Genuine Granada Greenhouse Gassing Granadaland - The Beast Estate leaves the GGG - Caution: No P6 Content!

[Junkman]

Trigger all I can say about that you posted is HNNNNNNGGGGG Spaffff, and when's the KOLLEKSHUNFRED?

^^

This.

 

And don't fuck it up!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

More pics please, I'd like to see it without the towbar...

 

 

k

 

 

 

Sans towbar:

 

 

There is, however, a major problem with the Granada.

 

The same problem Skizzer ran into. 

 

How the hell do I hand the keys back to Junkman?

[Junkman]

There is, however, a major problem with the Granada.

 

The same problem Skizzer ran into. 

 

How the hell do I hand the keys back to Junkman?

Don't even think about it.

[Junkman]

That car is cooler than a polar bear's dillywong in a fridge.

[Junkman]

And for once, I have a cherished reg, at least by me.

 

Heat The World!

[danthecapriman]

It's a bloody good car, no doubt.You did a splendid job so far and I can't thank you enough for providing me with a resto base I can work with.I know I'm repeating myself, but I feel like someone must feel when he is released from prison.

I won't try to pretend it's the best of the best. It's clearly not, and your right, a few years ago this car would have been banger raced given its state.

 

But it is reliable and basically solid and all there. As you say, it's a good base to make something really good. You know these cars far better than I do and you will find things on it that aren't the best or need fixing or redoing.

This cars biggest problem is it's cosmetics. It needs some effort and money putting in that direction but nowadays doing that will be worth it.

Sadly this is something where I had the best intentions but other things always got in the way, either because I can't say 'no' to other old cars I want or because other cars I've got jumped the que. I was never going to get this car done realistically and if I'd kept it (as I wanted to) it would have just deteriorated further.

Thank you, JM, Conrad, Skizzer and BV for giving me more than I'd asked for, for the car and most of all for taking the car on and doing what it needs to keep it on the road and look it's best. Honestly, it's the best outcome I could have hoped for!

 

Anyway, here's a quick brief list of what was done to it during its time with me:

Welding! Lots of it in various places.

New rear shoes and cylinders.

Both front calipers replaced with fully rebuilt exchange items.

New front discs, pads and flexi hoses.

One NOS headlight.

New pair front shock absorbers.

All front ball joints & rack ends replaced for new.

Recon alternator and starter motor.

Full auto box oil and filter change (not that long ago either).

New bonnet.

New rear inner and outer CV gaiters, on both sides. CV joints cleaned, stripped, rebuilt with new grease.

New rocker gaskets and breather valve.

4 new Perelli tyres.

This is by no means all of it but covers most of the main things! I kept all the receipts and invoices for everything which are all in the folder I gave Skizzer and BV, along with just about all the cars old MOT certificates.

I even used to service the car more often than it really needed! Usually using 'Ford' oil filters, cos I'm sad like that!

 

Oh btw, the air con pump was still working too! No gas in the system but the pump clutch still activates and runs when switched on! Or at least it did... might need a little shove by hand first if it's not been used for a few months.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

The air con pump does indeed come on when asked. But there is no change in temperature, so yeah, it could do with a re-gas. 

[danthecapriman]

k

 

 

 

Sans towbar:

 

 

There is, however, a major problem with the Granada.

 

The same problem Skizzer ran into. 

 

How the hell do I hand the keys back to Junkman?

That looks magnificent! Proper car!

 

Why the fuck did I decide to sell this!?

[Junkman]

The challenge is to get it ready until Chodmolestly.

I can't guarantee it, of course, because most is beyond my control.

However, I will try my best.

It will have to be taken off the road for this, of course.

Which means, I need to get me some interim shite...

[Junkman]

Is this really my car?

 

I still find it difficult to believe my luck.

[Junkman]

BTW, those Pirellis have to go.

They are the totally wrong size.

 

So if anyone needs a good set of 185/70R14 tyres, please let me know.

[Junkman]

If anything, then it would be Skiz, BV and me, but yes, I bought them out.

Trig must buy that green one.

 

 

I said Trig must buy that green one!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

This really is a lovely looking thing.

[Junkman]

Ah, yes, Skiz not Trig, sorry.

 

Surely selling the P6s will nowhere near cover what you had to pay them for the Grandad?

 

Ben

 

Ever tried to sell a P6?

EVERYONE wants one. Until you make one available, that is.

[andy18s]

You've flooded the market!

 

Ben

You need to keep your foot down whilst cranking it over....

Whoops,wrong thread

[Ghosty]

I did wonder if you'd done a buyout JM. I'll be watching this with interest.

[danthecapriman]

BTW, those Pirellis have to go.

They are the totally wrong size.

 

So if anyone needs a good set of 185/70R14 tyres, please let me know.

What size are they supposed to be on these cars? I just copied the same size of the old ones.

[Junkman]

185HR14.

What's on it now are 185/70R14H

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Are they 'HR' because it is fuel injected? My dad's 2.8 Ghia used 185SR14 from new - I remember him being surprised by the speed rating.

[trigger]

I thought it was jointly owned by you, Trig and BV.

 

I did agree to buy it early on but a combination of having a low shite car mojo at the time and feeling guilty buying it with Dan's predicament at the time meant i thought it be best to let someone else have it, it's worked out better with these guys buying it now anyway for Dan so thumbs up all round.

