Project Domes shonky autos - Grand Cherokee departs, Kangoo titivation and 911 dug out.

[Fabergé Greggs]

Great video- reminds me of what a tricky undulating track Knockhill is- especially in something short wheel base and mid-engined. I've nearly lost the X1/9 on about 50% of those corners ?

[hairnet]

45 minutes ago, Fabergé Greggs said:

Great video- reminds me of what a tricky undulating track Knockhill is- especially in something short wheel base and mid-engined. I've nearly lost the X1/9 on about 50% of those corners ?

cough *saint *whistles

[Fraz]

53 minutes ago, dome said:

When the exhaust came off it damaged the bumper mount which was flapping about and got us black flagged.  I got a screw in it but Fraz went a bit nuts with the tape. Still, it showed we had made an effort to fix it...

“ went nuts” AKA over engineering. 

 

Youre welcome 

[dome]

So, not a lot to report here on the existing fleet.  I've enjoyed some time off from fixing cars which is nice. The MR2 has been intermittently losing lift and throwing up a code, I'm in the process of investigating this. Other than that not a lot has happened. Well, until yesterday...

So I'd casually mentioned to my mate that I was thinking of finding a little project to make some cash on as funds were tight. The plan was to fix up the Exploder and maybe move it on and also get the Locost back together and advertised first so I wasn't thinking straight away.

I then got a message on Saturday night saying "want a free car?" You can guess my response. The info was sparse. Toyota Starlet auto, owner was giving up driving and wanted it to go to a good home. It hadn't been used for over a year.
I was in the borders MTBing yesterday where the contact was so gave them a call, it turned out the car was in the middle of Edinburgh so we met up and followed them over. 

I had no idea what I was getting myself into. How fucked was it? Had it been touch parked for the last 26 years or was it rotten? Would it run and drive? Let's find out...

First surprise-It was sitting parked at the side of the road. A quick search of the reg showed it was MOT'd. It also had air in it's tires and whilst it looked a bit neglected it showed potential. 

Here she is as found 

Introductions were made, the owner was 91 years old and had given up driving due to poor eyesight. she was still pretty sharp though  
She'd bought it new when she passed her test in her 60s but hadn't used the car for over a year. She had kept it roadworthy though. Sure enough, it fired up and ran sweet The paint is pretty badly oxidised from sitting outside but bodywork was in mostly good shape. My checks didn't really go beyond a cursory glance under the bonnet to make sure everything was there, which it seemed to be.

She had tried We buy any car but the salesman had never heard of a toyota Starlet nor of the "old" reg format. She was pretty switched on to be fair she had some young folk asking about the car and was sure it was because Toyota made a "fast version" (The mental little turbos) and they mistook it for one of those. 

She wanted the car to go to a good home so i was happy to take custody of it. Although I was slightly nervous of it's first journey in my hands being through the middle of Edinburgh on a warm (for Scotland) Sunday. Amazingly the handbrake was free and it drove happily out of it's parking space, straight to the pez station at the end of the road. It had half a tank in it but i thought i'd better put some in to dilute down the probably at least 2 year old petrol that was in it. 

 

First problem-the screw in petrol cap was missing. I chucked in a gallon anyway and off we went.

And, do you know what? It drove spot on. The gears shifted fine and the temp gauge sat rock steady for the 20 odd miles home. It's first trip into Fife in it's life, no less! And quite possibly its first time above 40mph...

First thing I did when i got home was dig out the fuel cap I'd kept off the Corolla-someone had messaged me about it when I was breaking it but never came back to me. Well bugger me but didn't it just fit perfectly? Result!

Plans? Clean and tidy it, investigate the timing belt situation and possibly change that for piece of mind and then it'll be getting flogged. It'll do someone very well as a smoll auto for nipping about town but is no use to me as I'd struggle to get my bike in it. Shame, as I do enjoy smoll cars. 

I drove it to work today, will take it home tonight and have an exploratory prod of it. 

 

[320touring]

Well in!

