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Jenson Velcro

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  1. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to Ianlea73 in Introducing my 1985 American ford ltd sedan   
    This had been on marketplace for ages & I was slowly watching the price lower to a more affordable price. It turned out to be a 6 minute drive from my house so it was rude not to go take a look. I'd promised myself before I was 50 I'd either build a kit car or buy a yank tank. I turned 50 last October!!
    It was imported, Registered & lived on an American Air force base for over 20 years.
    Previous owner bought it as a father son project but unfortunately, his son became ill so his health became the priority. 
    The car needs all new brakes, wheel cylinders, shock absorbers etc but luckily that's all supplied.
    Biggest stumbling block is the 3.8 V6 engine has single point injection & this seems to be playing up. Apparently it ran perfectly well when parked up but now splutters & dies.
    So I'll definitely be looking for advise on the 308 Windsor engine issue.
    It can't be too much as the car has a genuine 37000 miles in the clock!
    The car is so clean it still has most of its factory decals. No rusty holes just mild surface rust.
    The lower trim has been removed & all holes welded up. I'm going to colour match the lower section then use steel wool & soap to nib off any surface rust on the body, then boiled linseed oil & white spirits as a varnish
    My plans are to sort the brakes, suspension & get it running however I've been advised to rip out all the smog stuff & then look into getting the 14" factory steel wheels banded so I can use the oem P slit hubcaps. 
    Enjoy & any feedback & help with the engine issue would be great & how to remove the smog stuff.









  2. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to HMC in HMC- AUTOSHITE 2.0   
    The shad shed has had some later replacement plates…

     

     
    Theyre in a blocky modern font and follow the love for black background plates. IIRC you can put these on anything up to a ‘79 now. To a number plate obsessive (raises hand awkwardly) this feels, and looks, all wrong.
    Anyway- would a 71/72 k been on the more modern reflectives or the old plates? Maybe, maybe not. I wanted a bit of 70s modernist realism going on so ideally wanted a reflective set. 
    Trouble is, the 7s and 8s are all wrong on these. I want an 8 to have an hourglass shape. Yes im aware this sounds pervy 😂 and a brand new number plate has no patina.
    So i got hold of an old number plate that had the key older characters i was after, and added new old stock one of those that were missing.

     
    I then aged the too-new looking NOS ones with some wet and dry, took it all to bits, and drilled and reassembled.
    So the shad shed has a bit of a 70s sweeney / long good friday era look to it….

     


  3. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to dome in Domes shonky autos - Manta progress!   
    OK, time for an update.
    Manta
    First off, I started assembling the 2.5 Duratec for the Manta. The block and crank have been checked and polished by an engine builder so I started by installing that along with new bearings. 

     
    Pakora sauce applied


    And I'm happy to say it rotates beautifully, as you'd expect.
    I'll get round to the pistons, the new rings are filed and ready so it's a case of fit them to the existing conrods and get them mounted.
    Jeep.
    LPG leak. Bugger. It was definitely leaking from near the tank/solenoid valve.
    It has copper pipe from the tank to the engine bay.
    This didn't look too clever

    And nor did this.

    Don't worry about the rust, it's surface rust on the spare wheel well, the tank is inside that. 
    I decided to replace the copper pipe with the correct hose for LPG. If that didn't fix it I'd take to A Professional as fuck messing with the scary bits of LPG. I knew that the shutoff solenoid worked and that the leak was downstream of that. I also knew that the tank was pretty much empty as I'd ran it out on the way back up the road. 
    Anyway, it took me a month because
    1. I ordered 3m of hose and needed at least 4

    2. When I finally got enough hose I discovered that I had the wrong size of fitting for the tank end. Thankfully I managed to get the correct fitting from my local guy who also gave me some confidence in what I was doing and identified where he thought my leak was from the old pipe/fitting
    3. The weather here is pish just now.
    Anyway, I finally got a chance this week and cracked on.
    Snake!

    More snake!

    Got enough hose this time

    And the compression fitting fitted and ready to go. 

    The hose is routed along the inner chassis rail and runs alongside the brake/fuel lines. I'm pretty happy it's secure but will double check it after a few miles. 
    With this fitted and ready to go it was time to test it. I hoped there would be enough LPG in it to get it switch over and idle so I could check for leaks. 
    Handily we had 30mph winds on the day I was doing this so I drove it on petrol to somewhere remote within walking distance of home and switched it over to LPG.

