greengartside

Eight years ago today this turd landed at mine. Tomorrow I will apply for historic tax and, judging by the complete lack of progress on the Mini, proceed to use it over the next few months. 

Both the other cars in this photo since sold and scrapped, the house SSTC and and my lovely friend Emma has moved onto a better place. Then again she lived in Hemel, so a move to Strangeways would have been a positive move. 
Happy bASe day, fellow motorist. 

The weather was looking ok, it was time to take the Sierra out for a test drive.
Even with the battery disconnected, the fuel gauge was showing that the tank was nearly full. Bearing in mind that I only put about 5 litres in when I first bought the Sierra, the gauge reading looked very wrong.

With the battery reconnected, the Pinto fired up first time and the exhaust spat out a mouthful of moisture. More on this later. 
Whilst walking out of the workshop, to move the E46 out of the way, I noticed that the brake lights were permanently on.

I quickly got changed, removed the bottom of the dashboard again to gain access to the brake pedal switch.

I removed the switch to check and clean it. It looked ok.

I refitted the switch and adjusted it to the correct position. Evidently, I must have disturbed the switch whilst fiddling with the pedal box yesterday.
All pre-flight checks done, it was time to set off. I got as far as my local Esso fuel station.

I managed to squeeze 5 litres of petrol into the tank before the filler neck was full. It looks like the gauge was showing an almost full tank because the tank was almost full. On the basis that the tank holds 60 litres and I've added about 10 litres since buying the Sierra, there must have been about 50 litres of fuel in the tank. At approx £1.50 per litre, that's a £75 gift. Thank you previous owner.
Before leaving the fuel station, I was approached by three people, who commented on how immaculate the Sierra is and who asked how old it is and how many miles it has done. How nice that the posh folk of Beaconsfield appreciate old Fords.
Approx 5 miles into my trip, I stopped off at a garden centre to check vital fluids and to give everything a once over. No problems to report. The pretty setting provided an opportunity for a couple of photos.



Back on the road, I headed for the A404. If you've ever watched Wheeler Dealers (the GB episodes), you will have seen Mike B towing or driving something along this famous* dual carriageway. 
Without any struggling, the Sierra got up to 60MPH.

I came off the A404 at the A4 junction and drove through Maidenhead, Cookham, Wooburn Green and towards home. I stopped off at Glory Park for a couple more photos.


I arrived back home almost exactly 20 miles later, as confirmed by the trip meter. This is good news, it means the trip meter and odometer are both reading just fine.

Ok, I've only driven the Sierra for 20 miles along local traffic free roads but my first thoughts are very positive.
Engine - I adjusted the idle speed at the garden centre, once the engine reached full operating temperature. Throughout the trip, the engine ran fine, quickly reached operating temperature and the needle didn't budge from the mid point. It pulled well from low revs, with no missing or spluttering. Nothing has leaked out, however there is still a whiff of paraffin / old engine oil / mucky residue from where I've been tinkering, which will need time to burn off. 
Gearbox - All gears go in and out just fine, synchros are strong. The gearbox is silent and I love the mechanical feel of the gear change.
Clutch - Biting point spot on. No dragging, no slipping, no juddering. Perfect.
Prop & Diff - Silent, no vibrations.
Steering - Noticeably heavy at parking speeds, otherwise works well and feels adequately light at speed. Steering wheel is on straight, no pulling, no issues.
Suspension - Smooth! No knocks, no bangs. Ride comfort is superb, on par with my W123. Handling is roly-poly, as expected. 
Brakes - Needed a bit of time to bed in, however once the pedal firmed up, they worked just fine. I tried a couple of emergency stops, no pulling, no issues.
Exhaust - Drill holes failed to allow any moisture to escape overnight and I could hear a significant blow from both silencers. Bollocks. Evidently, drilling holes in silencers is not a good idea. I will plug both holes with chemical metal and self-tapping screws this afternoon.
Radio - Played Greatest Hits Radio (105.8FM), including Popmaster at 10:30am. All six speakers work ok and the FM reception is better than expected, bearing in mind I live and drove the Sierra through The Chilterns.
Summary - I love it!
@N19 I am sure that I will find something to write about soon. There are a few more bodywork related issues that I want to attend to and I expect the forthcoming MoT test will reveal something wrong with the old Ford. 
 

