83C's Shite-esque Fleet: Disco Fever.

[Schaefft]

4 hours ago, 83C said:

Oh.

This can only be good news! Collection when?

[83C]

1 hour ago, Schaefft said:

This can only be good news! Collection when?

Friday next week. It’s not some intercontinental epic sadly, but it is to cover for some self-inflicted idiocy.

Pro tip: don’t lose your only set of keys.

[Schaefft]

42 minutes ago, 83C said:

Friday next week. It’s not some intercontinental epic sadly, but it is to cover for some self-inflicted idiocy.

Pro tip: don’t lose your only set of keys.

Wait, did you buy a car because you lost the keys for another? This is almost at the same level as me considering buying another XJ just so I don't need to pay 100 quid for a key fob (among other bits and pieces)

[83C]

Pretty much, though it’s a two-wheeled machine rather than 4. Squandered the good riding weather because since I got the Triumph back from MoT last month the keys have gone AWOL. 

[83C]

Whilst I can look forward to a collection in a couple of days, work hasn’t stopped on the rest of the fleet.

Today it was the turn of the recently acquired Ay-beeeeef-ah for a service and a few other bits. This is going to Cornwall in a week or so to be outstationed at the in-laws as a car for my MiL and also for us to use when we’re there. 

Driving it back from Norfolk it became very obvious that the rear dampers were shagged. Fine on smooth tarmac but any bump had the rear wheels skipping around. 

A few days ago a pile of parts appeared. One of them is incorrect, more on that in a bit.

Thankfully unlike the VXR8 epic swapping the rear dampers on the Ibbitttza is a doddle, jack back end of car up and remove wheel:

The dust cover had split into its separate components, and the bump stops didn’t look too clever either - the n/s one had split in two. Fortunately the new pile of bits also included topmounts and bump stops, so the only bit needed from the old unit was the dust cover. From this:

To this:

Sachs dampers - OE fitment according to the labels, so it’s actually rather pleasing to fit replacement units that are the same.

And back on:

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed the before photo is the o/s/r, and the after photo is the n/s/r.

By the way, if you’re planning to do similar make sure you have a 16mm socket and spanner in your set. Who the fuck uses 16mm? Well, Seat do. Crazy Spaniards.

Test drive confirmed that the suspension was now behaving itself, so onwards to the service. Engine bay was minging:

I much prefer these canister-type filters, they’re invariably easier to deal with. Cleaned out and ready for the new filter:

The old and new filters - always worth checking that they’re the same size:

Sadly the intake for the used oil pump won’t fit down the dipstick hole on these engines, so it was off with the undertray and sump plug out the old fashioned way. 

Went to put the oil in and looked again at the label - I’d ordered 5w40 and this was a bottle of 5w30. I think 5w30 is a bit thin for higher mileage engines (reinforced by a video a while ago by @richykitchy ) so I’ve been careful about which oil I order. The 5w40 does meet the specs for the BTS engine, so off back to Halfords I went. They were good about it, a straight swap. Only then did I realise that the 5w30 is ten quid cheaper than the 5w40 for a 5L bottle, even with the trade discount, so I’m definitely glad I went back and made sure I got the right oil. Note to self - be more careful and double check they’ve picked the right items when dropping in for a click and collect order.

Once that was back together it was the air filter’s turn. It didn’t look too bad but the new one was already there, so in it went:

Once that was back together the engine bay got a wipe over:

Not exactly a concours-spec toothbrush job but clean enough.

Last filter to change was the cabin filter, located in the passenger footwell:

Move two clips, pull old one out, fit new one to frame, slide back in and refit cover. Easy.

Final job was to fit a replacement switch pack in the centre console - the aux input was knackered on the old one.

The flap that covered it was loose anyway, but the sound was only transmitting to one speaker and the input cable wouldn’t sit securely, indicating the jack itself was broke.

Testing the new one before clipping it in:

And all done. An easy, steady afternoon.

 

[83C]

Took a long drive today, thought I’d stop to take a photo:

[83C]

Today I went to collect the machine I’d won on eBay. Seller was quick to respond, date and time arranged, no problem.

Went out to collect, but couldn’t find the house. Google maps wasn’t much use either, as it’s in the sticks and a named house rather than numbered. The postcode covers a few square miles too. Went in to the local post office, they couldn’t help. Sellers phone was going straight to answerphone. 

So I’ve returned home empty-handed, sent a polite message saying I couldn’t find their place and could we reschedule, but no response as yet.

Weird.

