Schaefft

Its not terrible but certainly noticeable. Might investigate what can be done about it if I can be bothered that is.
Parts for the Celsior arrived on Monday so they went straight on the car after work yesterday/today.

We made a start with the swaybar bushings, as you can tell it was about time...

Things actually went surprisingly smoothly, no seized bolts or anything really. Replacing the bushes finally removed any frontend clunking the car had, straight forward job resulting in a major improvement right there.

I've also replaced the dodgy O2 sensors. Since I didn't want to buy an O2 sensor specific 22mm socket with a cutout for a wire I decided to take a sawzall to them instead, access wasnt great but just good enough to cut them down to a length just short enough to get a long 22mm on instead. The sensors actually came out surprisingly easily on both sides.

The new sensors are of the universal type, they are Denso though so OEM other than the lack of connector. With plenty of wiring on both sides they were cut down to about the right length and crimped together. I checked the connections and resistances of each wire several times to make sure I dont have to do this again. The plastic sleeve acts as heatshrink, I've wrapped it all up in electrical tape to make things weather tight and a little cleaner looking as well. The sensors came with anti-seize paste which was nice, too.

I took the car out for a drive afterwards, no CEL or limp mode after wide open throttle anymore, the car has full power and pulls well. Fingers crossed it stays that way, will confirm on a longer journey but we should be good there as well now. Another issue crossed off the list.
Rear brake discs happened today. Turns out they are paper thin even when new at just 1.6cm. 1.5cm is their minimum allowed thickness so I'm not sure who came up with that bright idea.

With the old discs being ancient and having some pretty noticeable lips it was time anyway.

Job jobbed. I didn't do the front discs as I'm cheap and probably get another few years out of them considering the miles these cars usually do, but aside from them all pads, the rear discs, brake hoses, the brake fluid and all wear sensors are new now, with all calipers greased in the hope to get a lot more life out of them.

I've also adjusted the coilovers in the front now and double-checked the rears. Its now sitting much better without being exessively low, at least as good as I can do without all 4 wheels off the ground at the same time.


I think there's still something wrong with the rear suspension but I might have to deal with that when the ebay special Maxpeedingrods wear out and I replace them with the BCs I got stashed away. Considering I only paid 135 quid for them new they are currently proving to be surprisingly good though. We'll see how long that'll be the case.

Its not terrible but certainly noticeable. Might investigate what can be done about it if I can be bothered that is.
Parts for the Celsior arrived on Monday so they went straight on the car after work yesterday/today.

We made a start with the swaybar bushings, as you can tell it was about time...

Things actually went surprisingly smoothly, no seized bolts or anything really. Replacing the bushes finally removed any frontend clunking the car had, straight forward job resulting in a major improvement right there.

I've also replaced the dodgy O2 sensors. Since I didn't want to buy an O2 sensor specific 22mm socket with a cutout for a wire I decided to take a sawzall to them instead, access wasnt great but just good enough to cut them down to a length just short enough to get a long 22mm on instead. The sensors actually came out surprisingly easily on both sides.

The new sensors are of the universal type, they are Denso though so OEM other than the lack of connector. With plenty of wiring on both sides they were cut down to about the right length and crimped together. I checked the connections and resistances of each wire several times to make sure I dont have to do this again. The plastic sleeve acts as heatshrink, I've wrapped it all up in electrical tape to make things weather tight and a little cleaner looking as well. The sensors came with anti-seize paste which was nice, too.

I took the car out for a drive afterwards, no CEL or limp mode after wide open throttle anymore, the car has full power and pulls well. Fingers crossed it stays that way, will confirm on a longer journey but we should be good there as well now. Another issue crossed off the list.
Rear brake discs happened today. Turns out they are paper thin even when new at just 1.6cm. 1.5cm is their minimum allowed thickness so I'm not sure who came up with that bright idea.

With the old discs being ancient and having some pretty noticeable lips it was time anyway.

