Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[Six-cylinder]

1 minute ago, beko1987 said:

Did you take it up the road though? 

I bet some of the bills you've had for your rare old tin pale into insignificance compared to a flywheel exploding on that or the suspension needing work... 

I have driven a Celica GT4 but not this one.

He has spent a fortune on the track car that was his road car years ago.

[dollywobbler]

Project Binky opened my eyes to just how complicated these things are. The front drive system is frankly remarkable.

[Six-cylinder]

That's a fail then!

The only time ianbmw had available today to get the new HT leads, dist cap and rotor arm on the Trevi was 9am this morning in the rain. I took his offer up as I want to get the car running again and we found the rotor arm I bought was similar but on identical and would not fit. We fitted the HT leads and cap, but we still have a fat spark from the coil and no spark from the spark plug leads.

[Six-cylinder]

The Field of Dreams has been over run by woollybacks without shiters to defend it!

[SiC]

That rotor arm at the bottom looks a lot like the ones used in 123igniton. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 10/23/2020 at 12:26 PM, N19 said:

Yeah, they'd been there donkeys years, gone now. The estate is getting a badly needed revamp but the area they were in isn't being touched I don't think. 

Still on Google Street View, which hasn't got round to updating yet

[N19]

1 minute ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Still on Google Street View, which hasn't got round to updating yet

The tipper LDV is still there interestingly, it looks abandoned. Dollis Valley and Grahame Park seem to be on the hitlist for flattening and turning into boutique flats... 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Just now, N19 said:

.... Grahame Park seem to be on the hitlist for flattening and turning into boutique flats... 

Grahame Park is a bit of a mishmash now. The outer part of it is now expensive mostly unaffordable flats (a high proportion now owned by foreign investors / absentee landlords); the inner core which is properly grim remains untouched, because Barnet's plans for it keep getting delayed.

[Six-cylinder]

What did you drive on your last day before tomorrow’s house arrest!

Me, I moved the Alfa 156 V6 out of the way so I could take the Maestro for a run.

I went for a drive to @Slowsilver house as I knew he had a treat for me, but I will leave that for him to explain.

Taking the Maestro gave me the chance to park side by side with slowsilver’s Maxi.

[High Jetter]

I think the Maxi holds up very well against the Maestro - I prefer the lines of it. (Plus it looks a bit shinier too!)

[richardmorris]

3 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

I think the Maxi holds up very well against the Maestro - I prefer the lines of it. (Plus it looks a bit shiner too!)

You can see the heritage.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

6 hours ago, High Jetter said:

I think the Maxi holds up very well against the Maestro - I prefer the lines of it. (Plus it looks a bit shinier too!)

I can sort of see where the Gilbern Invader got its face from...

[Six-cylinder]

lesapandre wrote in What did you drive thread........

I though so...I will have to pull mine out and see what I can do...toasty heater and ok on the move because the ram effect works it ok. Just cold starts are a prob.

@lesapandre

C15 heater fans are not difficult to change, the problem is finding a replacement known to be in good condition.

We have had cold start problems 3 separate times in the six years we have owned it, glow plugs, glow plug relay and contaminated fuel.

We did the fan, glow plugs and glow plug relay ourselves, but the contaminated fuel was a ride of shame.

[lesapandre]

I'll pull the fan out.. see what I can find. Its not too bad without....

[hairnet]

yo BL fondler

when is the vvc going in it :D

did ya big shed get fixed yet

did ya make offer on the maxi - ( @Slowsilver might not let you :P )

[Asimo]

On 01/11/2020 at 11:41, Six-cylinder said:

That's a fail then!

The only time ianbmw had available today to get the new HT leads, dist cap and rotor arm on the Trevi was 9am this morning in the rain. I took his offer up as I want to get the car running again and we found the rotor arm I bought was similar but on identical and would not fit. We fitted the HT leads and cap, but we still have a fat spark from the coil and no spark from the spark plug leads.

When those Bosch rotor arms fail, and they often do,  the resistance material between the centre contact and the wiping contact can be bypassed by soldering a thin piece of copper wire between the two bits of brass.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

 

...

@lesapandre

C15 heater fans are not difficult to change, the problem is finding a replacement known to be in good condition.....

Is it not possible to replace just the motor with a near equivalent? Or, in other words, are there motors in other heater fans that would be a direct fit? This is something I've been thinking about ever since the one in the CX expired in a thick cloud of acrid smoke outside Kings Langley last year....

[Six-cylinder]

9 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Is it not possible to replace just the motor with a near equivalent? Or, in other words, are there motors in other heater fans that would be a direct fit? This is something I've been thinking about ever since the one in the CX expired in a thick cloud of acrid smoke outside Kings Langley last year....

Trouble is the motor sits in a moulded plastic case and if it is not exact or firmly mounted the fan will rub the casing.