[Popsicle]

1 hour ago, 83C said:

Went out to collect, but couldn’t find the house. Google maps wasn’t much use either, as it’s in the sticks and a named house rather than numbered.

No use to you now but there is a phone app called DelM8, type a postcode in and it brings up all named and numbered properties for that postcode, select the one you want and it transfers the coordinates to google maps and takes you to the correct place. Its free to use once a day more than that costs a fiver or so.

[83C]

Just spoke to the seller, collection rearranged for Tuesday with better instructions on finding their place. Seems they’re about 3 miles away from where I was…

[Tayne]

On 16/05/2024 at 23:31, Popsicle said:

No use to you now but there is a phone app called DelM8, type a postcode in and it brings up all named and numbered properties for that postcode, select the one you want and it transfers the coordinates to google maps and takes you to the correct place. Its free to use once a day more than that costs a fiver or so.

We have the OSG website here in Scotland which gives house numbers/names for a postcode with a map.

Its not a phone app and does not integrate with Google but is free to use as many times a day as you wish.

[83C]

Second go today at collecting the eBay win:

Its a Honda VTR-1000F. It’s ok as a ten-footer, paint isn’t great, anodised bolts are a bit naff (may well replace those) but it sounds well and crucially, I actually have a key for it. 

Unlike the Triumph 🤦🏻‍♂️

[83C]

And now for some procrastination. 

My current car obsession is importing something. This has its roots in last year's trip to Australia, where initial plans involved buying an old Commodore or Falcon, using it and then shipping it back at the end of the holiday. That idea got overtaken by events, because plans changed and a camper van was rented for much of the adventure instead. However the idea hasn't really gone away, I am going back to Oz in a couple of year's time so the idea of a Falcon XR6 or Commodore SV6 might still happen. But then I'm also considering a GU Patrol or 90-series Land Cruiser for that particular trip. Either way though it's not happening until 2027 and I'm impatient.

Watching lots of Mighty Car Mods recently has had me looking at JDM imports, not the usual fast things but either small nonsense like a Honda Acty pick up (which I probably wouldn't even fit in but it'd be good for shits and giggles):

Or maybe a Toyota Crown wagon for some 1JZ or 2JZ goodness:

If I were being really silly and felt very flush I'd want one of these:

Toyota Crown Majesta with the 4.6 V8. Around £6k for a 2011 example including shipping. 

The thing is there isn't so much adventure to actually obtain the car, the fun starts when the boat docks and the car needs to be made UK road legal.

So, onto Europe. 

Something like this Opel Omega really appeals. 2.6 straight six with the dual ram intake, 4-sp auto so all pretty solid kit. This particular one is in Dresden so a road trip home via a couple of attractions (Sinsheim Museum, Nürburgring) sounds fun. Obviously that reduces the budget as some of the money goes into the trip itself. 

None of this will probably happen until next year (though I nearly had a drunken credit card accident last night with a JDM Suzuki Jimny) but its fun to think about it and maybe plan something.

[warch]

On 15/05/2024 at 19:40, 83C said:

Took a long drive today, thought I’d stop to take a photo:

Trying to work out where that is, looks like out Ponterwyd way, or possibly the Elenydd.

[83C]

43 minutes ago, warch said:

Trying to work out where that is, looks like out Ponterwyd way, or possibly the Elenydd.

Just off the B4391 between Llangynog & Bala. 

I reckon somewhere about here:

///printing.pulps.reunion
https://w3w.co/printing.pulps.reunion

[Schaefft]

Dresden happens to be 20mins from where my parents live, and therefore Im there once in a while (next time in late July). But maybe that would make things too easy then!

[83C]

The Range Rover is a stalwart of my little fleet, solidly reliable, comfortable and properly go anywhere, do anything. However I have been a bit guilty of neglecting it beyond essential servicing so outside is a bit tatty, as is the inside, and various bits are coming due for some attention.

First up, the rear lower hatch check straps:

As can be seen, they’re buggered. Both sides, heads all knackered too. So it was out with the grinder, slot the heads and get a big flat head on them, luckily the bolts weren’t seized in the threads. 10 minutes later and:

Cheap fix too at £12.

The Ibbittzaa was made ready for a long distance trip tomorrow, with a cable tie bodge to a broken parcel shelf clip:

It now sits in properly.

Next steps for the L322 will be air system fixes (compressor isn’t great and rear valve block is suspect), interior refresh and finally some bodywork.

[fatharris]

Really enjoying this thread, and nice to see you getting stuck into a little bit of everything!