Job jobbed. I didn't do the front discs as I'm cheap and probably get another few years out of them considering the miles these cars usually do, but aside from them all pads, the rear discs, brake hoses, the brake fluid and all wear sensors are new now, with all calipers greased in the hope to get a lot more life out of them.

I've also adjusted the coilovers in the front now and double-checked the rears. Its now sitting much better without being exessively low, at least as good as I can do without all 4 wheels off the ground at the same time.


I think there's still something wrong with the rear suspension but I might have to deal with that when the ebay special Maxpeedingrods wear out and I replace them with the BCs I got stashed away. Considering I only paid 135 quid for them new they are currently proving to be surprisingly good though. We'll see how long that'll be the case.

Its not terrible but certainly noticeable. Might investigate what can be done about it if I can be bothered that is.
Parts for the Celsior arrived on Monday so they went straight on the car after work yesterday/today.

We made a start with the swaybar bushings, as you can tell it was about time...

Things actually went surprisingly smoothly, no seized bolts or anything really. Replacing the bushes finally removed any frontend clunking the car had, straight forward job resulting in a major improvement right there.

I've also replaced the dodgy O2 sensors. Since I didn't want to buy an O2 sensor specific 22mm socket with a cutout for a wire I decided to take a sawzall to them instead, access wasnt great but just good enough to cut them down to a length just short enough to get a long 22mm on instead. The sensors actually came out surprisingly easily on both sides.

The new sensors are of the universal type, they are Denso though so OEM other than the lack of connector. With plenty of wiring on both sides they were cut down to about the right length and crimped together. I checked the connections and resistances of each wire several times to make sure I dont have to do this again. The plastic sleeve acts as heatshrink, I've wrapped it all up in electrical tape to make things weather tight and a little cleaner looking as well. The sensors came with anti-seize paste which was nice, too.

I took the car out for a drive afterwards, no CEL or limp mode after wide open throttle anymore, the car has full power and pulls well. Fingers crossed it stays that way, will confirm on a longer journey but we should be good there as well now. Another issue crossed off the list.
Rear brake discs happened today. Turns out they are paper thin even when new at just 1.6cm. 1.5cm is their minimum allowed thickness so I'm not sure who came up with that bright idea.

With the old discs being ancient and having some pretty noticeable lips it was time anyway.

Job jobbed. I didn't do the front discs as I'm cheap and probably get another few years out of them considering the miles these cars usually do, but aside from them all pads, the rear discs, brake hoses, the brake fluid and all wear sensors are new now, with all calipers greased in the hope to get a lot more life out of them.

I've also adjusted the coilovers in the front now and double-checked the rears. Its now sitting much better without being exessively low, at least as good as I can do without all 4 wheels off the ground at the same time.


I think there's still something wrong with the rear suspension but I might have to deal with that when the ebay special Maxpeedingrods wear out and I replace them with the BCs I got stashed away. Considering I only paid 135 quid for them new they are currently proving to be surprisingly good though. We'll see how long that'll be the case.

The Z3 is doing well so far. Neither CEL nor Airbag lights have come back.

The access to our Airbnb was half a mile of gravel roads/green lane so the car did a little bit of light offroading a few times.

In Penrith today. Early 2000s Roadster face-off. I know which one I'd rather have.

 

No, but as many non-native English speakers I guess my vocabulary was pretty much shaped by US pop culture from early on. I do try to adjust once in a while but I just don't agree with the UK spelling most of the time 😂
Some more bonus content. The Corona is still a lovely car to drive. It rides so well considering it's roots.

Ordered a replacement gas pedal for the BMW for 18 quid. It's probably the throttle body that's the actual issue but its worth a shot.
In Celsior news, the car finally received fresh brake fluid, pads, hoses and wear sensors this weekend. I've also done a few other minor jobs while in there and unfortunately revealed a little more carelessness by the bodyshop. Let the wrenching commence!
Front brakes first. I actually didnt end up using the caliper piston rebuild kits on the left, the pistons were still sliding back in nice and smoothly.