 

I'd absolutely love that green one, other than it not being a injection and manual it's perfect but it's too far for me at the moment (I'm also still scarred after a bad experience with a 2.8 GL in Burnley a couple of years ago). I'm going to wait until something closer turns up.

[Junkman]

Are they 'HR' because it is fuel injected? My dad's 2.8 Ghia used 185SR14 from new - I remember him being surprised by the speed rating.

 

It isn't fuel injected.

A 2.8 requires H no matter what. S is deffo not sufficient and how it could end up on a new car is beyond me.

Besides, it's difficult enough to get 185 HRs. 185SRs today are predominantly C4 or C6 PR for vans,

hence totally unsuitable for The Beast Estate, which is decidedly a passenger car.

[danthecapriman]

This one isn't injected. That's why it's still running! Good old carbs!

 

I think (but might be wrong?) the standard tyre should be a 185/80/14, which being an 80 profile tyre has a standard size sidewall. The ones it's got on it now being a 70 profile are technically low profile side walls.

Back in the old days an 80 profile was considered standard so if the tyre had them you just called the tyre a 185/14. It was only when the lower profile sizes started becoming more common you ended up with all the other numbers like 185/70/14 or 185/65/14 etc etc.

The letter is just a speed rating, each letter has its own max rated speed. T rating is about the lowest you'll likely find now but there were others years ago that were lower. I once had an old Volvo 244 with S rated tyres still on it.

Like I said, that might not be 100% accurate, I did all this years ago in college and have forgot most of it now!

[Junkman]

It is relatively accurate, but most people just blatantly refuse to grasp this actually quite simple formula,

because they think it's difficult.

 

The tyres on the car are too small in diameter, thus they do not provide the cushioning effect I desire.

Besides, they just look wrong to me and that's what counts.

 

As a rule of thumb, if you go down 10% in profile, you have to go up two sizes in width.

So to replace 185R14s (or 185/80R14s in newfangled) with 70 profile tyres, you'd have to use 205/70R14s.

[Junkman]

The dilemma is that the Vredestein Sprint Classics look too vintage and they are the only classic tyres within budget.

So I guess I have no choice other than to go for 185/80R14 91T.

 

Shit.

[JeeExEll]

185/70 R were rated up to 112mph from what I can remember. This was the same as the old SR rating. The R rating was a speed rating and had nothing to do with profile. How fast do you intend driving for long periods? Not suitable for "fun fun fun on de awtowbahhhhnnn" but ok for usual day to day and certainly fine for the occasional clear out of cobwebs. In fact, it's now compulsory for regular max speed tests to be carried out to check they're still ok.

R does not mean 80 series profile.

 

Ford specced 185/70 "HR" on the Ghia 14 inch wheels because "HR" was rated at the time in the late 1970s and early 80s as suitable up to 130mph. Beyond that was VR.

 

The metric TRXs were 190/65 390. Expensive as fuck but the bigger rims did look much better.

 

No Mk2 Granny Ghias had 80 series balloon tyres because they would look pish.

 

Great to see the Granny is to have some resto work, they were very much overlooked for years. Enjoy.

[Felly Magic]

TBH I'd love a dark red pre facelift Ghia, George Cowley style. 'Aye Bodie'

[Junkman]

185/70 R were rated up to 112mph from what I can remember. This was the same as the old SR rating. The R rating was a speed rating and had nothing to do with profile. How fast do you intend driving for long periods? Not suitable for "fun fun fun on de awtowbahhhhnnn" but ok for usual day to day and certainly the occasional clear out of cobwebs. In fact, it's now compulsory for regular max speed tests to be carried out to check they're still ok.

R does not mean 80 series profile.

 

Ford specced 185/70 HR on the Ghia 14 inch wheels because "HR" was rated at the time to 130mph. Beyond that was VR.

 

The metric TRXs were 190/65 390. Expensive as fuck but the bigger rims did look much better.

 

No Mk2 Granny Ghias had 80 series balloon tyres because they would look pish.

 

 

1. R simply stands for radial and has fuck all to do with the speed index.

 

2. A 185/70 can have any speed rating you chose to buy it in, it does not have H by default. It can be just as well S = 180 kph or T = 190 kph.

 

3. The correct tyre size for the 14" wheels on a Granada MKII is 185HR14 and not 185/70R14H, because the skinny 70 series tyres are too small, look shit,

    make the speedo show warp speed despite crawling and increase real world OMGMPG because they lower the gearing. 185HR14 are not balloon tyres

    by any standard, they are factory spec and do look correct on a MKII Granada with 14" wheels.

 

4. H was always the speed index for 210 kph, this never changed. There never was the need for V rated tyres on any Granada MKII.

    The speed rating is completely independent from the tyre size, you can get any 185 in various speed ratings, they are not H rated by default.

[Junkman]

No, that's as not an option as 70 profile tyres.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Here are the tyres listed in the Haynes manual, for the Estate:

 

185SR 14

185HR 14

185SR 14 REIN (whatever that is)

195/70HR 14

 

(and of course our metric friend 190/65HR 390)

 

and for reference it currently wears a set of 185/70 R 14 88 T. 

[Junkman]

And I think 195/70R14Hs are actually too skinny.

If 70, it must be 205/70s.

 

185SR14 REIN refers to the 185R14 C4 and C6 PR reinforced tyres used on vans, or bulletproofed Granadas.

 

Fact is the teensy little shit that's on it now must be replaced with proper tyres for the car.