75 P6 V8 - Bye, this car

[jonathan_dyane]

What you really want is a nice reliable Saab C900.

 

Can collect tonight etc...

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Fuel tank out today. Not as difficult as anticipated. 

 

There was a little bit of crud floating about in there: this is what came out this evening after one quick flush:

 

 

and there's SHITLOADS left in there. The thing sounds like a massive rainstick when it's upended. 

[LC Torana]

Good lord!

 

What is that stuff - rust?

[SOUL]

Good lord!

 

What is that stuff - rust?

 

Sticky toffee pudding?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I don't know whether I'm winning or losing with this tank. With a replacement not forthcoming, I've continued soaking this one with vinegar and flushing it with water. Here's what I've caught coming out so far:

 

 

Problem is, it's STILL coming out. Around a spoonful of grit per litre of water. Peering into the tank with a torch suggests this might be an infinite supply of flakes. The tank has baffles, so there are a lot of places for deposits to hide.

 

 

I can try to rinse it out until the flakes are infrequent enough to not block the line, but it could still do with some kind of mesh filter inside the tank to protect the pickup pipes. I am wondering if I could fabricate something. 

 

[jonathan_dyane]

Perhaps you could throw in some fineish chains, a couple of gallons of diesel and strap it to a cement mixer and leave in turning for a couple of hours?

[beko1987]

Submerge it in some really good rust convertor and hope it doesnt melt away?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I forgot our first anniversary. It was the 3rd of September. To punish me for this, it sprayed oil and coolant all over the place the night before Chumley. 

 

Until then, I had been tentatively enjoying a second honeymoon period. The fuel starvation problem appeared to have been solved with a new tank and an unblocked return line to allow the fuel to circulate. The fuelling isn't entirely solved - poor siting of the electric pump sees it overheat and starve itself if the car is pointing nose up for more than a couple of minutes, but this is easily cured. 

 

Little fixes here and there have been making the car ever more pleasant. Repairing the broken quarterlight has largely eradicated wind noise on the motorway and replacing the black seats with orange ones (as obliquely hinted at in the OP) has massively reduced the dust problem. 

 

These seats aren't dirty - that's just the dissolved dust coming through the covers. The plastic centre console had been cleaned a few days prior. 

 

But then it was grounded for a few days following that oil spray incident. The massive inlet manifold gasket (which also covers the pushrods) had rotted through and become very delicate. Today was spent replacing that with a modern style composite (cardboard) version, which is claimed to have desirable sound deadening properties as a bonus. 

 

It also leaked a bunch of coolant all over the ground, but for the life of me I can't figure out why. I thought it was coming out of a failed water pump seal, but it looks like it's not doing it anymore. 

 

So tonight I took it to a supermarket. I don't know why, but I had to drive it somewhere. So I drove it there. It didn't drip anything onto the tarmac, so if it is leaking, it's not critical. Just another item for the 'observations' list. 

 

 

Here's to the next year! 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

The name's Almond, Matt Almond.

 

DSC03118 by Conrad Conelrad, on Flickr

 

This isn't a quality job, but the state of the bonnet was getting me down and even the laziest rattle canning is an improvement. And trust me, this is the laziest rattle canning. How long will it take for the new paint to fall off the aluminium bonnet? Place your bets now. 

 

Last Friday afternoon I got a call asking if the car was available for the Event City car show. I was spraying one of the wings with primer at the time, and it ended up being on display with the flaky bonnet and with one of the wings in need of another coat. I didn't mind that, but I was a little embarrassed when the fuel pump overheated on the way into the hall and it had to be pushed into position. That was the last straw for that particular incorrectly positioned Chinese Facet cube clone. It has been swapped for another incorrectly positioned Chinese Facet cube clone.

 

Also, the interior is significantly more pleasant with the orange seats. Look how clean the centre console stays!

 

Rover 3500 P6 interior by Conrad Conelrad, on Flickr

[Junkman]

I want those front seats.

