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

[dome]

There was no point in fucking about-the floor mats and boot carpet went straight in the bin. I then brushed it out and gave the dash a quick wipe. It'll get done properly if it's staying but that'll do for now. It is indeed the tombstone seats Cort was talking about

 

 

I do like this old heap, even though I've yet to drive it. However I'm not spending a penny on it til it's had an MOT-I'll get a fail sheet and then decide if it stays or not.  Stay tuned!

 

[hairnet]

So, let's see what I've bought then shall we?

 

From my brief look over in the dark a few worries stood out from an MOT point of view

 

Airbag light

EML light

The air suspension warning light

Handbrake didn't work

Driver seat adjust not working

 

 

you bought a range rover by mistake

[The Moog]

you bought a range rover by mistake

Nah he didn't mention the beep!

[hairnet]

lol exploder not advanced enuff

[dome]

I popped round to my local MOT station this morning to book it in, thinking if I did it in person I might get  a test today. They had space so I dropped it off.

 

I explained I’d done no prep and left it at their mercy. I had no hopes of a pass but I didn’t know what I’d get, especially as ¼ mile to the test station was the first time I’d driven it!

 

So, here we are then

 

 

No major surprises there, although the brake bulbs worked on Saturday…

 

I also wasn’t sure how much exhaust I’d need to actually have-it finishes after the second box at the minute. I shall enquire about this

 

I’ll never grudge a car brakes and nothing else on there is too bad-new rear discs and pads ordered up for starters and I’ll have a prod under the front end when I pick it up tomorrow. 

 

 

 

[hairnet]

brakes and zorst aint too bad - how long was it stood?

 

have ya got any scaff poles knocking about

[dome]

Meanwhile, the MR2 hasn't built itself.

 

Out to the garage tonight and got the clutch fitted then fitted the box and starter. It needs torqued up and the driveshafts fitted then it can go in. Time is the biggest problem, especially now the clock is ticking with the Explorer retest.

 

I'm a glutton for punishment aren't I?

 

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[dome]

I spoke to my tester this morning re the Explorer and it all sounds pretty straightforward. 

It's getting discs and pads all round as the fronts are pretty worn too, a drop link at the front, a CV boot and a tailpipe added to the exhaust so it exits in front of the rear wheels. 

I think the CV boot could be a pain in the ass by the sounds of things, will need to have a proper look at how to do this.

Also I couldn't get the rear discs off it on Saturday, at least now I know they're getting replaced i can get medieval on them

[loserone]

Why are you putting bits of exhaust on, clearly the failure was the absence of a major leak of exhaust gases?

[dome]

Why are you putting bits of exhaust on, clearly the failure was the absence of a major leak of exhaust gases?

 

 

I chopped the exhaust off at the back of the centre box to make it tidier(but still ugly looking)

I can weld back on the section I cut off which went over the axle but angle it down to make a tailpipe of sorts which will be a bit more acceptable, both from an MOT point of view and for tidyness

 

But yes, there is a leak of gases from the front somewhere so I'll need to see how bad that is too. Tester reckoned it was patchable.

[Supernaut]

Yeah, if you just chopped it off that's a fail.

IIRC the exhaust needs to exit at the edge of the vehicle, not under it.

 

Nice old boat, though. I expected a column shift, not the floor shift.

An acquaintance out in Oregon has a properly shonky earlier one of these in white with a beige interior and column shift. The tailgate doesn't fit properly and whistles in the wind. It's slow too, but sounds brilliant.

[spartacus]

Oh my, that's vile. Surely you must win a prize.

About 20 years ago I worked at a place that did a lot of LPG conversions, the supplier of the kits had a list of vehicles that he didn't recommend converting, the Explorer was at the top. I'm not sure why though. Although I'm sure with your perseverance all will be made well. Does it drive on LPG?

[Rod/b]

I used to have a 2010 Explorer XLT. It was alright, really. GOOD PURCHASING

[dome]

Oh my, that's vile. Surely you must win a prize.