I would have thought this was the original number plate on the back, so it may well have been a Haynes of Maidstone car.

Glad to see good progress on this fine machine.
You’ve just reminded me of the fact that there is an estate sat in my local scrapyard at the moment. Not sure what’s left of it but I know it’s a 1.8 CVH, L-spec.

How in the name of hell did I miss this thread?
Balls the size of Putin’s going in large with 1000% solid gold SHYTE purchasing. Belter of a car.

“I’D LOVE IT IF I HAD AN ESPERO…..LOVE IT…”

Poor astra

Bugger me with a fish fork, I haven’t noticed the faded text. Well spotted that man. 
Maidstone is in Kent and the Sierra wears a Kent number plate, so that makes sense.
That dealer still exists:

I wonder if they have kept any details of the sale. Doubt it but I’ll send them an email anyway.

I would have thought this was the original number plate on the back, so it may well have been a Haynes of Maidstone car.

I would have thought this was the original number plate on the back, so it may well have been a Haynes of Maidstone car.

I would have thought this was the original number plate on the back, so it may well have been a Haynes of Maidstone car.

I would have thought this was the original number plate on the back, so it may well have been a Haynes of Maidstone car.

I would have thought this was the original number plate on the back, so it may well have been a Haynes of Maidstone car.

I've been looking forward to this day for the past two months.
Once the Sierra was back on its wheels, I undersealed the jacking points that were concealed by axle stands / ramps.


The other side is the same.
It was time to pull the Sierra out of the workshop. As the underseal was still fresh and the car isn't taxed, I only drove the Sierra to the end of the road and back to outside my house to take photos.
At this stage, I recommend that you rewind to page 4 of this thread and remind yourself what the Sierra looked like on the 30th January, the day it arrived from Northern Ireland. I am pleased with the results and I'll let the photos do the talking. Please note that I haven't washed or detailed the bodywork and trim yet, hopefully I will get a chance to do that next weekend.






The bonnet, roof and boot lid look much better in sunlight than they do under a LED lamp. Yes, if you look closely and at the right angle, you can see the fine scratches but overall, the paint looks great.



Remember how the four corners looked? The tarpaulin that the Sierra was stored under rubbed the blue paint off down to primer / bare / rusty metal. My masking off and dabbing of blue paint has worked well. Up close, you can see the touching up but I am pleased with my low cost solution.




The sills and inner sides of the rear wheel arches look much better too.




The boot lid and rear valance now gleam.

I left the engine to idle for about 15 minutes and it ran well, nice and quiet, with no smoke. The temperature gauge reached half way quickly (and stayed there) but the coolant level was still low. The idle speed is a little too fast, I need to work out which screw needs a tweak.

With the Sierra outside, it took me two hours to clean the workshop. EVERY surface was covered with a layer of black overspray dust, which spread when I was painting the bumpers. Got there in the end.

I put the Sierra back in for another week, until it can be taxed and driven from the 1st April.

The 1st April is a Monday. According to the forecast, the weather should be dry. Let's hope so.

 

Another day off (Saturday), another day spent tinkering with the Sierra.
I had a look under the car and noted a patch of engine oil on the workshop floor.

The sump plug was leaking. When I drained the old engine oil a few weeks ago, I noted there wasn't a copper washer on the sump plug so I, foolishly, put the sump plug back in without fitting one.
Rather than draining all the engine oil, my wife kindly volunteered* to hold a rag against the drain plug whilst I quickly put a copper washer on the sump plug and screwed it back in place. I only lost a little engine oil in the process. Hopefully problem solved.

Next, I prepared and undersealed the front suspension components for that factory fresh look. I am pleased with the result.


I had lunch in the workshop. My arms and jumper were soaked with paraffin and I was not allowed to eat with the normal people in the house.

The engine sump was filthy.

And corroded.
I lifted the sump up and away from the crossmember by jacking up the transmission.

Access was adequate, I managed to scrape off the rusty bits and clean up the good coatings.