[Bucketeer]

SWOON at that interior _{(and exterior OBVS)}

[Pillock]

That interior looks lovely. I'd just sit there and pretend I'd fallen into a massive jaffa cake and couldn't get out, and it would be fine.

[Jim Bell]

I'm sad that the wings are not blue now but those seats look amazing. There are not enough cars on AS wearing mismatched panels colour-wise.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

The valance is still blue, and significantly more noticeable in real life than that carefully framed photo!

[RichardK]

I'm sad that the wings are not blue now but those seats look amazing. There are not enough cars on AS wearing mismatched panels colour-wise.

 

 

If someone has some undented Accord coupé doors in anything other than "sort of blue ish" I will happily redress the balance.

[scruff]

Best car on AS for me. Love the paint job

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

This car's been a little neglected lately, so today I decided to fix all of the little foibles I've been tolerating.
   
✔ Front door doesn't close / Rear door doesn't open

You want an annoying fault? Here's an annoying fault for you. A door which steadfastly refuses to latch shut, instead bouncing off its latch. It always took four or five attempts to shut it, and it would occasionally pop open. If this happened on the motorway, it was literally impossible to shut it again. 

 

At the Perth classic auction I encountered a P5 whose doors closed beautifully. The mechanism appeared to be identical to that on the P6, so why didn't my doors close like that? Turns out the solution was quite simple. The well designed catch has this little wedge in it:

When it wears out, the door won't close. To fix, just tap it out with a hammer, move it up one notch and tap it back in. Now the door can fall closed and latch perfectly under its own weight. Sorted! Respect due! Rear door just needed the catch moving a bit so it didn't bind. 

 

✔ Numberplate Light Broken

Nothing wrong with this really, just a corroded earth inside the unit. Water got inside (somehow?). 

 

 

✔ Not even on the damn drawing: Power Steering Problem

The power steering was only working part time, and that time was decreasing. It worked fine when on the road, only 

to disappear completely at low speed. A loose belt was the cause. The access to the pump is excellent if you whip the front valance off (it's where that U shaped bit of pipe is).

 

 

Then all I had to do was spend half an hour lying on the ground freeing the seized up adjustment bolts. My steering is silky smooth and effortless once more. 

 

✘ Speakers Buzz

The car's Pimp My Ride grade ICE install has fallen below even my rock bottom standards. Someone in the distant past has installed speakers in the glovebox lids. Now, I'm no audiophile and I've never researched effective speaker design but I'm sure it's not a good idea to make your speaker enclosure a rattly hinged plastic box full of maps and loose bits of trim. 

 

This problem has been temporarily fixed by removing the stereo and installing it in the Mercedes.

 

NEXT TIME: More of this boring shit.

 

[Tayne]

You could almost be Fred Moffat of Moffat Engineering.

[johngarty]

Top work. Lovely old beast 

[Jim Bell]

I like it less now that it's all one colour. Well done though.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I like it less now that it's all one colour. Well done though.

 

You're going to hate what I'm doing today.

 

 

I like this cheapy paint stripper. While Nitromors is £21 a litre, this milky goop is only six quid. Plus, unlike the green stuff, it's so benign you could use it as a milk substitute. It's easy to use too! Simply apply to paint, go on a hot air balloon trip around the world, and by the time you return the paint will have started to blister. 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

✔ Front valance is blue

Not anymore, it ain't. 

 

 

✔ Bootlid looks shit

The paint on the bootlid had a few blemishes. By which I mean it was fucked, and really noticeably too. 

 

 

As anyone with half a brain can see, this needed to be sent off to a professional to be stripped and painted. To do anything else would be a false economy. 

 

 

The car shop didn't have any white etch primer, but we decided that white plastic primer shared 66% of the name and would probably be good enough. 

 

Thanks to a powerful orbital sander and an attitude of general indifference, this job was really quite easy!

 

 

And now it looks better. Once it's had a couple of weeks to harden, I might try polishing it. But I probably won't. Or I'll do half of it or something. 

[Jim Bell]

That looks better now you've made it worse. I don't know how to feel anymore.