Well, I think we can say I got my money's worth out of those pads. I don't know when these got changed the last time but it certainly been a while considering the car didn't do that many miles in the last 15 years.

The loose wire in the left photo is the wear indicator sensor btw, for some reason whoever replaced the pads didn't know how to or didn't bother installing it again. This is also what I originally expected to be a cut ABS sensor wire a few years back btw, the sensor plugs into the wiring loom of the ABS sensor, bit of an odd design on early Celsiors.

Can't say these are the worst pads I've seen but we haven't had a look at the rear ones yet.

Quick look underneath to see where the minor exhaust leak is coming from. Like the exhaust shop said, one of the exhaust temp sensors is blowing, they tried to goop it up but no luck. Unfortunately impossible to buy now, not sure if it could get welded? I've also had a look at the O2 sensors and tried to measure their resistance. Well, it seems like there is infinite resistance which of course isn't right, it should be somewhere between 5.1-6.3 ohms at around room temperature. I unplugged them to see if it would make any difference to the way the car runs. It doesn't so new sensors it is!

The 135 quid Maxpeedingrods which I only bought to get the car through the MOT are holding up surprisingly well. I've greased them up before installing them so everything is still moving nicely. Unfortunately I just remembered while writing this that I should have put some fresh grease on them... I also found the source for my very noticeable front suspension clunking. I originally blamed the coilovers but its actually the front swaybar bushes that are so worn out that the swaybar can freely move from left to right. So new swaybar bushes are added to the shopping list. I've also fixed the messed up passenger side bumper corner I accidently caught on a wall. No photos yet but some hot air, a tactical ziptie and reinstalling a bumper bracket did wonders.
The rear is next. Working on an incline lifting a rear weel driven car is always fun.

If you are wondering why Im using different brands for pads and hoses compared to the front, so do I. I think they just ended up reducing the combined shipping costs when I ordered them from Rockauto like 2 years ago. Motul RBF600 is probably some of the best brake fluid you can get if pedal feel matters to you.

Yeah, I think its about time to replace those pads...

The disc is getting very thin as well so rear discs are added to the shopping list...

Certainly cutting it thin with these. The rears actually had the wear sensors properly in place, replacing this one finally got rid of the last (permanent) dash warning light. Unfortunately the passenger side rear caliper piston was really struggling getting pushed back in so I might need a new caliper there. I'm not sure how much extra I paid for the Bosch pads compared to the Beck/Arnley ones but they were certainly much more neatly packed and actually came with a sachet of brake grease. I used copper grease on the sliders for the front calipers instead.
About the bodyshop's carelessness mentioned further above:

The rear trailing arm bolt is completely loose, the nut was never tightened after the sill got welded there. Mistakes can happen but I'm really starting to get the feeling that things were just slapped together in the end to rush the car out the door. Something like this is pretty dangerous. I had to replace the nut (with a Mercedes one no less) as it wouldn't properly tighten anymore, I'll have to have another look the next time its on a lift though.

While having the wheels off I finally had a chance to raise the rear coilovers by 20mm to level out the car a bit better. I don't think its perfect yet but lowering the front should result in a nicely balanced stance.

Let me know what you think! The rear discs, swaybar bushes and O2 sensors will hopefully be the last few bits to make it mechanically solid. Being 32 years old now it'll probably always need something but any MOT relevant work should near with these 3 things soon.
Some bonus content, the Cadillac is finally moving again and received a wash. That immediately revealed the various paint defects it has, the photos are hiding them remarkably well fortunately!

Another big blue landyacht that will receive some more attention this summer.

Its not terrible but certainly noticeable. Might investigate what can be done about it if I can be bothered that is.
Parts for the Celsior arrived on Monday so they went straight on the car after work yesterday/today.

