Six Cylinders Motoring Notes - An open air picnic in mid September!

[Zelandeth]

Just a shame the traffic and road conditions didn't allow the loud pedal to be applied at any point.  I made the mistake of using about 60% throttle leaving the garage when I dropped you off and found myself going slightly sideways when 2nd gear arrived.  Yep...very sensible winter car...

The question does spring to mind (as you're the first person I've ever taken anywhere and dropped off with it) is how far away you could hear it from?  I do worry that the exhaust is a little antisocial sometimes.

If the MOT goes well I may well order another two Nankang tyres to match those on the front as the things on the back just now have about as much grip as industrial grade teflon unless the road is perfectly dry.

Assuming the MOT tomorrow isn't a total disaster there'll be another chance I'm sure and given the amount of your cars I've driven you're due a chance at a shot of some of mine I think!

[Andyrew]

Another quick job before leaving was to get the rather sorry looking and wobbly fibreglass wing off. Originally bolted and spot welded on, the glass wing was bolted and the occasional rivet.

There was 4 crusty bolts that tied it to the front panel. I popped the lens off to look how the light retained.  With the light unable to be removed due to crusty bolts the wing bolts were not easily accessed. So i opted to pry the wing away at the bottom  and just  cut them with a hacksaw blade. 

Of course it was a well worn blade just add to the joy! 

Wing off and the "new" wing was test fitted.  Some hammer and dolly action is needed on joining faces and some minor repairs but should be fine. 

With the old wing off , i had a nosey at the side light.  Im guessing the housing is some form of alloy as the bulb holder is single wire.  I assume the steel of the bulb holder resulting in a disimilar metals corrosion.  

Having an ebay browse didnt bring any light units up except one thats was almost as bad so im guessing its a fairly common issue. 

 

[Andyrew]

@rusty998 any chance the indicator units on your new parts donor are any better? 

[Six-cylinder]

12 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Finally, VP progress. 

Unfortunately at work we had a covid problem, so some isolating was required.  Anyway, today i dropped the tank out ready for the leaking sender replacement and for me to crack on with welding near the tank.  Amazingly all the bolts came out lovely.

Hmmmmm its very very crusty, but whilst its heavily pitted all over, the only leak was from the sender itself andd with the Fuel drained out into cans and a quick inspection inside suggests its nice and clean in there. 

I knocked the sender retaining ring out and removed the old sender.  I then cut the top part off a spray can lid and made a blank to lob in the hole with the retaining ring to hold it in place,  with that and the filler neck taped up i whipped over it with some 60 grit paper to knock the loose rust off, it was then brushed off and wiped down with brake cleaner 

Out with brush and the bonda primer. One light coat, once touch dry i gave it a heavier coat. 

Ill leave it to dry for few days as its rather cold in the workshop and once thats dry ill give it a quick key and slap on a couple of coats of some tractor enamel paint.

With the tank's first coat drying i modded the MGB sender to match the VP one.  As advised by the allegro club. 

An inch or so off the end and a slight bend on the float rod sorted.  

I can't help thinking you have bought on all this extra work yourself by your sissy attitude to welding by a leaking petrol tank!

Thank you so much for just getting on with the VP what ever obstacles it presents you and now eliminating a future problem with minimal cost. 

 

[rusty998]

11 hours ago, Andyrew said:

@rusty998 any chance the indicator units on your new parts donor are any better? 

No spare lights at all on the spares car as they were stolen years ago, they do come up on eBay but make sure you get the earlier type as on the series 3 they front side light and indicator unit has three wire's,  sorry I couldn't be any help 

[barrett]

Available for £35 from the club, apparently

[Six-cylinder]

5 minutes ago, barrett said:

Available for £35 from the club, apparently

I am told the club shop is not taking fresh orders until they have caught up. 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I remember 25 years ago trying to buy those in scrapyards and finding that they were all made of some weird white 'metal' that just turns to dust in your fingers!!!

[Six-cylinder]

2 minutes ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

I remember 25 years ago trying to buy those in scrapyards and finding that they were all made of some weird white 'metal' that just turns to dust in your fingers!!!

The light unit or the car?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The light unit!!! (The cars were made of brown stuff that turned to dust in your fingers)

[Andyrew]

Righto, lets have a day to just crack on with that rear welding then. 

*phone rings* one stressed sister in a fluster.

 Change of plans then, Good job its raining aswell. 

Handily being a vauxhall, the ability to self diagnose with the pedal test helped and a code for a misfire on cylinder 4 so coilpacks gone. A call to work for a new pack and plugs, sorted.

Finally at the workshop, lets get that wing mounted. 

But first, a quick coat of enamel. 

With that done, its wing time. Top sections certainly a bit battered from numerous drilling over the years. 

I straightend it out a bit, wire wheeled it and splashed some hydrate 80 on, there is some grot that will need addressing at in the future. Much wing jiggling happend and i opted to fit nutserts in to hold the wing on. It was a bit of a faff but got there in the end. 

Before doing the final test fit, i straightened this bend in the lower of the front door whilst it is accessible. 

Bolted on, i only had cap heads to hand!

The door gap is very wee , it doesnt touch but its mighty close. The wing is already slightly protruding at the front in comparison to the valance so theres no room to tweak it. 

There is however some epic door gap between the front and rear door tho! As the top of the door appears to have rubbed on the A pillar im thinking that some shims on the door hinge have been lost at some point in its life maybe?

Either way, one sturdy wing! 

 

 

[Andyrew]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

I am told the club shop is not taking fresh orders until they have caught up. 

