Dollywobbler's Daihatsu - MOT of fail

[HMC]

Fingers crossed the running problem is finally sorted! Is the filler neck exposed in the arch and at the mercy of the elements or did it manage to rust into oblivion all by itself?

[dollywobbler]

It's right above the nearside rear wheel, so pelted with road muck. Not a good design, though the 2CV manages with a similar set-up, largely because Citroen wisely opted for non-corroding materials!

[dugong]

Citroen wisely opted for non-corroding materials!

 

Which is rare. 

[Squire_Dawson]

It's like one of those rusty iron lumps you occasionally dig up in your garden and think 'what the hell was this?'

 

That is the most rotten steelwork I've seen for a long time - well done and glad you got hold of a replacement.

[Felly Magic]

He's a top chap is that gentleman known as 'Old Ford' , just don't mention rotor arms on a blue Ford Sierra to him

[catsinthewelder]

During the great floods of 2007 I was mostly driving an M reg HiJet pickup which got worse and worse.

 

After a terrifying solid bar tow to the local spanner weilder and a few days tinkering I was presented with the grimest jar of brown fluid ever seen.

 

Contents of the fuel tank apparently.

 

It turns out that the fuel cap sealed so badly that everything the front wheels threw up was going in there.

[dollywobbler]

Hijets still have a recall on them for rusty fuel tanks. Solution? Fit a new tank!

[catsinthewelder]

We traded that one in against the red one that was scrapped last year.  Useful infomation though.

[mercedade]

It's right above the nearside rear wheel, so pelted with road muck. Not a good design, though the 2CV manages with a similar set-up, largely because Citroen wisely opted for non-corroding materials!

Something which seemed beyond the wit of Rover 800 designers, gaw'blessem.

[dollywobbler]

Now it's working properly again, I'm truly back in love with it. It's just stupendous fun on the tight, twisty roads around here! There really is no point owning anything more powerful. That said, the BX will have a thunderous 71bhp, so it may test my theory.

 

My latest Blog post (see sig link) contains further mutterings on this topic.

[dollywobbler]

It was sunny this morning, so I decided that more graphics removal was in order.

 

Here's the roof when I got it.

 

And here's Muttley laughing at my wheelarch 'repair.'

 

And finally, a reminder of the 'tramp stamp' on the bumper, and the bomb on the fuel filler flap.

 

I started with the bird, using various potions, including unleaded petrol. Half the bird has already gone here. Turns out that was the easy half...

 

After what seemed like hours, because it was, I finally got there! Ended up with the Sirion in the garage and a hairdryer to soften the paint. An old credit card is a great tool for scraping old paint off (and tar spots by the way).

 

Muttley is gone.

 

Arse dragon needs further work.

 

It does look better for all that work!

[KruJoe]

Muttley is gone.

Boo.

I liked him.

 

Anyway, I'm glad you still have the car (and enjoying it again); when I saw this title, I thought you'd suddenly got shut of it!

 

Good work, Mr_Wobbler.

[dollywobbler]

No, I'm very much back in love with it again. Not very keen to undertake a mammoth road trip in it anytime soon, but glad it's firing on all three again, and looking less ridiculous. The teeth will be staying. I like them.

 

I still may experiment with removing the PAS belt though.

[RobT]

That looks loads better, although I quite liked the arse dragon. Good to see someone has grafted today, all I did was go for a drive and drink lots of tea.

[KruJoe]

I drank tea too. And dropped donk+box from an 850 with hand tools. Heavy.

 

 

I still may experiment with removing the PAS belt though.

To make it feel more like a non-PAS drive?

You may well have more knowledge than me (who has no practical experience of the subject) but from my understanding of how PAS works, I think you'll need to take the pipes off too (or at least drain the fluid) to have something like the desired effect. I'll be interested to see how your experiment goes anyway.

[wuvvum]

when I saw this title, I thought you'd suddenly got shut of it!

 

I thought he'd thrown Mrs. Wobbler out...

[dollywobbler]

To make it feel more like a non-PAS drive?

You may well have more knowledge than me (who has no practical experience of the subject) but from my understanding of how PAS works, I think you'll need to take the pipes off too (or at least drain the fluid) to have something like the desired effect. I'll be interested to see how your experiment goes anyway.

 

Yeah. It's just stupidly over light. There's a separate belt for the PAS, so removing that is no bother. But I did wonder whether anything else needed doing or not.

[RoadworkUK]

My opinion is split; I kind of liked the "infant on LSD let loose with a sheet of transfers" look, but then I do appreciate the yellowness being seen in all its glory.

