Zel's Motoring Adventures...Peugeot, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - 14/04 - Overdue service items...

[Zelandeth]

Been nice weather today, so of course I've been feeling like crap all day.  Thanks body.

Did manage an hour of productivity though, even though it's pushed the headache from a 5 to a solid 8.5.  In the quest to get some of the grime and rust streaking off the Trabant, I really wanted to get these covers off the rear pillar vents.  I wanted these off to look behind them anyway as I wasn't in any way convinced that these weren't in some way responsible for our water ingress issues.

Surprisingly the first screw actually came out without progress, the second however snapped pretty much as soon as I looked at it.

I wasn't planning on reusing these anyway, so it was just drilled out and re-tapped to take an M5 A2 stainless machine screw instead.  With a bit of grease applied to the thread for good measure.

I'm not at all convinced this isn't a point of water ingress.

The seam sealer which attaches the inner section there feels like it's gone brittle just like the stuff on the front bulkhead had, so I'll be giving that a good slathering with some PU sealant when I've got a bit more time and working brain available.

There's a good couple of millimetre gap behind these grills and the surrounding metalwork (there's actually a spacer in there to ensure they do NOT sit flush), so basically all the water running down off the roof is going to run behind the grill and into the chamber rather than being deflected over it as you'd think to look at it.  I reckon that putting a seal around the top and sides of the panel might be a decent idea.  That way water will largely be kept out of this area.

At least I know I can easily get in here again in future.

Need to get a bit more elbow grease involved in removing that rust staining.

Do have some slight nervousness regarding what the top of that screen surround will be in once the screen is removed.  We know that needs to happen as I know the offside lower corner of the surround is holed and the screen needs to come out to fix that.  Sure that will be an interesting day.  That will likely not be done by me, by the way.  That will be entrusted to someone who knows how to fix this sort of tinworm damage.

[Zelandeth]

Don't think I've ever had another car which looks quite so at home in a slightly shabby urban setting.

TPA comes close,  but does tend to stand out a bit more just by not being quite normal car shaped.

[beko1987]

On 23/03/2024 at 18:24, Zelandeth said:

Kind of annoying day today as the weather kept looking decent for being outside, but pretty much the minute I'd start doing anything the heavens would then open again, for about 2 minutes.

Just enough to make it wet again.  I got the roof of the Trabant given a quick skim over with the polish at least.

It's a bit patchy so will want doing again, but is definitely a lot better than streaky ingrained dirt.

You can definitely tell which bits have and haven't been done.

As stated, my intention has never really been to make this into a shiny show car, I just want to do what I can to help it looks cared for.  I don't mind it looking a bit careful worn, but don't want it looking neglected.  Chalky and covered in moss isn't exactly the look I want.

Just the right hand side to do now.  If the weather would bloody cooperate.

Otherwise I've just been using the car about as much as I can get away with over the last couple of days.

You want some protection on it though so it doesn't rust or mess the paint up. I'd argue you should go to town and coat it once then with regular washing with some wax safe shampoo (dodo juice born to be mild is lovely) it'd just need a nice hand-job once a year as normal with maybe a top-up. 

[rattlecan]

I think I’d be inclined to get a sheet of thin plastic or thick polythene (if ya get me) & place it over the rectangular hole, seal it all around the 4 edges, then put the grill back on. That way nothing can ‘sit in’ the area behind 

[bobdisk]

16 hours ago, rattlecan said:

I think I’d be inclined to get a sheet of thin plastic or thick polythene (if ya get me) & place it over the rectangular hole, seal it all around the 4 edges, then put the grill back on. That way nothing can ‘sit in’ the area behind 

But then the ventilation would be lost !

[rattlecan]

6 hours ago, bobdisk said:

But then the ventilation would be lost !

For what? Won’t make one scrap of difference, plus it’s all blocked up behind it anyway now

[Zelandeth]

That's the primary outflow for the heater - and based on the amount of air discharged from there with the heater on and the engine revved (flow for the heater is bleed air from the cooling fan) they're definitely functional rather than notional.  The top of the inner "box" is open into the pillar, what you can see is a shield to keep the weather out.

Kind of surprising given how basic a car it is that they went to the lengths of putting a primarily decorative cover over it rather than just leave it open like Lada did on the Niva.

