Dirk Diggler

She's a thirsty beast so a quick drink for her and a visit to the chippy for us before we turn tail and head back to the People's Republic of Lincolnshire. 

You're not wrong, but she has enjoyed a trip on the train.
Collection has been achieved - it's a cheap old bus but there is plenty of work to be done so , it needed to be really.

Growing up there was one of these down my street. a 1.3 GL 4 door. Aged 10 you could keep your ferraris etc, what i really wanted was one of these. I absolutely loved them.
Back then they were cheap first cars (around 1990) couple of hundred quid and scrap it when the mot was up. That is assuming it hadnt dissolved already, or been crashed.
Then a strange thing happened. They vanished overnight and then slowly they started getting expensive. By the time i started driving they were not mega expensive, but just hard to find.
My route to a mk2 escort was avoid 2 door (££££££) avoid uk RHD (££££££ plus most heavily welded or rotten)
So here we have a solid LHD import 1.3GL which is being delivered next week…

 



 

 

 

 

For aslong as I can remember I've wanted to be directing my own path in business but never had the actual confidence to overcome huge self doubt and fears of failure, in 2021 when I nearly met with my mortality thanks to covid I remember hating that I'd played things safe as houses like a boring nobody and literally despite continued health maladies I feel that I've got a second run up at life , so I'm starting from nothing at 35 and want to get pushing forward with what is abit of a dream for me .
So basically my sister and I have teamed up to create a new garage/engineering works of which provides the usual bread and butter garage services and also more specialised work less commonly found like large manual machining capability and welding.
We're looking to stock up on a range of common classic parts too so that we can take on most project work without waiting on parts turning up in ebay etc albeit limited space prevents stocking a vast amount.
So far over the last 8 months !

Obligatory huge lathe brought back somewhat inappropriately 


Company car brought down , inappropriately 

Lathe electrical rebuild done because it was dangerous as hell, 415 through the soaked push buttons etc ,,horrible ! Once cleaned and generally setup it's been put to work straight away!

 
this s100 k series swap was quite aquite to drive, getting one to fit the earlier car isn't bolt in like with the estelle and rapid !

Cambelt snappage job on an iveco 2.3, lots of new valves and lapping required!

loads of work done, and loads more hopefully to come ! 

Now this is nice, will I keep it longer than a week? Who knows...

Yeah, it's a 535i manual, seller mot'd it for me last week.
I've not had a chance to use it yet but will probably have a go tomorrow.

Nice!

€1080 last year, 1100 odd this year; 2.4 litre d5 2002 V70; €750 for insurance because it's deemed old, limited choice of company's for renewal (Ireland)
 

It’s going to the NEC, welding not yet started……so like a pair of drunken teenagers who have just found a grinder, we set to work! It’s just been cut and inch away from where the spot welds are (which will need time to unpick), so very much more for getting people’s attention.
in theory, proper welding starts next week.

I'm calling it a day.  Not making ends meet any more, unfortunately.  I did send a message out to all my clients, including many on here that have used me regularly and/or recently - apologies if I missed anyone.  I'll still be on the forum (mostly lurking) and haven't discounted making a comeback at some point, but I just don't know yet - all the balls are very much up in the air at present.

Some progress ! Got a new old stock carb from Italy . They are different from 104s and sambas which is a pain in the ass . 
Just given the engine a good jet wash off and ran it back up to dry it out .
Ive booked a few days on it in March to undo dad’s bodges and hopefully get it mot ready . 

 

18th - 22nd
*SIGH*
Shall we get into it?
One

Two

Three

Annoyingly, there is a bracket at the front that I use to lift the car a bit before I can get a jack up in the proper place. This bit me on the arse rather spectacularly, as the spot welds in an adjacent area let go, and the bracket folded in half. That'll need some remedial work.
First thig I did was check the rear of the engine. Didn't like what I saw, those are coolant crystals, so the head gasket has probably deteriorated to the point where it requires replacement.

