GrumpiusMaximus

Got some reduced granola. 350g box.
It says this on the back. Fucking  8 servings 😂😂 
It'll be gone in 2 bowls.

Finally got the summer wheels and tires on the modern after almost 6 months on noisy studded winter tyres.
It is so quiet and nice to drive now and can finally hear the noise of the 3 cyl engine again.

So finally got the order of rust remover, and realised something.

I am a full kit wanker for Bilt Hamber. But I like what I’ve used, and the primer stood up well to being outside.
The Deox-Gel has been applied to the bottom of the A pillar, I’ve no cling film so relying on a sandwich bag and gaffer tape to keep the gel from drying out.
In the mean time, this came today.

Only place I could find one of these was the US Amazon site. All the others were Beta ones with a chrome fitment at the base which I didn’t want. But why would I want this?
Well unbeknownst to you all I started to remove the door. One screw, eventually, came undone. The second screw was a proper bitch, to the point this happened:

The bit twisted, then slipped, and I ended up chewing the screw. So it needs drilling out. That’s for another time.
Tomorrow I’m working from home for the rest of the week. So I will be cutting the steel to make a replacement panel.

I did no welding today. Not for the want of trying. In a quest to tidy the area up and sort out the rust I found yesterday - well I found more.

 
At the foot of the A pillar it was thick with muck. A good 3” block of it. 
Given I have to put a new outer sill on, I thought I would just take the whole bottom of the wing off.

I was cleaning up the inside sill stuff and I gave that rusty bit a tap with the chisel. No hammer, just me…

Oh dear.

Yeah all of this needs to go.

Not all finished with rust discovery though. The bottom of the A pillar was equally rotten.

Thankfully, this covered more steel which was rusted BUT only rusted where you see it. I cut more of the skin off to see.

As you can see in Australia, this is how it looks. But the inside part is strong.

I have cut back more of the interior sill because I suspected the inner sill was rotten. It was, but only really where the A pillar meets it.
Remember kids - this car is MOT exempt!
I had intended to use rust remover on the A pillar before painting it and putting things back together. I don’t have any, and couldn’t find any, so I’m going to order some online. When it comes I’ll give it another go with the wire brush (already did it once) and will paint it with weld through primer. Which I may need to buy some of!
It’s a jigsaw now really. Love it!

I'm struggling to see how this will help with getting an erection.

The bloke on the can has a big tool at least.

Just did a test drive there, it's going really well. Only casualty seems to be the temperature gauge not working. It looks like the actual sender on the engine has failed as it's gone completely open circuit, so a new one is on its way.
Next up, I have more fun upgrades.

Rewire complete. 

Have made a few changes. The switched fusebox is fed from a master 100A relay which is triggered from the ignition key. This takes the heavy load off the ignition barrel which could get extremely hot with all of the current for all systems passing through it.
The coil is fed straight off the barrel and is unfused, as it should be, so even if the relay fails the engine won't stop.
Apart from that I made sure all cable ends had good quality spade connectors and heat shrink wrap with adhesive. This way they're pretty tough and reliable and eliminates some of the nasty and corroded original connectors.
The engine bay is much cleaner now without the fusebox, relays, and associated wiring nests.

Wiring for the reverse lights and overdrive now run inside, and I've packed the gap around the gearstick with insulation to cut down on road noise.

Important upgrade done to the brake lights. The original brake light switch is a fluid pressure switch which tends to only activate when you're standing on the pedal. 
I've changed it for an electrical pedal switch, which needed a bracket made up.

A real pain to drill the bolt holes for this in the pedal box so the top hole is in at an awkward angle.

Still it does the trick and is a massive upgrade. The lights now come on as soon as you touch the pedal.
While the steering wheel was off I swapped the steering column coupling bush as it was really sloppy.


The steering column shroud also got a coat of paint after I did some repairs to the cracking brittle plastic with some epoxy.


Last few bits done inside. A new hazard switch.

I then remembered I bought a set of instrument panel stickers off Demon Tweeks.

So I then did what I originally meant to and sorted the dash light graphics.
Before.

After.

This one will do an actual charge rather than a 'charging slowly' which is all most other adapters I've tried recently seem to manage.

@MrsJuular found a low profile USB adapter for the cigarette lighter that blends in really nicely, check it out below left. It's so discreet and easy to add/remove that I don't know if I will bother adding any USB ports.