    And-it worked! Either that or I've lost my sense of smell...
    I celebrated by driving it to the local LPG station and filling it up. It's running fine on LPG with no leaks. Win! I even treated it to a wash but it's getting dark so you're out of luck for a pic.
    It felt strange getting back into it after a month of driving more modern stuff but you soon get back into the way of an old school 4x4, it burbles along very happily and is a nice way to cover distance. Which could come in handy as...
     
    911 
    After a week or so I got a phone call from Hartech with the results of the strip down. It had spun a main bearing wrecking the crank. They also reported bore wear on the engine and gave me a price for a rebuild. It turns out that the £10k rebuild from the "specialist" pictured a few pages back was essentially a work of fiction. 
    I've thought long and hard about it and have [Pistonheads]pulled the trigger[/Pistonheads] on a full rebuild with an upgrade to their 3.7 conversion. 
    I'm also shipping the car down to them for them to get it running and mapped with the new engine, possibly trailering it down with the Jeep.
    Because fuck installing it myself with the money I'm spending on it😶
    So, the Porsche has gone from scratching an itch and hopefully getting out with my wallet relatively intact to being a long term keeper. At least until 996 values approach what I'll have in it. I'm thinking of it as a long term investment plan. Which will go like fuck and get used as much as possible. Euro trips coming up!
     
  4. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to mat_the_cat in 205 GTi - repairs underway   
    Fuel pipes are now replaced, and I've had to replicate the pipe sticking straight up out of the tank, as for some reason  it's been modified to clamp to the pipe inside the tank. I plan to fit a right angle coupling at the top however.


    There's a few bodges I'm finding on this, such as the battery clamp being a thin piece of bent metal, a penny washer and a UNF bolt in an M6 hole.

    It was so flimsy the battery was flopping about all over the place! Now replaced with the proper clamp.

    Next was the handbrake cables, should be a nice easy job until I noticed a drip from one of the rear drums.

    Wait a minute...drums on a 1.9? Well yes, when she bought it the owner pointed out it was originally a 1.6, but they'd been gradually replacing all the bits to turn it into a 1.9. They'd bought the correct rear beam for it, complete with brake calipers although it looked like it'd been sitting at the bottom of the sea. So the plan was always to rebuild that at leisure, and swap it over at the same time as changing the front struts to restore the correct ride height.


    So with the rear end, I'm just going to to the bare minimum to make it functional, and swap the whole thing over in the summer. I have to admit I sometimes reuse the staked nuts if the the groove falls in a different spot on the nut. But I think this one has been reused one too many times! Especially when I levered it away and it just crumbled off.

    Both new handbrake cables are now on, and I'm just waiting for a new cylinder...under £10 delivered so not a big problem.

    While I was there I coated everything with Lanoguard, to keep moisture away. Really impressed with the overall condition, despite the bodges!


  5. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to MarinaJosh in Marina Shite (Fleet changes- beige-r than ever)   
    Some unexpected fleet changes have occured!
    You may have seen I popped the engine-less Ital up for sale as I had far too many cars and was running out of space. I also advertised it in the Club magazine and was contacted by a local member who was interested. By this time a Marina appeared for sale that I had wanted for a long time. I mentioned to the chap who was coming to look at the red Ital that I would also be selling my white Ital. He ended up buying them both, leaving with me with 2 spaces and 2 money, ready for the new arrival which appeared today.
    It's another early Marina in Bedouin, so it will go nicely with my saloon. The plan is this one will be for regular use whilst the saloon will continue to be the show car. Surprisingly, it actually has less miles on it. It appears to have been stored somewhere dry (very original with hardly any signs of welding) but with lots of UV as the original interior was completely shot. The seller managed to track down replacement trim, but it's multi-coloured!
    Two out one in is a start but sadly I am going to be selling my Traveller soon. To be honest, with the choice of two early Marinas (my number one passion) I can't see an occasion where I would choose to drive it. Plus they're not exactly rare so if I wanted another one I could go out tomorrow and get one which isn't the case with an early Marina.



  6. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to fatharris in FatHarris - tales of a motoring moron ***More engine work***   
    It's been a bit of a tin-bashing day this evening. Did some more seam sealing too.
    Think I've got the hang of making these humps in the metalwork now.


    Just got to trim the third one down to size tomorrow.


    Three patches, ready to go in. Just need to prep the metalwork.
  7. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to captain_70s in Rusty Triumphs in Scotland - Dolomite in "most reliable" shocker - 08/02/24   
    I think late September was about the last time I was arsed doing fuck all.
    The Dolly had a run out around Northumberland during Twixfest.



