Popsicle

Replacement outriggers progressing at an impressive pace. You can buy them ready manufactured at quite a dear price. On the other hand there's about 50 quids worth of steel in the job. So he's making them himself. All done to correct spec including tube wall thickness. Properly powder coated and filled with preservative should win it a few more years.

Noticed during the drive on Saturday that the fan belt started making noise and it turns out that the bushings I made for the altenator mount have now failed completely. So there is a lot of slack in the alternatormount now, I can't get this fixed before my appointment on Thursday so I have tightened the fan belt as much as I dare and that has helped and taken the slack out of the mount. Hope this can work for a bit.
I have also checked the tire pressure and it was low on all and one in particular so need to check it more often and that may be part of the reason for a slight increase in fuel consumption. I've taken this for a drive and tested the fan belt and it held together so hopefully it will on Thursday as well. Because in the early hours of Thursday morning, this and I have an appointment with the authorities for the deficiency from the MOT regarding the seating.

I’ve just driven this lovely thing up to scenic Manchester.


It was about a 5 hour run or so for me, and despite being a thirsty old thing I reckon it’s well worth the fuel for the amount of comfort. I’d feel knackered after doing that run in the insight whereas it was a breeze in the LS.

I've been helping a mate prep this hunk-a-love for auction.

What a magnificent beast, 1974 Opel Commodore 2.8 GS that was registered new in Bury St Edmunds and spent all its life in the area, straight six with two twin choke carbs and a stainless exhaust it sounds amazing and goes like the clappers!

We've been through it fixing a few small faults and mostly cleaning and polishing it and it now looks stunning. I've got the option of buying it but it's a bit big and juicy for me realistically.




His Horizon is probably of interest also, that's going to auction too so I gave it a quick wash and hoover, it's a 1500 automatic with power steering and only 33000 miles, it's not my bag if I'm honest but it's a nice enough old thing.

Not losing the will to live or anything but, you know when you wish you hadn't started something...
TEDIOUS!
That is the word of the week kids. I still have a crate of bits to clean and paint but they are all basic castings so not very in depth.
The other head got painted and all the threads tapped out and cleaned. The new studs turned up and both heads got fitted up and a final prep clean ready to be fitted. The supercharger was put back together and got prepped for fitting. Needs oil yet.
Washers... forgot to get some washers for the manifolds. Out of the billion bits of hardware I have stashed, nothing worked well enough so I ordered some thick, stainless jobbies and a 100 normal stainless M8's as I'm out apparently, these are for other things.
What was looming on the Horizon was the pig arse job of cleaning the block, pistons and engine bay in general. I wasn't looking forward to this and just didn't know where to start with it. At the beginning is my usual resolution.
Rust... 

Potato cam engaged! This is the bottom of the O/S turret. A great shit trap on all these models. Crap is accumulated in this box section from within the inner arch and sits on the chassis rail FOREVER. Here we can see (sort of) that the grot has seeped down the overlapping panel and destroyed it, marked in the yellow pen. I intended to cut a small section and weld in new plate but decided to cut the whole lot out and weld the panel cut directly to the chassis rail.
Snip...

Then the rust could do one and sparkly stick commences. Note the Gr8* condition of the unfinished paint, thanks Jag, but look below for improvements!

Racecar.
That was shit, so moving on...
Pistolas!

Grim yeah? Watch this...

BOOM!
Then I proceeded to clean 89% of the engine bay with degreaser and a toothbrush!

What a load of bollocks that was, but it's the last worst bit out of the way really. Now it opens up for a bit of painting, wiring repairs, and a general tidy up. In the above image, the bubble wrap is inadvertently covering my latest modification. I decided that in order for this to be a real race car, the AC needs to be ripped out. It doesn't work and I found that it had been bodged which was shocking. One of the Schrader valves must have been leaking and instead of changing the simple valve, clearly the better option was to fill it with JB weld and stick the cap back on. Yeahhhhhh.
Anyhoos, by removing the ridiculous AC pipework and the massive cooler in the rad pack, I have gained an inch of space and extra air flows for the important stuff. I should measure up the compressor mounting and pulley position so that I can eventually bin in and fit an idler pulley or just get a shorter belt if it works, don't know yet. I don't use AC in cars, never have, and it never works!
A day off tomorrow perhaps. I want to get the looms fixed up good next but I'm running the risk that in a car renowned for breaking it's wires, I've had to move these looms a fair bit and I'll get it all done and then have to go tracing seventeen broken wires when it's all done... I guess whatever happens, happens right? 😆
 

Stuck the mapped ECU on it today whilst I was swapping the battery over, also blanked the EGR as the new ECU has it disabled. 
 