You'll have to wait for the sound video because I just did this.



The wiring on this was getting on my tits.  Had a lot of instances whereby things work but not quite all the time, or fuses randomly blowing.  The original factory wiring is shite. I have now ripped out EVERYTHING.
You can see on the right here that the back of the fuel gauge stands in as an unfused positive terminal for almost everything under the dash including the wiper motor, indicators, heater fan and who knows what else, held on by a piddly 6mm nut. That is going to change.

I present the main light switch. Again, unfused and permanently live, with the permanent live cut and twisted into the feed to the small footwell lights, from factory.

The big feed to the wiper switch. Again, some dodgy chaining of big positive wires going on here.

The circuits which are fused are run off a shitty engine bay fusebox which is riveted together, and the rivets are starting to come loose causing random dropouts. That and the small issue of continental/glass fuses being total shite and hard to come by when you need them most.
Solution : bin off the fusebox in the engine bay, and run everything off a pair of blade fuseboxes inside the footwell.

The fusebox on the left is the permanent live one, which will run the interior dome light, indicators / hazards, and headlamps.
The box on the right will be ignition switched, but I am also going to add a main ignition relay so that the ignition switch isn't constantly handling all of the current running through the entire car.  I know it's designed to take it, but the switch (and key!) can get very hot and I'm just waiting on the contacts burning out, especially if I decide to add any more load in the future.
The important thing is that everything is going to be fused, and that the fuses are going to be easier to replace when needed.
I seem to be doing this all off the top of my head, WCPGW.

Found a pair of rear bumper overriders for not much.

I'll need to bin those bicycle reflectors and build a couple of housings for the original ones, which I have in a box here.


I definitely won't be buying them at £80 each.

Full disclosure, I used furniture connector bolts to keep the filters on which maybe wasn't the most technically sound idea, but it was the only ones I could get my hands on that were the right length.
Today I replaced them with proper M8 long bolts and nyloc nuts which should hopefully last at least a week.

Minor adjustment to the exhaust. The back box was smacking the old exhaust hanger bracket because the little strap that came with it was a miserable length.
Fixed that by adding an extra bit of galv plate to drop it.

Seems to do the job ok.

Maybe you just need to drive faster so the exhaust gases don't have time to reach the cabin? 
(and with it all being so clean under there would a bit more driving to leave a clear and visible black skid mark be beneficial? You'd know exactly where it was coming from then) 
I'd not have a clue on the Xsara, it's all so filthy under there any exhaust blow would blend right in 😂

And I have also ordered a set of new gaskets.

Sharing my exploits with you scallywags is half the fun of owning a 37 year old Ford.    

I’ve just ordered a full set of new studs, nuts and washers for the exhaust manifold.

 
At £5.95 it’s a no brainer.

I don’t think so.
I think it’s exhaust fumes. When I got home I had a look under the bonnet again and found this.

At first I thought it was a broken stud but no, it’s just a very loose nut with a missing washer.
I will remove all the studs one by one and refit them with new washers. Fingers crossed, that will solve the problem.
As far as I can feel with my hand, there is no blow from the manifold to downpipe joint, which is a potential problem that has already been flagged up here before.

Stopped off at Esso, managed to squeeze in 18.2 litres of unleaded. On the basis that I’ve clocked up 157 miles since I brimmed the tank last Sunday, that means the Sierra has averaged 39MPG. Bloody amazing but bear in mind that 99% of the distance was driven in zero traffic conditions and between 30-65MPH.

With the tank full, the fuel gauge has made a welcome return.

 

We have reached the village of Aldbury. 

Two issues.
I’m getting burning oil smells from the dashboard vents but I’ve checked all around and under the engine, there’s no sign of anything amiss. Odd.
Second issue, the fuel gauge has now completely given up the ghost.

I’ll be heading home soon. I will stop off at my local Esso and brim the tank. I will then work out the MPG and rely upon the trip meter , if I can’t sort out the fuel gauge problem.

I’m gathering parts for the removal and correct reinstatement of the exhaust manifold and downpipe.
eBay has been my friend for the gaskets and exhaust manifold nuts, bolts and washers.
A couple of years ago, I bought this storage unit with all contents at the Enfield Pageant for the grand sum of £1.00

Amongst various treasures, it contains the correct size nuts for the manifold to downpipe joint.

Small win.
I’m so looking forward to grinding the old nuts off. Not.