That said, I'm actually not so surprised.  There's very little about the design of this car that seems to have happened by chance, and fit and finish honestly is well ahead of anything to have come out of Tolyatti.  Looking at it from a construction perspective, it means the two panels don't have to be so critically aligned, and you can go to town more with the sealant without it being visible.  Those pillar vents on the Niva are a known water ingress point - one of about fifty, on a good day.  Don't get me wrong, I bloody adored my Niva, but there's no questioning that it was thrown together as cheaply as humanly possible.

What I think I'll do here is just attach a bit of foam weather stripping to the cover on the top and sides.  That will channel anything around it, but anything that gets in courtesy of the wind or when I'm washing the car will still be able to drain out the bottom naturally.

[Zelandeth]

On 25/03/2024 at 15:38, beko1987 said:

You want some protection on it though so it doesn't rust or mess the paint up. I'd argue you should go to town and coat it once then with regular washing with some wax safe shampoo (dodo juice born to be mild is lovely) it'd just need a nice hand-job once a year as normal with maybe a top-up. 

Missed this reply.  Should have mentioned that I've been waxing as I go.  The whole car will get another coat once I'm finished all the panels.  I should have started a pool on which will go flat faster?  The paint on a Trabant or an 80s Skoda?  The latter really did have terrible paint!

[Zelandeth]

Few little bits and pieces done this afternoon, but nothing particularly ground breaking.

The Trabant has never been particularly fond of idling smoothly (even by two stroke standards), but it was definitely better after changing the blown head gasket.  Today I had the thought of using an IR thermometer to compare the two jugs to see whether both cylinders were properly contributing.  Imagine my surprise when I pointed it at cylinder number 2 and realised that the spark plug was moving.

Yep, it wasn't even finger tight and I was able to turn it about two turns tighter by hand.  With that tightened up the idle seemed to be a good bit better, though I've not actually done a test drive to get it properly back up to temperature since.  Wish all fixes were this easy.

On the Rover I had a few small things I wanted to look in to (as I didn't feel up to wrestling with the oil pump housing today).

The windscreen washers worked once but have resolutely refused to do anything ever since.  Think I'm going to have to give in and just buy a new pump there as everything *seems* fine and it's not full of slime, it just refuses to pump.  I think the little rubber vanes have probably either gone too hard to work or have perished.  Plus the motor only seems to run about 50% of the time unless I whack it with a screwdriver.  The bottle is cracked and can't be filled more than about 1/3 anyway so hopefully I can find a whole replacement for not stupid money.

I knew something was up with either the headlight switch, circuit or way the switch was hooked up.  This was because as soon as you clicked the switch to the first notch, which should be side lights, you got side and headlights - exactly the same as when set to the correct headlight position.  

Yes, that would do it.

With this jumper wire removed everything appears to work normally.  Though I'm guessing the switch has proven to be intermittent in the headlight position once warmed up.  Can't see any other reason you would do this.  

I've removed it for now (not least because the gauge of wire isn't even close to being up to the job) and will investigate further at a future date.

I had also wanted to have a look at seeing if I could sort the handbrake switch as currently the brake warning light on the dash only comes on via the float switch on the reservoir, and it should also work when the handbrake is on.  I know the lamp itself does work as I've tested it.

However I failed at the first hurdle - how to get into the centre console far enough to find the switch.  I'll need to consult a manual to confirm where the fixings are so I can get it apart without breaking any bits of brittle, near 50 year old plastic.

[captain_70s]

14 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

This was because as soon as you clicked the switch to the first notch, which should be side lights, you got side and headlights - exactly the same as when set to the correct headlight position.  

The Dolomite has been the same since I bought it. I really should look at it...

I once got quite worried one night thinking the high beam had failed before realising that it just doesn't work with the switch in the sidelight position...

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, captain_70s said:

The Dolomite has been the same since I bought it. I really should look at it...

I once got quite worried one night thinking the high beam had failed before realising that it just doesn't work with the switch in the sidelight position...

I'll probably look at adding some relays here.  Given this has quad headlights, and the centre high beam pair are 75W apiece plus 60W each for the outers on high beam - so in the region of 23A on main beam - that's quite a lot of current to be running through that one little switch.