    It was then driven into the garage and forgotten.
    The has Volvo continued to rack up daily driver points (for the very few car miles I do these days).

    A major issue for the WBOD was lack of a heater blower motor. The resistor having failed and then the motor seizing solid not long after. Naturally both a unobtanium. I acquired a 940 motor which seemed to be the same with a different plug and then couldn't be arsed fitting it, because summer.
    Then winter came so I went to fit it.

    Ok. So the blades are marginally bigger so it's a very tight squeeze to get it in but then... Wait. It won't screw into the housing?

    Naturally, the threads on the 940 motor are deeper and incompatible with the 740 housing.
    I pondered options for a while and eventually concluded with destruction.


    It's now an interference fit aided with tape. I may go back and make up some sort of bracket so it's less likely to fall on to Girlfriend_70's feet if we hit a pothole...
    I've got a Volvo 850 resistor which is similar-ish to the 740 one. I'll have to make up a loom adaptor though, which I can't be arsed with, so it's all or nothing as far as fan speeds go.
    More critically it's pulling badly to the left, is eating the outside edges of the front tyres and the exhaust is blowing at the mid section. So for now it's laid up.
    The Acclaim is in the garage.

    I've fitted a electric fuel pump to replace the original (unavailable) mechanical one. It's the sort usually found on upgraded MGBs/Morris 1000s and the like.

    Powered by a relay that takes a signal off the ignition control module wiring. So it only runs when the ignition is on. It works well and means it fires first turn of the key as the pump brings fuel up to the carbs without spinning the engine.
    I also made up a new mount for the windscreen wiper which had collapsed into the bodywork.

    Here is a crude representation of the metalwork where the wipers mount.
    T
    The red is what I would call the bulkhead and is a few big panels with minimal holes.
    The yellow is presumably a reinforcer of some description, it has quite a few big holes pressed in it despite not obscuring anything, presumably to save weight.
    The white is a "cup" which holds the wiper spindle. As seen here...

    So, the white cup is welded to the yellow panel along one edge, the yellow panel is spot welded to the red bulkhead directly under the windscreen.
    You might think that the force of the wiper spring and the linkage moving around would cause quite a lot of stress on such a small area, and you'd be right, as while 99% of the yellow panel was minty fresh the area where the "cup" was attached was rotten. As it'd fatigued the wiper had started wiggling around adding to the fatigue and multiplying the rusting.
    Grand. So, how to repair? The best method would be to remove the windscreen and dashboard to remove the scuttle panel to get access. Well, the screen is already cracked in one corner and they're notorious for shattering on removal (making spares rare) and the seal is perished and also unobtanium (The last known supplier of Mk2 Civic screen seals ran out a couple of years ago and announced no more would be made due to worn out tooling and lack of demand).
    Right. Fuck that then. Screen is staying in. 
    Second option would be to cut the scuttle panel out without removing the screen. Suspect the heat/flexing caused by removing big chunks of metal in the proximity of the screen could well break it. Let's not do that either.
    So. Keyhole surgery through the fresh air intake grille it is.





    That's as far as the pictures go. The plate had way too much flex in it to hold the spindle steady and my attempts to add strengthening ribs made a mess. Especially as the welder decided wire feed was optional and would only move wire about 15% of the time I pulled the trigger. 
    In the end I added another plate here:

    The curve was needed to clear the wiper mechanism but also acted like a big spring to hold the "cup" in place. 
    Ultimately, while it was sturdy and not structural, the repair looked like shit so you don't get to see it.
    So with a new fuel pump and functional wipers we had a functional car, yes?

    No. Not really. After being laid up so long the electrics have gone a bit... sporadic. The light switch on the stalk now has dodgy contacts so various lighting circuits will just randomly stop working. I'm hoping I can strip it and clean it, but if not I think I have a spare stalk somewhere...
    Oh. And it immediately blew a hole in the centre section of the exhaust.
    Also it wouldn't idle. Ran fine on choke but when choke was off it'd die instantly. Suspect the idle circuit is blocked...


    So the next step is cleaning up these carbs full of unobtanium rubber seals. Just waiting on some JIS screwdrivers landing...
    Once the current wave of repairs is complete it'll be 4 SAIL as, with having a works van for commuting, it just never gets used. The Volvo eats motorway miles and the Dolly is the go-to smoll saloon, the "very reliable car on classic insurance" is no longer a requirement. Lack of use is the cause of most of its recent issues - Dried out fuel pump diaphragm, corroded electric contacts, water sitting in the lowest section exhaust.
    This leaves the Dolomite as the most dependable vehicle on fleet, as it always starts on the button and just goes. How times change...


