N19

Caliper replaced with a new one, £39+vat from the factors, no exchange required. Slide pin thread screwed, which is sub-optimal, new ones on order. Nice when things feel a little less crap!

I'm fairly sure that's what it is - it began about a month after I changed the coolant. As the garage is at the end of my street and can look at it tomorrow and won't take the pee with costs (but will take the pee if i've overlooked something!). Hadn't looked into vacuum filling, but the cost of the kit to do so is likely more than any labour charge? Yeah, it just has moments of frustration when you trip over a stored exhaust manifold and go "why the hell did I do this, the car went perfectly fine beforehand, I could have been out driving it today" etc etc but, of course, you're right. It'll go together and there'll be the satisfaction of having done lots of it myself.

I let the car cool, then filled up with water, ran around locally, then headed for home (I was in WGC at the time) - similar thing happened about a mile north of South Mimms. As I'm planning on taking it a long distance soon, I am pondering throwing it at the garage and letting somebody with the time, facilities and brains look at it rather than running myself ragged during a busy week.

Fuck a duck The Mondeo has been having a few moments of late, coolant wise. I thought I'd managed to bleed the system again properly, there were a few moments without hot air through the heater but broadly speaking everything was fine. Bowling up the A1 on a test trip, prior to a 400-mile journey next week, and the needle flops into the red. More scarily, presumably the overflow was making it difficult for the alternator to catch up, as everything electrical became that little bit dimmer and slower. Predictably this happened just after a turning, carried on at 50 to the next junction. It's vomited out the expansion cap... Just waiting for things to cool down and see what's going on.

Every so often, as I've been clambering around a Capri in the throes of dismantling, repair and rebuild, over the last 18 months, with yet more being added to the list and no end in sight.... every so often I think to myself, "why am I doing this/ I should have left it as it was!". Then I scroll back to the pictures to remind me of the problems it had hiding below the surface.

Not a terribly exciting update, but then again, I don't promise to be terribly exciting! Driving around late last night in the Focus, I noticed a 'hot' smell, and slower acceleration than usual. Worried it might be the clutch, I did the tried and tested clutch-strength-test which it passed (stalling the car in 5th from a standstill). When I got home I had a feel around and the heat coming from the NSF wheel was something to behold. Investigation began at lunchtime with suitable consumables to hand. Seized caliper, it will release with a pry bar, but then when applied it's not releasing again. I took the slider pins out and greased them up to high heaven, but no dice. Sadly the only motorfactors open today near me didn't have one on the shelf, so I'll pick one up from the local place in a couple of days and fit it.

I'm due to do a lot of mileage in the Mondeo in the next few months, so I want to make sure that it's going to be ok. Done a few long motorway trips and the temperature gauge doesn't budge, although the heater is on and off, but not as dramatically as it was before (going cold for 10 seconds, before staying toasty warm for the rest of the time). I've been told collection of the Capri for paint in the next 2 weeks.

I remember Volvo B7TLs of that era sounding like a howling vacuum cleaner a couple of years after being new, in the hands of some less well-maintaining operators - shame that they are still groaning around.

Great to see some of your Barné sightings on here - that's a well known local car!

Slow progress. Reattaching the bonnet is supposed to be a 2 man job, and if the car weren't going for paint soon, I'd definitely have got a second pair of hands doing it! It's not perfectly aligned by any stretch of the imagination, but as it'll likely have to come off to be sprayed, I'll sort that out further down the line. With the engine out the car sits nice and noticeably higher at the front! Meanwhile the wiring loom, bauden cables and so on that go under the bonnet have been wrapped up, hopefully to avoid any damage. Always a little wary with 44 year old wiring, I did worry if it'd cause any issues, but I suppose it's worse if it just floats around under there and invariably gets snagged or whatnot when being moved. Mondeo airlock seems better - did a reasonable bit of driving today and temp gauge sitting reasonably with no wild variation, although the heater was on and off.

