Estate(s) of the nation

[Asimo]

Lateral thinking!

[Heidel_Kakao]

Spoiler alert, I made it fit

Here's the story of how I got to this point.

I started by attaching the exhaust manifold and inlet manifold, I used new stainless studs and copper nuts for every hole, rather than the original combination of studs and bolts.Halfway there.

Then I made the 2-1 collector fit. It took a combination of hitting it with a hammer Roadkill style to clearance it a bit and using some wood to wedge the manifold closer to the chassis rail while I installed it. It touches the transmission sump pan which isn't ideal but I think it will be ok, I might be able to make some clearance when I get the rest of the exhaust line done. It will be a little while before I get it completed though as I need to save up some spare cash. The 02 sensor was further back than before but I rerouted the cable and got enough slack for it fit.

On 10/13/2019 at 9:30 PM, 320touring said:

Fair point - carbs back on please and a video of it without exhaust:)

Just for you It sounds brutal like this lol.

[320touring]

I am deeply pleased by that video:)

[Heidel_Kakao]

No exciting updates to report I am afraid ☹️ Lockdown combined with a mild case of mojo loss has put paid to that. However I have started to think about what my next estate will be so I thought I would crowd source some suggestions.

After driving the Lexus for the past few months and getting used to it's "modernness" (it's the first car I have owned without a suffix or prefix plate) I've decided my next wagon should be a late 90's to early 2000's model and my short list is currently BMW E39, Vauxhall Omega, Subaru Legacy, a Mercedes from that period etc. My preference is for big petrol engined RWD executive barges though after the Impreza I would like to try it's bigger brother which is why the Legacy is on the list.

So does anyone have opinions positive or negative on the cars on my shortlist or have any suggestions for cars I may have overlooked? Over to you

[ChampionRabbit]

2003+ 3 litre legacy is a great car, although usually found with automatic which isn't my thing. For a Subaru, access to stuff isn't the worst although it's still a Subaru. I'm pretty sure that plugs can be done without jacking the engine up for example, which is nice. Wheel bearings are complete hubs too, so you don't have the hilarious* lateral bolt issue of other Subarus when it eats them (which it will). Outback is obviously basically the same car with added ride height and is possibly easier/cheaper to find in 3 litre?

Wouldn't bother with 2.5/2.0R (same/same powerish) in 2003+ flavour, although both are ok. Early 2.0 (non R) is slow, although still fine.

In retrospect I liked my Legacy a good bit more than my Forester, although most people seem to consider the Forester approaching perfection for what it is.

[DVee8]

Audi A6 Avant?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202003098177144?onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&fuel-type=Petrol&sort=relevance&make=AUDI&radius=1500&postcode=dh23hx&advertising-location=at_cars&model=A6 AVANT&page=1&modal=photos

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

No exciting updates to report I am afraid ☹️ Lockdown combined with a mild case of mojo loss has put paid to that. However I have started to think about what my next estate will be so I thought I would crowd source some suggestions.

After driving the Lexus for the past few months and getting used to it's "modernness" (it's the first car I have owned without a suffix or prefix plate) I've decided my next wagon should be a late 90's to early 2000's model and my short list is currently BMW E39, Vauxhall Omega, Subaru Legacy, a Mercedes from that period etc. My preference is for big petrol engined RWD executive barges though after the Impreza I would like to try it's bigger brother which is why the Legacy is on the list.

So does anyone have opinions positive or negative on the cars on my shortlist or have any suggestions for cars I may have overlooked? Over to you

stagea

camry

v70 xc

something yank?

[wuvvum]

Stagea a good call - like a more modern Cedric, at least in sensible RB25DE form.  Available in RWD or, like the first one I had, in non-working 4WD which has much the same effect.

[Heidel_Kakao]

2 hours ago, ChampionRabbit said:

2003+ 3 litre legacy is a great car, although usually found with automatic which isn't my thing. 

Auto doesn't bother me especially not in a daily driver, in my experience a slushbox combined with cruise control makes a great commuter car.

2 hours ago, DVee8 said:

Audi A6 Avant?

Good shout, boring but competent.

2 hours ago, hairnet said:

something yank?

That reminds me of the Chrysler 300C which I definitely would have.