[Split_Pin]

This looks like an utterly smashing little car. Quick win on the fuel cap too

[The Moog]

What size engine does it have?

[dome]

14 minutes ago, snagglepuss said:

What size engine does it have?

It's a 1.3 with, it would appear, 75bhp. 

[dome]

Some more smoll car pics for you all. I've not cleaned the interior yet, as you may be able to tell.

Powerhouse. All fluids fresh and levels correct, belts look new too.

Timing belt changed 8 years and 2000 miles ago...

I gave it a quick wash and clay in fading light, it's came up ok. Some paint is pretty flat. Shame I'm shit at polishing but I'll give it a crack sometime.

[320touring]

Welcome to borrow my polisher

[The Moog]

That tickles me in all the right places. If missus Puss hadn't decided to keep the smart I would thrusting English notes at you

[dome]

10 hours ago, 320touring said:

Welcome to borrow my polisher

I have a polisher, just no clue how to use it properly!

[dome]

Done a wee bit of cleaning to this, it's coming up ok but I'm shit at cleaning cars. 

Headlamp protectors off and wiper arms painted has made a big difference

 

Some of the paint on the tailgate was really badly sun damaged. I tried t-cut and the like to no effect. 1200grit wet and dry has made a big difference though? Sadly whilst this is helping the top half of the tailgate the bottom has very thin paint so may get a quick blow over.

 

 

Interior came up well with a bit of a clean. I don't think anyone has ever been in those back seats!

I popped off the timing cover to check out the cambelt-its only been on for  4k miles but was fitted 8 years ago. It looked mint with no signs of cracking so I'll hold off on changing that just now. I'll crack on with the paintwork as some of it needs work after 26 years of sitting outside.

Also, one of the reasons I love Toyotas. Wiper arms marked D and P so you know what goes where. It's the little things...

[dome]

Suppose I should update this

 

Starlet

This was advertised at a slightly cheeky price and got a bit of interest but I folded and sold it to a mate cheap to use as a work hack. It's a shame really as he's not a car type but such is life. Here it is with another 90s Toyota

 

S4

Still going well, needs a bloody good clean though. Due a couple of rear tyres and there's a noise from the back end I can't trace. It's not a wheel bearing, more of a light wumph wumph increasing with speed but it goes completely silent at 80mph 70+VAT? Will investigate further.

MR2

I took the exhaust off last weekend with the aim of getting some better hangers made up. Those of a nervous disposition may want to skip this thread picture. You may just be able to see int he top right a standard exhaust clamp with a bit of rod welded to it to allow a rubber hanger to hold things together. The same thing went onto the pipe directly below this hanger

This was achieved so it went off to it's second track day in our ownership. This was a Scottish Motor Racing Championship organised one and tuition was available so Duncan and I forked out. It was well worth it-everything I was told made sense, it was good getting it all together and getting a bit braver with the car.

 

 

I do need to do another day soon to put the new skills* to the test. We definitely used some more brakes than the last time though...

 

 The one thing I noticed was a vibration off the front end. I'd noticed  a stick steering UJ which I'd blasted with lube which seemed to cure it. Tipping the car into the first corner revealed a wobble from the steering-yep, it's fucked. Luckily Dundees premier MR2 breaker (Tickman) sent one down. Overnight parts from Tayside.

Still to fit it mind...

Sadly though I got a message from Duncan the next day to say it had been a bit noisy on the way home and this had happened.

I'm not sure how much of this was my shit welding and how much was the new hangers putting stress on the system. I'll get that welded back together. Did I mention I managed to leave my welder gas on and it all drained out? No, that wasn't annoying at all...

 

[Split_Pin]

A bit of a roller-coaster update! Glad the MR2 is working well for you in the main though.

[dome]

Oh and not forgetting the Exploder.

It got some attention last month. Sump dropped again and the leaking instant gasket replaced with a real gasket. That'll teach me. Worryingly only 3 litres came out of the sump however when I chucked 5l in towards the 6l capacity it's now well above the maximum on the dipstick. Go figure...

