here we go again

[Taff]

cool, so we have six on the forum by my reckoning

[Mr A Lawrence]

Seems so.

 

Here's my vvc 0 to 100.

 

[beko1987]

Missed this till now, superb work sir!

[Taff]

so, in yet another break from tradition, I decided to follow even more advice & headed to my local camping shop for some waterproofing for my newly Renovo'd roof.

 

The stout merchant who served me was a bit bemused at first, as I marched in and demanded he assist with fixing my car, but I explained and he sold me this

 

 

Now, the instructions were dead small and I didn't have my specs on so couldn't read them, but he assured me that I could brush it on rather than spray it on, so I did. One of the advantages of living on your own is that if I want to use a measuring jug to treat my roof, I can. Fuck you, domestic bliss

 

 

My comedy neighbour appeared at this point and asked why I was painting my roof with milk. He's a funny guy, I think I'll kill him last.

 

Rear corner/b panel area done

 

 

And halfway through the roof

 

 

I am now in the unusual position of praying for rain to see if it's worked.

 

Couple of shots of it in the car-park of the camping place, as it looked dirty and lived in, like a working car should

 

 

 

The new milf likes it, too. But then again, she likes me, and so displays poor taste (just thought I would get that one in first...)

[spike60]

I do the roof on my covertibles with Fabasil tent proofing stuff, none have leaked after but then they didn't leak before either. Prevention better than cure etc. It proofs tents well and was Ã‚£30 something for 5 litres a couple of years ago.

[Taff]

working off site today, spotted this in the work car park

 

 

no idea what it was based on, I was too busy noticing this

 

 

Looks like the waterproofing has stained the roof. I don't think it's the end of the world, I'll go over it again with the Renovo.

 

On the way home, I was on the inside lane of the motorway slip road when a mobile crane pulled up

 

 

yup, tyres higher than my roof line! I could have checked his tyres pressures, he was that close.

 

Then this evening, it started to drizzle and I checked the roof, voila!

 

 

 

waterproof! looks what happens when I listen to you lot!!

[Taff]

so Saturday was time for another oil change. I got my oil change fetish from my granddad, who was pretty much convinced that if an engine has clean oil every 6000 miles or so, it will go on forever. I haven't actually owned a car for that long yet so can't comment, but at £17 every time, it's a reasonable cheap way of keeping the cars lifeblood clean and fresh. Plus, while you are under there, you might spot something else, eh?

 

So, up it goes. You don't need to take the wheel off to do it but it makes life a little easier

 

Looks like I have a new leak somewhere

 

Remember what I said about having a look & maybe spotting something else wrong? One of the bolts on the timing belt cover had worked itself loose. Not quite the end of the world but the pic doesn't show how close it had got to the trailing edge of the timing belt. I doubt it would have ended well if they had come into contact.

 

 

bolt tightened, and old filter off

 

 

something new, the oil is £12a go off the mighty bay of e

 

Nice new filter fitted

 

I lashed 4 litres or so into it and went for a brew while the level was settling. I noticed that my pet dinosaur was peeling, no wonder she is grumpy

 

She had also shat massively. If you look closely, you can see the legs of the crickets that she has been eating

 

I love it how you have all just leaned forward to look at lizard shit. Anyway, While the engine cover was off, I went to change the air filter, which is here

 

and the other one is here

 

just kidding, it's the same one. Opened it up to discover that Mother nature is interfering with my horsepower

 

cleaned out the airbox and went to fit the shiny new filter, guess what?

 

arse biscuits. Oh well, I'll hover out the old one and chuck it back in for another 6000ish miles.

 

Went for a test drive (no I didn't, who test drives an oil change?) and it appears that we are hosting IPLAC today, so I joined in

 

I do like honing about with the lid off. This is a fun car. Next on the list, after payday, is the rear light gaskets as the boot lets in water, it's overdue a polish and the seats could do with another treatment. Oh, and playing with that MoT website reminded me that one of the rear brake pipes was an advisory. I might mug that off, it looks a bit of a twat to get at. I'll see what mood I'm in come pay day

[scaryoldcortina]

Rear brake pipes are a swine and a half, especially the offside one. Buy a T piece as well because they don't usually separate cleanly...

[Taff]

  On 20/10/2015 at 20:17, scaryoldcortina said:

Rear brake pipes are a swine and a half, especially the offside one. Buy a T piece as well because they don't usually separate cleanly...

 

good call on the t-piece. mine is the drivers side rear that needs attention,

[Taff]

my rear window has always been opaque and I wanted to do something about it. New windows are cheap enough (sub £75 on evilBay) but the hood-side half of the zip on mine is also goosed and being an early one, it's naturally the dearest one. So It's held in with cable ties and I started googling for someway of cleaning it.