  8. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to SiC in 2006 Golf 2.0TFSi GTi - Bargain Basement 197k miles TFSI Club Member   
    Home. No pez shot as filled from a can. Weather was absolutely filthy so no fannying about. 
    Drove really tight and strong given the mileage.
    Anyway I have a very clean boot badge. #VAGLife


    More later as housework duties to do and keep Mrs SiC sweet.
     
    A few quick pictures for what £1400 gets you nowadays. CHEAPEST DRIVING GTI IN THE COUNTRY (Maybe)


     Not as filthy as you might think it could be.


    Headlining is dropping

    No stereo but...

    No warning lights!


  9. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to fatharris in FatHarris - tales of a motoring moron ***More engine work***   
    It's been fairly quiet this week, coming down with a shitey cold once again is doing wonders for my enthusiasm.
    Got the last repair panel welded on (the vertical section) and welded it to the new section of floorpan:

    Dressed back the random split in the floorpan - this was later welded up but I forgot to get photos:

    And then given a thick coat of etch primer - the underside got a coat of red oxide primer and has also now been seam sealed.

    So, whilst that dries, it's onto the other side. Spotted a lot of flaky paint along the inner sills, but no serious corrosion issues.
    Ran my hands around the underseal on the floorpan and heard some crispy noises under a bubble of underseal. Cut away the detached underseal and found some rather thin metal, underneath - looked absolutely fine from up top, but the screwdriver doesn't discriminate!

    And obviously the rear of the floorpan was due replacement (you can see the thin but under the bubble slightly forward of this):


    Luckily, beyond the first 40-ish mm it just appears to be surface grot so it should be fine with a wire brush and a reprotect.
    So, angle grinder came out, and the grotty bits chopped out:


    I was good to have a good look around in this area, as it highlighted that whilst I had put the R-clip back on the suspension unit rod, I had missed the rod completely, which was flopping around under the mounting point! Resecured that properly this time.
    Should be in the garage making the repair patches tonight, with the plan to get them welded in on Friday. We shall see.
  10. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to sutty2006 in 1986 Vauxhall Carlton CDi, Daily use of a 37yr old car. Now haz tunes!   
    Hurrah. Plates are on. Front was ok, rear plate had just been screwed through the rear panel (twats) and the original holes were missing the screw holders. Someone sent me those in the post, and two extra for my B series manta. Rear plate is now stuck on correctly. 
     
     


  11. Haha
    Jenson Velcro reacted to Rustybullethole in The new news 24 thread   
    The rattle can script started badly and petered off rapidly. I did however extend the cable and make the lights work on my lunch break which is a major step forward.
     
  12. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to BorniteIdentity in Memoirs from the Hard Shoulder: bASeman's Spot of the Year award.   
    Ha gosh. What a palaver. The guy hasn’t started it yet! I dropped it off a year ago. 
    I’ve told him I need it for April (it’s May actually but I know he’ll still be late) but hopefully it’ll be back soon enough. 
    Once the body work’s done, I just need to throw it at a garage and say “do mechanic things” so it works for spring / summer. It needs a bit of fettling but otherwise we should be good. 
  13. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to 320touring in Hill Climbing Clio - Public Service Announcement - Fast Clios? JUST DON'T! 03/03/24   
    Took this for an MOT on Wed last week.

     
    Bastard, especially as I've done the rear brakes - looks like the pivot at the handbrake lever is the issue.
     
    Got it to the unit today, and had a quick look
    Exhaust "leak"

    The pipe out the cat has rusted through - fitting a new cat would resolve, except...

    The downpipe to cat joint looks ropey too. This uses flanges, so would need to fit a new one to the downpipe,as there is NO WAY I'm attempting to pull the downpipe off!
    Additionally, the cat would need the Lambda removed, so I would expect that to be ruined and need a new one.
    The sill doesn't look the worst for welding

    No doubt that will develop into a bigger job!
    Lastly, some good news:
    The caliper retaining bolts and the Flexi all loosened off no bother.
     
    I'm away to price up bits..

  14. Haha
    Jenson Velcro reacted to barefoot in Optimistic Speedometer Thread. Your most unbelievable MPH.   
    It was a long time ago and I can't prove it but i once saw an indicated 92 from a  courtesy ac70 when I took my Cobra back to the dealer for a service.
  15. Haha
    Jenson Velcro got a reaction from New POD in Optimistic Speedometer Thread. Your most unbelievable MPH.   
    1980’s Vauxhalls:
    1200 Nova indicated 120 on the clock down Haldon Hill on the A38 near Exeter
    1300 Cavalier, again 120 indicated with 4 on board. No rev counter in the Cav but you knew when to change up as the dashboard started bouncing up and down.
    Vauxhall certainly made very willing, free reving engines back then, and company cars were always the fastest.
  16. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to fatharris in FatHarris - tales of a motoring moron ***More engine work***   
    Oooft, been a while.