We made a start with the swaybar bushings, as you can tell it was about time...

Things actually went surprisingly smoothly, no seized bolts or anything really. Replacing the bushes finally removed any frontend clunking the car had, straight forward job resulting in a major improvement right there.

I've also replaced the dodgy O2 sensors. Since I didn't want to buy an O2 sensor specific 22mm socket with a cutout for a wire I decided to take a sawzall to them instead, access wasnt great but just good enough to cut them down to a length just short enough to get a long 22mm on instead. The sensors actually came out surprisingly easily on both sides.

The new sensors are of the universal type, they are Denso though so OEM other than the lack of connector. With plenty of wiring on both sides they were cut down to about the right length and crimped together. I checked the connections and resistances of each wire several times to make sure I dont have to do this again. The plastic sleeve acts as heatshrink, I've wrapped it all up in electrical tape to make things weather tight and a little cleaner looking as well. The sensors came with anti-seize paste which was nice, too.

I took the car out for a drive afterwards, no CEL or limp mode after wide open throttle anymore, the car has full power and pulls well. Fingers crossed it stays that way, will confirm on a longer journey but we should be good there as well now. Another issue crossed off the list.
Rear brake discs happened today. Turns out they are paper thin even when new at just 1.6cm. 1.5cm is their minimum allowed thickness so I'm not sure who came up with that bright idea.

With the old discs being ancient and having some pretty noticeable lips it was time anyway.

Job jobbed. I didn't do the front discs as I'm cheap and probably get another few years out of them considering the miles these cars usually do, but aside from them all pads, the rear discs, brake hoses, the brake fluid and all wear sensors are new now, with all calipers greased in the hope to get a lot more life out of them.

I've also adjusted the coilovers in the front now and double-checked the rears. Its now sitting much better without being exessively low, at least as good as I can do without all 4 wheels off the ground at the same time.


I think there's still something wrong with the rear suspension but I might have to deal with that when the ebay special Maxpeedingrods wear out and I replace them with the BCs I got stashed away. Considering I only paid 135 quid for them new they are currently proving to be surprisingly good though. We'll see how long that'll be the case.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312174885911
JRG with beige interior, fuck me this is tempting as it's just up the road...

Fortunately the drive is currently full...

I really enjoyed mine, but you're right about the tracking, it was awful on uneven road surfaces. Have heard there's a few things you can do to improve them, strut brace etc.

It's still not perfect but it's a great GROCERY GREATER and STATION SHUTTLE. Park anywhere, don't worry about it, worth nowt, let every seagull shit on it, no worries* motoring. 
Its nippy enough, comfortable enough at 74mph, small enough to fit anywhere, and isn't really even that cramped inside for a 6ft4 22stone travesty of a pilot. 
It's returning low to mid 40s mpg on mixed driving and costs nowt£ in tax and insurance. Lowest group on insurance and tax is about 2$ per month. 
ECCONOMYICAL
 

 

 
Still stuff to iron out, foibles-wise. 
Idles a bit high randomly, still misses a bit sometimes and has cut out randomly twice.  I'll keep piling the miles on and keep picking away at it where funds allow. 
 

I also fixed this smoll hole. 

 


 
Perfect* fit*. 

Have some pics from various famous* local* landmarks and from general pottering. 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

Next was onto small service items. The car did seem a bit flat and felt a bit missy occasionally at times so start with plugs I guess. 

 
 

 

 
using the power of my sheepskin house slippers I was able to read the plugs in mystical ways and came to the conclusion that yes, I'm pretty sure it's about time that these be changed. 
 
Air filtre. 

 

 
Out with the old, in with the new. 
Also did the oil and filter and added a go slower sticker. 

 
Rear wiper improvements. 