[High Jetter]

Factory switch, tho?

[Crackers]

On 10/03/2024 at 00:25, Zelandeth said:

 

So...

Ooft... A sudden pang of nostalgia looking over the bonnet humps. Sounds superb too, can't remember from up thread if it's got a juicy exhaust or standard?

Would love to have a ride out (or maybe even a little go in) this if you end up bringing it to the FOD at some point... 

[Zelandeth]

23 hours ago, Crackers said:

Ooft... A sudden pang of nostalgia looking over the bonnet humps. Sounds superb too, can't remember from up thread if it's got a juicy exhaust or standard?

Would love to have a ride out (or maybe even a little go in) this if you end up bringing it to the FOD at some point... 

The mid and tail sections of the exhaust look to be stainless, so may be a little more vocal than stock.  It does have the full compliment of silencers though, and to be honest you don't really hear it much when on the move.  Manifolds, Y pipe and front section look standard.  It does have a *hell* of a bassy rumble at idle (which I doubt will ever come across on camera) and when you're just feathering the throttle in 20/30mph areas.

I do have to admit this is something I could see me tweaking a bit longer term.  While I don't want anything too insane, I know from a certain scruffy Range Rover we had in as a trade in to clear at the garage, just how gloriously these engines can sing in the top half of the rev band.  So there's always going to be that temptation there.  I'm pretty sure that Range Rover had the stock system and just had a Cherry Bomb in the place of the rear silencer too...I may need to test it sans the rear box at some point.  For science.

I am loathe to meddle too much there though, as it is subtle in a way that really suits the car.  Plus the low end rumble is rather nice too.

If you're ever over this way or we cross paths at the FoD you're more than welcome to have a shot (assuming I ever get the fuel system to play ball long enough that I trust it to get there and back!).  Big part of having interesting cars is getting to share them.

There's a local gathering tomorrow afternoon at the Beefeater opposite the XScape in Central MK tomorrow from 1500.  My intention is to be there in something.  Most likely the Trabant as the Rover is still covered in moss to an embarrassing extent to be seen in public beyond being passed on the road.  If anyone on here is likely to be there, feel free to say hello.

Total car news for today consisted of putting the Renault's battery on to charge and chucking a piece of fuel line to replace the bit that's rotted off so it can be started up for the first time in far too blasted long tomorrow.  Along with the Rover she also really needs a wash as the moss is taking hold.

I really need to get started on putting a web page together for the Trabant I think.  It's always such a chore trying to catch up with everything done if I leave it too long!

[SiC]

Hiflys are back in stock if you want a reasonably priced set of tyres for the P6. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204153372379

 

[Zelandeth]

I'd noticed that the tail lights on the P6 were full of a lot of condensation again over the last couple of weeks.  I'm not entirely sure if it's just got in since I changed the seals or if there was still moisture in when that was done.  So I took them apart again, blew everything out with the air line, left them apart in the sun for a couple of hours before putting them back together.

Lenses need a really good clean, but that's a job for further down the to do list.

On the Trabant the patchy, rusty headlight surrounds have been tidied up.

This was bugging me as I could see the rusty bit from the driver's seat so I needed to do something about it.

I do need to do something about that hole in the wing, that sorted and a bit of paint on the front panel would make the car look a lot less scruffy at a quick glance.

I had a shot at changing the gearbox oil, however the drain plug is stupidly tight and defied all my attempts at shifting it.  There is enough oil in there as I checked the level plug first and oil came out, it is definitely due a change though as what came out looked awful.  Did wonder about using the Pela and draining it through the filler but there doesn't look to be a clear shot to get far enough down into the box to do that.  I'll need to get the car up on axle stands so I can get the big driver bar and some decent leverage onto it.  Hopefully the plug just comes out rather than it taking the threads out with it.  The oil definitely needs to be changed though, so it needs to come out one way or another.

[High Jetter]

30 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

together.

So pure, a calendar shot?

[Zelandeth]

10 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

So pure, a calendar shot?

At least let me polish it first!

[High Jetter]

10 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

At least let me polish it first!

OK, then take the pic 😁

[Zelandeth]

Tail light surrounds now match.