2 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Stagea a good call - like a more modern Cedric, at least in sensible RB25DE form.  Available in RWD or, like the first one I had, in non-working 4WD which has much the same effect.

I do like Stagea's and it would be nice paired with the Cedric but I don't know if they are available for shite money, I should have mentioned my budget in my original post as ideally I want to spend £1000 but could stretch it for something special.

[mitsisigma01]

Stand out from the crowd, get a 1990s Mitsubishi Sigma 3000 wagon but front wheel drive, if you can find one, but don't fancy it, let me know please. There are a few Sigma wagons in Germany, more saloons though and there was a right hand drive Sigma saloon on ebay in Essex a while back, but in need of some weldering. 

 

[Heidel_Kakao]

First new estate purchase in nearly a year! No pez station shot as @sims00 kindly dropped it off at my house and I have only just got back from my first drive in it.

See the for sale thread for more details and pics.

First drive was fun! Coming straight from the LS it felt super sporty, it's not quick but that just means you can wind it out to the redline without worrying about losing your license.

The red 940 will be for sale ASAP as the IS200 is a much more appropriate place to install a 3UZ as evidenced by the following video;

Plus it rectifies the breaking of my personal rule by buying it in the first place, I love 940's but I did 20K miles in the green turbo so I can move on.

I will be realistic and temper expectations of the 3UZ appearing in the sportcross anytime soon, as you can see from this very thread I frequently have periods of mojo loss. However I have always wanted a V8 swapped car that I can point to and say I did that and I have never been in a better position having the unit to make it a reality so I am optimistic that it will happen eventually.

[Heidel_Kakao]

It's never very difficult in this office but it is nice having the oldest and rarest car in the car park? I can easily see this thing becoming a keeper especially if I V8 swap it. As a sign of how much I care about it already I have bothered to order a genuine fag lighter insert to replace the missing one, going to get a rear silencer put on ASAP as well but otherwise it doesn't really need anything else.

I am looking forward to doing a decent length journey to the field of dreams on some twisty roads rather than my boring commute.

[Heidel_Kakao]

Some actual car working on took place today! The Sportcross has been a nice reliable daily driver but had recently developed a fault with the rear wiper motor in that it was very slow to wipe and got stuck also. Pretty annoying when you are used to having a rear wiper.

I bought a whole tailgate from a local Lexus breakers as I thought it may come in useful anyway. It was certainly helpful in figuring out how the old motor assembly came out for sure.

Here is the offending unit, after a lot of faffing I got it off the car and also got the one off the spare tailgate, turns out the one off the spare was completely dead. So in for a penny in for a pound I took apart my original unit to see what  was going on inside.

Initially it looked fine  but the issue was the output shaft was almost completely siezed causing a stupid amount of friction. A lot of brute force later and I got it punched out of the casing and you can see how corroded the shaft was. So a bit of cleaning up with some emery cloth and plenty of grease later I got it reassembled and it now works perfectly 👌 

In fact it works better than it ever did,  it must have been getting progressively worse for a while until it finally siezed.

Cheers to Jez @tommotech for lending assistance, tools and advice.

[stuboy]

good work there, must look at mine on the mondeo as its stopping halfway through the wipe cycle

[bezzabsa]

On 8/6/2020 at 1:53 PM, Heidel_Kakao said:

It's never very difficult in this office but it is nice having the oldest and rarest car in the car park? I can easily see this thing becoming a keeper especially if I V8 swap it. As a sign of how much I care about it already I have bothered to order a genuine fag lighter insert to replace the missing one, going to get a rear silencer put on ASAP as well but otherwise it doesn't really need anything else.

I am looking forward to doing a decent length journey to the field of dreams on some twisty roads rather than my boring commute.

Thought all the gas holders had gone???

[Heidel_Kakao]

11 minutes ago, bezzabsa said:

Thought all the gas holders had gone???

Nechells
https://maps.app.goo.gl/jVe75n1qFdBwDAbm9

They were still there today.....

[bezzabsa]

I used to deliver right by the bottom of them.... They were in Villa colours at one time..LOL

[Heidel_Kakao]

Today I found out Cedric was used in the background of a Finnish bands album cover which is cool. Need to find out the name of the album and maybe score myself a copy.

Apparently they didn't use the images for the album in the end.

Name of band is Fireproven and album is Future diary. 