 

You wouldn't mind awfully removing the NHS headlamp spectacles though, would you?

 

P.S I really fancy a go in this....

[dollywobbler]

The rare light trims will remain. I like them...

 

Test drives may be possible at Shitefest for those with suitable insurance. Assuming I haven't sold it by then...

[RoadworkUK]

I knew the headlamp trims would be a divisive subject...

 

When I first got the Sirion brochure I remember reading it over and over. I found it completely fascinating that the designers seemingly followed absolutely no influence or emerging trends. The Sirion ended up almost as retro as things like the Figaro and those Mitsuoka things, with rounded forms and all that chrome.

 

Sad that they progressively normalised it as the years went by.

[dollywobbler]

Sad that they progressively normalised it as the years went by.

I found it completely fascinating that the designers seemingly followed absolutely no influence or emerging trends. The Sirion ended up almost as retro as things like the Figaro and those Mitsuoka things, with rounded forms and all that chrome.

 

I'll agree with that far more readily. I get whiffs of original Mini from the styling, but I can't point at any part of it and say 'that's a clear Mini styling cue.' The short stubby bonnet helps, yet there's far less wheelarch intrusion than on a Citroen AX. It's very well packaged.

[dollywobbler]

I've just removed the PAS belt, which was notably tired. The Sirion is a much nicer drive now! Steering wheel input actually feels like its attached to the front wheels. I shall see whether this approach has any downsides.

[dollywobbler]

The engine turns the pump, so now the pump just doesn't turn. It is pretty darned heavy at parking speeds, which is probably a combination of fluid still being moved around by the rack, and gearing set to be nice and direct as it should be assisted.

[Asimo]

The trouble with doing this is that as well as the strong damping effect of pushing hydraulic oil back and forth as you steer, the steering ram is acting now as a pump, you still do not get good feed back from the steering forces because of the springiness of the the connection between wheel and steering rack in an assisted system.

 

There is a torsion spring in the valve body that twists as you apply force to the wheel, the pas valve and pistons "catch up" with that twist hence the assistance. But now you have to wind that spring up when you steer, until it reaches the end stops in the valve, which effect you might be able to feel.

 

This was ver obvious in my MR2 which has an electrically driven pas hydraulic pump. When this pump was on the blink, assistance would drop in and out randomly so I got to make immediate comparisons. The guys who mod. MR2 for track use get the rack modified so the drive from steering column to pinion is solid.

[dollywobbler]

To be honest, it just feels like a normal steering set-up. Can't really notice any difference at all near the dead-ahead, but it now weighs up in bends as you'd expect. I haven't tried hooning sufficiently to see whether feedback is improved. It feels more natural though. It was so over-assisted that it actually felt quite twitchy before. Very easy to over-steer (rather than oversteer).

[dollywobbler]

So, having been informed that kittens and polar bears are at risk of my superb* power steering solution, thoughts are reluctantly turning to other cars. This is a bit of a shame as I like the Sirion. If only you could get one without PAS. My wife is particularly anti-PAS.

 

No rush, as there are other fleet changes in the offing, but I am trying to think of a nice, small car, which is fun to drive, doesn't have PAS and also won't rot after one Welsh winter. The Peugeot 205 is beginning to have a feel of inevitability about it. If it does come to selling it, I think the Sirion is one of very few cars I've owned that I'll be very sorry to see go (the Discovery being one even though I must accept that I can't justify keeping it, and my P6 V8 being another).

[mat_the_cat]

If I was to get another 205 it would be the XS over a GTi I think. I'm really a fan of the TU3S engine, and it doesn't feel that much slower than the 1.6 GTi. Plus I still have some spare parts for it...

[dollywobbler]

So much choice though. A Suzuki Alto could probably be had with no PAS, and has the advantage of a triple-pot engine. I really do like three-pot motors. An Austin or Rover Metro could be a good choice, though I wouldn't give the rear arches much chance of long-term survival. Early Renault Clios float my boat, as do original Fiat Pandas. Then there's the Daihatsu Mira/Cuore. Could one of those be had in non-PAS form?

 

I shall spend much time thinking about it. And will probably end up re-fitting the PAS belt tomorrow.

[ruffgeezer]

I saw a lovely 205 diesel today, something I have never hankered after before until today...

[Rusty_Rocket]

I helped a friend find a decent* example of an Alto last year, I think it was a 1999 example. The manual steering was perfectly manageable, much lighter than my 106 diesel's. I didn't hoon it as it wasn't my car but it felt like it would be relatively good fun.

Beware front crossmember/ sill rot on these. Her example was yellow too!!!