquired this afternoon, let battle commenced.

Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Not my best welding, I could barely see naff all due location, should have took the front wing off. It's got good pen and it's solid.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

That's loads better, upped the wire speed and had loads better access.

Zinc primered and seam sealed:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Two coats of poundland satin black and two coats of shultz later:


Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

From inside the bay:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr


That'll do pig, that'll do.

Yeah so I'm not the best at keeping things up to date, the whole Photobucket thing killed most of my threads across the forums, and my enthusiasm suffered. But I'm back now with Flickr, which I'm still trying to work out..
 
Anyway on to the cars!
 
Puncture on the Accord (1st one ever!) killed a Goodyear Eagle F1 with 5mm left, was not happy. I was even less happy when my tyre man couldn't get hold of Assymetric's only A 3's, which meant 2 new tyres.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Don't bother with the Assymetric 3's as they're shite, worse in every possible way. Time to find a new fave tyre I think!
 
Had a day off so decided to hit the Accord pretty hard.
20170817_114841 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Sheared bolt in drivers side strut 'fork' was nice and 'safe!'
20170910_124303 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Good job I'd spotted it and blasted and painted a spare.
20170910_124301 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Bottom balljoint was an absolute slag! But got there in the end.
20170910_113614 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_115236 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Top wishbone was nice and simple, balljoint was ok, but I had one in stock so it got chucked in.
20170910_124839 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
All back together:
20170910_151658 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_151653 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 

Started doing my pre-MOT checks on the Accord last night.
Up on axle stands, all bushes/boots look fine. I might as well take out the arch liners, clean out any muck, might as well clean the K&N Typhoon while I'm there (filter is below headlight and behind arch liner/undertray).

Greeted with this after removal of intake pipe and arch liner:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Get the fuck outa here!

After cleaning it back to fresh metal:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Not too big then!!!

This bit looked a bit sus (bulkhead):
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

After some hot angry grinder/cutting disc action:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

FUCK me it's getting scrapped, this was immaculate 2 years ago. I made sure as they all go here.

So I stop kicking off with it, decide not to buy another car and man the fuck up, half day from work acquired this afternoon, let battle commenced.

Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Not my best welding, I could barely see naff all due location, should have took the front wing off. It's got good pen and it's solid.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

That's loads better, upped the wire speed and had loads better access.

Zinc primered and seam sealed:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Two coats of poundland satin black and two coats of shultz later:


Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

From inside the bay:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr


That'll do pig, that'll do.

Few other bits and pieces...

New wheels for the Corolla:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

VTEC Direct stainless 4-2-1 manifold for Accord:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Needs a new flexi welding in and a decent polish. I've already stripped the wrap off which was a fun job.

Also Tein rear strutbrace, again for the Accord, supposed to be a good improvement..
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

I've also been on a major weldathon on the Corolla, but I'll save that for another update. I need to get the Alfa's head back together as I've had it back from the machine shop for about a month..

Picture the scene last friday night, Mrs singing at a charity gig, daughter in bed, 1st beer in hand.
Then you get a call from the bird and a pic saying my car (errr mine actually pet!) is f×%cked.
 


That'll be the sump f÷##ked then! She smacked it on the 5" curb in the background.

Saturday morning comes, head down the local scrappy as they've got a few VAG diesels in. ID a Toledo, same engine code, rip the sump off, fugging £40! I was desperate so had to stomach it, click and collect some gasket sealant and 5litres of oil from ecp (57% discount), load up tools and head down, secretly hoping the traveller kin that were camped next to the car had managed to disappear or torch the thing!

Long story short the sump I bought doesn't have the oil level sensor hole cut out. So I wanged a load of out of date chemical metal on it and banged the oil in.
 

Fast forward to last night and I've got the right sump-ebaytastic £25!!!![
 

 
When in Romania and all that.
 

 
Yep downpipe was fugged in all kinds of ways, replacement is stainless decat number because racecar or maybe because it was £65 delivered and a pattern one (with cat) was £100+.

Anyway after a few hours crawling around its all sorted. Oh and might put the undertray back on for more protections.

