Nugget the Corsa - 17/11 Winter Prep

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Found an N reg Corsa in the scrapyard today. 

[vulgalour]

OMG ALL N REG MUST BE SAVED

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

61'000 on the clock as well. 

[KruJoe]

 

YES! to the dustpan shot.

[vulgalour]

So, Nugget didn't have a place with me but I also wasn't really trying too hard to sell it until I'd finished fettling.  As it happens, Mikeknight has need of a small car so he's bought it and well be pressing the car into service in the next few days.

 

His main priority is getting the front wing repaired and investigating that horrible noise on start up.  No damage to the starter motor or flywheel but what looks like oil contamination between the two.  Initial inspection hints at a leaking oil seal somewhere and the reason for the noise reducing on repeated start ups is that the oil is burning off and not allowing the clutch to slip.

 

So, since that doesn't stop the car being used Mike is going to source a new clutch and relevant seal, pull the engine and get it all sorted out.  Other than that, the car wants for nothing, still has a valid MoT and just needs me to have the time to finish off the paint repairs.

 

Pretty neat, really.

[the judge]

And since Mike has it,you still kinda own it. Cheers all round. Sweet paint match 18.9/10

[michael1703]

Does the starter motor shaft push into a brass bush in the bell housing?

 

Worn brass/bronze bush causes the starter motor shaft to he unsupported causing wear on teeth/noise

[vulgalour]

Mikeknight has been really busy with customer cars lately and yet still managed to find a bit of free time to work on Nugget in readiness for his trip to nearly-London this end-of-week.  Normally he would've taken the Xantia, but that would leave me stranded a bit and since he was putting Nugget back into service anyway he determined it'd be better sooner rather than later.
 
Shiny new oil filter.  The oil that was in was still pretty good but a change isn't a bad idea.

 
Topped up with G-g-g-granville's fuh-finest Hypalube and now the car is so smooth at idle you have to strain to hear it.  Or I'm just used to diesels and sports cars.

 
The wing bottom was repaired yesterday.  I've not put any filler on this but likely will at a later date, I'm very much the bodywork person while Mike is the mechanical person.  Instead it got a splash of colour and lacquer to keep the repair solid.

 
Found that the boot was entirely dry, so perhaps there isn't water ingress after all.  It was only after testing the rear washer jet that we found it wasn't working... and then Nugget wet itself.  Blocked pipework somewhere then judging by where the water was coming out in the car but something that should be easy if fiddly to remedy.

 
The overspray on the bonnet got removed and a very quick polish.  There's a lot more work to do to bring this up to standard, particularly the leading edge which isn't as smooth as it could be.

 
Mike reattached the front arch trim where it had a broken clip.

 
He also reattached the rear.  Don't worry, he remembered to remove the clamp too.

 
A while ago I figured out what I'd done wrong with the gear knob gaiter and have since refitted it with a new cable tie on the lower groove so it sits and works properly.

 
Mike got a new set of wiper blades.  The rear had decided to disintegrate while Nugget was sat around in the yard and Mike likes to have new wiper blades whenever possible.

 

 
Our two cars are a pretty odd couple.

 
Mike's plans on his return are to get the interior shampooed, purchase a new clutch, flywheel, starter motor and end crank seal to cure the noisy start up and get me to finish off the paint fettling.  He's also after a front bumper badge.  He seems quite taken with the little car, though is reserving final judgement until after his trip.

[vulgalour]

@Michael1703:  Starter motor issue has been diagnosed as the end crank seal leaking oil into the starter motor, which has then been sticking on slightly and making the horrible noise.  Cure is to replace the seal.  Short term Mike's cleaned out the oil from the starter motor and the noise is much reduced now.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

this looks refreshingly easy to work on. I don't mind vauxhalls of this era as they are nice honest motors, nothing pretentious or image chasing going on

[Ghosty]

That is one ruddy lovely Corsa.

[Parky]

What are you planning to do down in London Angyll?

[vulgalour]

I'm not, I'm staying at home and working.  Mike's on a well-earned sabbatical after slogging his guts out on customer cars this week so he can visit his friends and their new baby.

[Noel Tidybeard]

i reckon visiting a house with a new baby(dirty nappies) would be too much for angyls cleaning ocd to be able to cope with

...although if he polished the babies arse like the bus oignon, shit wouldnt stick lol

[vulgalour]

urgh, children.  They're the only thing you can leave in an empty room and return to find everything covered in poop and crayons.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

urgh, children.  They're the only thing you can leave in an empty room and return to find everything covered in poop and crayons.

 

Have you never been in a student flat?

[vulgalour]

OH GOD STUDENT HOUSES.

 

Great, now I'm going to have to go and have four baths just to wash the memories out of my brain.

[Noel Tidybeard]

urgh, children.  They're the only thing you can leave in an empty room and return to find everything covered in poop and crayons.

mind you if you leave things unattended round here they get a cock drawn on them

[vulgalour]

Nugget update time!

 

Mike and Nugget have been bonding quite well, and aside from it being so quiet he's nearly run a few pedestrians over who didn't hear him coming, all has been good.  I never got around to giving the interior a full deep clean so never got to the bottom of what I thought was a very strong air freshener smell.  Turns out it was some lady spray, now evicted.  Mike found this wedged under the passenger seat when he managed to lose his keys down the seat somehow.

 

We knew that water was getting in via a split hose to the rear washer jet, easiest solution to that has been not to use the rear washer jet.  Next was to investigate.  It's been putting water down both sunroof drain tubes making it look like the fault was other than where it really was.

 

 

Then Mike took the interior trim apart to investigate a bit further.  Everything was good until the boot lip plastic trim was removed and then this was found.

 

 

If we're lucky it'll be the same deal as the sills and door corner and a fresh lick of paint will see it right.  Out with the flapwheel and wire brush...