Have been to the post office today to see whether we could get the tax changed to historic, but as I had pretty much expected it looks like I'll need to contact the DVLA directly regarding that. The only date which their computer brings up is the 1999 import date, and there's no option available to them to change the tax class.  Sure that will be a barrel of laughs to sort.  Will need to wait until a day where I'm feeling particularly patient.

The Trabant as of yesterday has now officially ticked over 1000 miles since arriving here in December.  

Edit: Front mud flaps have now also been fitted as I got tired of them getting in the way in the garage.

Did find some crunchy bits in the underside of the offside sill which will definitely want remedial work before next winter.  Looks like a very old patch which has reached the end of its useful life.  Nothing that's imminently terrifying, but I suspect if my MOT tester had prodded the area I'd have been left with a hole to fix.  Plus one drain hole is definitely bigger than the one on the other side of the car.  On the plus side it's about as easy a repair as you could wish for so I'm really not bothered by having found it.  Par for the course on a vehicle of this age which doesn't look like it's ever had anything beyond a couple of running repairs before, and will be properly sorted in due course.

[Zelandeth]

Ah, this again.  

Managed to end up with two cars with their MOT due within a couple of weeks.  Not the best planning on my part.  

I need not have worried.

Advisory for some rust on the offside sill, which is fair.

It looks worse than it is.  I think there's one nick in the stone chip that the water has got in through and has lifted it.  No actual rot there yet as far as I can tell having poked it, but it will be stripped back, cleaned and re-painted, hopefully get that sorted for a while.

I've also made the front end look at least 50% less shabby.

Before:

After:

That delaminated and rust stained number plate had been bugging me since the day I bought the car.  The rear one will involve taking the tailgate interior trim off to secure properly so that will wait till tomorrow.  Said trim also rattles so I want to pull it anyway.

Other small and utterly pointless job which will make it look massively disproportionately better will be cleaning up and re-painting the light guards, though I don't think they look as rough in photos as they do in person.

Original plate of course didn't get binned.

From that angle my garage almost doesn't look like a *total* disaster!

The Rover's new washer pump arrived today and was fitted.  Not exactly a difficult or exciting job.

Which has restored a reliable washing function every time the knob is pressed.

Actually gives a really decent mist across the screen, far better than on a bunch of far newer cars I've driven.  Also for Dollywobbler's reference, yes the P6 has really good wiper overlap.  

Have also go hopefully everything I need to make one good mechanical fuel pump out of one and 3/4 bad ones now.  Let's see how that goes.

[MarinaJosh]

The original Trico washer pumps can often be resurrected by running some WD40 through them. I have got quite a few going by using that trick. I guess it does 'something' to the impeller. They're rare/expensive these days, so definitely don't bin it. If the impeller has had it, but the motor is good, one good one can be made out of two (done that plenty of times as well!). Also fitted to Stags, some series Landies and early Marinas.

[Zelandeth]

On 05/04/2024 at 06:55, MarinaJosh said:

The original Trico washer pumps can often be resurrected by running some WD40 through them. I have got quite a few going by using that trick. I guess it does 'something' to the impeller. They're rare/expensive these days, so definitely don't bin it. If the impeller has had it, but the motor is good, one good one can be made out of two (done that plenty of times as well!). Also fitted to Stags, some series Landies and early Marinas.

Will give that a try.  I definitely wouldn't be throwing the original one out anyway given I know a lot of people are very particular about originality on these cars, so it would always have been kept in a box in case someone wanted to use it for something later.  

 

Actually had a bit of a hiccup in the Trabant couple of days back.  Was about a mile from home, came to a stop at a junction and found it bogged down when I applied throttle.  Was able to coax things back into motion by adding choke, suggesting to me a fuelling issue.  I immediately headed for home (which thankfully was mostly downhill so little engine power was needed) keeping the revs kept as low as possible.  Knowing how quickly a lean condition can become catastrophic in an air cooled two stroke, this wasn't something I was taking chances with.  Car was parked up and I grabbed the Partner to continue the tasks I was heading out for.  I was working around other appointments at the time so didn't have time to immediately investigate.

Later on I checked the screen in the fuel outlet at the tank (pretty clean), and confirmed there was good fuel flow to the carb.  Next step was to pull the cover off the float bowl (which you can *just* do in situ), to confirm the needle and seat were working properly and to see if there was any crud in there.  