I reckon ill be able to come up with a repair. 

[AnthonyG]

I imagine the back of the light units is some sort of crappy die cast alloy - the ‘corrosion’ looks similar to how very sickly Dinky toys could get.

The word ‘mazak’ comes to mind, not sure if that was a company or the actual name of the alloy.

[wuvvum]

I have a feeling it was the name of the alloy, as the French call it Zamak.

[PhilA]

Lead impurities start it off, then it'll either turn like flaky pastry, or go the other way and turn into powdery white dust.

Either way it's down to the battery being connected and the exposed area the things sit in. Little wonder they went to chromed plastic later on.

Phil

[dollywobbler]

The door gaps remind me of a tale from a friend who worked at Longbridge in the 1970s. Apparently every Allegro bodyshell had to be 'dressed' (with Brummie screwdrivers) to make the doors fit properly...

[beko1987]

Get one 3d printed? 

[Six-cylinder]

 

2 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

The door gaps remind me of a tale from a friend who worked at Longbridge in the 1970s. Apparently every Allegro bodyshell had to be 'dressed' (with Brummie screwdrivers) to make the doors fit properly...

Back when I worked for a Vauxhall dealer a customer came back with a new Cavalier hatch to complain the tailgate did not fit properly. The service manager took the car into the workshop slammed the tailgate with a piece of wood in one side, problem solved and the customer went away happy. I asked the service manager why he had not adjusted the tailgate properly on the hinges and he pointed out they were fixed welded hinges. 

[Andyrew]

2 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

The door gaps remind me of a tale from a friend who worked at Longbridge in the 1970s. Apparently every Allegro bodyshell had to be 'dressed' (with Brummie screwdrivers) to make the doors fit properly...

This could very well be how it left the factory, given the numerous coats of paint and overspray in the door shuts i honestly dont think the doors have been off before. With the hinges welded to the shell, the only room for adjustment would be a shim between the hinge mount to the door. 

I cant see any signs of a front end bump. My only other thinking is that the replacement wing is from a later era and maybe tooling wear or changes caused it to be fractionally larger. 

The Colour match is way off aswell .  .  . 

[Six-cylinder]

3 hours ago, Andyrew said:

The Colour match is way off aswell .  .  . 

No, it matches the passenger rear door precisely!

[Heidel_Kakao]

@Six-cylinderFound this, it's yours next time I am at the FOD if you want it!

[Six-cylinder]

28 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

@Six-cylinderFound this, it's yours next time I am at the FOD if you want it!

Thanks very much, but I think we have one.

[richardmorris]

8 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

 

Back when I worked for a Vauxhall dealer a customer came back with a new Cavalier hatch to complain the tailgate did not fit properly. The service manager took the car into the workshop slammed the tailgate with a piece of wood in one side, problem solved and the customer went away happy. I asked the service manager why he had not adjusted the tailgate properly on the hinges and he pointed out they were fixed welded hinges. 

You can make 2cv doors fit and close really nicely just by pulling them around using the cars weight as leverage. 

[AnthonyG]

VPs went through final  assembly in the Vanden Plas place (North London somewhere?)

I can well imagine them getting another coat of paint if the VP people felt the Longbridge job hadn’t been good enough. Or possibly the bodies were all done in primer in Brim and paint was done in London.

Basically - VP ‘gros went through two factories, so lots of opportunities for a double go at the paint.

[Mrs6C]

1 minute ago, AnthonyG said:

lots of opportunities for a double go at the paint.

Ours has had even more opportunities, which were all taken...

[Andyrew]

A-mount of work

This area then, we last left it with a big chunk cut from the outter sill so i could see what lay beneath. 

Unfortunately alot of grot and poor repairs.  I wanted a point of reference to build from so welded in the right angle part first to give me somewhere to start. 

You can see in the pic above the axle mount its rotted through. This is 3 or so mm thick!, a rumage in the metal pile later i found a bit so it was time to chop the grot out and burn in some new bits. 

Zap zap zap

With that zapped in  i moved onto making the arch lip.  I really need to get a shrinker stretcher tool, that would have made this easier. 

Handily the wheel arches are the same profile front and rear so i was able to use the front drivers wing for reference. 

 

[Six-cylinder]

33 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

A-mount of work

This area then we last left it with a big chunk cut from the out sill so i could see what lay beneath. 

Unfortunately alot of grot snd poor repairs.  I wanted a point of reference to build from so welded in the right angle part first to give me somewhere to start. 

You can see in the pic above the axle mount its rotted through. This is 3 or so mm thick a rumage in metal pile later i found a bit so it was time to chop the grot out and burn in some new bits. 

Zap zap zap

With that zapped in  i moved onto making the arch lip.  I really need to get a shrinker stretcher tool, that would have made this easier. 

Handily the wheel arches are the same profile front and rear so i was able to use the front drivers wing for reference. 

 

As you are constructing an Allegro from nothing can I have an Escort Mk1 instead please! 

[High Jetter]

It really is All agro, but very much worth it.

[Andyrew]

4 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

As you are constructing an Allegro from nothing can I have an Escort Mk1 instead please! 

Of all the escorts, you picked the wrong one!

Theres only one choice for me when its comes down to it.  

 

[Six-cylinder]

8 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Of all the escorts, you picked the wrong one!

Theres only one choice for me when its comes down to it.  

 

I took Mrs6C out in a borrowed a G reg RS turbo hand braking it round when it was a young car, she was not impressed. Do you think a van would have been a better bet!