    Not many photos, so I'll be brief. 
    Went for a bike ride and spotted this en route. Noted the location just in case, there was a Xantia too!

    Dan came round and gave me a hand, so we removed the centre section of the exhaust, the hydraulic linkage and eventually the fuel tank, in preparation for replacing the nylon lines.

    Proved to be the right call, upon disturbing the steel supply and return fuel lines that run the length  of the floorpan, they crumbled and split in half.
    Some grot on the rear of the floorpan was observed, so the seats came out, the rear carpet was removed, and my day got ruined.

    The bit in the middle was the bit I was expecting to rectify - the gaping hole in the corner was a fun surprise.

    The pipelines seen through the floor are the high pressure hydraulic suspension supply lines. Understandably, I was reluctant to break into this system and risk inducing leaks from disturbed pipeline unions.
    I decided to mark their positions on the pipeline clips prior to unclipping them.

    With a roll of tape cable tied to the pipelines to gently weigh/pull them down, I gained enough clearance to safely cut out the affected rusty areas.
     
    There is very clear evidence to suggest that someone before us had been driving this around on the lowest setting and hit something on the underside at speed - both rear floorpans are distorted at the very rear bottom - the drivers side rear also has some grot, but nowhere near as far-reaching and brittle as this end. There's also a weird dent and slight split in the middle of the floorpan that should be easy enough to weld back together.
    So, time to tin-bash. Three patches needed this time.
     
    Aaaaaand once again, I caught my bastarding stomach in the tin-snips. Ouch.

    Once all three patches were offered up to check for fit:

    The welder was fired up.
     
    Only done 2 of 3 so far, I'll get back on the tools tomorrow, had a couple of days off for my lads birthday. Hoping to get the other side done and primed/painted by Saturday evening, so the tank can go back in.
  17. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to 320touring in Bargain Basement Bucket List Big Cat - Water Pumplava! (14/03/24)   
    On Thursday this week, I took this along to an LPG specialist. He was picked because I saw he did a lot of El-Grand work, and those tubs are a difficult thing to do well.
    En route, I stopped for a high powered exec luncheon

    The chap was extremely pleasant, all the tools on a tool board, unit tidy and a MK2 Mondeo 2.0 petrol in the corner as a tinkering project. So far so good!
     
    I brought the car in, and he set up to read it.
    The car has a top spec AC Stag sequential injection system. As such, he was able to attach a Bluetooth Dongle to the LPG ecu. All a fair bit fancier than the old single point systems I have had before.
    The LPG ecu is piggy backed onto the main ECU and uses it's signals for airflow, pedal demand/throttle body positioning and spark timing.
    Looking at the logs for when the system was last checked/serviced, it was last Accessed on the day after it was fitted in July 2019.
    The car has done about 70+k miles since then..
    The first thing we noticed was that the short term and long term fuel trims were all over the shop.
    His suspicion was that the AFM was not generating a valid signal.
    He suggested that at idle, something at 4L should be registering between 4-5grams of air per second.

    As we can see, It's only registering 1/10th of that. 
    At this point, he said he was not prepared to try tuning the LPG until the car was running correctly on Petrol. I said I totally understood his position, and that it seemed a most sensible course of action.
     
    He asked what symptoms I was experiencing - I explained the issues with it stuttering/ delayed response.
    He decided to try and run a diagnostic program to check the LPG injectors. The ECU has the ability to add additional flow to each injector to balance the fuelling ( to account for wear/contamination from the oil/lubricant fraction used in the LPG)
    The ECU can add up to a maximum of 25% additional flow. So the lower the number in the table the better.
    The results?

    So injectors 2/4/5 are gubbed, with 3/6 showing some wear. This was not entirely unexpected given the lack of servicing or maintenance since it was fitted.
    Injectors are not too expensive and his costs for fitting/mapping the LPG seems very reasonable. 
    He took a look at the fuelling curves and found another issue.

