Allegro Vanden Nah (Bad car! No picnic!)

[trigger]

That is a fantastic job there, it really lifts the whole interior.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Despite someone on here warning me that spray on glue would not be up to the job of sticking a headlining successfully to the backing card, I proceeded anyway and as a result, the Visa's headlining has sagged monumentally again at the back. I've got visitors from the UK coming out next month, so let me know what product you used and I'll ask them to bring some of it out. Despite living here almost 6 years, I still wouldn't know where to look for certain things like this.

 

I think it's fair to say that this looks great, and not even in an ironic hipster-ish sense.

Thanks. I was worried about the adhesive too, I suppose only time will tell. I used this high temp stuff, which explicitly states on the tin that it is suitable for headlinings. I also applied two coats on each surface to be safe. They make another spray adhesive which can withstand "XTREME" temperatures but it's three times the price. 

[anonymous user]

I like the new headlining, but Miss Haversham wants to know if she can have the old one to patch her wedding dress

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Two problems were plaguing the Plaz, and making it not fun. A nasty shake above 60mph banished it to lane one with all the loser traffic. The second problem, illustrated here with a children's watercolour set purchased from Tesco at 11:30pm, occurred when braking:

 

 

Never mind a rev counter, this bastard needed a Richter Scale gauge in the dash. 

 

I decided, through some forgotten reasoning, that the 60+ shake must be the steering rack. But first - the warped discs, because that's easy. Well, easy ish - the first attempt, the day before Chumley, was abandoned after it turned out the caliper cannot be simply unbolted and pushed aside. The hydraulics must be disturbed, and who's ever in the mood to bleed brakes?

 

Yesterday I finally got round to having another go, so I downloaded a podcast about sexy ghosts and got to work. After taking the brake pads out I idly spun the disc around, and... oh? What's this? Run out you could measure in meters. The disc was weaving about like a spinning top losing momentum. Drive flange wasn't seated properly. Simple as that.

 

I understand fucking that up. We've all made mistakes. But how could you leave it? Who changes their brake discs, and then just shrugs when the car shakes like a fat bloke on one of those 1950s fat jiggler machines?* God damn, there's been some amateurish work done to this car, and I'm going to fix all of it. 

 

So how does it drive with new brakes and the drive flange bolted on square? Amazing. Not only can I slam the brakes at any speed without my spinal fluid turning into scrambled egg, but it cured the 60mph shake too! Wow! It's a legit Autobahn stormer now, so get ready to move out of my way when you see a car which looks like this in your rear view mirror:

 

 

*you know the ones

[mercrocker]

Good work!   Might look like Eeyore but at least he's not loping like a mule now.   Amazing what other people live with....

[LC Torana]

Annoyance at sloppy workmanship aside, isn't it delightful when a complex set of problems turns out to have a simple cure?

[cort16]

What sexy ghosts podcast is it?

[Junkman]

The most pressing issues remain, though.

Wrong rear bumper and that grille badge isn't the correct shade of red.

Has the interior light been fixed yet, or is the car still unfit for use?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Today's fun adventure was to change the split CV boot, which I didn't take any photos of. Then I thought I'd pull the carbs off to investigate the missing vacuum advance take off. Here's where it should be:

 

 

These might not be the correct carbs for the car. Their identity tags are missing, so I don't know what car they're from. But it's not as simple as pulling out that brass piece, it seems to go all the way through - 

 

 

So that remains unfixed for now. But I did figure out why the choke is so difficult to operate - it wasn't the cable, as I suspected, but this bit of the linkage which was set up so tight it was jamming.

 

 

Another simple fix.

 

What sexy ghosts podcast is it?

Not work safe! 

 

 

Has the interior light been fixed yet, or is the car still unfit for use?

Kinda. I have some tea lights which fit into the recesses on the picnic tables.

[chaseracer]

I have some tea lights which fit into the recesses on the picnic tables.

 

 

[Bucketeer]

Another pat on the back for the headlining replacement. Looks better than factory. The material looks to have quite a tuft on it. I reckon next time you're in Tesco at close to midnight you should buy a Fuzzy Felt Farm set and create a countryside collage up there.

[Alexg]

Yeah, that headlining is a top job!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

 

As documented elsewhere, the VdP embarrassed itself on the Solara collection trip. All was going swimmingly, until the car lost all its gears. No strange noises, no change in feeling in any of the controls. Just the bizarre sensation of shifting up, accelerating and slowing down! 