 

This stuff came well recommended

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Greygate-Plastic-Polish-/121390936349?hash=item1c4376b11d:g:k0UAAOSwI~VTzQm4

 

so I invested in a tub and got polishing.

 

Now, the pics really don't do it justice but if you look carefully at the drivers side headrest in the second pic, you can see the line that shows were I had cleaned and not cleaned.

 

 

 

It looks poor but the difference from the driving point of view is very good, I can actually read a number plate through it now.

 

Verdict - gray-t success!

[DSdriver]

  On 26/10/2015 at 18:43, Taff said:

 

This stuff came well recommended

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Greygate-Plastic-Polish-/121390936349?hash=item1c4376b11d:g:k0UAAOSwI~VTzQm4

 

 

Always good to see that I am cheaper than the opposition provided you want the more abrasive polishing paste as well:

 

http://hadlo-43547-001.dsvr.co.uk/Pages/Polishes.html

 

Usually you have to pay a premium for anything boat related!

[Taff]

  On 26/10/2015 at 22:04, DSdriver said:

Always good to see that I am cheaper than the opposition provided you want the more abrasive polishing paste as well:

 

http://hadlo-43547-001.dsvr.co.uk/Pages/Polishes.html

 

Usually you have to pay a premium for anything boat related!

 

a parrot and gr8 polish. You, Sir, are a God amongst men.

 

It is good kit, night-time driving has been transformed and the condensation now runs off as soon as you drive away, I can see stuff behind me know.  Good kit

[mossymossy]

Just found this thread. Its really good. I was wondering what I should buy when I sell the Supra. I have had a Ford Puma in mind, these can also be had for beer money. However, a TF has just been added to the list.

I remember I was working at Blackpool airport in March 1996. I pulled up at some lights just down the road from the airport, and a brand spankin British racing green one pulled up along side me, with a dead fit blond girl driving. She clocked me glancing over, winked, stuck her chest out a bit more, then blatted off when the lights changed. I gave chase, but I was drivin the company 1.6 diesel orion. No contest. I did think the car looked bloody ace though.

[Taff]

get a BRG, early F.

 

The milfs love them

[Taff]

20p in your handbrake? amateur

 

try 10p in your seat back adjuster

 

 

[purplebargeken]

I prefer an F to a TF when larking around. 

 

Bloody ace cars and I would have another one in a heartbeat, especially BRG. The bestest colour.

[Taff]

well, I was about due an FTP.

 

All was well as I thundered along the M4 this morning, got to my junction, came off and got to the bottom of the sliproad. It was at this point that I thought the gear change & lever felt "unusual". I had a wiggle with it while sat at the white line and discovered that I couldn't get 1st or 2nd. I forced it into third and set off, until I got to the next roundabout, about 3 more miles of 20 mph traffic. I stopped at the next roundabout (just two miles from work by now) and like and idiot thought I would have another wiggle. I got it into reverse where it stayed...

5 minutes under the back of the car on a wet sliproad finally got it back into neutral, and I was able to select 3rd and get to work.

 

So, the car currently has an easily-selectable 3rd & 4th. 1st & 2nd feel like they are selectable if I force it. No sign of 5th and I'm not even going to chance reverse.

 

I haven't had a proper look yet but based on:-

 

1/ it drives fine when in gear

2/ clutch pedal feels exactly as it always has

3/ it had a new clutch cylinder 15,000 miles ago,

4/ sudden fault, no long-term degredation of the gear change

5/when it jammed, it could be unjammed manually at the gearbox.

 

The car has two Bowden cables for it's gear selection, fore/aft & left/right. I don't think either of them can be snapped or stretched, It seems to me that something securing them might have thrown in the towel.

 

Anyone other F or rover users had this?

[Mr A Lawrence]

Have a look at the bracketry holding the cables to the engine.

 

It sounds like something has slipped or come adrift.

 

Hope, for your sanity, it's not a snapped cable as its a proper mare of a job that requires much dismantling and dropping of the rear subframe to change!!

[Taff]

Ok, so a mooch about underneath at lunchtime revealed that the gear cable retaining clip had fucked off somewhere. Now, when I was under it doing the last oil change, the clip was halfway out and I remember pushing it back in and thinking that I really ought to cable tie it in somehow. Oh well, too late now.