 
 

 
 
 

Cheap Lincoln Towncar with bad paint and no MOT for £1650. Save it from the oval!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1000713378148562/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Af939f290-de2b-406e-8a77-3af8933c9b7f

Cheap Lincoln Towncar with bad paint and no MOT for £1650. Save it from the oval!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1000713378148562/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Af939f290-de2b-406e-8a77-3af8933c9b7f

Omg I'm in love....

Finally set about doing the service. Turns out the sump plug bolt was fairly rounded so instead of wasting time and effort trying to botch it off and risking damaging the sump I bought an electric oil extractor pump. Was £30 from eurocarparts. 
I'm actually very impressed  sucked out 5L in next to no time. All sorted now until the next 6 months!! 

Not much of an update as the kids are on easter holidays and as much as I'd like to crack on they're my priority at the moment. 
Popped into the Merc stealers near me to pick up some bits today. Namely an oil filter and a gear oil dipstick cover that was misplaced. 
Not too bad for the princely sum of £20 ish. In my opinion OEM give me a sense of reassurance,  after watching the Indian factories make there's with next to no product control or quality control, rolling the filter paper up on a dust gritty workshop floor. Seems like a no brainer to me. 
The shocks look very worn too and I'm tempted to get some fibi Bilston replacements soon, but out of curiosity thought I'd see how much genuine ones are. £1000 all in, front and back .... maybe I'll stick to the former haha. 
I also had to invest in a little tool to tighten my wheel caps, as much as I'm ham fisted the caps still needed a good old half turn or so each. Glad I did, as the last thing I need is one of these flinging off and causing an accident. 

Weekend over, 250+ miles and almost exactly a tank later and the car did well without trouble aside from an annoying rattle from a heatshield with the top down. Pretty sure this was also the first time I drove over the Hardknott pass, which happened to be during a bicycle hillclimb type event...

A few driving impressions: Generally quite comfortable, the suspension and seats are definitely long-distance worthy. Noise levels are high with both the top up or down (naturally) at motorway speeds but the only comparable car I have ever driven was a 2-series convertible.

It handles well although I couldn't get even close to its limits with the gf in the passenger seat (constantly shouting slower SLOWER even at normal speed limits)😂. Tracking is quite easily affected by uneven road surfaces, much more than the usually much bigger cars I'm used to. That compactness really helps with the lake district's many one lane roads though.

Its not quite summer yet but with temperatures rising I'm definitely looking forward to some more top down motoring. Maybe I'll actually get the SL500 sorted and MOT'd in time to be able to compare the two.

The Z3 is doing well so far. Neither CEL nor Airbag lights have come back.

The access to our Airbnb was half a mile of gravel roads/green lane so the car did a little bit of light offroading a few times.

In Penrith today. Early 2000s Roadster face-off. I know which one I'd rather have.

 

The Corona only made a brief appearance as its now switching storage spaces with the Z3, which is reawakened from its slumber over the winter. The Clubman isn't mine, neither is the Rover 200 convertible rotting away just outside the frame.

Today was actually the first time I could have a really close look at what I bought at Mathewsons back in October as the car went into storage not all that much later.

A wash was badly needed, even under a tarp the dust quickly built up.

So yeah, impressions are still very positive considering the silly low price I paid. There is a little bit of bubbling on the passenger front wing panel and outer sill. Since pretty much every exterior panel is bolt-on on the Z3 this should be a rather easy fix however, if I do anything about it at all for now. There's a scratch on the rear quarter and a few stonechips on the very large bonnet, other than that its really just very minor stuff for what is now a 25 year old car.

I've managed to clear the airbag light (driver seatbelt tensioner) and will keep an eye on any fault codes coming up over the next few days. The plan is to take the car out for a weekend in the Lake district tomorrow, plenty of time to get a little more familiar with it then! The cheap floormats will go in the bin once I got a proper OEM-like set. I want to replace the center console dials/shifter trim with the burl wood variant as well to brighten up the interior a little, if I can find a sensibly priced set for a facelift dash that is. The chromeline package helps a little but the less matte black plastic the better.

