Nige's newest nonsense

[Richard]

Is it the B engine or the H engine? Those clutches can be done in about 10 minutes by someone with nifty fingers and a bit of suitably sized bowden cable.

 

H engine if it's a 5 speed. The clutch isn't quite a 10 minute job on the 99, the shorter engine bay means the radiator has to come out, though it's still pretty simple.

[nigel bickle]

You tell me -I know little of the 99 yet. I'll have to get this done someplace- I'm nowhere near fit enough- sadly.

 

Can you clue me in on whats involved?

 

http://[/url]

 

Here she is -in all her glory:-

 

 

 

And exactly as it came 'out of the stable'. Looks solid enough to me....

 

[Richard]

This is from memory and it's well over a decade since I last did one but the procedure is something like this...

 

Remove radiator.

 

Remove plastic cover over clutch.

 

Remove spring clip from chain drive, this allows you to remove the disc that covers the input shaft then unscrew the little plastic propeller from the end.

 

Screw a bolt into the end of the input shaft, this gives you something to lever against to pull the shaft out. This is why the radiator has to come out on the 99, the 900 has enough clearance to leave the radiator in.

 

There is a special tool for holding the clutch open, which should already be installed on the new clutch cover. It needs to stay there though, so you either need a second one or improvise using copper brake pipe.

 

Get an assistant (or broom handle) to hold the clutch down while you push the brake pipe in at the base of the fingers. If the clutch hydraulics have failed you have to force the pipe in somehow, the clutch has to be released before the next stage. Release the clutch pedal once you've done that

 

Undo the three bolts from the slave cylinder and all the bolts from the clutch. The whole assembly should lift out now.

 

Assembly is more or less the same in reverse, obviously the input shaft is your alignment tool so it's installed while the clutch plate is still floating. Once it's all back in the holding ring should pull out easily with the clutch pressed. The procedure is the same whether you are replacing the clutch or the slave cylinder or both.

 

If the hydraulics have been disturbed it can be a bugger to bleed. I've always used a pressure bleeding system that consists of a spare lid with a tyre valve in it and a bicycle pump.

[Anglevan]

Don't know if this is of any help but a lad on the Anglia site has found a load of old motors (mainly Anglias - obviously) but in the shot you can see a Fiat Strada (mk1?) . Looks like it's had a hard storage but may be useful for bits.

 

The lads saved the Anglia vans so may be for sale..

 

http://www.fordanglia105eownersclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2725

[AnthonyG]

Excellent stuff on the Strada Nigel, with a DE plate that will be a Pembrokeshire car from registration. Maybe its the first time out of Wales since 1981!

 

Volga looks interesting too.

[nigel bickle]

Thanks for that Richard. Didnt make much sense -but I hope it will when the clutch cover comes off! Sounds like it makes sense to replace the whole lot, hydraulics & all, at the same time -just in case. They dont like 10 yr layups- do they!

 

Appreciate the headsup on the Mk1 Strada- which could well be useful. Sadly -I've no way of contacting him, and its in NE Scotland whereas I'm on the south coast! Pity. Strada has already been assessed, had a partial brake overhaul (so it can be moved around without crashing!). Front panels are partly off -and although it looks terrible (no -really terrible) its suprisingly solid. The door -which looked terminal is suprisningly solid and will be receiving remedials shortly. so it can go straight back on for 'trueness'. Nearside A pillar needs top n tailing, likewise sills, archs etc; the screen has to come out to investigate the scuttle, hidden grot around the rear suspension -but its all do-able.

 

Looks like the trip to collect the Volga from northern France will happen early October. Anyone want anything taking over?

[Skizzer]

Fine work as ever Nigel. Feel free to drop by for a cup of tea in Swansea on your way to collect the Saab

[nigel bickle]

Yo Skizzer- you down there?

 

'Bout 3 weeks -giving me time to digest those recently added heaps ,lying about here; clear the cheque and arrange my back into an appropriate (morphine induced) position. I'll PM you -be good to say hello.

[barrett]

Nige, I keep meaning to send these to you so I'll stick them here before I forget (again)

 

Bellet Gt racing somewhere in the UK, not sure of the circuit. I presume this is the GT raced by Neville Tricket that was sold back to Japan a while back?

 

And this one is even more interesting. A Bellett GT arriving at King George V Docks in London in 1966. As seems to be a different car altogether, which means at least two GTs, one Saloon and one Bellel were over here at roughly the same time.

I have a bigger version of this image if you'd like me to send it to you, I've just resized it so it fits on this page...