Also feeling a slight pang of schadenfreude when someone else has the same arseache with broken bolts, bodges etc

[83C]

The Ibiza is now in Cornwall:

Beachfront picture fail as the car park was busy. 

In other news:

[83C]

Local meet at High Ercall this evening, always a good selection of vehicles:

[83C]

Oh, this landed in my inbox yesterday.

[83C]

So with the Fabia gone, the next job was finish getting the FireStorm ready to sell. The kickstand wasn’t ideal and leant the bike over far too much for my liking:

The replacement came as a complete unit but I opted to swap the kickstand sensor from the old one because a) I knew it worked, and b) I didn’t fancy tracing the other end of the lead to find the plug where it seems to disappear under the fuel tank. 

20 minutes later:

Bike now feels much more solid. New kickstand also doesn’t visibly bow under weight like the old one did.

Next up on the block: the Rio, the 106 and maybe even the Triumph Tiger.

[JJ0063]

On 01/06/2024 at 14:16, 83C said:

The Ibiza is now in Cornwall:

Beachfront picture fail as the car park was busy. 

In other news:

How’s she getting on with it mate?

[83C]

Absolutely fine, getting on well with it apparently.

[83C]

Today I’m in Longden near Shrewsbury for a local car show:

Some of the highlights:

 

Seen this somewhere before.

[83C]

Took advantage of the promise of dry weather and went out for a jolly in the VXR8. 

The lunch stop:

 

[83C]

One other photo from yesterday:

Today the FireStorm left and this appeared in its place:

Thanks again to @red5 .

[83C]

Thought I’d take the family and do a couple of lanes yesterday, my sister joined us in her 110. 

Play was very quickly cut short by the Disco suddenly sending the temp skywards, the red light coming on and then the temp gauge falling to zero. Fortunately we were by a pub at the time… 

I cracked off the header tank cap, waited for the bubbling and hissing to stop, then took the cap off - at which point all the coolant tried to fuck off in a Vesuvian eruption of steam and hot water.

After many swear words were said, the system was refilled and bled, and seemingly all ok. We carried on uphill for a bit and then lost heaters, so something was clearly amiss so we sacked off the lanes, went back to the pub and then home after topping up the coolant again, and throwing a dishwasher tablet in with an eye to today’s shenanigans. Going home involved 10 miles of driving and the Disco behaved itself for the rest of the day, coolant not overheating, heaters working. Same today, did a few local trips this morning and no issues. Seems to be an issue when there is minimal airflow through the rad and the engine being worked fairly hard, which would explain why it wouldn’t show at normal road speeds.

With this in mind, out came the tools…

First up was washing out the rad, which was fairly grim:

The rad itself doesn’t look too clever but isn’t leaking at the moment.

Next step is to flush out the engine itself.

[83C]

A bit more digging and this fine* specimen of a shit thermostat design is unearthed:

This isn’t my first encounter with these plastic ‘stat and junction in one things, MG Rover also used it in the later 1.8T K-series as found in the ZT I had last year. 

There are actually two discs in these, with a smaller one in the angled pipe and the main one roughly in line with the outer ring on the main body. Small one moved easily, big one took several hits from a big screwdriver before it shifted:

This side is the side that goes to the rad bottom hose and it was filled with the same brown/red crap that the rad spewed out, which is why it probably gummed itself shut. Other side was fairly clean. The next step was flush the engine itself out, so top hose back on and wedge the hose in:

Water flowed out of the engine nice and clean, so I’m guessing the rad silted up, blocked the ‘stat just enough and when faced with some very slow plodding up some fairly steep hills it was just enough to upset things. New stat, good clean out and a few other things and it should all be fine. 

I do want to replace the plastic header tank with an alloy one at some point, and I’m going to rewire the winch controls as the cables are a bit under specced for the amps that a winch can draw, but I’ll get it back together and running again first.

[red5]

Those stat's are prone to just that - apologies chap. I flushed it once when putting it back on road after a year off whilst I procrastinated about stripping it and it came our clear enough (after bicarb flush).

I do suspect the PO was a leak preventer additive type mind - although that might just be sludge stuck behind stat? 

it'd not missed a beat over 600 miles of towing/traffic since welding repairs

on reflection maybe Ishould have changed it when I did the top hose bleed screw split pipe...

 

 

May, 250 mile round trip (Hooten Lodge)

June 400 mile odd trip (Dawlish Warren)

 

[83C]

@red5 no problem at all fella, it looks and feels a lot more like sludge of some sort to me, plus a few small lumps came out of the rad. Just one of those things.