Yeah so I'm not the best at keeping things up to date, the whole Photobucket thing killed most of my threads across the forums, and my enthusiasm suffered. But I'm back now with Flickr, which I'm still trying to work out..
 
Anyway on to the cars!
 
Puncture on the Accord (1st one ever!) killed a Goodyear Eagle F1 with 5mm left, was not happy. I was even less happy when my tyre man couldn't get hold of Assymetric's only A 3's, which meant 2 new tyres.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Don't bother with the Assymetric 3's as they're shite, worse in every possible way. Time to find a new fave tyre I think!
 
Had a day off so decided to hit the Accord pretty hard.
20170817_114841 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Sheared bolt in drivers side strut 'fork' was nice and 'safe!'
20170910_124303 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Good job I'd spotted it and blasted and painted a spare.
20170910_124301 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Bottom balljoint was an absolute slag! But got there in the end.
20170910_113614 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_115236 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Top wishbone was nice and simple, balljoint was ok, but I had one in stock so it got chucked in.
20170910_124839 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
All back together:
20170910_151658 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_151653 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 

Yeah so I'm not the best at keeping things up to date, the whole Photobucket thing killed most of my threads across the forums, and my enthusiasm suffered. But I'm back now with Flickr, which I'm still trying to work out..
 
Anyway on to the cars!
 
Puncture on the Accord (1st one ever!) killed a Goodyear Eagle F1 with 5mm left, was not happy. I was even less happy when my tyre man couldn't get hold of Assymetric's only A 3's, which meant 2 new tyres.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Don't bother with the Assymetric 3's as they're shite, worse in every possible way. Time to find a new fave tyre I think!
 
Had a day off so decided to hit the Accord pretty hard.
20170817_114841 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Sheared bolt in drivers side strut 'fork' was nice and 'safe!'
20170910_124303 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Good job I'd spotted it and blasted and painted a spare.
20170910_124301 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Bottom balljoint was an absolute slag! But got there in the end.
20170910_113614 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_115236 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Top wishbone was nice and simple, balljoint was ok, but I had one in stock so it got chucked in.
20170910_124839 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
All back together:
20170910_151658 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
20170910_151653 by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 

Started doing my pre-MOT checks on the Accord last night.
Up on axle stands, all bushes/boots look fine. I might as well take out the arch liners, clean out any muck, might as well clean the K&N Typhoon while I'm there (filter is below headlight and behind arch liner/undertray).

Greeted with this after removal of intake pipe and arch liner:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Get the fuck outa here!

After cleaning it back to fresh metal:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Not too big then!!!

This bit looked a bit sus (bulkhead):
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

After some hot angry grinder/cutting disc action:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

FUCK me it's getting scrapped, this was immaculate 2 years ago. I made sure as they all go here.

So I stop kicking off with it, decide not to buy another car and man the fuck up, half day from work acquired this afternoon, let battle commenced.

Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
Not my best welding, I could barely see naff all due location, should have took the front wing off. It's got good pen and it's solid.
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

That's loads better, upped the wire speed and had loads better access.

Zinc primered and seam sealed:
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

Two coats of poundland satin black and two coats of shultz later:


Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr
 
Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr

From inside the bay:Various Cars by jgreenefc4eva, on Flickr


That'll do pig, that'll do.

own brand clutch plates, for me the quote didnt include pressure plate nor release bearing. 
 
they seem to get good reviews

Its nice and clean - these problems started with the idle getting higher and higher so I cleaned and then replaced the IACV with a spare I had in the garage. That problem turned out to be the ECU holding the valve fully open.
 
There can't be anything left to change if I've not cured the idle problem...

I think normal car body wax is what a lot of people use to protect refurbed lenses. I did on the Honda. Haven't been very good at refreshing it though, and one side is looking a little tired after over a year.

More work done on the Oxford, including cutting big chunks out it..
 
Scary times!
 

 
https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/oxford-bodywork-begins/

It has worked.
 
Before
 

After
 

 
Reinstalled

 
Might need to do the rears as they have the same issue.
 

They have little hoses at the bottom I think for that reason. Not sure how well they work mind