[nigel bickle]

Nice one Scott- hadnt seen those two. I'd wager a guess it was 1966, when Jack Brabham was racing one at Silverstone. But, as always -I am open to better offers.

 

Mine might see the light of day soon -to greet its 'brethern'. Happy days

[nigel bickle]

Brief update on an old lag that hasnt been seen here for a while:-

 

http://[/url]

 

 

 

Is a mid 80's Datsun Bluey -bought ridiculously cheap off the Blue forum -back in late Spring. Natch there was a prob -namely that a fair portion of the nearside was fashioned out of wire wool, ally cans & general gooey hogwash -so cunningly disguised (no really!) that I didnt spot it -but my friendly MOT tester did! It was extensive, and starting to run wild -and would have rendered it 'uneconomic' if it wasnt such a rare old beast. Took a while to sort ,and get running properly etc etc etc.

 

Anyway, its now legal, & I'm beginning to appraise properly.

 

In brief, its a 'grey', imported in the mid 90s. Pillarless (no B pillar) 4 door,although the seat belt mounts hanging down do a good initial impression), its an SSS turbo -with the wierdest 8 plug set up I've ever seen, incorporating 2 coils (firing through 1 distributor containing 2 sperate tracks & seperate cores). Rotor arm is a piece of work too! Frankly -its all a bit weird.

 

However- its pretty good to drive. Despite being an auto (needed for my gammy leg on 'bad' days) its got a sensible turn of speed,seems economical, a good starter with very light controls. Being Japanese -everything (except the A/c -which blows warm) works & looks like continuing to do so. Even got 3 stage suspension settings -although I cant yet discern any difference.

 

So, minor mods will continue, together with a good underside blasting, painting & rustproofing asap (as & when I can nick a ramp) & I look forward to an interesting winter together.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey i remember that off the blue forum, seemed like a mega barg but the seller seemed to disappear into thin air, I wrote it off as a 'too good to be true' job. Looks ace!

[nigel bickle]

Yup -t'was that one. Seller was a strange dude- but came through with persistence.

 

Feels good -lets hope it stays that way.

 

Off to St Quentin, Friday, to collect some old rusty Russian chod! (& maybe a Twingo, too!)

[Mike D]

Yay! Good to see it out and about, and nice to see it wearing the wheels

[barrett]

Bringing this on Wednesday? I'd like to have a proper sniff round this one....

[nigel bickle]

Hiya Scott- toss up between this & my lil 850.

 

Depends which one has fuel in....

[nigel bickle]

A little taste of Fridays excursion:-

 

 

2.4 tons of French registered Latvian plated unroadworthy Russki chod being towed (possibly at speed) in a (too small) Legnum by a very tired driver.

 

What could possibly go wrong?

 

This ,and lots more to follow soon on a pretty eventful trip

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Blimey! Fill us in NB!

[garethj]

Excellent, forget about monthly payments and sorting out the warranty, this is how real men buy cars.

 

More please!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

who took the photo? Clearly someone capable of thinking ahead in a tricky situation....!

[dollywobbler]

And why is one of the police officers crying? Don't keep us in suspense!

 

I can see a lot of similarity with my Bluebird in yours - would yours be U11 based? Pillarless FTW.

[RedSparrow]

Woo! I look forward to this. Really like these 70s-80s Volgas.

[michiel]

'Ooh, cette voiture est merveilleuse monsieur, vous êtes un héros! Est-ce que vous voulez donnez nous votre signature?'

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yo Bicklethwaite, if you need a cake with a file inside sent to St. Quentin prison, PM me

[nigel bickle]

Yo guys -soz for the delay. Been kinda busy incorporating Russki chod onto the production line.

 

Brief one -cos piccies are limited after I parked on my camera, & phone then died.

Twas an early (1am) start when I picked up 2 good friends (stalwarts on the blue forum, but infrequent visitors here) for a 4am ferry in my tatty old Legnum Estate. (It'll never be as good as my old c900 flat front -but its a willing & eager mongrel).

 

Dumped in France in torrential rain (did I mention it was RAINING?) around 7am, rapid progress south was made -leastways when the Sat nav was finally switched off- it seemingly having very differenty ideas about where St Quentin was! (Analogue Sat Nav thereon) Lovely town, free parking, very quiet- no bloody cameras or wardens anyplace. So much more civilised than any UK town on a Sat morn. A very large breakfast in the old town square (-scrummy) was taken before proceeding into the boonies - very muddy roads millimetric wider than the car, tractors & combines harvesting everywhere.

