here we go again

[twosmoke300]

4 hours . That's good going on an mgf

[Taff]

4 hours . That's good going on an mgf

 

4 hours for what, mate?

[twosmoke300]

To do the cam and vvc belts

[purplebargeken]

Check the base of the VVC mechanism, they can sneakily leak from there. Also oil pressure sensor and crank seal.

[Taff]

PBK, am I right in thinking the VVC-thing is front/left of the engine (viewed from the drivers side of the hole), held on with 3 M6 bolts?

If I undo those bolts, will 17 seemingly-identical but actually vastly different and therefore critical springs fall onto the driveway? Or is it just a crappy gasket and a cog of some sort?

[Taff]

any forum members ever had to change an exhaust flexi on one of these? I have a new one to go on, and tomorrow booked off work to give me a decent run at it. It looks fairly straight forward but some of the nuts & bolts under there look ready to shear

[purplebargeken]

Taff, as you look in the boot it is on the right hand side of the top'ish bit of the engine. Most likely culprit with be the crank seal IMHO.

 

Duck oil and some heat will be your friends for those bolts mate.

[Taff]

I know the one you mean, I think it's called the HCU or something? Anyway, I've got a new cambox seal and plenty of hylomar for the vvc-hcu-thingy

 

roll on Friday...

[Taff]

the flexi pipe on the F has been cracked for a few months but I have thrown a couple of exhaust bandages at the problem and they sort-of did the trick for a month or so. But it was droning away again and the flexi section can be bought of fleaBay for £35, so I bit the bullet and ordered one. That price included the gaskets as well, bonus. So, Friday booked off work and up she goes

 

 

that lower one isn't going to come quietly

 

 

and it didn't, so out with the power spanners

 

 

the others all came out with plenty of WD40, six-sided sockets and patience

 

 

Smaller socket duly hammered over it

 

 

took about 2 hours to get all seven fixings off

 

 

something old, something new. And yes, I did the whole job in safety flip-flops

 

 

I had to drill out the ground off bolts, which took and hour and blunted every drill bit I had but eventually

 

 

and in the best traditions of Haynes manuals, reassembly is the reverse of removal and it was, took about 20 minutes 

 

 

nice and quiet now.

[purplebargeken]

[Taff]

 

next stop, massive oil leak! It's the VVC hydrauclic control unit that is seeping mate, so I'll get them off Rimmers & have a crack at it next week. you ever had one of the off?

[purplebargeken]

Seemingly simple to unbolt, however, there is a naffing bit of bodywork in the way that prevents you from lifting the mechanism off. There is a seal in there but it is a complex shape and a bugger to sort. The chap who did my mates TF used a black sealant. He had to undo an engine mount to drop the engine slightly to get at the VVC mechanism.

[Taff]

Seemingly simple to unbolt, however, there is a naffing bit of bodywork in the way that prevents you from lifting the mechanism off. There is a seal in there but it is a complex shape and a bugger to sort. The chap who did my mates TF used a black sealant. He had to undo an engine mount to drop the engine slightly to get at the VVC mechanism.

 

 

Cheers for that, mate

 

Mine's going in for a suspension pump, I may well source the gaskets (I think there are two? If you look closely there is a sandwich plate between the unit & the head) and let him struggle with it.

[purplebargeken]

Don't forget that there are proper measurements for the suspension pump, or you can just do three fingers between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch.

[Taff]

lets OFF ROAD!!

 

 

just had the suspension pumped up at a mere £30 and it's achieved comedy off road stance. Mind you, the handling is even more heroic than it was before. I don't even know how that's possible and I don't care

 

One life, etc etc

[purplebargeken]

Is that 3 fingers or actually higher?

[Taff]

Is that 3 fingers or actually higher?

 

it's sunk back down to 3 fingers now, it was a bit higher earlier due to it being a hot day. you were right, it rides nicer for it, should have pumped it up 5 months and 8000 miles ago

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Living the dream!!! Great work Taff. Is it still doing the biz for your Milf as well?

[Taff]

Living the dream!!! Great work Taff. Is it still doing the biz for your Milf as well?

 

no, she went turbo nuts on me last weekend so I canned her. As luck would have it, the MGF/X19 combo appears to have loosened the knicker elastic of one of the MILFs at work, so all good on that front

[Pillock]

It was when she caught him doing the "three finger job" it all went wrong.

[Taff]

It was when she caught him doing the "three finger job" it all went wrong.

 

I told her that this bloke, right, off the internet, right, who I have never met, right, told me that three fingers, right, was totally acceptable...

 

women. Can't live with them, can't bury them under the patio

[purplebargeken]

That's a lie. An outright lie!

 

We have met, don't you remember? Do I mean that little to you that you are now telling people we haven't met?

 

Wasn't I enough for you? Did what we have mean nothing to you.

 

Ok, so it was a brief encounter but rubber and cider was involved.

 

I don't know what to say (except that there are two of those Fiat things very locally and I will try and pap 'em later).

[Taff]

so, the kettle was still leaking, despite my best efforts. Uncle BargeKen and Padwan Bollox had both weighed in with advice & basically told me to stop being a fanny and get on with it. The HCU was identified as letting my oil out and so a new rubber gasket was sourced. The HCU is only held on with three bolts, how hard can that be to get off?

 

 

There it is, handily under that bit of bodywork

 

 

 

Twat. oh well, engine supported on a jack, engine mount off and lower the motor until I've got some room.

 

 

that last bolt can come out with it

 

 

bugger. The top comes off easily but there is a very tight allen screw holding that piston on, and the gasket I want to change is under that plate...

 

 

some faffing about with a paperclip got the gasket out of it's recess and it could be manipulated around the plate, it was very pinched compared to the new one.

 

reassembly was simple enough, and with the engine running, there is no evidence of oil seeping out from the lower plate, as indicated by the arrow.

 

 

hopefully that's my leak sorted.

 

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Excellent work Taff!!!!! Fingers X'd

[Taff]

how deep into K-series do you need to delve to become an official kettle-fiddler?

[purplebargeken]

You have achieved that status now. Welcome to the 32nd degree of Kettleness.

[purplebargeken]

Some of those hoses above your red arrow are looking a bit tired Taff.

[Taff]

Some of those hoses above your red arrow are looking a bit tired Taff.

 

they do look tired so I have tucked them up with a cup of cocoa, a warm blankie and a story about a Kent 1600 crossflow who wanted to go rallying...

 

Actually, they are ok mate, that clip makes them appear shittier than they actually are.

[Pillock]

I'd have taken a cutting disk to that bit of bodywork. Maybe I'm a bad person.

[Taff]

I'd have taken a cutting disk to that bit of bodywork. Maybe I'm a bad person.

 

the jack was closer than the grinder, mate