mercedade

Between this and the 240, @juular maintains two of the finest threads on AS at the moment.

Between this and the 240, @juular maintains two of the finest threads on AS at the moment.

Between this and the 240, @juular maintains two of the finest threads on AS at the moment.

And a very fine fleet!

Between this and the 240, @juular maintains two of the finest threads on AS at the moment.

I used to have a fabulous Panasonic plasma - weighed 3 metric fucktonnes and heated the living room.
I managed to get a good deal on a Samsung QLED (their 'better than LED but not quite OLED' offering) last year after working out that once I'd taken up their £150 cashback for my old TV, 12 months 0% finance, and a banging offer through my Perks at Work, the TV would pay for itself in under three years of energy bill savings.

Between this and the 240, @juular maintains two of the finest threads on AS at the moment.

Fixed that for you

I’m now lost in an ironic vortex.

Today I swung in by Duncans workshop to have a discussion on the way forward with the kingpin on REV, He has it fully disassembled and we measured everything and came to the conclusion that it is worn!  By kingpin standards not badly worn, enough to probably induce a speed* wobble but nothing dagerous. Fortunately the housing for the bushes is showing no wear at all, so the new kingpin and bushes should be an easy fit and solve the problem. The bushes do in fact appear to be oilite type, and the bottom of the kingpin tube is open into the front drum, which explains why no grease nipples are fitted.  In the bottom of the tube was a ball of rock hard grease that had obviously been put in many many years ago.  Dunc has also spoken to a few of the old boys who tend to congregate at interesting workshops, including the fella who maintained the 1920s bus in Aberdeen which used a similar, if somewhat larger, kingpin assembly.
The unanimous decision is to leave things as original and reassemble with a good coating of heavy weight oil. After all, it was good enough for the government for the lifetimes of these vehicles. He will hopefully start putting it back together later this week.
We started discussing speed wobbles, as you do and we decided to see if we could improve the aerodynamics of REV
The first attempt using Seat parts was not great
So we looked around and found a yellow and white body kit on an old Audi in the corner which we think will work better!


 

No point pussyfooting around it, I had to do one of the most unpleasant jobs on a BX today.
The steering rack boot - usually a fairly simple swap. Not so with a BX.
The power steering hydraulic ram is external to the steering rack, so ram eye-end attaches to the nearside rack arm via a protruding lug (shown after I installed the boot)

First things first, the old one was whipped off. The track rod end was left connected to the hub on each side, and simply unscrewed from the steering rack, to roughly retain the tracking settings.

The old rack boot had been fouling a bent handbrake cable bracket, and had also dislodged it at one end.

 
The new boot was thrown into a boiling kettle for a while, in an attempt to soften the boot and give a bit more elasticity. The kitchen drawers were raided for spare spoons, in an attempt to allow the boot to safely stretch over the lug without tearing it. 
This was a total arseache, compounded by the fact the BX is on the lowest point of the axle stands at the moment. Crawling underneath it every few minutes was a pain, especially with the pigtail hydraulic pipes running through the middle of the engine bay.
Through divine intervention, I eventually got it on after much swearing. The aftermarket boot was much bigger at one end than the 44mm either side, so a jubilee clip was utilised to evenly take the slack up.

The other side was a breeze by comparison, and within half an hour, the offside boot was replaced and the track rod ends reconnected. The nearside boot does touch the hydraulic ram, but it shouldn't cause any issues.
Pretty sure this concludes the jobs around the engine bay. I'm planning to take two days off work next week so I can try and put some graft in to get back on schedule for the target date.
Oh yeah, here are a few random spots I forgot to post from last week:



The Xantia was very bouncy on the road, suggesting the spheres are not having a good time.
Cheers!

I had a day off work today so made use of some tinkering time.
First job was replacing the rear inner light lens. One of the previous owners has reversed into something I think, there is some scuffing on the bumper, a very small ding in the metal quarter panel, and a crack in the rear light lens which is hard to see, harder to photograph but easy to replace.

Its not too bad, but water has got in and its going green in the cracks, and is only a matter of time before it mists up and makes the car look tatty and uncared for. I bagged a replacement unit for £16 on ebay which arrived earlier in the week. Easy enough to do, open the boot and remove the sound deadening felt

undo 3x 10mm nuts through the access holes and gently lift it out

I took the opportunity to clean the muck out of the stamped recess in the panel before reassembling it all with the new unit. 