 

So anyway, I figured that something to secure the cable in place against its bracket would get me home, a jubilee clip would do the trick, and it needs to be this diameter

 

 

As luck would have it, B&Q over the road sell MGF parts

 

 

Just hope I have a decent screwdriver somewhere in the car and not some comedy thing

 

 

Rights, well, needs must I suppose. Let's do this thing

 

 

Did it work? I'm offended that you even feel the need to ask me...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Taff]

In all the missing gears excitement, I forgot about the bits I did at the weekend

 

These cars are prone to damp boots, the water gets in around the tail lamp gaskets.

 

 

And here is what it looks like off the car

 

 

And here is the offending gasket

 

 

The expensive way to fix them is to ring Rimming Brothers and stump up £50 for two extra thick gaskets but that's not the shitist way, oh no. A chat with Uncle BargeKen of this parish revealed that a thin smear of sealant is just as good.

Well, if a little is good, then a lot is better, right?

 

 

And this is what it looks like from inside the boot

 

 

So, with the boot waterproof, I thought I would pass on this snippet, that black line is the normal position for the coolant level. It gets checked every day, easy when it's just a quick glance. (the dipstick is raised slightly for the sake of the photo, the line was obscured with the dipstick pushed home)

 

 

My courtesy lights don't work off the door switches. Good used door mechs are £50 a set, sod that, so I over-rode them and fitted this toggle switch under the fuse box cover

 

 

Finally, the clutch pedal is prone to squeaking on these, and it is a twat to get to. I couldn't even see it, just held the phone under there and took pics until I got one. Note the spray grease everywhere, the pivot is just above the spring. But the grease overdose worked and the pedal is squeak free again

 

 

 

 

[purplebargeken]

A little man, a little! You could have sealed the bastard hole in the RMS Tifuckingtanic with the amount of sealant you used on two rear light seals! 

[Taff]

Whole tube, mate. They won't be leaking again...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RoadworkUK]

You'll have to dial in a bit of oppo in tight corners to deal with the extra rear end weight of all that leak-b-gone...

[Taff]

The car came with two remote fobs, the old lucas type. One of them has always been a bit moody and the took some aggressive pipping to get the car going. Even if you don't set the alarm on these cars, the immobiliser kicks in and attempts to start are met with a warbling tone and some muttered curses. Of course, a moody fob means extra cursing as realise that it's picked a cold, rainy night to throw in the towel for good.. Which is what almost happened last night.

 

So when I got home, I pulled it apart

 

 

Couple of moody looking joints there

 

 

So I did some careful soldering, no pics sorry as my third hand isn't so good these days but

 

door unlocked

 

 

door locked

 

 

job jobbed

 

in other news, the gearbox cable retaining clip has arrived.

 

 

Common sense says I should fit this today, while it is dry and clear and daylight. Fuck that, anyone else fancy a sweepstake on how many miles we can get out of my jubilee clip bodge job temporary repair?

[Taff]

oh yeah, someone asked about an MGF cup holder? Bacon crunchies tub & cable ties, I believe that the new Zonda comes with something quite similar

 

[purplebargeken]

Gloop those seats!

[DSdriver]

  On 25/11/2015 at 22:21, Taff said:

Whole tube, mate. They won't be leaking again...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They will, and the overkill of sealant will be a right bastard to clean off. I know because I make a living out of sorting out other peoples attempts to stop boat windows from leaking.

[Taff]

The F clocked up 83,000 today. So what, I hear you cry? Well, that’s 15,000 miles since I bought it back in Feb. It’s history under my care* is listed in the thread, so I shan’t repeat it but at just one FTP per 15k miles, that’s winning at motoring in my eyes. Current MPG is circa 39-40, hard to grumble about that in a car that is fun to drive. It would be relatively simple to find a car doing better mpg but I doubt it would be such a hoot to blatt about in.

There are a couple of knacks to living with an F in this weather, it is pretty watertight since I treated the hood (despite the two small tears). The odd splash and trickle gets onto the seats when opening the door, but there again I have had tin-top saloons which had that issue. There is also a knack to folding yourself into the car without banging the roof supports (well, there is when you are 6’3†– but that’s down to me, not the car).

I’ll treat the seats again this weekend (the stuff I have needs 24 hours to soak in properly) and it will get another oil change next month. The aim over the next few months is to ease the burden on it slightly and press the X1/9 into service for a day a week and some of the stooging about at the weekend.

 

 

[RoadworkUK]

Top motor, that.

 

An F is an itch I need to scratch at some point. I have the money, its just that I'd need a new wife.

[Taff]

  On 15/12/2015 at 20:44, RoadworkUK said:

Top motor, that.

 

An F is an itch I need to scratch at some point. I have the money, its just that I'd need a new wife.

 

beer money sports cars, mate, get one bought. I know I'm biased but I really struggle to criticise it.