I got a PCN from the Dartford charge today. Back in October I crossed both ways, when I got home and went online to pay, it only let me pay for one crossing. Hmm, odd. I tried a couple of days later and the trip back was available, so I paid for that too. Only it's triggered (three months later) that the second payment was too late. I don't know what I was supposed to do - put it through as a 'future payment'? What a bloody shite system! Anyway, the ticket is only £2.50 as it's my first "offence". I can't be bothered arguing with them, so I've sent them £2.50. By cheque. To an address in Leeds (?!). I'm hoping that the cost of finding my details from Swansea, posting me a letter, and processing the received cheque will be greater than £2.50.

It's been bastard cold during January and I've been busy and tired, so progress limited. The Capri turned 44 today! 4 years ago I celebrated the historic status being achieved. I celebrated with a picture on the top of The Spires, complete with a pound shop decoration. At the time, I had the front seats out and with an upholstorer who did a really really good job with them. I still have the passenger seat, which I picked up from someone in Thetford, it's actually in the car now as I'd worry about damaging the nice originals with so much work ongoing! End of Jan 2020. How little we knew about how the world was about to go slightly mad.... I still have the banner somewhere. If I keep it for another 6 years, it'll be valid for me! Back to today. I did get the brake lines out, including the rear one. It was quite a bugger to release, and I ended up cutting through it so I could get a socket on the rear cylinder. A new full car set is only £55, with all the pipes cut and bent to size. I may also spray them green, which was the original colour. The hydraulic system was then drained, master cylinder removed, pulled most of the electrical and bauden cables from the front of the car together and secured it. Then got to work on a bit of the surface rust on the engine bay, in a location that would usually be an utter bastard to get to. Hoping to go away in a couple of weeks and come back for easter. I changed the coolant on the Mondeo a while ago, and I think I managed to introduce an air lock. The heater varies wildly, as does the indicated temperature and coolant level. I had to pull off the A1 today at South Mymms to top up the expansion tank. Back home, and in the dark, I took off the highest hose in the system (on the rhs of the expansion tank here, next to the water-bottle-funnel) and ran the engine until water started spitting out. See if that behaves any. A little easier solving them on the Capri, massage the big hoses and keep the rad cap off! The Mondeo also needs 2 new tyres soonish (down to about 3mm). Various long trips in the next few months including Scotland three times, Norwich and Brizzle.

One wall and one desk, please!

Engine came out with very little hassle in the end- Bloody heavy things, a pinto with a gearbox attached. Nicely stowed in the garage for now. leaving a bereft looking engine bay Featuring, pile of washing powder over where the gearbox pissed everywhere (just when I thought it was empty!). Next jobs, removal of o/s wing mirror, clean and degrease the engine bay, remove the brake lines (bar the one to the back - that's a bugger and can stay) and servo/master cylinder.

I gained one of these task lights a few months ago, left behind and not collected by contractor or contractors unknown. The reviews talk about the battery life being shite which, unfortunately, is pretty true. Despite showing full charge, it'll normally only last 2-3 hours before flashing and giving up. Which is a shame because it's a bloody good light!

Interestingly, by comparison, in 2021 I did 6436 (Mondeo) 2711 (Bluebird) 3148 (Capri). Fewer long distance trips because covid, but more day-to-day driving because I had a 20-mile round trip drive to work at that time (these days I usually drive to the station and take the tube).

Just totting up the mileage I've done in the fleet this year - Mondeo - 6,249 mi (long distance trips, local pottering and so on) Focus - 2,407 mi (from May '23 - mostly local) Bluebird - 968 mi (until June '23 - mostly local) Capri - 1 mi (sum total of trips up and down the yard, into/out of workshops from the transporter etc) Anyone else keep records?

I was thinking about the clutch, but it was replaced 5 years / 14k miles ago, so I don't think it'd be worth it? Good shout on the rear crank seal!