About 20 years ago I worked at a place that did a lot of LPG conversions, the supplier of the kits had a list of vehicles that he didn't recommend converting, the Explorer was at the top. I'm not sure why though. Although I'm sure with your perseverance all will be made well. Does it drive on LPG?

It was converted in 2004 and the old boy was told by his garage it had been done well. It's still there and seems to work, the filter looks fresh too.

[dome]

Today was the day to get the engine into the MR2

 

Firstly i pulled the gearbox back off the engine to lube the shaft and the clutch pivot, then torqued it all up along with the starter. Meanwhile Fraz who lurks on here and Duncan who doesn't prepped the MR2-bumper and taillights out and RHS rear strut off and hub tied out of the way to aid sliding the engine in.

 

We then got the engine and gearbox onto a trolley and ready to slide in 

 

 

Now at this point i should probably mention my highly organised* garage I had arranged things and labelled things as I stripped the two cars down. The original MR2 gearbox mounts had to go onto the Corolla gearbox and as I had clearly labelled 2 mounts as "From Corolla" I knew exactly which mounts to fit which I did a few weeks ago.

 

Fast forward to today and we lifted the back of the car using the crane and slid the engine and box in. We then lowered the car back onto the axle stands and hoisted the engine and box back into place. Except we couldn't for the life of us get things to line up.

 

Yes, I'd fitted 2 of the wrong mounts to the gearbox.

 

We quickly noticed this, and absolutely didn't waste about 3 hours trying to make it fit. The mounts looked the same but were a different size and meant the gearbox was fouling the body.

 

Of course, as soon as we (OK Fraz) figured this out and we swapped them (after removing the "From Corolla" label from them...)it bolted right up.

 

And here it is, in and bolted up.

 

 

So much for getting it plumbed in and running today. Still, at least it's in.

 

I also jacked up the Exploder in preparation for it's new discs, pads, drop link and CV boot.

 

Now, if nobody minds, I'm off to have a big old glass of whisky.

[Split_Pin]

Excellent wirk Brian, Whisky very well earned.

[Mally]

IIRC the exhaust needs to exit at the edge of the vehicle, not under it.

 

 

I thought that until we got a Mk7 Tranny Van

[Fraz]

There was much swearing and head scratching today due to those mounts...

 

Oh how we all laughed and joked about it ????

[The Moog]

Did applied whiskey help?

[dome]

Did applied whiskey help?

 

I didn't apply enough!

[dome]

OK, MR2 update first.

 

Well, there's not much to update as I haven't touched the car since we got the engine in-Saturday was the only day I had free and the weather was shit.

 

I did however have a crack at the manifold. 

 

We need to use the Corolla manifold as the old one doesn't fit the new engine. The trouble is as standard it hits off the subframe. There are aftermarket solutions available to fit the standard MR2 exhaust but they sap power, the standard Corolla manifold is very good.

 

The technique I decided to use was to cut slots in the pipes near the manifold flange, then bend the exhaust up and reweld it.

 

Seems like a good idea? Remember I can't weld...

 

I succeeded but it's not pretty. I'll come back to it and grind it down and tidy it up a bit but it fits. Then you might get a picture.

 

I chopped off a section of the Corolla downpipe to check clearance.

 

 

And yes, it will be getting fired up like this

 

Next up-fit driveshafts and struts then plumb in the engine. But not this weekend sadly as I'm away with work.

 

 

[dome]

And onto the Explorer.

 

The MOT fail wasn't too bad and boiled down to the following

 

Free off all brakes

New pads and discs all round-rears were a fail and fronts were pretty worn. At 2 tons nearly I'm not going to grudge it a set of brakes

CV boot

Anti roll bar link

Fix the exhaust

Fit some bulbs

 

On Saturday while welding the MR2 exhaust I popped a tailpipe onto the Explorer. Not pretty but in keeping with the general theme of this old heap. Sounds good though

 

 

I'll likely trim it down a bit more. For irony it's actually an old section of exhaust off the Freelander 

 

With the rest of the work again time was the issue but I took an hour or so in the evenings and cracked on with the rest of the fails. Anti roll bar link was straightforward and the balljoint for the front suspension came apart surprisingly easy allowing me to get the shaft out to fit a new CV

 

 

The driveshaft doesn't split so i elected to use a stretchy CV boot for the first time. 