Night and day difference. Doesn’t feel mapped, just feels normal now rather than scary slow. They claim 140bhp so if it’s anywhere near that I’m more than happy.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/558490259786452/

and on with the will it start.
Dandruff cleaned out from the carb:

and muck from the float chamber:


and all back together:

Good enough for the girls we date 😉
Before I even touched the lightning whirler I thought we'd at least spin it over on the battery and see if we had sparkles. So all plugs removed and a good squirt of oil down the bores. I know it turns freely by hand so no problems there:

Jumper packed hooked up in the boot, because that's where the battery lives on these, remember.
Turn the key and.... nothing at all, but as a little consolation here's what the dash is now showing:

She lives! Kind of.
Time for a cup of tea before I start on the solenoid.

Then LET'S DO IIIIIIT!
First step with old Minis - get the fuckin thing to more like a normal person's working height:

it came with the bonnet loose, so no need to bugger about with that.
Next, remove the front grille with all its daft little screws:

Done. Screws look original, which is weird and a bonus. I'll de-rust and save them for when it all goes back together.
Airbox screws are well-seized, but a bit of gentle tapping and some remonstrating fluid and they're off. A finger down the SU intake shows the piston's seized, so we'd better take the dashpot off and sort that out. Mmmm, dandruff:

Piston's a bit fluffy too, so we'll get those cleaned off and put back together and move on to the float bowl:

Final job for the day was to polish the headlights. I had a kit but couldn’t find it, so a jaunt to Halfrauds I picked up a Holts kit and some additional polish (Autosol) on the way back from shopping.
Before. Severe cataract to N/S, O/S not too bad.

 
O/S after sanding back going through the grades of sanding disc then cutting compound ⬇️

 

Both after sanding, cutting compound and autosol ⬇️

Finally Close up after sealing with the sealant/lacquer supplied.

I’ll start the car up and see how much difference this has made when it gets dark, but I expect a fair bit.
That concludes the MoT jobs I can do at home and what I am aware need doing. I’m hoping it just needs the TREs changing as Madam is getting impatient!

Upload limit on photos does mean I have had to split this.
Unusually the wheeltrims are held on with the wheelnuts.

I haven’t seen this since dad owned a 505 estate, which we sold for export to Nigeria in 1995-6.
A quick blezz up the road with gentle application of left foot on the brake pedal to help the pads bed before some more substantial pedal application has left these brakes pretty sharp feeling, about a million times better than before. I am still conscious that at least one new front calliper may be needed within the next year or so, but at the moment there is much less brake drag/bind as there was on all 4 corners before I got started on this task.
It’s booked for its test Monday immediately after the Saab. Garage will do TREs and I think one front spring has a crack, so I’ve supplied a set just in case. One more job to do which is polish the headlamps.

I’m quite glad in the end I had my hand forced in changing the discs as all 4 calliper sliders were seized. Taking the rubber boots off revealed dried up crud inside the boots and the recess which the pins slide into.

This was the cleanest of the 4.

all the crust wire brushed off the pad carrier and with some brake cleaner and a good application of red rubber grease to the sliders we are back in business. The rubbers, despite their age, are in very good condition and on each side one slider pin was newer than the other. Something to add to the parts list for the future will be new pins and boots for these as I will replace them next time this needs brake work.

Even the bolts were scrubbed and new spring washers fitted. Again all threads had a smear of copper assembly grease to prevent them seizing into place, although the rear bolts did have something applied to them in the past which was still semi-fluid.

Buttoned up and bled, and the handbrake has adjusted itself correctly giving 5 clicks to maximum application

Took O/S/R wheel off and things looked okay but pads were 3mm so thought I’d get away with just a pad swap.

Nearside had other ideas….

Yeah, that ain’t great. And these use the hub bit of the disc as a drum handbrake.
Same process as changing the fronts except things came apart much much easier.
 

All buttoned up.


Calliper on this side was seized solid. Piston was stuck, took it out and again no rust or pockmarks on it, so can only assume it was slightly skewwhiff in the bore, which is also undamaged. New seal in the bore installed, cleaned and greased the also stiff sliders and everything moves freely now but I suspect a new calliper will be on the cards within a year.
The effect on the pads is quite noticeable;

Top pair were from the seized side, and were glazed. Been up and down the road and I think a re-bleed is needed as pedal feels vague but the car is no longer pulling right under braking.
More rain means I haven’t looked at the rears, but tomorrow is supposed to be nice.

Taking a raincheck has never been truer than this morning.

This side has come apart much easier save the lower arm, and I have come to the conclusion I need a lift or to remove the engine to get at the back bolt. But as the bushes aren’t perished and the arm looked a lot newer it can stay for now.
Balljoint taper broke on the first whack, so hopefully the soak in penetrant helped with that (this was the side which broke both my other splitters).
Once the weather stops I’ll fit the pads and bleed the brakes. I still can’t get either track rod end off so that will be a job for the garage or the tame fitter at work. The tracking will need setting as well as it does pull right a touch and front tyres have worn on the outside edges.
If I can start on the back brakes that will be great but again depends on the weather and how well I am feeling, as a this bug we have is no fun at all.