It also had started to use a bit of water which I noticed on a routine fluids check luckily-the gauge had been fine and the heater worked well. After a bit of detective work I traced this to the thermostat area. The thermostat housings on these are a common failure and sure enough this one had a hairline crack in it. Fine with the engine off but a steady stream of fluid was visible with the engine running. 

Handily* I'd been in here before when doing the timing tensioner so it wasn't too bad to get off. I managed it without removing the inlet manifold which was tight but doable.

Here it is in place prior to removal

And the crack

 

A new one arrived from Rockauto fairly quickly.

I took the opportunity to replace the pain in the ass sprung clamps with jubilee clips and got it back together.

And how did it reward me? The LPG system has failed. A valve on the tank needs replaced. It's only £20 for the valve but it involves unscrewing it from the tank, releasing the gas. Fuck that!

So, if anyone wants a mildly shonky but endearing 4x4 with all the common issues fixed(but plenty more to fix)  then an advert will be going up shortly. My local LPG station has shut which isn't a big issue for the S4 as it does bigger distances. The Exploder which stays local is harder to justify.

Also our office is due to move and my commute will be getting longer. A diesel bike carrier will be happening soon most likely. Mk 2 V70s and Octavia Scouts are on the list. Broken, naturally...

 

[dome]

OK, so as you may have seen from the News 24 thread a new purchase has occurred.
 
The Exploder sold quickly to a Shiter who will announce himself in due course. 

I'd been looking for a suitable replacement for a daily-estate, diesel, cheap. Broken was optional. At the end of the market I dabble in everything needs work, hence I prefer to buy something I know is fucked. There's (usually) less disappointment that way...

V70s were on my radar as were Mk2 Skoda Octavia Scouts. I went to look at one local to me needing some work but it had had a hard life-possibly an ex paramedics car or the like. I'd spotted a suitable one but it was near Bishop Auckland. And broken. I stuck it in my watch list and fruitlessly pursued some local V70s that were either sold or too expensive. 

I was off last week and the good lady and I decided to go away for a couple of days. She found, all by herself, a nice little AirBnB not far from Bishop Auckland. Ooh, wait a minute... 

Back to my watch list and I found the advert. 2008 Octavia Scout with 140k and apparently a blown turbo. I googled the symptoms as described and it seemed they were correct. It also seemed that with the 4wd system the Scouts ran that it could be an arse of a job to change it-allegedly the transfer box needs dropping out to change the turbo. A viewing was arranged anyway...

My good lady allowed me to go and view it on the first morning of our day away so i turned up at a small shonky garage with a mass of 1990s Civics in various states of disrepair-they specialised in them but had taken on this Octavia when it arrived with a hole in the rocker cover and oil all over the engine bay. A new rocker cover was fitted abut then it wouldn't start. They did discover though that with the oil filler cap removed it would run.

They diagnosed a failed turbo, stuck it up on their ramp and had a look, then decided "Fuck that" and stuck it up for sale. 

Enter me, stage left.

The battery was flat but eventually we managed to jump start it (with the oil cap off) and here's what I was greeted with. 

The rest of the car wasn't too bad condition wise, although it stank of (cigarette) smoke inside. 

I expressed my interest depending on getting transport and left for a day at Beamish.
 

[dome]

I'd already had a quote running on Shiply but I found on here someone (Cavcraft?) recmmending a Facebook group for recovery drivers out of position and looking for paying jobs to get back to where they were going. I'd stuck up a post on there too and a chap contacted me with a quote much lower than everyone else. WCPGW?

Speaking to him he seemed to know what he was talking about and had an outfit rated to take the Octavia, not some 3.5 tonner dragging it's arse along the ground. A deal was agreed and I turned up again at the garage on the morning we were due to depart. The recovery guy turned up in an Autoshite worthy steed...

 

He was local and heading to Falkirk to pick up a classic Range Rover to take to Brighton for restoration. Perfect for me! He rates Disco IIs incidentally, buying them cheap, sticking 30k miles on them in a few months and then selling them/scrapping them when they've earned their keep. He also approved of the Explorer.