Much better.
Then onto some other jobs. The Laser 4880 oil filter tool had arrived earlier in the week too so I lifted the front end up and had another go at getting the oil filter housing to release. I followed @RoverFolkUs advice and used a 24mm socket on it, rather than fitting the cup tool direct to the 12" breaker bar. I used the Power of Grayskull and amazingly it undid - I was sure I'd trashed the cup wrench again, but astonishingly it survived. I drained the oil out of the filter housing (maybe 1/2" litre?) into a washing up bowl and then replaced the filter and o-ring, making sure I cleaned up all the threads and mating surfaces with a rag, put a tiny bit of copper grease on the mating surfaces on the not-threads side of the o-ring, then refitted it. I did it up hand tight, then a tiny bit more on the ratchet. Hopefully next time I need to undo it it will come off without a fuss. 
I got given a BIN offer on a caliper and carrier so I took the lazy route and just bought it, and swapped the whole shebang. It was £150 which I could have done without, but the old one was basically fucked - I could have spent a significant amount of time heating it up, hammering it and getting it to free off, then replacing the slider and reassembling it all, but I'd probably have broken something in the process and immobilised the car so just took the easy route and assembled the whole caliper and carrier on the workbench, removed the old one and swapped the brake flexi over, refitted the pads, pins and wire retainers and then enlisted my eldest daughter to do the pedals end while I did the caliper end and bled it through.
All sorted out and working fine - so thats another issue off the list.
I think the next thing is to get some tyres, it has 4 mismatched budgets on currently, and they're all at, or close to the 3mm wear markers. it looks like I can get a full matching set of Kumho Ecsta tyres for £300, or Uniroyal Rainexperts for £340. I know and trust the uniroyals, the Kumho's are supposed to be just as good in the rain as the Uniroyals, so might be worth taking a punt on, thats something for next month though I think.
I had to go up to Manchester for work last week and the Lexus handled it all beautifully. 550 miles there and back via Telford, it behaved impeccably and delivered 38mpg, and 35mpg over a combined 20 gallons of 70% motorways and 30% crawling round local roads.
 

Don't squander £4k on something as disposable as a £4k car.   

Last weekend was the VSCC Light Car Section Welsh weekend. this year marked 100 years since the RAC Small Car Trials, which inspired the event, and in which a Palladium did exceedingly well over 1000 miles of hard test driving at the hands of its designer H F Smallwood. Since the aim has always been to take my Palladium on this event it was absolutely essential that it was back up and running in time. Sadly it hasn't been driven for about 4 years, since it suffered some mechanical problems (on the way home from Wales, funnily enough) which resulted in a load of water in Number 4 cylinder and a couple of bent valves. Anyway, we rallied some troops and had a mad week of putting it all back together (absolutely minimal input from myself, obviously) and a few days before the trip it was running for the first time and sounding nice and healthy. I did a quick trip round the block and all seemed well, so all that was left was to keep a positive attitude and pack lots of tools. Here's how things looked after about 100 miles.

And approaching the border

Noo hood or weather equipment wasn't great considering we were in the grip of Storm Kathleen, but the weather was pretty kind on the way up and I did 200 miles behind the wheel with no problems whatsoever. Made it to Wales and spent two days fannying about, actually much more challenging than the drive up, driving on small roads with lots of hills etc. Here it is in the middle of a section through normally-closed Forestry Commission roads

It shed a sidelamp lens going over a nasty bump annoyingly. Here it is resting at the summit of Bwlch-Y-Groes, 'the Welsh Terror', a absolutely nasty very long climb which saw off a few competitors back in 1924, but which the Pall sailed up without any problems (in first gear)

And here it is going down the other side

After all that, we set off quite early on Sunday. The first leg was quite tough going with awful rain and wind, but the last 100 miles were pretty great going.

Got back by 6pm which was alright. The best part of 700 miles covered in four days, which might not sound like much but it takes a huge amount of concentration and energy to drive this thing at speed. Apart from a blocked slow runnning jet there were zero mechanical issues for the whole weekend. The number plate bolts came loose, one of the wing valances sheered the rivets holding it in and was rattling around, I think the gearbox is possibly even nosier than it was before but otherwise it was smooth sailing! So glad to actually get this heap to Wales and re-enact the 1924 event, which was the marque's most notable achievement, particularly on this anniversary year. Next stop: get a hood made.
 