Found no shortage of rotty, grotty bits that require attention.
Some that can get away with a stiff wire brush and reprotection - 

And some that can't.

All in all, there are several repairs needed, but a lot of areas will recover nicely with a good wirebrush and reprotect. Also found a perished LHM strut return line, so one is on order.
Whilst not bothered with cameras etc, the fuel lines were rigged to a jerry can for a test run of the engine, which highlighted several issues, namely thin, fuel-smelling oil (probably a byproduct of short running times with choke, changing the oil may actually help with the engine smoking issue too) and the temperature gauge not reading a temperature, despite the heaters being toasty.
The top rad hose was stone cold which is pointing at the thermostat being stuck, which would explain the brief forays into overheating when it was on the road.
The following morning, I whipped off a very old thermostat. In fact, this may even be the original one.

Popped it in a pan and set it to boil:

I ended up taking it to 99c and it didn't open so that's an easy win, it was very stiff and notchy to operate so a Gates thermostat has been ordered to replace it.
The OSF area seemed like a good place to start, so the LHM sphere was removed, the VIN plate rivets drilled out, and the LHM tank removed. This was due a fresh change of LHM so it make sense to clean the tank out properly.

First repair up - an almost insignificant panel covering a cavity. 
Chopped.

Measured:

Welded:

Primed:

Annoyed with myself afterwards because I chose to do a straight edge instead of curving it - doesn't make a real difference in the grand scheme of things though.
Next bit was chopping out a rotten section of arch and adjoining vertical section - you can see the tiny holes peppering through the metalwork!


To do a curved panel with a lip was a bit of a challenge, but I think I've cracked it:

This was then bent into shape and the lines re-welded.
The vertical section had a curved lip and I wanted to see if it could be recreated with my limited tooling.

Turns out it could!
Quick test fit to make sure it all goes together okay:

And I'll look to weld that in tomorrow.
And that me all caught up! Cheers if you made it this far
I've got loads of parts coming via the post so hopefully, I'll be making more significant steps forward in short order.

17th (On its own because it was a busy day)
Remember all that lovely work I did the day before? Fitted the tank, and height corrector rod?


Well, it was all for nowt, because the tank had to come out AGAIN, as I forgot to connect the tank vent line. Superstar.

Luckily, it is now a one-man job!
With that back in, it was time to crack on with the rebuild of the rear end. Starting with the fuel filler pipe:

And the exhaust, rear lights and rear bumper. The rear lights were tested for correct operation and found to be fine, although the brake light switch wasn't working very occasionally - this has been cleaned up and I'll keep an eye on it, testing it again closer to the time.

With the exterior done, it was time to tidy up the interior with a few jobs during the rebuild.
Starting with these rear vents. The sponge-like material was over 30 years old and was suffering terribly.

Luckily, fish tank bio-foam is an inexpensive alternative. Typically forgot to get a photo, but you get the idea.

The boot floor carpet was fitted, and side carpet panels re-secured, followed by the side plastic trims. The previously split c-pillar plastic trims were repaired with some repair tape from the rear, and the repair is pretty hard to spot. Handily, the snap occurred between two fasteners, which helped matters.
 

The parcel shelf was next, but had some faults, mainly the rod that runs along the forward edge wasn't securing the parcel shelf properly, and allowing it to flex. It was obvious to see what happened, the plastic had snapped around the rivet. 
Easy enough to sort with some stainless steel wire!

Forgot how much I liked the in-built sunshades on these.

Bit of trim has clearly been snapped for years - small hole and wire pulled that tight!

Rear carpet, rear trims and rear seat bases went back in.

When this car was in proper use, we fitted a new throttle cable to ensure it had a smooth cable run etc. This worked for all of three days, before the plastic tab snapped and it had to be cable tied in afterwards.
Luckily, eBay came up trumps for this:

Feels a little bit more substantial than the old one. Fitted.

