Granadaland Gets Greenhouse Gassed Again - Caution: P6 content! Car runs! ish

[Skizzer]

^ Wot he said.

 

SD1 scary? It's a big dumb V8 (with which you are completely familiar) mated to a big dumb live axle, in a bodyshell that rusts in a friendly, open and obvious way rather than the sly secretive way that P6s do. What's scary about that?

 

A series 1 V8 auto is just so you. Take a teaspoon of cement, man, and harden up.

[cort16]

Sd1s are brilliant and less complex than a p6. You could also get as small dolphin in the boot. Try that in a p6

[Junkman]

Obviously life without a P6 V8 isn't possible.

[Cleon-Fonte]

It doesn't sound like this one has that many problems, relatively. Especially not for something that's been sat around for decades. Unless the spirit of the Haunted One has taken hold of it, surely it's worth persevering with?

[Junkman]

It's not emitting vicious vibes, like the haunted one did.

So far the blue car required quite some work, but it hasn't yet retaliated brown car style, which was pure evil.

I guess I'm a bit traumatised from wrestling with the Beelzebub for six years.

[Junkman]

A chapter in my life has been closed today.

 

[LC Torana]

The lights are going out all over Solihull.

We may not see them lit again in our lifetime.

[Junkman]

Most of it, really.

[robinmasters]

A chapter in my life has been closed today.

 

 

I went in that Morrisons last week. Used their bog. Won't be going back. 

[Junkman]

I haven't had the need to use their bog yet, but just out of interest, what is wrong with it?

[anonymous user]

I haven't had the need to use their bog yet, but just out of interest, what is wrong with it?

Nothing, until Robinmasters used it.

[Junkman]

The plan:

 

Use the quiet Winter period when daily chores are done with the Range Rover to carry out some necessary repairs

and install some unnecessary upgrades to further stimulate unreliability.

 

- Change the squeaking water pump for the almost new one from the haunted car

- Change the radiator for the almost new triple core one from the haunted car

- Install an auxiliary electric fuel pump to automatically engage when the Kenlowe comes on

- Install an inertia safety cutoff switch for the latter

- Get the heater to work, which is actually* expected* to happen* anyway* once the cooling system is refurbished

- Replace the 35 AMP alternator with the almost new 65 amp one from the haunted car

 

The execution:

 

The car had been practically unused for a few weeks and following the demise of the fine* Peugeot 206 that didn't roffle, I backed it into the back garden,

where it aptly stalled and didn't start up again due to a weak battery (with the 35 Amp alternator it drains the battery on tickover or while shunting).

 

So all components that I would like to replace or check have been removed:

 

 

Sadly, there was no way to get the radiator out without disturbing the neat Kenlowe setup, and I meanwhile have forgotten how it was installed,

which will inevitably lead to much hilarity* on reinstall.

 

Speaking of reinstall, it may be necessary to also remove the PAS pump:

 

 

Notice how some PAS pump bracketry partially obscures the water pump and is actually sharing some mounting bolts with it.

This is distinctively different from later cars, on which this problem is eliminated. But it shows clearly what an afterthought PAS initially was.

 

Oh, and as it turned out, it needs a new thermostat as well.

I tested the current one in a cooking pot when I was home alone and it only very reluctantly opens once the water is actually boiling.

The sauce for our Christmas dinner consequently was particularly delicious, having this faint whiff of coolant only men can properly identify

and the Junkwoman told me I really have outdone myself with the cooking this year.

[Junkman]

The car had been practically unused for a few weeks and following the demise of the fine* Peugeot 206 that didn't roffle, I backed it into the back garden,

where it aptly stalled and didn't start up again due to a weak battery (with the 35 Amp alternator it drains the battery on tickover or while shunting).

 

What I forgot to mention is that this is merely an assumption.

The real reason why it stalled is hitherto unknown and all the work is carried out despite that.

So whether it will ever start up again is in the stars.

[Six-cylinder]

It is nearly dark on the 27th, is it back together?

[Junkman]

Nah, man.

Shops were still closed today, so I couldn't get gaskets and shits.

So effectively, nothing happened.

[Junkman]

Bricks and Mortality, I have neglected you, my brothers in arms.

I know, this was not nice of me.

 

The other day, the Rover was reassembled.

After the water pump change and installing a new thermostat, and reinstalling that pain in the arse Kenlowe,

with a freshly charged battery, the thing started right up, just to die seconds later.

 

It turned out, that in order to improve The Climate, one has to administer sufficient quantities of a petrochemical liquid,

which is of absolutely no use otherwise and would as a matter of fact be flared off, if it weren't for some die hards still

burning that shit in their big bloody V8s, into the goddamn petrol tank.

 

Once this was achieved, the car fired right up again and ran like new.

Sadly the joy was interrupted courtesy of a blown heater pipe, which, after only 46 years into its rubbery life, decided to

spring a leak without any forwarning. So much for Made in England, etc, etc, do not buy English condomes etc. applies.

 

Said heater pipe was aptly sourced for 5 odd quid from Moss Europe, which just so happens to be situated across the

street from the Junkmanish Towers.

 

It was thus aptly procured without any further ado and shall be installed as soon as it bloody stops raining.

 

Having said all this, I can proudly announce, that the Granadaland Greenhouse Gassers have currently, irrespectively of what

the fucking Save The Planet® (save the Planet??? Those tossers can't even look after themselves!) brigade throws at them,

are contemplating to raise some serious collectionisation shit over the next couple of weeks or three.