Thought I’d update on the Vectra.
since acquiring it, I’ve already wet/dry sanded and DA polished the headlamps, fixed the floppy indicator thanks to @Popsicle help, replaced the blown heater resistor, and given it an oil/filter, fuel and pollen filter. Fuel filter wasn’t original which was good to see, at least it was done once in the cars life 😂. Even cleaned out the rubber bung and surrounding area of the pollen filter so it doesn’t suffer the flooding in the footwell that it can cause. 
getting underneath there is clearly a small oil leak which, I suspect is from the weeping rocker cover given how it has slowly accumulated over time. Absolutely rinsed brake clean everywhere to clean it all off. I’ve ordered up a Febi rocker cover/gasket set which I hope arrives by the weekend. I’ll replace the plugs then too.
I’ve also changed the nasty plastic steering wheel with one from an SRi which is miles better. 
 
I’ve also had the timing belt/water pump and auxiliary belt done. It was on the original belt as well so glad this is sorted for peace of mind.
 
also put 2 new rear tyres on, as they were so old I couldn’t even see the dot code on one of them! It starts immediately with barely a crank and the engine is really torquey. I think it’s definitely had a clutch in its life as its immediate and a good biting point, again good to see.
I am clearly going beserk but as people know me I’m incredibly pedantic and have to get stuff done asap, else it really itches my brain. The interior is what lets the car down, it’s just tired seats which are typical cheap Vauxhall. I’ve found a guy breaking a VXR and I’m travelling there Saturday where it’ll have VXR recaro seats which will just lift the inside.
I’ve ordered the rear drop links and bushes as they are audibly knocking and for the sake of about £33 all in I may as well do it this month.
next month I’ll replace the thermostat as it’s lazy, and I’ll see about doing the front discs and pads as although pads have plenty on them, the discs are pretty poor in my opinion.
overall, enjoying this car. Will serve me well for a bit.

A slow day today, because I was still shattered from the drive.
The postman had been busy dropping more bits off for me, namely the brand new middle timing belt cover I snagged on eBay - the old one was too far gone to be reused, and would touch the belt if fitted.
I was expecting three more parcels which should have been delivered last week, but hadn't appeared yet. The delivery service tracker (Evri) said they were 'out for delivery' on Saturday.
I was panicking about this one, as it was the bulk of the parts needed to build the engine back up, as well as the steering rack ram which was now showing as out of stock.
A quick email and a couple of hours later, a knock on the door.

Phew! Aside from some easily sourced consumables items, I think I've finally got all I need to finish this.
As I didn't have the engine back yet, I cracked on with one of the more unpleasant jobs.

Bloody hate the grease on this, spreads everywhere, stinks and is a bastard to clean off.

The CV joint was putting up a fight to come off, but eventually gave in.
There was a plastic ring in the old boot, so I transferred it over.

There was only one driveshaft boot that had actually torn, but it made sense to get them all replaced now whilst it was all in bits.

Onto the next one.


Both done and ready for fitment.

After that, it was time to hop in the car for a little drive.
Left some money in a box.

And loaded up some precious cargo. Safety first.

Got it mounted into the stand.

Both the block and head have loads of swarf and debris in the chambers so they'll require a thorough clean before assembly.
As it's late and I have work in the morning, I tried my hand at removing the valve stem seals. Tricky little bastards, but heating them up with a heat gun helped free them.

The work is going to start ramping up now - the deadline is rushing up and I've still a lot to do.

Going to take a few days off work soon, hopefully I'll get to lock myself in the garage and get this cracked out.
Either way, small jobs today, but straight back into it.

Minor update - both A pillars and (quite a few) rust spots on the upper lip have been cleaned up, phosphate treated and ready for masking and etch primer.

I'm hoping for some decent weather so I can bake the paint before the screen is fitted, but not massively optimistic. Thinking at least a week to harden. 

Before doing any welding whatsoever, I made an extra long lance from 3 originals joined together. 

This is so I could arrange it in the correct position for optimum coverage, before putting the panel in position.

I used mini G clamps to hold the 3 layers together.

And here you can see how the holes in the outer panel are lined up with those in the middle layer, which I'd previously only tacked into position and ground back.

This meant I could create a decent plug weld, and tie all 3 layers together.

Once I'd done all the plug welds and tacked the front edge, I ground them all back ready for seam welding in stages.

