STUNO

I thought my problems were over for a while, but of course the car fought back. It started to leave a pool of green liquid on the ground every time it was left alone, so I made some enquiries with radiator repairers. their reply was simple and uniform, GO AWAY ! (or something suggesting similar). They don't repair these days without large amounts of cash handed to them, and anyway the plastic top and bottom tanks are unobtainable. So a new radiator is currently on its way from Indianapolis for a reasonable price, It was listed as "last in stock" by the manufacturer and was less than others listed by quite a bit. It should be here early next week.

Stop that or I will have a hissy fit.

An update..... at last. We decided to fit new pads to the rear brakes, bad move, the calipers reacted badly and decided to seize up. The only solution was to fit new ones or send them for rebuilding. So rebuilt ones were ordered from Rock Auto. Ordered at midday on Friday and delivered on Tuesday at midday. So round to the mechanic, oh dear, closed up and off sick for at least a week. I waited a week and when I spoke he said it would be another week before he caught up with work so bring it in next Saturday. That was yesterday and I left it there with the new calipers and more pads. got it back today at midday all fitted and the discs skimmed too . It made a huge difference to drive, I had only been able to get it from home to work with the brakes holding it back (a 5 min + journey) for 2 weeks. A 1 hour drive today was a pleasure, so now there is only a small radiator leak to be fixed. And speaking of leaks the weather has been very wet and water got in round the sunroof and through the mechanism into the headlining ( see various owners v GM for the lawsuits) so a bead of sealant has been applied round the roof and it is now dry inside in heavy rain. I don't miss the sunroof so quite happy. I will probably get a set of front calipers as they may be bad too with a change of pads ! Interestingly there was a surcharge of US$21 per caliper which I would love, but it will cost more than that to return them so will put them in the spares pile.

Is this for real? Possibly South African. Lack of a tailgate makes me think homemade. 1976 Ford Other GRANADA | Trade Me Motors

Finally found a photo, and also a for sale ad. $nz17000.00 - just for laughs ? 1969 Sunbeam Imp | Trade Me Motors

And as the result of the above, have you any suggestions as to the best way to remove oil stain patches from the concrete garage floor ???

Correct Jon. However today I got the car back from my friendly mechanic after suffering from an oil leak round the filter and low oil pressure. He found that the person who did the last change very nearly destroyed the engine. The wrong oil filter had been put in and was not doing anything. It was just sitting in the housing unattached and also causing low pressure warnings and engine fault light warnings. The oil was also leaking badly from the filter housing which had been improperly replaced without the O ring. He has recommended I get a new filter cap as it is a bit damaged. He also did the rear brakes which had been failed at the test when I bought it. He found nothing wrong with them or the axle bearing they failed it on, but checked everything and fitted new pads. He is also a WOF (MOT) tester so passed the car. There is now only a small cooling water leak to find and all will be done. I also found a sticker under the bonnet which announced that the cam belt had been changed and is not quite due for the next, so that can be put off for a while. I shall sleep well tonight !

Have you got used to the house bouncing around yet???

A huge thanks to @Jon and excellent coffee too! The sunroof problem is consigned to history. 3 drains working will be quite enough to do the job. I was pleasantly suprised how easy it was to get at the drain tubes and poke about to clear them. the roof itself worked as it should and closed properly so I assume someone had been playing with it while it was just sitting about for many months.It goes in to have brakes and wheel bearings done by a real mechanic on Monday as there was a noisey bearing and one brake was binding, it seems ok now but checking is best.

I had initially thought that it was ex Singapore, but found later it was Japan new. I had assumed that as I could not find any Handbook that the Jap. language one had been tossed. But I found a something odd HIDDEN in the glovebox and pulled it out. It turned out to be a leather pouch with the handbook and another book on the details of how to use everything and all in english. So very happy about that ! Also discovered that it appears to have every option fitted and they all work--so far.

Mr Hairnet, as you should very well know I live in the SOUTHERN Waikato where it rains every day at present. And in other news the Cam belt kit I ordered on Good Friday from Rock Auto in the USA was delivered today Wednesday. Very very good service !

They are programmable buttons , I don't yet know what they do other than you prog. them each to carry out some specific function like turn the radio on. They seem to be just a gimmick but will investigate soon. The big round R H one is for the very Good Bose sound system volume.

MAY have solved the sunroof problem. A look at it showed that the roof was not sitting right in the LH rear corner . A small push from inside moved the corner back up to close the gap. I will see how that goes. There is an obvious weather seal which should stop any water getting past the roof so I think there will be no drains. I have the owners manual but not a workshop one yet so a lot of guessing needs to be done. It is obviously American, the manual has 13 pages on how and why you need to wear seatbelts, and 1 on the complicated to operate radio/cd player.

I was fitting some floor mats in the rear yesterday and discovered the RH floor was very wet. that will be dried out and investigated. just hope it has not come via the sunroof drains if it does have any. I have not tried to open the roof yet because of the unknown about what to do if it all goes wrong. Should I just climb under and drill a hole in the floor !

I will try the Matrix driving on the way to work next week ! cort16 how did you find the ownership experience went ?