[Junkman]

Finally the day has come when everything was back together. Time for a test drive.

 

 

Oh dear.

[Skizzer]

Ah.

 

What you want in there is a nice simple Jag V12.

[Junkman]

Not really.

What I rather want, is an electric fuel pump.

Hence I now installed one:

 

 

And low and behold, now The Climate can be improved without pesky interruptions.

On another test drive today, the car sat in heavy traffic for quite a while and no OMGFTP was forthcoming.

[Noel Tidybeard]

WOW AN AIRCOOLED FULE PUMP

[Junkman]

Yeah, eclectic engineering as a hommage to Spen King.

[anonymous user]

WOW AN AIRCOOLED FULE PUMP

Are you sure, to me it looks like a small wind turbine, to power a dynamo to run the electric pump

[Junkman]

What appears to be a wind turbine is in fact that extremely neat Kenlowe installation I keep mentioning.
It appears to be relatively contemporary to the car, seeing that it was laid to rest not later than 1983.
Astonishingly, the engine sounds completely different once the rigidly mounted original fan is removed.
Despite the original fan was included in the deal and is present here, I thus decided to keep the Kenlowe.

 

P6 V8 fuelling problems are a different story altogether, and I can assure you, that the GGG has relevant experience in that field:

 

 

 

 

 

And numerous other occasions, which weren't captured phototechnologically.

 

All I can say is that whoever wants to run a P6 V8 on the shit they call petrol nowadays shall not do so without fitting an electric fuel pump.

End of story. Don't even try. It won't end good.

 

Concerning my car presented in this very thread, it causes me physical pain to disturb its 26,000 mile originality.

This car is so primordial, that it could serve as a reference for restorations!

 

Hence every modification is done in a way, that the original configuration can be restored with minimal effort.

I'm extremely proud of the fact, that no original fuel pipe was cut or modified in any way to achieve this electric fuel pump upgrade.
Even the original wiring was not disturbed and there wasn't a single hole drilled into the bodywork.

It all looks and sounds so easy, but in reality is the result of careful planning and a lot of blood from my knuckles.

 

That the electric fuel pump would be in the airstream of the Kenlowe if mounted to the bracket that was already there for the Kenlowe,

was realised early in the project, including that no mounting holes would have to be drilled into the inner wing.

What was difficult was to engineer an appropriate way to mount the fuel pump to it and then plumb it in without molesting any existing fuel pipes.

 

The absoute factory spec of the car can be restored within a couple of hours.

Needless to say that it would work shit if done, but it can be done and that counts for me.

I merely see myself as the current curator of this gem of British motoring heritage and I will do whatever I can to preserve it in the truest sense of this expression.

I can't help it, I just am this way. The appropriate term here is "conservative". Check out my English Breakfast thread for reference.

 

I'll mount a Winguard mirror though, despite this means drilling holes into the door.

Not having a wing mirror is detrimental to the survival of this car, what with all that newfangled tosh around me not even having proper brakes

because of this prevalent ABS shit. Save Britain! Teach people born after 1964 how to drive!

 

What the eagle eyed among you might have noticed, is that there is no inertia safety switch to cut off the fuel pump should one of that terminally

stupid ABS festooned newfangled tosh build after 1986 interfere with my trajectory. I'm not suicidal at this point, so one is on order and will be

fitted upon arrival. The car is relegated to my front garden until this has happened.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

That first photo wasn't V8 fuelling related. That was Big Tobacco when it suddenly decided all of its oil should be on the outside, creating a worrying smoke show on a crowded A556. 

 

That said, the necessity of an electric pump is true and undeniable. Vapour lock is just plain tedious. It always strikes at the worst possible moment, and there's not much you can do besides stand by your disabled car for three quarters of an hour. Then it will start right up like nothing was ever wrong. I think the last straw for Junkman was when the Haunted Rover vapour locked here a few days before Christmas. Sitting on a busy semi-pedestrianised precinct with the bonnet up while being swarmed by shoppers is embarrassing!

 

Some people claim their P6es don't vapour lock, and the mechanical pump is perfectly sufficient. Maybe their cars don't. But the very first time I took mine into town, I ended up sat on a bridge for the obligatory 45 minutes (see photo two). So for peace of mind, any future P6V8s of mine are getting an electric pump regardless. 

 

 

 

You know, we had a lot of fun tonight, but there's nothing funny about... vapor lock. It's the third most common cause of stalling. So please, take care of your car and get it checked. I'm Joe Namath. Good night!

 

[chaseracer]

So... Lyndon B's FTP habit...

 

How much of the haunted Rover have you fitted now?

 

#justsayinglike

[Junkman]

Actually the only bits from the haunted car that were fitted, are bits that were fitted to the haunted car by me and thus duly rejected by it.

This car wants to live. I can feel it.

[dome]

This thread has made me realise that the Locost most likely won't have an inertia switch fitted, something I need to attend to. Was it just a case of getting one from a scrapyard and fitting it?

[Junkman]

I ordered a used one off eBay, because moar convenienter. But getting one from the scrapyard works just as well.

Just make sure you cut it out with the plug and some length of wire left, it just makes life easier.

[cort16]

Here's some weekend watching for you.

 

 

 

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2929652/

[Junkman]

Cheers!

 

Not seen the film yet, but if he is using that P6 as a getaway car, it's going to be a short.