I painted the rusty and exposed parts of the sump with a high temperature black gloss paint. Whilst there, I also gave the steering rack a scrub. Much better.

Finally for today, I rubbed down the rusty areas under the bonnet and painted them with Rust Oleum paint. I will dab some blue aerosol paint over the patches tomorrow.
I also cleaned the old overspray from the two rubber seals. 

The plan for tomorrow is to finish off the decoration work under the bonnet, get the car back on its wheels and push it out of the workshop, where I can see better and touch up a couple of little chips and marks that are difficult to spot indoors. 
With the Sierra outside, I will be giving my workshop a deep clean.

I love that, it's great, never seen one before. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks also to @Cheezeyfor sending me this 1996 brochure. Appreciated.

Some '93 Mondeo ephemera I was given by a nice chap at Rustival. Look at that fancy Ghia with its bodykit and big alloys!



Ironically the Rustival venue doesn't exist on this map as it was published two months before the museum opened and shows nothing of interest in Gaydon.

I left the paint to dry overnight and this morning.
I removed the masking tape and broadsheet to reveal sweet looking bumpers.


The front grille looks sweet too.
Next issue, sort out the sun burned bumper trims.

I have a plan and Amazon have delivered the solution but unfortunately I ran out of time this afternoon to make further progress.
Definitely more soon.
 
 
 

@EspenO was right on the money.
I borrowed my wife's floor steam cleaner, which has a small brush adaptor that is just right for cleaning Sierra wheel arch liners.

Great tool. No noise, no mess, just steam that goes straight onto the desired surface. I could see brown water dripping down the liners, the steam managed to remove 95% of dirt.

The liners were clean but not shiny enough for me, so I gave them a wipe over with a tiny bit of this stuff.

The results speak for themselves.




I can relax now, knowing that when I drive the Sierra down the road, the wheel arch liners that are hidden behind the wheels, which no one will see, are now nice and clean.
The rear bumper is fucked. The greyish blueish paint coatings are peeling, it has numerous scratches and two vertical cracks in-line with the number plate lights. Some of the scratches are very deep.





I rubbed the heavily scratched areas with 120 grade paper, in a circular motion, which got rid off the worst imperfections. I prepared and cleaned the bumper and masked it off. 

And gave it a coat of primer.

The front bumper is in better condition but it is far from perfect.



The bumpers are not black and I have acquired an aerosol can of gloss black. On the basis that I have to fix the rear bumper, consequently I also have to do the front one.
I cleaned the front bumper and masked it off. The top section of the bumper is black and mostly ok so it will not be re-sprayed.

And gave it a coat of primer.

I will leave the primer to dry overnight and spray the bumpers black in the morning.
The chrome* strips in the bumpers are weathered, especially the front one. I have a cunning plan how to sort them out.
I had a two minute break for a cuppa and chocolate croissant.

The front grille was chipped and  cracked.

I filled the chip and crack with chemical metal.

Rubbed it down.

And gave it a squirt of primer.

I will spray it black in the morning.
A few minor cosmetic jobs aside, the Sierra is ready to hit the road. However, I still have tomorrow and another four man days (two weekends) to do a few more jobs before the maiden voyage scheduled for the 1st April. I want to clean and spray the front suspension components, clean and re-paint the engine sump and spend a bit more time touching up the brush painted areas. 
More tomorrow.
 

The pez shot, yes full as I needed to see if the fuel gauge worked along with the speedo as they are often broken on these Volvos.
I have now collected the Volvo 940 Estate fitted with a new cambelt, tensioner and oil change and it is running great.
3 out 4 isn’t bad!
Yes 3 out of 4 of our Volvos are legal, working and on the drive ready to go.  

Winner!

Let’s complete the catchup session on the blue one.
 
To make it less grim to work on I jet washed the engine bay and undercarriage to remove the cobwebs and greasy rusty detritus. Controversially I’ve also done the outside too, removing the moss and green slime. I was particularly impressed with the lichen growing on the windscreen and bonnet. Anyway it’s all gone now but don’t worry it still looks like shite, the paint is rough as.
 
I’ve jiggled/cleaned various contacts to wake things up. The lights were horribly dim but there is now a full compliment of adequately bright lights after swapping out a few dead bulbs. I know this was off task but it was easy and pleased me so yeah whatever.