Very true and there are a number of options (ranging from scratching head and reading the manual and re-doing stuff myself, to phone a friend, to paying someone to do a job properly) if I do. My phone is progressively fuller of photos of the car in various states of disassembly i the same way that 'normal' folk have repetitive pictures of kids or pets... 😂 wiring looms labelled up etc. The engine itself shouldn't need any work doing to it as it is in good fettle and runs fine, other than an exterior clean up and degrease perhaps. I will do new service items (points/plugs) when it's finished but don't want to do unnecessary jobs while it's out, find there's an issue with it, and have to trace lots of different variables!

Being entirely new to removing engines, and somewhat of a worrier, I'm half convinced that I'm making a massive cockup and it'll never in a million years go back together. But then credit myself with a little confidence that it's all a case of following instructions and being methodical, and even if I do somehow cock it up, I'll learn in putting it right. Pep talk over, I went through the list from the HBOL... I thought I'd be a smartarse and mark up the propshaft lining up with a chinograph pencil, luckily realised just before taking it off that the grease and so on down here won't guarantee it surviving. I ground a little nick to be sure of having some reference when putting it back together. The nuts were a bugger to undo with limited ground clearance and a bit of play in the shaft! A spare extension bar was used to stop it rotating, which allowed the nuts to be cracked. A little tugging later and the propshaft slid off. Also, there's something satisfying about looking at shiny new parts, even if you know that within a few miles it'll be mucky! Next job, try to separate the bits of exhaust which really aren't for coming apart... (or, give up, take the angle grinder to the bottom of the manifold, and treat myself to the new manifold as the current one is a bit rusty...)

I've been quiet for quite a bit, a combination of weather, work, and illness. The wait for paint drags on, I've been pointed towards somebody who has said he can take the car at the end of Jan. We shall see. After a while discussing engine out vs engine in, I decided it should come out so the bay can be painted too. May as well. Started by removing the bonnet - a 2 man job, which I managed alone, although I think if it was a finished car with glass in I'd have wanted a second person. Oil and coolant drained, rad out and all hoses, fuel line off, vacuum, choke and throttle off, battery out, carburettor off... Lots of random photos taken along the way as reference points of linkages etc, hoses marked up with chinograph pencil. Rest of the fleet - Focus is plodding along quite happily, albeit it is slow on the take-off - whether this is a clutch issue or something I'm not sure, but may need to check and adjust. Mondeo is fine, I did a coolant change and had an air lock I think as we had intermittent heat output and at one point wildly varying temperature gauge - ran the engine parked uphill with the cap off and topped up a bit, seems better now.

"It's just... Err... I don't have my wallet to pay for this unique British Leyland keyfob, six randoms on a roffle and a NOS bit of Ford Sierra trim... Maybe we could... Come to an arrangement?"

In: I bought the Focus in May, in urgent need of day-to-day ULEZ compliance. A well kitted out competent car which is very well looked after and, although it had been laid up for 6 months before I bought it, had no problems getting straight into service. Out: A casualty of ULEZ, the Bluebird left in June. Definitely missed, was surprisingly nippy for pottering around town, there were some challenges with age and with parts being quite difficult to come by. In another world I'd have kept it and given it attention, but sadly not practical. Staying: The Capri's driven a grand total of a mile this year according to the odometer, but it's now solid and simply* needs painting to go back together. Mondeo has survived the ULEZ expansion, there are a few trips I make which don't get counted, and I do fairly-regularly do long trips outside the zone which are much easier in this. Most useful for sitting on the motorway, occasional towing, carting around dismantled bits of car to/from lockup.

Near Goodge Street, in this area there's a few older cars that seem to sit and seldom ever move. Presumably owned by somebody with enough money to live locally!

That running day was just around the corner from me - I took a trip on what was supposed to be an RM journey down the 263, but substituted for a preserved E400 (a preserved E400, let that sink in, I must be getting old) then a trip on the Metro on the return - I agree, excellent condition, apparently restored a few years ago but you'd be forgiven for thinking it'd just rolled out of being repainted.