Whilst in the engine bay, I whipped off the distributor pickup sensor, to replace the thermal grease that had gone very dry and crumbly. This sensor was the cause of our random unexplained cutting out problems years ago, and I'm keen not to re-live that experience.

With that done, the wheels were refitted, and the car lowered back onto the ground:

And the front seats/steering wheel were refitted, completing the rebuild of the car.

It was actually quite refreshing to see the car complete once again, but it was to be very short-lived, as I knew I was going to start working on the front end next. It just made more sense to fully rebuild the car and start from square one once again instead of having shelves full of parts that could easily go back on.
Cheers.

Another quality vehicle incoming!
 

Got the GSA running today, we had to winch it onto the truck when collected and spent a bit of time trying to figure out why it wouldn't start. It seemed to be getting fuel and checking the coil with a multimeter there was power there.  Distributor cap and rotor arm seemed a little bit corroded so cleaned them up and checked with a loose spark plug and was getting a spark.
I removed the old spark plugs and tested them, one of 3 seemed to work. New plugs fitted today, charged the battery and fired straight up. A little bit of adjusting the carb and it seems to be running better.
I'm offering it up as a rolling resto project.

Got some alloys fitted on the Dturbo 309 and will be up for a shite giveaway in March!

Oh dear, look what pile of shit I've ended up with...
 

After a shitload of welding and a bucket of seam sealer, new shocks and brake pads we have a pass on the Maestro van!

Ive recently adopted this orphan…

After a colourful life including three engines, and at least 1 new gearbox, its spent the last few years dragging its older, more glamourous relatives about for spares and restorations. (photos by St Austell Bay classics)
 

 

 

 

 

 
Anyway, its been replaced by a discovery 3- and there was a possibility the next step would be for it to be sold off in parts through their e bay account.
I was interested in it as its an unusual colour for a p38 and its a very low spec one. 
No extra wood, more basic heating system, no sunroof, no leather etc
 



Its also has had the rear seats removed and the load bay extended. easy enough to reverse.

So its the poverty model of the least appealing range rover. But its had everything its needed mechanically as its been in front line use. 
 

It wafts along nicely on air, whilst not particulary quick (its the 2.5 bmw 6 diesel) and although the interior needs a clear and a few (cheap) replacement bits, it still feels special to drive.

I think it looks quite funky in white.
 

Thanks, that's very kind of you.
The air filter housing finished its bath, but was in rather worse condition than first thought - some of it there was no good steel to dissolve back to!

My welder is out of action, so I taped up the inside and used epoxy (3M 2216) to build up a layer.

Then a coat of paint and new filter.

Job done, and looking a lot better! New coolant level sensor also fitted.

Next was the lights - a headlight was misty, an indicator cracked, and both had been changed for the facelifted clear type fitted to the later models.

I took the lights off, and again was really pleased how good condition the metalwork was behind.


I took the opportunity to spray some cavity was around, including injecting it into the chassis legs.

It also seemed a good idea to clean up all the electrical connections and coat with silicone grease. Both headlights were dried and sealed up, before refitting with the correct amber indicators. 

Time to cut out the rust above the rear shock. Hope my skills with a grinder match those with a welder: that is a lot of missing metal. Getting a bit worried here. What a crap detail Volvo - talk about a rust trap.
Well pleased with my metal fab skills here - made the new inner wing in one piece . Didn't take one with the welding complete but you get the idea. 

Incoming!
Man maths says this should not count against me in 2024 because I first asked to buy this 1968 Morris 1300  in July 2022 and it has taken this long to come to fruition!
As I knew I was buying a car that needed some fettling I had it taken to the FoD but when it arrived it started easily and sounded sweet so when it became time to go back to the house I could not resist taking it home. It has a bit of a misfire but still cruised along at 50 mph no trouble.
Winter is not a great time for a 55 year old BMC product, but I am looking forward to the summer with it.

Well here we are now, all the lads ..
 

 
all LPG'd up and homeward bound