All things are possible but it will require skill, ingenuity, money and patience to achieve.

[Mrs6C]

8 hours ago, lesapandre said:

I'll pull the fan out.. see what I can find. Its not too bad without....

It's not difficult to pull out the fan unit, but you have to remove the whole parcel shelf on the RHS first, to get at the fan. You may need to unscrew the footwell 'A' post plastic trim and carpet trim first, to give enough room to slide the parcel shelf free. The fan casing hangs on 2 or 3 (according to year, I think) threaded studs that descend from the inside of the bulkhead. Once the nuts holding the fan casing to these are undone, the fan casing needs wiggling around to split its air trumpet from the rest of the ventilation ducting and to to withdraw it downwards into the RHS footwell. Its wiring is on a plug that should become visible if you follow the wires back from the fan unit. Just unclip that plug and out it comes. While new fans units don't appear to be available in the UK now, s/h units can be found on eBay, especially in France, Spain, Portugal etc. for around 45 Euros.

Sometimes the wiring takes a bit of a beating where it bends up and down to go into the motor. If the fan FTP is due to a broken wire here, it may be possible to fix it with a bit of replacement wire spliced in.

With time and patience, the unit could probably be taken apart and a different motor of suitable dimensions be substituted, but we haven't tried that route yet.

Also, the fan is two-speed. You may find that you can persuade it to run on one speed even if the other doesn't work.

[lesapandre]

Wow thanks that is so helpful. I will tackle that next week when I get time. I'll try the simple things first like the switch then get it out and check the wires and go from there. If it is u/s I will order something up from France.

[Mrs6C]

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

Wow thanks that is so helpful. I will tackle that next week when I get time. I'll try the simple things first like the switch then get it out and check the wires and go from there. If it is u/s I will order something up from France.

Have a squint up under the dashboard on the RHS with a torch and you will see how it all hangs together up there. You just need to undo things in the right sequence to get the fan unit out, then refitting is the reverse as the HBOL would say. The slightly awkward bit for refitting is to get the air trumpet socketed back into the ventilation pipe (IIRC there is a rubber seal around the end of the ventilation pipe, into which the open end of the air trumpet is inserted) but it will go with some more wiggling around of the unit, once back in roughly the right place. Once the air trumpet is in place, line up the fan unit's fixing lugs with the studs, push the unit up to slide the lugs up onto these and refit the nuts. Go carefully with tightening the nuts! Finger tight and a nip up turn with a small socket will be fine. Stripping the stud threads would not be a good thing.

[Six-cylinder]

I had to go out on an approved lockdown trip today, so what to drive!

I decided on the car that I had not driven for the longest that was at home. I had forgotten how lovely it is to drive, being an Elegance it has a comfortable ride and the 3.2 V6 gives it an easy turn of speed.

Oh yes the draw back 25/26 mpg, but who cares when you are only doing a tiny mileage.

[hairnet]

hairdresser tart with £££ :D

 

[beko1987]

Given the miles I drive atm even I'd be able to afford to put fuel in at 25mpg!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 11/5/2020 at 9:35 PM, Mrs6C said:

 ....With time and patience, the unit could probably be taken apart and a different motor of suitable dimensions be substituted, ....

This has been on my mind half the day. There must be a motor out there that would do the job. 

[Six-cylinder]

A long shot, but we need a 9.00 - 16 10 ply tyre.

Our JCB has burst a hole in the side wall of a front tyre.

New Tyres are hundreds of pounds and all we do is move a around our field and maybe the odd lap by a shiter. It is going to have to be second-hand one.

 

 

[beko1987]

74 cans of tyre goo? 

Got to be a question to ask your local friendly farmer types surely? Or lob the wheel in the boot and pop down kwikfit and film it... 

[LightBulbFun]

12 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

A long shot, but we need a 9.00 - 16 10 ply tyre.

Our JCB has burst a hole in the side wall of a front tyre.

New Tyres are hundreds of pounds and all we do is move a around our field and maybe the odd lap by a shiter. It is going to have to be second-hand one.

 

 

is it too far gone to just stick an inner tube in it?

(well Id have thought something like that would have already had an inner tube fitted)

[Saabnut]

Tractor tyres have tubes, 900 x 16 is a fairly common size (or rather was) as FC landrovers were fitted with them, but the 10 ply is more problematic. Take a look at agricultural collective auctions as this will be the best source. Sign up to Bidspotter for notifications of upcoming auctions.

[richardmorris]

14 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

is it too far gone to just stick an inner tube in it?

(well Id have thought something like that would have already had an inner tube fitted)

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/900x16-New-Tyre-Inner-Tube-Good-quality-valve-TR15/182617536222?hash=item2a84da76de:g:ytcAAOSwiLdV99fU