 

Oh...

 

Double oh...

 

Not to worry, it's an easy to access area and a flat repair that's hidden so we'll get it welded up.  For now as you can see it's got some Zinc 182 sprayed on it just to keep things in stasis until the bad metal is chopped out and nice new metal let in.  This is probably down to the water from the split washer jet pipe pooling under the trim unseen as it appears to have rotted from the outside in rather than the inside out.

 

In more positive news, we got the front wiper arms resprayed as I was doing the rear wiper for the Xantia.

 

Previously the wiper arms looked a bit scabby with the new wipers fitted, now it's much smarter.

 

 

Mike's also taken the speakers out, turns out the old paper cones in the front had gone which is why there was distortion on the music and radio, he's ordered some modern replacements to go in the holes.  There's a few other things Mike is going to get done like having the seats shampooed and replacing the dog-scratched trim items inside the car but he promises he's not going to go overboard with looking after Nugget.  Seems to me he's rather taken with the little car.

 

[Pillock]

That's a shocking amount of damage from a bit of dribbly water from the washer. Must have been leaking since new, surely?

Like you say though, it's flat and behind trim so easily sorted. Great work, it's looking really tidy now!

[vulgalour]

I don't think it'd take much to cause the problem, the lip the boot seal sits on isn't conducive to water draining away, it just sits there until it evaporates.  I'm glad it was found now rather than later, there hadn't really been any reason to remove the trim until now.  Still not got welding gas yet so we'll likely give the job to our friendly neighbouring mechanic, expecting something like a £50 bill since we've stripped it down and cleaned it up and will put the paint on ourselves saving him the extra work.

[Hendry]

Good progress with this little car squire, nice to see an older Corsa getting some attention that isn't barrying it with big alloys, fast and furious Meccano spoilers, fly catcher bodykits and fart can exhausts. Its a refreshing change.

[robinmasters]

The wing bottom was repaired yesterday. I've not put any filler on this but likely will at a later date, I'm very much the bodywork person while Mike is the mechanical person. Instead it got a splash of colour and lacquer to keep the repair solid.

You've changed. You used to be all about the shite, but look at you now with your fancy colour coordinated jack.

[Pillock]

My mum had an Astra the same colour as Nugget. It was not long after the Mk3 was launched that she ordered it, she she chose that colour because it was so different, nobody else would have it. Right? Wrong. Every other bleeding Vauxhall of that era is painted the same.

 

Suits roundy Corsas better than podgy Cavaliers and straight-line Calibras though.

[vulgalour]

In Nugget news, Mike got the rear panel welded up for the princely sum of £40. He also fitted a new one-way valve for the rear washer jet curing the problem with the split hose. And the speakers are now all replaced with brand new ones to replaced the damaged originals. He had a bit of fun with fitting a power socket because there wasn't even any factory wiring for one (option box not ticked) but now has one in the car done properly thanks to his training in electrics. Nugget continues to be reliable and Mike seems much happier now these bits are sorted out.

 

The repair doesn't need to be invisible, just solid, as it's hidden with a trim.

 

 

I didn't have the Caribic Blue to hand so, because it's hidden, went with the Pageant Blue I did have to keep things all waterproof and stop it going rusty again.

[vulgalour]

Little bit of Nugget news, but no pictures as I haven't taken any.  Before the MoT was attempted some rust was found cleverly disguised as perfectly fine metal at the bottom of both inner arch outer skins.  No bother, just needed a little bit letting in.  Went for the MoT and passed with ZERO advisories!

 

As a result of the clean sheet Mike decided to attempt some little jobs, namely getting the centre console to illuminate again and replacing any other blown bulbs.  As is to be expected, this did not go as smoothly as it should.  Someone had been into that pod before and not put it back properly so it was awkward to remove, then he found that the connector needed resoldering as it had a dry-joint and the blown bulb replacement wasn't quite the right size for the hole even though it should have been.  The pod works after a fashion but Mike's putting a replacement in that works better.

 

Then he wanted to sort out the radio, which was mostly okay but sometimes not.  The act of removing, checking and refitting it now means the radio is turned on and off by opening and closing the front door.  I've told Mike to live with it, clearly the radio still works it just has a unique feature but he's insisted he's going to fix it, whatever that means.

 

Finally, Mike was investigating an issue with slightly higher fuel consumption and occasional lazy starting.  Some small pipes (vacuum pipes for the carb, I think) were found to be loose or disconnected so they've been replaced and refitted as necessary and we'll see if that improves matters.

 

Otherwise, Nugget continues to be remarkable for being unremarkable.

[Split_Pin]

My centre console has never illuminated in the 5 years I've had the car. Its annoying when trying to fiddle with the heater controls at night, whilst on the move! I've just lived with it but should have it seen to.

[Jim Bell]

I like Nugget.

[320touring]

Nugget ftw! Better than thon French Nougat;)

[vulgalour]

Mike reminded me that he sorted out the funny starting issue where you had to use a bit of throttle so Nugget didn't stall.  Turns out the idle control valve was completely jammed.  A replacement was got and fitted and now Nugget starts up and idles with no bother at all.

 

All the centre console controls illuminate properly.  The dash top binnacle with clock, date and temperature works perfectly.  The centre console itself fits a little more snug since it was refitted too.

 

Sadly, the on/off for the radio that's operated by the drivers door no longer does anything.  Wires have been checked, continuity has been sought and no problems have been found which is very strange.  Does anyone have a proper Corsa B radio cage?  If they do Mike is going to fit the original radio to see if it's actually the Alba head unit at fault somehow.

 

 

Nugget continues to be a great little car.  The only problem has been a tiny whisper of rust reappearing just to the edge of the repair I did on the driver's door.