Back to the important stuff… mobility. Starting with the front end, so far I have:
 
Put the front end on axel stands. Selected 1st and made the wheels grind round somewhat. Pulled the discs off, tickled them with the grinder knot wheel. Crowbarred the caliber pistons back in. That was a fight! Dropped new £5 pads in. Pumped up the tyres. Yay go me! So the front is hopefully good and ready but due to the dismantled rear drums I haven’t been able to test the brakes so who knows if the callipers will drag or stick but I’m hopeful that the front is all good.


The quest for motion is slightly inconvenienced at the back end as it was left up on axel stands with the drums removed and the fuel tank off for the last 14 yrs! All because the inner sill by the tank needed welding (along with all 4 sill corners) and I didn’t feel confident to tackle it back then. Interestingly a previous ‘repair’ here turned out to be a slip of metal posted up the side of the tank and only welded along the bottom edge where an MOT tester would see, just flapping in the breeze everywhere else!
 
At the back end, so far:
 
Found the drums in the garage, de-rusted then with the knot wheel. Pulled the remains of the rusty brake shoes with no friction material off. Cleaned the rust off stub axle. Walloped the wheel cylinders to unstick them. Tried to un-seize the hand brake cable Bought some £7.50 shoes but found the hand brake mech couldn’t transfer. Bought some £9 shoes with handbrake mech already attached.  
So first I reassembled the right hand drum but the hub nut didn’t feel like it was going on right. After a few attempts backing it off and trying again I thought I’d got it to thread ok but unfortunately it stripped when torqued up. Annoying but doubly so because I’m now struggling to get the drum off again to check the thread so I don’t just chew up the next nut. At £4.98 a piece (ECP) that could get real expensive quickly.
 
Moving on to the left side I had to fight the drum back on over the new shoes and it’s all just binding up massively. Not really sure why as yet and I just know it’s going to be a real fight to get it off again to look.
 
I have decided to replace the handbrake cables when I manage to get back into the drums, they were ordered today. £5.50 left side, £8.99 for the right, (eBay inc. delivery) this car is going to bankrupt me! (I struggled to get one side for the 924 a couple of years ago and ended up forking out something like £160 for that one cable! Typically the side I didn’t need was only £15 and widely available)
 
Right your all up to date on the blue one.
 
-Steve-
 
ps. Who else loves old school packaging designs? 

 

I've been looking forward to this day since I bought the Sierra.
I used T-Cut and water to cut the paint where it was faded but not scratched.

And this stuff where the paint was badly damaged.

And then this stuff to polish the paint after cutting.

The cutting made a huge difference.


Looking better already.

Another before / after photo, spoiled by a crappy iPhone camera.

Job done. The paint responded well to the cut and polish. The deepest scratches remain and I did not try to get them out as I didn't want to risk cutting through to the primer. I almost did along part of the bonnet. Under my workshop LED light, the scratches are still obvious but under a halogen light and, most likely, daylight, the paint should look ok.
Since my first inspection of the Sierra, I knew that the paint was bad and getting it to this standard wasn't quick or easy and I am happy with the results. The nearside front door is not a good colour match and there are various flaws around the car where it was previously painted. Doesn't matter, it looks ok. 




It will look better outside, in natural light.
Then my wife brought me lunch.

After lunch, I had to do something with the two tone sills.

I masked off the bottom of the doors and sprayed both sills with the blue aerosol (no primer). Again, no chemical reactions, no cracking or wrinkling. 


Much better.
I'm getting there.

Glad to see good progress on this fine machine.
You’ve just reminded me of the fact that there is an estate sat in my local scrapyard at the moment. Not sure what’s left of it but I know it’s a 1.8 CVH, L-spec.

I used the +12V socket located in the boot of my new Quashqai to pump up the tyres.


13” Sierra steel and a 19” Hyundai alloy wheel. The same but different.

The spare wheel looks happy.

A standard sized stapler wasn't man enough for the job so I brought this beast home from the office today.

It worked a treat. The meaty staples went though the carpet and folded over the velcro strips, which are now securely attached to the carpet.