    The blue line is the petrol curve, and the green is LPG. The way this was mapped when installed has made the LPG much richer - add in the failed AFM and then it's easy to see why the LPG setup was not smooth.
    He pulled the LPG fuelling back a touch, and the car is significantly more driveable.
    Now to find a replacement AFM...
  18. Haha
    Jenson Velcro reacted to warren t claim in 1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - Ready for inspection - see page 20   
    Fit the engine and running gear from an MG6 and you'll have a winning combination.

  19. Like
  20. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to Merryck in What makes you grin? Antidote to grumpy thread   
    I have a pair of in-ear bluetooth earphones, Melomania Cambridge. They're fine, not going to blow you away, but they were reasonably priced and are more than adequate for what I need them for. A couple of years after I bought them, well out of warranty, one of the metal rings around the right earphone came loose. This meant it wouldn't fit in the case properly and wouldn't charge.
    So I looked online for a guide how to take them apart and there wasn't one. I started looking at doing it myself, but when I went to remove the ring it felt like there was a wire or something. Not wanting to wreck it I emailed them asking how the ring was attached and how I could re-attach it. They sent me out a new pair and said to keep/recycle the old ones. Free of charge. Arrived two days after I contacted them.
    They're an old product, so maybe they just had loads of stock left, but I thought it was great service. Anyway, knowing I had a spare pair I took the ring off and it was a tiny bit of glue juuuust holding on. Once it was off it was clear I could just re-fit the ring and turn it about 30 degrees to lock it in place, so dabbed a bit of glue on it, re-fitted it and they're good as new.
    If I need another pair, or anything similar I'll check what they've got on offer first. It pays to look after your customers.
  21. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to Peter C in 1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - Ready for inspection - see page 20   
    Have a pez shot. It will be a while before this bitch makes it to a petrol station under her own steam.

    I added a splash of this stuff, I'm sure it won't hurt.

    I kept the fuel receipt for the service history. The number of documents has doubled.

    Precisely what I didn't want, the E46 outside and the Sierra hogging the workshop.

    Whilst looking in the boot, I noticed this arrangement of cables, which extends to the boot lock. Looks like we have central locking. Whether it works is another matter.

    Up she goes.

    I removed all four wheel arch liners. They came out ok, just need cleaning and removal of blue overspray paint.

    This is where the story gets a lot better.
    Yes, there is surface corrosion and flaking paint just about everywhere but there is no sign of any significant corrosion anywhere in the arches. The new front brake discs are a nice touch.




    The fronts of the A-posts and the inside of the front wings are just fine.


    The fuel tank has light surface corrosion, nothing that can't be easily sorted.

    The underside is totally solid. No sign of any significant corrosion, most of the paint / sealer is still intact. Only the sill to floorpan seams need a tidy up, but they are all solid.





    Daisy told me that she likes the shiny brake discs.

    I created a warm, dry and comfortable working environment.

    Whilst access is great, the three bolts that secure the downpipe to the manifold are fucking tight. 

    It was easier to remove the downpipe with the manifold attached.

    And here we are, the reason why the joint is blowing.

    The securing nut is on very tight. I have left the downpipe in an upright position and will spray WD40 on the nut and bolt for a couple of days. Can't do any harm.

    I removed the exhaust system. Looks nice and shiny, doesn't it?

    Until you look at the underside of the middle box.

    And the back box.

    Depending on whether I can sort out the manifold to downpipe joint without fucking up the downpipe, I will be ordering at least a new middle and back box from the eBay supplier in Poland. I've used the same or similar company in the past, they provided a replacement exhaust for my W124. The parts were good quality and fitted perfectly.
    Finally, I removed the cam belt cover to reveal the cam belt.

    It's not cracked but it's not box fresh either. I will replace it. I will also replace the fan belt, which is worn and squealed like a pig when I fired up the Sierra whilst negotiating it into the garage. 
    I wasn't looking for a project of this scale. Based on my (possibly too high) expectations, I was planning to take delivery of the Sierra, tax it and take it for a maiden voyage to Windsor for a work appointment. Instead, it is now in bits in my workshop and will cost me £££ before it can safely turn a wheel. Never mind, things could have been worse. I could have had cort16's C6 in my garage by now.
     
  22. Agree
    Jenson Velcro reacted to BorniteIdentity in 1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - Ready for inspection - see page 20   
    £3,600 for this car, by Sierra prices of 2023 certainly, is very fair. Plenty of Sapphire guys would be asking £4-5 for this and would probably get it. 
    Yes, £3,600 buys you a much better Mercedes 124 and a perfect Camry/Corolla etc. 
    But, sell this next month and I genuinely think you’d get every penny back. 
    So the purchase price on the P&L is £0 really. The interior, which is almost irreplaceable, is lovely. 
    You will have a queue of buyers by the time you’ve finished titivating. Honestly. 
  23. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to grizz in Grizz’s OCD Awesome ASTRO Van 🚙, VW Caddy Van 🚐 Now a Green Toad 206 CC 🐸   
    Every time I use any of my cars, but especially the Astro van, it makes me smile. 
    They are all very different in function and form but the Astro continues to be my favourite to look back at as I walk away from it. 
     