I left him to it and went back to pick up the good lady and the mutt so we could enjoy a wet day out in Kielder Forest on the way home. 

We got home and I had a dead Octavia deposited in the car park by my house. The Exploder was roped in to breathing some life into it to get it up my driveway.

And here it is, as of Thursday night. Awaiting its fate.

It was interesting driving it with the oil cap off and all of the exhaust gases coming out of the engine bay.

 

[dome]

First things first, I gave it a clean. It came up pretty well with a quick wash.

 

I then had a look at what I was up against under the bonnet.

 

 

This is the last generation of the old PD engine and my particular one is a 2.0 litre 8v with the inlet and exhaust on the same side, at the back of the engine.

Officially according to Skoda you do need to drop the subframe and transfer box to change the turbo but as it's right at the top of the engine I was confident* it could be done from the top. There was some more info for A3 quattros which are the same thing suggesting it was possible.

Let's see how far we can get shall we? I wasn't confident of getting very far at all as i didn't have a locking wheel key for it.

Intake pipework removed and here's a lovely throttle body. Don't you just love EGRs?

 

Some more pipework removed and I could see the beast. She's tight though...

 

[cort16]

You’re a glutton for punishment . Is the thought the turbo has jammed solid and the exhaust can’t exhaust ? That must be some blow by it’s doing through the oil filler cap .

[dome]

A tip from a mate was employed-the lower dog bone mount that holds the engine in was undone along with the drivers side one. With the engine supported by a jack I could use a ratchet strap to pull it forward allowing better access. 

Eventually, after a fair bit of swearing, this was achieved.

 

On splitting the turbo apart I was relieved to find the cause of the issue

The turbo shaft has broken, this meant that when the engine ran it was forced up against the outlet and blocked it, causing all the exhaust gases to go into the crankcase via the breather. A common thing on these engines apparently. 

Part of the housing had also broken, although this may have been when i split the housing apart. It's impossible to tell, although I was being careful, i promise!

The cost of this part meant that instead of buying a new core and rebuilding it myself it made more sense to order a recon turbo(£200 from an apparently reputable seller on ebay). More than I wanted to spend but it gets the job done.

The pics might make it look easy but it wasn't, especially as I'm new to this engine and was making it up as I go along. The next one will come out much quicker though... It was done over 3 days in between real life, maybe 7 hours in total.

I've ordered the turbo today along with a gasket kit, when it arrives I can then get it back together with new oil and filter. I'll need to check the PCV too in case it's been damaged but other than that I'll not be spending money til I see how it runs...

 

 

[cort16]

Impressive work .that could have so easily kaboomed the engine.

[dome]

37 minutes ago, cort16 said:

Impressive work .that could have so easily kaboomed the engine.

Aye, there was no way I was buying it without hearing it running. It's a gamble, as always. All of the parts of the turbo seem to still be roughly where they should be which is reassuring

[cort16]

What’s a bit of turbo vane stuck  in a piston among friends?

[bigfella2]

Shouldn't there be some kind of nut on the end of that shaft that holds the compressor wheel or whatever it's called.

[dome]

1 minute ago, bigfella2 said:

Shouldn't there be some kind of nut on the end of that shaft that holds the compressor wheel or whatever it's called.

 

You had me worried for a second...

Here's a link to the turbo core on ebay I was going to buy, they look the same thankfully!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SKODA-VW-GOLF-PASSAT-2-0-TDi-TURBOCHARGER-TURBO-CORE-CARTRIDGE-GT1646V-765261/252617081434?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

[HMC]

Great work on the Skoda, that could so easily have been game over for the engine. You certainly know your way around those units!

[dome]

5 hours ago, HMC said:

Great work on the Skoda, that could so easily have been game over for the engine. You certainly know your way around those units!

I'd never heard of these engines til last week! Call it a crash course in expanding my knowledge...

[dome]

Parcelforce brought me something shiny today

[dome]

And she's alive! 

I'm broken though, today was a long day. Full update to follow