Its incredible to think that these were sold side by side in a BMW showroom back in late 2001/2002. With its E36 origins the Z3 feels easily more than a decade older inside, the E65 still feels somewhat fresh today.
Speaking of the E65 - the 18 quid pedal assembly actually fixed the limp home mode. It sucks that things appear to break all the time. At the same time parts are so plentiful and cheap that it almost doesn't matter. With the running issues sorted I was able to confirm that the windshield was sealing properly after all, no whistling sounds noticeable at any speed. That meant the A-pillar trims could go back on for one last time:

I've also had a moment to replace the bonnet badge. They are all prone to fading and its surprisingly hard to find a badge that's not clearly Chinese junk sold as OEM part, fake packaging and everything.

That's much better:

Still plenty of other things to sort but this was a satisfyingly easy improvement for once.

Should anybody be bored from looking at the Celsior by now, great news! The Alfa is back! It actually didn't go anywhere for months. 166 are anything but resistent to rot so it hasn't seen the road since October unfortunately. Which sucks as its so fun to drive!
First up was a wash, it turned a little greener than usual in the time it didn't move much:

Took a little while but much better. I just can't get enough of looking at this paint. The color absolutely makes it, I don't think I feel that way about any of my other cars, so well done Alfa.


I've also finally put the wheel arch liner back on the car, it's been off since probably a year ago when I replaced the alternator. I'm not sure if I showed this before but the wooden steering wheel, shifter and center console trim from @sdkrc's old 166 are now installed and really improve things inside.

People keep complaining about American manufacturers and fake wood but that center console trim is by far the least convincing faux wood I have ever seen in any car. Still better than boring matte silver with broken clips though.

I still need to find a replacement switchpack for the fuel door release that also has the sports throttle response button. Harder to find than I imagined. At least the cigarette lighter surround lights up now, its the little things etc. etc. Hopefully some more progress in the next few days.
And since I can't leave a recent post without a Celsior photo, have a size comparison between Toyota's second biggest and its smallest domestic luxury car offering back in 1992.

There's a bit of of fish eye lens distortion going on here but the difference isn't as big as you'd imagine. The Celsior would be 7 series-sized while the Corona Exiv is more of a 3 series, although officially based on something one size smaller (Celica).

Went for my first spin in it. Wouldnt idle- noticed a split vacuum hose to the dizzy, which once sorted helped a lot; it seemed to also need a fair bit of choke. Its got an MOT currently so wonder if they leaned it off for a pass? So i ticked it a bit richer. After i got to a petrol station and added some fresh pez it ran better still. 
I think it probably still need needs a proper service and tune up but its running really nicely now…..

#LivingTheDream

I have just realised that garage door actually ending up costing more than what those two heaps combined were to buy. 🫠

Whilst I've got the Triumph out I thought I'd try and sort the garage out.
This is what I've got. Eight of these blue stacking boxes mainly full of Triumph spares plus a couple of open boxes. What was once a work bench is now stacked with more recently acquired, mostly Škoda bits. There's more in the loft. These boxes stack in certain parts of the garage and still leave room for the Triumph but I don't really have room for any more 

But I've been a bit ruthless and condensed the eight boxes in to five leaving three empty to fill up with the stuff on the workbench. Plus I've moved more, mainly lightweight and clean, stuff in to the loft.
But the strangest thing I've discovered is this. A little blue box.

I don't ever remember seeing this before. So I opened it and it's a fancy old tyre pressure gauge. But not any old tyre pressure gauge, it's only a bloody Borgward one.




And on closer inspection I noticed the slightly tatty box has a Borgward logo on it too.

What's also slightly weird is that we were discussing Borgwards briefly on another thread on here only a couple of days ago.
So I can only see two courses of action from here. Find somebody with a Borgward and sell it to them or buy my own Borgward to put in.