[Dave_Q]

I think its good enough to know how to get a perfect paint finish, you don't have to actually do it.

 

"10 yarder" I find to be a good balance of time vs finish.

[SamR380]

Looking good. Is that bootlid aluminum? 

[Negative Creep]

No Phoenix Venture Holdings content 0/10

[Junkman]

Looking good. Is that bootlid aluminum? 

 

Yes, sadly P6 bootlids and bonnets are made from this utterly unsuitable for body panels (and much else made from it) element.

Much to the dismay to anyone trying to make paint of any formula known to man and DuPont stick to it.

[cort16]

You think you've got ICE

 

[Parky]

Careful, if you have any ne'er do wells stashed in your boot at the same time you are enjoying a bit of Drum and Bass, they will be deafened by the time you complete your journey - even if it's only to pop up to The Range to buy a can of Ford Modena Green aerosol paint.

 

Is the speaker not meant to face inwards or is there some acoustic trick where the music sounds better the further away the sound waves go? I find that approach might work with Mumford &Sons, I.e turn the speakers around, and then move away. A long way away

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Fuck my electric fuel pump. During a 30 mile journey on Monday, it overheated FIVE TIMES. At least it has a tell. As soon as it gets loud, that's a one minute warning to park up and pour cold water on it. I'm a fucking idiot for putting up with this for so long. I'm an idiot for carrying bottles of Fuel Pump Coolant instead of fixing my fuel pump. 

 

The first time, it conked out in roadworks. It hadn't even been sitting in traffic. I'd stopped for petrol and the heat soak must have got to it. I'll bet the other road users were just thrilled to find the road now completely blocked so some tit in a knackered car could strategically spray water at it. The man with the STOP/GO board kept flipping it while I blocked traffic, seemingly unable to see the immobilised yellow car literally half a meter in front of him. 

 

Then the exhaust back box fell off. 

 

 

The second time was better. It conked out at some traffic lights, but they were on a very steep hill so I was able to roll backwards into a car park. The third and fourth times were almost pleasant, since I was able to get into car parks before it cut out. You really couldn't ask for a nicer day to sit outside a Subway enjoying the free refill machine while waiting for a small metal cube to cool down. 

 

The fifth time, however, was not so much fun. I was in a filter lane waiting, very loudly, to turn onto an A-road. There was a lot of traffic and nowhere to escape to. The fuel pump started making its noise, but if I could just get through the filter I could get some speed up and it would be okay.

 

I did not get through the filter. A nice man whose car I was blocking helped me push it onto a hatched area, and I went to a nearby house to borrow some Fuel Pump Coolant. So, I think it's time to move the fuel pump out of the engine bay.

 

The small stuff:

✔ Washers Unreliable: Replaced the pipe inside the reservoir so it doesn't keep falling off. EDIT: new pipe fell off

✔ No Boot Light: Installed bulb.

✔ Leaks all sorts of fluids: Looks like most of the oil leak was coming from the very back of the right hand rocker cover. Seemed like the perfect opportunity to waste a load of time doing this:

 

 

✔ Missing Trim: Bought a bag of trim clips. The holes were already drilled into the door, so all I had to do was push in the clips.  There was a load of glue residue on this door when I got the car, I wonder why someone would glue this trim on?

 

 

Maybe because the holes are in the wrong place.

 

✘ Ignition System Needs Overhaul: A box of much expense arrived:

 

 

I needed a new vacuum advance unit (£££), HT leads and a distributor cap so I figured I'd push the boat out and buy a complete electronic ignition system. It seemed a bit of a shame to replace my 1975 original leads - there wasn't a lot wrong with them. They're supposed to be hard and brittle, right?

 

 

Unfortunately, I just could not get a spark out of the new distributor. If I turned the drive gear by hand, it sparked happily. But once it was in the engine, nothing. I took all the spark plugs out, and with the engine turning over a bit faster, it sparked. I figure it couldn't hurt to replace my eight year old, second hand under-specced Mini battery so I have ordered a new one. Let's see if that helps.