[Heidel_Kakao]

So with my recently improved motivation I have been doing the few jobs that have been keeping Cedric off the road for well over a year now. Jez helpfully made me a rear brake pipe as the old one just twisted when trying to undo it.

We tried to bleed the brakes today but realised the rear calipers on both sides were doing nothing and the pistons are totally siezed, so I will be dropping them off at Bigg Red in Worcester next week to be completely overhauled.

I also need to  find a way of protecting the power steering hoses as the new manifold runs very close to them. I was thinking of wrapping them in reflective heat shield tape.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164140123634

Anyone got any experience of this stuff?

I also need to repair the throttle linkage that I ham fistedly broke when refitting the carbs. And then just need to take the car round to the nearest Powerflow exhaust center to get the rest of the system finished and then it should be ready for the road. Can't wait to hear what it will sound like 😀

Don't think I have put these in the thread before, Cedrics looking super cool while being rally support vehicles!

[somewhatfoolish]

On 3/16/2021 at 7:50 PM, Heidel_Kakao said:

Some actual car working on took place today! The Sportcross has been a nice reliable daily driver but had recently developed a fault with the rear wiper motor in that it was very slow to wipe and got stuck also. Pretty annoying when you are used to having a rear wiper.

I bought a whole tailgate from a local Lexus breakers as I thought it may come in useful anyway. It was certainly helpful in figuring out how the old motor assembly came out for sure.

Here is the offending unit, after a lot of faffing I got it off the car and also got the one off the spare tailgate, turns out the one off the spare was completely dead. So in for a penny in for a pound I took apart my original unit to see what  was going on inside.

Initially it looked fine  but the issue was the output shaft was almost completely siezed causing a stupid amount of friction. A lot of brute force later and I got it punched out of the casing and you can see how corroded the shaft was. So a bit of cleaning up with some emery cloth and plenty of grease later I got it reassembled and it now works perfectly 👌 

In fact it works better than it ever did,  it must have been getting progressively worse for a while until it finally siezed.

Cheers to Jez @tommotech for lending assistance, tools and advice.

Fixing the rear wiper motor on the family chariot was my teenage introduction to shite maintenance; it was a montego estate and exactly the same thing had happened, and likewise it worked better than ever afterward.

[Heidel_Kakao]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174728433095

Just won this for £5 on Ebay, no one else even bid. Will be the basis of an A/C install on Cedric at some point in the future.

Is anyone nearby to Wallingdon that could collect it for me? Would save me having to drive to London. Cheers.

[Heidel_Kakao]

I purchased a brochure for a car I already own 😀

[RobT]

18 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174728433095

Just won this for £5 on Ebay, no one else even bid. Will be the basis of an A/C install on Cedric at some point in the future.

Is anyone nearby to Wallingdon that could collect it for me? Would save me having to drive to London. Cheers.

I'm 8 miles from Wallington, assuming it's the one near Croydon.  Happy to collect for you, PM the details if so.

[Supernaut]

I haven't popped in here in a while...

 

That exhaust manifold is PORNOGRAPHIC.

[Heidel_Kakao]

The wheels that came with Cedric suit the Sportcross much better! Just need to buy some centre caps.

@tom13

@sims00

[tom13]

41 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

The wheels that came with Cedric suit the Sportcross much better! Just need to buy some centre caps.

@tom13

@sims00

Yes dude. Looks ace. If you want to sell the wheels that came off it let me know. I spent ages refurbing them. 

[Heidel_Kakao]

11 minutes ago, tom13 said:

If you want to sell the wheels that came off it let me know. I spent ages refurbing them. 

Will do mate. Planning on keeping them at the moment.

[tom13]

27 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Will do mate. Planning on keeping them at the moment.

No worries dude.

You should definitely tint those lower fogs yellow. Would look ace with the gold. 

[Heidel_Kakao]

Potential hurdle, Bigg Red just sent me this picture, one of the rear calipers has a hairline fracture in it 😞 Already put the call out on the Datsun Facebook group and checked ebay but no joy yet.

Any ideas where else I can try?

[Heidel_Kakao]

Fixed for £30 and 10 minutes by Taylor's engineering and fabrications LTD in Nechells Birmingham. Proper old school company 👌

https://taylorengineeringltd.com/