There was a little bit of sediment in the bottom of the bowl but nothing particularly major.  What I don't know (and this does make me kind of wish I'd pulled the carb) was whether there was possibly a bit of water in there as that could definitely have explained it prior to me cleaning it out.

With everything put back together normal service appears to have been resumed.  I do need to actually look up a proper diagram for this carb anyway as I'd really like to turn the idle speed up a touch, it  has always felt like it's a little on the slow side.  Especially if you've got the lights on.

Today I had another crack at changing the gearbox oil.  I jacked the car up a bit this time to give me better access to the drain plug, and was successful in getting it removed this time.

What came out both looked and smelled like absolutely ancient EP90.  Which given that the correct HLP68 fluid is a light golden colour isn't great.  Definitely well overdue a change either way.  A little bit of swarf on the drain plug magnet, but nothing I'd not expect and certainly no chunks.

Area around the filler was cleaned up to ensure no chunks of anything fell in during refilling.

I really do need to go to town on this thing with the degreaser and pressure washer one day as the entire power plant of this car is a greasy slime ball at the moment.  This is pretty common for these cars, but I'd like to get it all clean at least once so I've got half a chance to see where any new leaks are coming from in case they do need attention.

Getting to the gearbox filler required me to remove both the hot and cold air ducts for the heater to make access easy as it's otherwise a bit buried.

Have only been fora brief run out today, but it definitely feels like the gear change is cleaner, changing down into second in particular it feels like the sycro is having an easier time of things.  Is it any quieter?  Maybe?  Still sounds like a tumble drier full of marbles at idle, but I get the impression that's not exactly unexpected.

[TrabbieRonnie]

I feel your pain with the carb, I'm considering a service kit for mine.  I'm pretty sure my idle circuit isn't working, have it idling well, but reliant on the throttle cable adjustment (which is cheating!).  

I've never experienced bogging in the Trabbi, did once have hot start issues, which was crud in the float bowl.  A long cranking time followed by an explosive (read gunshot!) start up was quite fun... unless at a petrol station.

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

I feel your pain with the carb, I'm considering a service kit for mine.  I'm pretty sure my idle circuit isn't working, have it idling well, but reliant on the throttle cable adjustment (which is cheating!).  

I've never experienced bogging in the Trabbi, did once have hot start issues, which was crud in the float bowl.  A long cranking time followed by an explosive (read gunshot!) start up was quite fun... unless at a petrol station.

It's probably something worth having on the shelf anyway.  I'll probably grab one when I next put an order through to Trabantwelt.  Let me know if you'd like me to grab one for you as well given the postage costs.  I do need to have a dig through the parts stash as well as I know there are at least *some* carb bits in there.

Had the car out today and the carb definitely seems to be doing the job properly again.  Gear change is definitely improved when fully up to temperature it feels like, and I think it may well be quieter at speed, though very hard to tell given how much noise there is from everything in general!

[TrabbieRonnie]

Thank you for the offer Zel, sharing postage costs might be a good idea...

I'll have a check of which carb I've actually got, I used to know but it's gone.

I changed my gear oil a few weeks back as it started leaking from the shaft seals, and there's no way to know how much had gone without taking it out anyway.  It hadn't lost much, but with fresh stuff in the leakage stopped immediately, and smoother (relatively) quieter operation has resulted here too.

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Thank you for the offer Zel, sharing postage costs might be a good idea...

I'll have a check of which carb I've actually got, I used to know but it's gone.

I changed my gear oil a few weeks back as it started leaking from the shaft seals, and there's no way to know how much had gone without taking it out anyway.  It hadn't lost much, but with fresh stuff in the leakage stopped immediately, and smoother (relatively) quieter operation has resulted here too.

Yes, knowing there was enough in there was one reason I really wanted to change mine given this mess.

Though having said that, it's never left a single drop where I park.  Given the state of what came out though I'm very glad I did it anyway for the sake of the freewheel mechanism if nothing else.

I do really want to get that cleaned up though just so I spot any future leaks if they do appear.

[GlenAnderson]

I was told when I had my Trabbie that “you can keep them clean, but you can’t keep them from leaking…”

🤣