Parts for these Korean motors are so cheap, the discs and pads were £80 and a few pence for all four corners ATEC brand. No idea if they’re any good but bearing in mind I once fitted a set of pads to the late blurple Toyota for £6 from Amazon and they ended up being pretty good.
Bearing in mind all tapers were/are rusted in place for £60 for the bottom arms and £20 for the ball joints I dread to think what the cost of a garage to unseize everything and replace would be. Once it was freely moving it took not much more than an hour and half to get the arm in and fit the ball joint and drop link, I suspect a garage with a lift (or someone who isn’t a fat knacker with a crap selection of tools and shonky axle stands working on a wet concrete pad) would do the swaps in under an hour. Lining up the bolt holes for the lower arm took the longest.
Madam would normally be scrabbling around helping me but she has had this grotty bug for 3 days and has spent most of that time asleep or puking.

Passenger side all buttoned up and tightened up to FT by hand. Can’t find any torque settings so ‘sufficient’ with a ratchet and 6-sided socket will do for now. I can always re-check the torques later.
I wire brushed the calliper casting as it was caked in shite but the bleed nipple was siezed. A dab of heat, spray of release fluid and the gentlest setting on the rattle gun got it out, and the piston plopped straight back down with gentle hand pressure. Took the boot off the piston and no corrosion or pitting so refitted the boot and got on with stuff. 
Madam had to brave the rain to pump the brake pedal for bleeding. Left phone indoors so no more photos.
Absolutely hammering it down now, so I’ve dosed all the crusty fittings on the driver’s side in plusgas and I hope to get that done and possibly the rear brakes tomorrow. Weather depending.
I also treated myself to some Swarfega so my hands are a lot cleaner than usual after working on a car - normally I used washing up liquid and salt mixed to a paste. It’s quite good but Swarfega and salt is better.

Between tactical chunders, shivering like a nudist holidaying in antarctica, and various coughing fits this morning I have made some progress on the Kia.


New bottom arm, balljoints and droplinks installed on passenger side. I need to pop to Halfords or somewhere similar for some brake cleaner. Old disc has about a 2.5-3mm lip on each side, not sure what the minimum thickness should be so I’m replacing them as matter of course. Brake dust plates are as rotten as the average Renault 14 and haven’t found replacements, so they’ll have to stay for now.
Pads have worn unevenly - 4mm remaining this side but last time I had the driver’s wheel of there appeared to be 8mm ish. N/S calliper piston doesn’t appear to be seized so I’m expecting something wrong with O/S.

Next job was the cabin filter. This was manky.

It lives in a cassette behind the glove box, a bit of a fiddle to get out


All installed nicely and the air vents definitely smell better now. Just the A/C to regas.
Also need to get the front wheels off so we can change the drop links and the ball joints. The boots were advisory at the last test and I don’t think they’ve been changed since. As they were so cheap (oil I had in stock and the filters, wipers, ball joints and drop links came in at around £65) it’s a no-brainer just to change them instead of faffing with rubber boots and spring clips. Hopefully we’ll get these done in the next week or so.

Today after work, I gave stepdaughter a hand giving the Kia a service. Last done 11k ago according to the book. It’s a 12k interval on these diesels so we may be early.
Madam did an entry level mechanics course 5 years ago and has only dabbled since but she wants now to do more with her car now she’s finished uni.
she gave the car a run to warm it up, next I made her scrabble around the floor to drain the oil.

Air filter next

Wipers weren’t great so she also changed them.

oil filter extracted, and it was in pretty good condition.

oil refilled. This engine takes a whopping 5.3 litres of refined dead dinosaur. All buttoned up and nothing’s pissing out anywhere so madam is chuffed with herself.

Went down to my parents place in Sidmouth today and went to the local classic car show on today. A lot of cars but tbh it was a bit boring. The usual quantity of MGBs/Stags/Sunbeams/pre war Austins/etc. Nothing classic Italian I could see. Occasional unusual car like the tarted up 2cv. Pretty busy and so many old dodgers standing in the way gawping at stuff about half a foot away from the car. 
110 pictures so sorry for those on slow connections.

Keeping each other company:

It's just arrived!

and rolled happily into the garage:

Who couldn't love such a cute little face?

Just popped to Halfords for a battery as the chap was very honest in saying it likely wants one as it’s not been used much this summer. 
 
Really happy with it! Well worth the long day.

Update!
I went to WBAC this morning and they started chipping.  The best offer they could give me was £400.  So obviously I drove home again.
Since then I've been at an event at the Lakeland Motor Museum, where I was in conversation with a party from the garage I called at on-spec the other week.  I showed them the fail sheet.  When I said I already had the strut, smiles broke out.  Consensus seems to be that a set of tyres can be brought in just under £400 and the rest is relatively easy.  So I'm taking it in on Monday afternoon for them to look over.
It looks like Handsome has a future!