    It also changes depending on where you look from. 
    Fetching some fuel for my mower and a jerry can for the Peugeot 206 CC which had a reserve light on the van once again showed a different angle. 
     

     
    Having a breakfast meeting booked with KBM this weekend, meant a quick vacuum cleaner run through and wash outside. 
     
    I also fitted some new rubber floor mats over the carpets. 
    The floor of the cab area is quite small and complex due to the engine being partially in the cab and under the floor. 
    So custom shape is needed. 
     
    I am really impressed with these.  
     

     

     
     
    Sunday morning the drive to breakfast was great, including two different beeps and thumbs ups from other road users. 
     
    Copperfield 
     

     
    Food was great. 
     
    Coffee absolutely sucked imho. 
     
     

     

     
    After breakfast which ended at 13.00 and a lot of chatting in the carpark I drove down to my local Morrisons to get some food for the house as I had suggested that I would cook for Sally and Aaron my one lodger. 
     

     

     
     
    Dinner was meatballs on spaghetti with a nice sauce and some cheese. 
     
    Very very good. 
     

     
     
    Two meals in one report……
     
    Spoiling you guys. 
     
    Driving all three of my cars over the weekend was great. 
     
    The Rezin Rockit has just become due for a new MOT test. 
     
    Amazed that its 11 months since I completed this awesome build. 
     
     
     
  24. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to Rust Collector in I'll get round to it at some point - Everything is Broken: the sequel   
    It's update time again. I've been picking away at things since last weekend. Not all of these have gone as planned.
    Car Tetris
    The Lada needed to be in the courtyard. This space was 3 cars deep in shite with flat batteries, which is actually a better situation than normal. Everything moved out the way ok, although I realised that I left the window open on the Trans Sport last time I was in it 😢
     
    The marks on the headliner were already there, as the roof gets really damp from condensation when not used - incredibly, the interior below the window was fairly dry. I think the fence saved me a bit there.
    I've also found out exactly where the gauge reads before the Pontiac cuts out:

    Luckily that happened just as I got it to where I was parking it.
    Bonus content for @Zelandeth 

    Lucky I've got the socks...


    Bastard. The Landy had to pull it out in the end.
    Car Tetris complete, it was time to actually do something. But first, storm preparation:


    The Lada
    As you can see form the last photo, it was now suspended up in the air ready for some TLC.

    Then it was time to procrastinate by replacing the fuel filter


    I ran it for a bit, and it would appear that there's loads of shite in the tank.

    That's a job for another day though.
    Knob out off.

    Gearbag oil removed


    Not much shite on the plug

    And after a good clean I feel it looks worse, not helped by my appalling focus.

    Golden retriever attack



    Downpipe loosened off (I was worried it would just fall out if undone fully. I was wrong to worry). Free escargot.

    Exhaust clamps removed. The first one came off with the spanner from the toolkit without fuss. The rear had* to be snapped off with a breaker bar.

    Eastern European beer can repair discovered

    And a ghost from the past was discovered by rolling onto it, I must have been having a bad day when I made this

    Clutch slave removed

    Starter motor removed

    It's an enormous bastard of a thing.

    I'm going to sort this spaghetti out as it makes my teeth itch. For good measure, earth coloured wire is used on both the +ive and -ive leads which could absolutely definitely not end in disaster.

    Exhaust out. What a bastard. I couldn't split it underneath the car, and it's an absolute wanker to get out whole.

    Split up, to make refitting easier. Possibly.

    Forbidden Donut bolts removed.

    More propshaft shittery. I had to spend ages cleaning up the threads of the studs as they were coated in underseal. They came off ok though.


    It nearly twatted me in the head despite me being careful as I absolutely knew it would twat me in the head. It came out though.

    The UJ's are all in good condition, as it the centre bearing. All the grease points will get a good pumping.
    Getting there...

    Now for a brief interlude. The bonnet stay was missing on this car from when I got it. The meant that the bonnet was instead stayed by the grille and headlights, which always made me feel incredibly uneasy.

    A replacement was as much as £10, but comes from abroad which means waiting.
    Whilst wandering around the garage looking for a bucket handle, I found something easier to work with...

