Sold Dollywobbler's Bluebird - Buy an award winner! £SOLD

[jonathan_dyane]

You've come this far, complete waste of time not to have it skimmed...

[dollywobbler]

Ok, ok. It's getting skimmed. I was prepared to wing it until I saw the erosion on cylinder four. Booked in with a machine shop on Friday. No events this weekend, so if the bits arrive, I might even get it back together in time for Shitefest...

 

Though given something at the front end feels horribly loose, I wouldn't bet money on it. Balljoint or track rod end I reckon. 

[HMC]

Hopefully you can get the bluey up and together for shitefest, allowing for a retro Japanese minicab twin test (I've just bought the other vehicle and am bringing it)

[dollywobbler]

So, turns out I can't read my own thread titles, and my Bluebird is a write off. YAY!

 

Meh.

[Felly Magic]

Now that's a right old kick in the crotch

[Spottedlaurel]

I presume it's only Cat D or C, otherwise they wouldn't have sent you the V5? You can find out which one by starting an ad for it on AutoTrader.

 

My Camry is Cat C, but FJ weren't worried so long as it had an MoT. The only downside was that they wouldn't give me agreed value on it.

[beko1987]

Is it going to kill its perceived value much though?

[Matt]

Might be worth bashing a letter or phone call to the previous owner to see what they know about the write off.

[dollywobbler]

Meh. It is what it is now. It wasn't worth a fat lot to start with, so it's not like I'm grumpy that my fantastic investment has been sullied.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I wouldn't worry about that, it's just character innit

[omegod]

We've all taken a few knocks over the years, view it this way ,It's not just a survivor..it's a fuckin warrior 

[trigger]

Cat C so it's not all bad.

 

[dollywobbler]

Meh. On to more important matters. CAN HAZ MATCHING WHEELTRIMS! Thanks to Vulgalour for spotting this on Ebay. A tenner isn't bad really.

 

Another package yielded these goodies, and the thermostat arrived today too. Off to Hargreaves Engineering in Carmarthen tomorrow for head fettling. Could it be running by the end of the weekend?

[HMC]

Result! How realistic is it to expect to see it at shitefest? Fingers crossed here!

[Felly Magic]

Mmm nice. Good luck with the skimming ian, fingers crossed this will fettle it

[dollywobbler]

Result! How realistic is it to expect to see it at shitefest? Fingers crossed here!

 

Well, I've got this weekend free, so we'll see how I get on. Has MOT but I'm concerned about a rattle from the front end. Not very easy to jack the car up to investigate at the moment, so first stage is to get it running again. I don't have the timing belt and water pump yet though.

[anonymous user]

I'll translate that into English. "I say, let's see if the good lady will deign to fire into life what?"

I'd love to see what the YouTube sub-titles will make of that

[trigger]

The cambelt is a gates 5028, the cheapest i can find is £10 delivered on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161396356589

[trigger]

Oh a the water pump is a FWP1435 available for £13.68 delivered from here.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391792602974

[dollywobbler]

I think I'm just going to have to leave that for another day. Probably wouldn't even get delivered until Wednesday or Thursday next week. It's Shitefest next week!

[uk_senator]

Cat C so it's not all bad.

 

Cheers Trigsta, I never realised A-T showed what category cars were registered as, now I know my XJR was a D, not a C, which is something I always wondered..

[Snipes]

The cambelt is a gates 5028, the cheapest i can find is £10 delivered on ebay

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161396356589

Tensioner, probably about 50-60 quid, too.

Edit- well it was on my Silvia 10 years ago!

[dollywobbler]

Well, Shitefest ain't going to happen unfortunately. Took the head down to Carmarthen today. In the 2CV, obviously.

 

Hargreaves Engineering were a good recommendation from a friend. Adam who runs the place really seems to know his onions, and his dad is ex-Rover (as in ex-Rover before it was ruined by BL).

 

The head was skimmed - this is the rough-cut.

 

Obviously it was then done to a proper, smooth finish. Did need quite a cut to get rid of the pitting where the gasket had blown. 

 

The valves were then tested for compression using a vacuum machine. Sadly, two of the inlets and most of the exhausts were not able to hold pressure. That meant I had to return home empty-handed. I'll be posting valve stem seals down, along with a camshaft seal, but won't be able to collect the finished head again until the wrong side of Shitefest. Sorry folks!

[barefoot]

Come over in your Citroen.

[beko1987]

Blimey you have dived head first into this. What happened to lob a new HG on, pop a finish tab in the radiator and drive to lincolnshire?

[trigger]

Take one of the other cars

[dollywobbler]

Blimey you have dived head first into this. What happened to lob a new HG on, pop a finish tab in the radiator and drive to lincolnshire?

 

Grot on the head around cylinder four. Not bodgeable.

[dollywobbler]

Come over in your Citroen.

 

Either that or the Honda. Haven't decided yet. It's a bloody long way in the 2CV. Not sure my ears can take it.

[hairnet]

No excuse

 

Mp3 player ftw

[dollywobbler]

What's that? Actual progress? Well, the head is at least back where it should be - ie at least near the car!

 

I think I'm going to have to chuck it back together with the old belt and water pump. I still plan to replace both, but judging by everything I've seen, it would have been helpful if I'd undone the crank pulley bolt before getting started. I'm now hoping I can at least access the tensioner bolts without having to remove the sodding engine mount.