 

We finally met the vendor, at his weekend retreat, to collect this:-

http://[/url]

 

 

Its a tired old 1984 M24. He works for the OECD ,in Paris (main home) & bought it in Latvia in 96, having it lorried over -sight unseen. He paid a lot for it.... (I didnt. No -I REALLY didnt!)

Anyway- having seen extensive pics in advance I knew what to expect -and a sensible deposit had already been paid, securing the deal as it was too far for an 'on spec' trip. Effectively unused since the early 90's, I was expecting a blown HG or knackered thermostat, very rusty sills (see above- result of a slammed door!) & a big hole in the boot. On inspection, the engine seems fine -not pressurising; a little rattly but otherwise sound. Sills were dropping off -every time we shut a door! Boot seems essentially cosmetic -but time will tell.

Tyres were a cause for concern -the inner tubes seem to be dying. I was thankfully I'd taken 2 spare rims -although thoser on it did get me back OK; but the valves are now at a very funny angle!

 

Hitched up -in a brief period of dryness (hallelujah!), I headed north.

Heavy, very heavy & fairly unco-operative. I knew that Gaz's wont steer (from previous with my other). The Ackerman principle doesnt seem to apply with these so the best I got was straight ahead rims, with major tyre scrub around bends/ roundabouts . The Legnum made heavy work -but managed ok, and things improved on the motorway north.

 

Sadly the Gaz became harder & harder to tow (with the tail wagging the dog) -but we couldnt trace why. Cursory inspection (in torrential rain) found no cause so I had just had to drive slower....

We had several 'moments' -the worst undoubtedly overtaking a container truck -uphill, when we went into a very violent 2 lane tankslapper, without any warning. A major brown trouser moment -for everyone on the motorway ( never seen so many cars/ & trucks heading for the hard shoulder at speed!).

Such antics meant a slow trip back to Calais where it was dumped at the docks, and we were off for the 2nd vehicle on the trip.

 

I have a hankering for a MK1 Twingo -and had found an apparently nice early one on Leboncoin. No Carte Grise, and a short CT meant it was cheap -and I was ready to buy, with Andy or Phil happy to drive it on/off the ferry. Sadly -it wasnt to be.

A recent learners car, (I have no idea how she had passed )judging by the enormous number of dents in every panel, and the rot underneath (that she had failed to mention! Very anxious to show me the new alternator & spark plugs though! I did make an offer, but she felt insulted- and I elected not to pursue. 2 corpsing colleagues really didnt really help.

I had lined up another (-about 15 miles away) but 16 hours nonstop had taken its toll and we just elected to head home.

 

The journey back -in the dark, high winds & torrential rain was exacerbated because our slow speed meant I elected to use B roads to avoid traffic. In hindsight, a very bad move.

Offloaded and home 11pm. 600 mile round trip.

 

A couple of hours yesterday confirmed its principal 'problems:-

 

 

Inner & outers -both sides, clearly exacerbated by 3 sets of outers & tin can interiors, then filled with Latvian mud. A pretty straightforward repair. Current timescale is roadlegal by winter..Engine has a slight knock when warm -but its not serious, and oil -as opposed to Latvian tar -might help.

 

Oh -and the Gendarmes? A routine stop by 3 of them at the Peage- where we got pulled over for Inspection. My French seemingly deteriorated to the extent I uttered nonsense, and they eventually gave up -totally mystified. i think we confirmed their view of the English -but escaped unscathed.

 

 

I'm now negotiating on this:-

 

http://

 

the deals not yet done, but the seller has already agreed to transport to the docks, so hopefully I can A frame on /off & dolly home.

 

and have paid for this:-

 

Intention here is to buy 2 and use one to A frame the other back. Now that realy is going to be a roadtrip!

[skattrd]

Awesome work M. Bickle, you are a lunatic and an inspiration to us all.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

What a relief!!!! I thought you were going to tell us that 'les poulets' had confiscated the Volga and the A-frame and had told you if you were ever spotted A-framing again in their country it would be UN BILLET ALLER-SIMPLE AU PRISON. Splendid work! Do those things really weigh 2.4 tonnes? That seems incredible.

[skattrd]

I've got to ask, where do you find these things?

[DSdriver]

...Do those things really weigh 2.4 tonnes?...

 

Not quite, just at the moment.

[wuvvum]

Sounds like yet another heroic mission. Dragging a non-steering Volga round soaking wet French roundabouts with a Legnum estate is not something many people can claim to have done...

 

Glad you've finally managed to bag yourself a D3, too (man that driver's seat looks comfy...). And a pair of Zuks, whatever the heck they are...