I was trying to minimise the gap to make life easier for myself when it came to welding 1mm steel. I found that on a current sufficient to get good penetration on the first pulse, by the time I'd laid down 3 or 4 more pulses, the localised heat build up meant I was in danger of blowing through, so I just moved on to another location. And repeat...

Finally, it was a case of taking the flap disc to it, followed by the power sander to flatten out any imperfections. This should still be under the seal, so I dont think I need to use filler.

Then a coat of etch primer to protect while I treat the surface rust which is around the rest of the frame.

Lastly I used my new lance to spray cavity wax on the rear of the weld, which did reveal two pinholes...easily dealt with though. Time for bed now!

The inner panel repair is now complete.

So I then made a couple of holes in it! Just so I could inject some cavity wax into it, as it's far easier to do it from above - and it also is so penetrative, it highlights any pinholes in the welding.

I've hacked up my new panel, and sat it in the correct position...

...before beginning the slow process of trimming to match what I've cut feom the van.

Work on this has slowed slightly for two reasons. Firstly we are now having guests staying in the Airstream, and I don't think they would appreciate angle grinding during their stay. And secondly my welder had failed again!
A different fault, but I traced it to the new board I'd been sent. I contacted the supplier, rather expecting them to suggest that another fault in the welder must have damaged their replacement board. But fortunately they sent a replacement out to me but agreed it was rather puzzling. 
To my surprise the next day two arrived!! They decided to send two from different batches just in case there was a more widespread issue and i suffered another premature failure. Over and above as far as I'm concerned. 
Back to the van and I actually managed to do a better job than expected in curving the inner repair section.
I started by cutting a few slots in it, but when I started flattening out the 90 degree angle to match the original, found it naturally started curving in the right direction! I drilled out to match the position of the original spot welds...

...and have begun the steady process of welding it all into position. 

I did bite the bullet and go for a new panel in the end - I think this will enable me to do a neater repair and hopefully avoid needing to use filler. It's still a zinc coated panel so should be better at resisting rust, even if not hot-dip galvanised as the inner layer now is.

One for @LightBulbFun

Wait a second...

No, really, @MrsJuular noticed that the Volvo branded spark plugs (which weren't cheap) looked like they were held together with glue.
I was doing a (yet another) spark test with them all lying out on top of the engine block, except this time it was starting to get dark outside. This time I noticed how thin and crappy the spark looked, which prompted a closer look.
Ironically I bought these spark plugs last year to try and sort the running issues that were likely caused by the burned #3 valve which I have now fixed. I hadn't thought those "genuine Volvo" plugs would contribute their own issues.
So I chucked on an old set of NGK plugs I had lying in the boot, and...
 
Running perfectly!
MOT time now.

Another day off so more work on the filler, well after an exciting morning trip to the tip, yep I know how to party! 
Firstly I smoothed off the end of the breather pipe were I had created a kind of flange.

Used the bench grinder and the finger sander, as I need to keep it flanged so it wont pull off the hose easily but it needs to be smooth for obvious reasons.

Next job was to fit the flange/collar that bolts to the body of the car, inside the filler flap area. This was a pain in the arse! Turns out that the filler is a very tight fit and fitting the collar and pipe lose is easy, getting them into place when attached is very difficult. This part took a lot of trial and error. Initially cable tied it all together but this gave a bit of a false impression as it allowed a lot of movement.  Next up I started tacking it together.

Not pretty but it works. After much faff I found that the best way was to just secure it on 2 sides so it can flex a bit.

Finally for today - another trial fit, it feels like I am actually getting some were! 

Sadly it will be painted black, I quite like it in red but that is just primer and I only have black top coat at the moment! 
 

Ffs I wonder about some people.

My plan worked, unbelievably. Propping the car up about 6" higher gave me room to get the big ugga dugga under the car, and with a couple of extensions I was able to undo the turbo to manifold nuts which are generally tighter than a council pothole budget. 
I can't help but think it's no coincidence that I was able to route the extensions through the only gap in the underbody between the subframe and gearbox. I get the feeling Toyota takes servicing pretty seriously. I mean this isn't an easy job (it's still not finished) but you can see where provision has been made for tool access. 
I've still got to undo some coolant hoses that pass over the top of the turbo. I think this is a bit of a bodge by Toyota, on some models the turbo is water cooled but not on mine, so a bypass is routed over the top of it. 
I think I'll lose a bit of coolant but it's quite high up so hopefully not loads. 
I would have done it this afternoon but the gusty wind was really pissing me off.