 

It certainly could have happened in a worse spot. But right then, at night, 160 miles from home on an unlit road  accompanied by an unfamiliar new car which wouldn't idle, it didn't feel like it. After phoning the breakdown service I got a text from Dugong asking if we were bringing the Solara by his place to show it off. I phoned him to say "no" and it turns out we'd broken down so close to his place he was able to pop by and say hello. 

 

But we weren't hanging around long, since less than half an hour after calling the breakdown service the Allegro was off on a flatbed. Excellent service from AutoAid. 

 

While dodging traffic, we'd made some roadside observations. The clutch hydraulics appear to be working, and the gear linkage is intact. All gears are gone, including reverse. Still no untoward noises when the clutch is pressed, and the pedal feel is still exactly the same. 

 

I haven't had a chance to look at it today since it's been a constant downpour. All I've done is reconfirmed all the above. The speedo doesn't even twitch, so I'm guessing nothing's getting through to the gearbox.

 

Ah darn. 

 

[scruff]

I wonder if it has pulled the centre out of the clutch. Sure you'll have it sussed soon. 

 

Have to say, the post with the watercolour is just pure class. Brilliant

[Asimo]

If you are lucky it will be the clutch release arm seized or maybe less lucky, the splines stripped on a hub/driveshaft.

[Junkman]

And the interior light still doesn't work.

[quicksilver]

I think I know what's happened here - Maxis with the same box are notorious for it. The mainshaft nut works loose and then you suddenly lose all drive without any warning. The good news is it's easy to tighten the nut, the bad news is you have to take the engine and box out to get at it and you can't stop it happening again.

[LC Torana]

I think I know what's happened here - Maxis with the same box are notorious for it. The mainshaft nut works loose and then you suddenly lose all drive without any warning. The good news is it's easy to tighten the nut, the bad news is you have to take the engine and box out to get at it and you can't stop it happening again.

Is there room for an extra half-nut on the shaft to do up against the whole nut? - meccano "lock-nutting" style

 

Or can you use a nyloc?

 

Or drill the shaft for a pin and use a castle nut?

 

(in descending order of preference, of course)

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I think I know what's happened here - Maxis with the same box are notorious for it. The mainshaft nut works loose and then you suddenly lose all drive without any warning. The good news is it's easy to tighten the nut, the bad news is you have to take the engine and box out to get at it and you can't stop it happening again.

 

 

Looks like this is probably the answer. Someone on MacDroitwich came to the same conclusion and posted a photo of the nut. Looks easy enough to get to... if you can be arsed pulling the engine out, taking the box off... Which I can't. 

 

And I was so happy to have an E-Series Allegro instead of the (much more common) A-Series ones. Bugger!

[chaseracer]

Hire/borrow an engine crane.  Arrange GGG/ASMM spannering sesh on Mr Conelrad's parental driveway.  With those combined forces, we could have it fixed within... ooh, several weeks or so.

[blguy1975]

I will have numbers 1-59 please

[Junkman]

We could always tow it up to Glossop and fix it in the car park there.

[Ghosty]

I don't even have to look it up to know that #663300 is an HTML code for a certain shade of brown.

[barrett]

I'd missed all this before now. A bit late to the party, but that headlining job really does look fantastic. This is almost enough to make me want to pull my one out and get it sorted instead of flogging it (which was my plan until yesterday)

[Jim Bell]

Headling 8.9/10

Nut tightness 0/10

Style 9/10

Prose 10/10

[Sloth in a bowl]

Another pat on the back for the headlining replacement. Looks better than factory. The material looks to have quite a tuft on it. I reckon next time you're in Tesco at close to midnight you should buy a Fuzzy Felt Farm set and create a countryside the roof of the Sistine chapel collage up there.

 

FIFY

[purplebargeken]

Headlining is ace. Please can I book you to do the one on the Golf.

 

Emissions test re: MOT. Visual check only on this baby isn't it?

[Richard]

Has to be pre-75 for visual check only.

[Asimo]

Bloody hell, lack of drive and it's sell up time?

 

Engine crane, a mate, a few spanners and a morning and this'd be fixed! (Probably)

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

If I still had the engine crane I sold last year, it'd already be spread across the garage in pieces. If it doesn't meet its reserve, I'll fix it. 

 

I did only buy it because I had a few months left to run on an insurance policy, it was never really intended to be a long termer.