 

Behold, my cone...

 

 

So, I went in prepared. Driveshaft clamped in vice, new CV boot in a bowl of hot water to soften it and plenty of lube applied. I was warned you get one shot at this as if your hands get water or lube on them then you'll not stretch it on.

 

So, off I went. 

 

And, success!

 

Oh no wait. I'd managed to put it on THE WRONG FUCKING WAY ROUND

 

No pictures funnily enough as I was too busy swearing and/or crying.

 

Somehow I managed to wrestle the CV boot back off but nicked it so when I tried to put it back on it split.

 

I did what any sane person would do, gave up and drank some beer. Next morning I dropped it off at my local garage along with some more beer. Some things are best left to the professionals.

 

Wednesday night I could put it all back together and only had the rear discs to do

 

These big lights came in handy

 

 

These proved challenging as the disc had seized onto the hub so no amount of hitting would free it. I tried heat to no effect.

 

Only one thing for it. Death Wheel FTW

 

 

Gotcha ya fucker.

 

Back together and I dropped it off at the MOT station yesterday and got this result.

 

 

   

 

Now i can get on with making it presentable and usable. Oh and actually drive it!

[The Moog]

Good work captain!

[jaypee]

Many successful points!!

 

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[dome]

Explorer

 

I've been away with work since it passed it's MOT so haven't had a chance to even drive the thing since I got it legal until today.

Whilst away I did manage to find the time to visit a guy who was breaking one. The problem is I've been so busy getting it through it's MOT I haven't even looked to see what else it might need from a cosmetic point of view.

I picked up a caliper carrier which I knew it needed and a set of mats including a rubber boot mat to replace the ones I had to chuck out.

He also made me an offer I couldn't refuse for a set of 4 wheels with matching tyres. The wheels that were on mine were pretty shocking-2 different styles for starters and they all looked fucked.

3 of the tyres were pretty new but it was on different sizes front to back, so much so that fitting the correct size tyres has lifted the back end at least an inch-I had to jack the truck up further after removing the old wheels to get clearance to fit the new ones!

 

No decent pics yet but it's looking a million times better from the office window

 

 

It drives not too bad but there's an intermittent wheel wobble which wasn't there on the test drive-one possible cause of this according to those in the know is air getting into the system when the steering is turned with the engine off-for example when changing discs and pads and a cv boot. Will try and bleed it to see if that makes a difference. 

 

It's still pretty disgusting inside though.

 

I've ordered a fascia kit to fit a single DIN stereo I have in the loft, then I'll have a look at the oil leak and the fact that when it got the gearbox rebuilt the linkage wasn't adjusted correctly-drive is where 2 is on the shifter and reverse where neutral should be.

 

Oh and the heater blend doors are knackered-the heating is stuck on hot. Well documented and I should be able to get it sorted. 

 

Oh and the oil leak...

 

MR2

 

Zip. Nada. Haven't touched it since putting the engine in, apart from modifying the manifold. 

Will get stuck into it on Saturday though. 

[Snipes]

I hadn't noticed the mismatched wheels until now...

[dome]

Did the power steering bleed tonight after work, chucked some fuel in and put some wind in the tyres. What a difference! Cruises quite happily at 70 and is quite a pleasant place to be.

Removing the woodscrews from the rear pocket that were rattling around made a big difference too...

 

 

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[dome]

I hadn't noticed the mismatched wheels until now...

Don't worry, it was the morning after I bought it that I noticed...

 

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[Fabergé Greggs]

What’s the bike? Looks like a pretty similar vibe to a Commencal meta hardtail that was nicked from the roof of my BX (sad face)

[dome]

What’s the bike? Looks like a pretty similar vibe to a Commencal meta hardtail that was nicked from the roof of my BX (sad face)

It's one of these

 

http://nukeproof.com/products/scout-290-sport-2019/

 

Cracking little bike. I may* be biased though, I work for the distributor...

 

Gutted for you on the theft. Hope you got sorted?