    Are you thinking what I'm thinking?!


    Glorious.
    I will get a proper one. At some point. Probably.
    Back to work then.
    Every 1/2" extension in a 5 mile radius was used to get the top two gearbox bolts.

    The bottom two are easily accessed.
    For a while I've quite fancied getting one of these gearbox trolley jack stand things.

    However, I've continued to procrastinate and for now we have a piece of gravel board and two 'danger orange' ratchet straps on a pressed pallet block of dubious vintage.

    You'll notice the rusty outriggers. More on that later, sadly.
    Rear mount undone, and the box slowly comes away

    Obviously I checked the manual and made sure that I'd removed everything, and I definitely meant to leave the speedo cable connected like an umbilical.

    Error rectified, and she's out.

    I'll be back for this tomorrow:

    Back round to the rust then.
    Whilst underneath the car I couldn't help poking at the scabby bits, as I wanted to weld up anything that wasn't right whilst I'm here - I don't want the car going back out with any serious rot on it. Sadly, the scabby bits spread further and further as I poke. I've gone through the driver's footwell, both outriggers, and the floor pan in the driver's side is a state. The underseal means that the underneath looks alright bar the odd blister, but the rubbery coating on the interior of the floor has trapped moisture and the rot appears to be coming from the inside rather than the outside.

    I'll be cutting that out then. To save time I will probably buy premade outriggers, and to save money I will probably make up the floor from the sheet steel I have here.
    There's also some other bits that need sorting before she sees the road again. The indicators are in a bit of a shite state, it needs new mirrors, there's a hole in the rear floor pan to patch, the spare wheel well is knackered, the rear valence is also shot. I want to carpet the interior as I think the rubber it had in there is worse for trapping moisture/condensation than if there was carpet fitted properly. I want to look at the weather seals to try and seal any routes for water ingress as I think this has been the biggest contributor to the car rotting - most of the rust is in places that water has pooled on the interior. The front alignment needs adjusting. There's general scabbiness and surface rust on most panels, I want to sand all that back and get paint over it before that in turn becomes worse. I don't like the underseal / stone chip tide line so I will be sanding that where flakey  and painting with more stone chip to seal the bits that have blistered off and then painting it all white. There's probably other stuff I've forgotten.
    I think the car is very much at a turning point in its life - it needs a lot of work now to ensure it remains safe and usable going forwards. It would be irresponsible to turn a blind eye to the issues and put it back on the road, I'm also certain that doing so would also probably seal its fate in terms of rot.
    So, that's going to be a long term project then... that will mean a reshuffle of cars here to make space for it whilst leaving room to work on other cars, it will also mean I need to fix something else to use to get to work.
    Cue:
    The Mercedes
    If you recall, this thing was making awful noises from underneath when coasting, and lots of vibration and clunking at other times. I may or may not have mentioned that after my initial panic, I decided that it was possibly the driveshaft hitting a heatshield. Best have a look then.
    I bloody hate lowered suspension. I had to jack it from the sides on to spare steelies in order to then jack it from the subframe onto stands.

    I would much prefer this ride height:

    I finally found a use for the stack of about 10 trailer wheels that I have laying around

    The photo may or may not show it clearly, but turning the back wheel revealed that the weight thingies on the prop shaft are just rubbing the heatshield.

    A bit of adjustment with the heatshield calibration tool did the job.

    This is of course a temporary measure - the centre bearing appears to be gubbed, so needs replacing. That's next weekend's job then!
    For now the car no longer makes awful noises, and will be able to make the short journey to work and back for the next few days.
    Once the prop shaft is behaving itself, I'll be going after the thermostat (again), t suspension clonk and the rather violent unlocking of the torque convertor. Then it's service time, and afterwards I want to tidy up the shabby bodywork. This will probably be the car I use for business travel going forwards, as I can't see the Insight getting sorted anytime soon and I need some MPG's.
    Bonus content:
    The Land Rover
    Incredibly, it's still working*.
    However, one of the side repeater bulbs blew.
    Apparently the units have a small spring clip on, push them against the spring and they release out the hole.
    Mine eventually pushed in and came out, and just as I could see the spring clip it went 'sprong!' and fucked off into the void in the door.

    Wanker.
    Best put a sticky pad on that for now then, and order some new side repeaters. It currently has clear ones, so I'll probably go back to orange for full tango effect.
    Phew! I think that brings us up to date.
  25. Like
    Jenson Velcro reacted to Andyrew in Andy's awful autos: PLAS!   
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