Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 13/11.

[LightBulbFun]

31 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Van is indeed a 207D, in normally aspirated 2.3D flavour.  With a far too ridiculous exhaust that I really need to figure out a reasonable way to tame a bit...and just stop procrastinating about it and buy a new bonnet.

I is a bit confused, you have it as 208D your signature and such like, so im just wondering which is it? (or whats the difference between the 207D and 208D?)

31 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

If I had even half a brain I'd polish it up and sell it now with how the prices of campers have gone...but I know full well that I'd never be able to get another one.  I'd wanted an old Merc van since I was about 5 when we hired one to move house with.  The life size Tonka toy looks and bus-like dash immediately hooked me...but I could never justify just buying a van for the hell of it.  We had discussed possibly getting a family camper though...so when this popped up on here a few years back it ticked *both* of those boxes so I immediately grabbed it.  Always puts a smile on my face driving it too.

it still breaks my mind a bit that the design came out in 1977! and then there was that picture of an S Suffix one that was posted here

like without looking it up theres no way id of believed that example was genuinely from 1977 id of gone "oh someones put a personal plate on it" the design just does not look 1970's to me at all and it messes with head quite a bit as a result LOL

id love to find a Period picture of a R or S Suffix Merc TN1 next to an R or S Suffix Model 70 that would be some stark contrast  (did any TN1's make it over to the UK in time to get an R suffix?)

[Zelandeth]

It's been a long, busy day... she's a 208 of course...

To be fair, there's basically no difference between them beyond the rated payload weights I believe. 

Think it was only when you got into the 30* range that you started to see bigger changes like the heavier duty rear axle with double wheels etc.

The TN must have seemed a really, really modern looking van when it was launched.

[Zelandeth]

Today has been a bit of a mess really, not helped by me having a day where I spent a good half hour apparently having completely forgotten how to drive.  Made myself look an absolute and complete idiot about half a dozen times in as many minutes.  Thankfully it didn't last long nor actually have any lasting effects, but I generally hold myself to a pretty high standard so was well hacked off with myself for hours.

Grabbed a couple of photos of the Merc at one of my usual spots this afternoon, realised I really didn't have any from the rear.  A shame as I think this is one of the better looking estate variants out there.

There were enough people about I didn't bother trying getting any more than that.

Something I have made a start on tackling is the rear headlining trim panel, which has looked like this probably for a number of years.

Not ideal.

I'm trying the simple approach first, which has been to wet the fibreboard down thoroughly in the affected area and clamp it to more the shape I'm after.

Not holding my breath.  If that doesn't work I'll probably bend a piece of metal to the right arched shape and just bolt that to the back of it.  If the board will take the right shape though that would be the easier solution.

On the subject of headlining, anyone got a diagram of how this is meant to be assembled?

That's above the driver's door.  There's a little metal clip visible there but I can't find anywhere that it's meant to locate.  Passenger side looks just the same.

Reattaching the material to the board needs to be done too, but knowing how the panel itself is meant to sit would be useful!

[dollywobbler]

[mitsisigma01]

30 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

where I spent a good half hour apparently having completely forgotten how to drive.  Made myself look an absolute and complete idiot

Were you in a BMW 🤔.... 

They all do that sir 😁😁

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Today has been a bit of a mess really, not helped by me having a day where I spent a good half hour apparently having completely forgotten how to drive.  Made myself look an absolute and complete idiot about half a dozen times in as many minutes.  Thankfully it didn't last long nor actually have any lasting effects, but I generally hold myself to a pretty high standard so was well hacked off with myself for hours.

 

I had a pretty good driving lesson today, went nice and smoothly I even managed navigate the major non signal controlled roundabouts pretty smoothly and quickly  

so reading the above I hope im not accidentally syphoning off your driving abilities as time goes on! (although ill happily take being able to drive a coach just by using the force in the middle of Scottish rainstorm if thats up for grabs!)

48 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

as much as I love to see a Model 70/TPA on a sign like that and the phrase, im not sure I would use a Model 70/Invacar for something Bland

they where anything but, even back in the day they where always something that was noticed and pointed out, hence some of the not very nice saying/phrases/terms etc there are for them

I mean no one back in the day as kids went and pointed at a Morris Marina or such and went  "Oh look theres a" *insert whatever the rude name for a Morris marina would be here*

but from what I have read Invalid vehicles where generally always noticed because of how distinct they where from being 3 wheelers to the whole "look mum no steering wheel" aspect

so I think something like a Morris Marina or even blander would go better with that phrase

mind its all moot as the event was 2 days ago!

 

I will say I do always find it amusing how people struggle insert Model 70's into artwork, that front wheel you can tell is always a right bastard to crop  

 

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Were you in a BMW 🤔.... 

They all do that sir 😁😁

Wonder if it's a German car thing! 

I did just pull over for five minutes once it was safe to do so just to make sure there wasn't something amiss with my eyesight, coordination or something.  Nope, I was just having a crap few minutes it seems!

3 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Even more sad I wasn't there now... especially given how different TPA looks to when that photo was taken!  Sadly I just didn't feel comfortable with it.  If it had been closer to home so I felt more able to just retreat maybe, but not that far off.  Yes I'm probably being paranoid, but having lost four friends to COVID and one still suffering life changing side effects a year on from "recovering" I'm always going to be on the extremely cautious end of the scale.

Really hoping next year won't have such questions of safety hanging over it.  Though given the queues to get in, glad I didn't go in the Merc given I'm not 100% sure if we've resolved the cutting out in traffic issue yet...though that's always going to be a bugger to reproduce artificially!

On the subject of the Merc, somewhat to my surprise when I removed the clamp the trim actually didn't just spring back to the original shape...so I've set it down again and clamped it again.

What I'll probably do tomorrow is the same again, but exaggerating the curve I want, hopefully meaning once it's released that it will just sit against the headlining.

I'm slightly puzzled as to how they intended rear speakers to be fitted as there are no obvious attachment points on the metalwork...so I think attaching them to this trim is the only real option...not the end of the world as I can route the screws through the holes already there without damaging anything (the perforated area is far bigger than the speaker would be).  Not an ideal setup though.

Sadly it doesn't look like there's any existing audio wiring loom either so I'll need to pull that through the whole length of the car.  Blarg... she's a long old car too!

[mat_the_cat]

On 7/29/2021 at 11:15 PM, Zelandeth said:

It's been a long, busy day... she's a 208 of course...

To be fair, there's basically no difference between them beyond the rated payload weights I believe. 

207 and 208 should be the same weight wise - just 70-something versus 80-something bhp.

[bobdisk]

 

12 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

me having a day where I spent a good half hour apparently having completely forgotten how to drive.  Made myself look an absolute and complete idiot about half a dozen times in as many minutes.  Thankfully it didn't last long nor actually have any lasting effects, but I generally hold myself to a pretty high standard so was well hacked off with myself for hours

11 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Were you in a BMW 🤔.... 

They all do that sir 😁😁

Yes that is what I was in.  I pulled up at a red traffic light light, forgot to take it out of gear, then let the clutch up. Bonk jump!!  Good job I stop with a good distance to the car in front!  What is worse, did the same thing at the same place, same time, next day. Twat 🤕 !

[Zelandeth]

Little DAB antenna splitter gizmo arrived today.  Being me I couldn't let that tiny black box go without investigation.

A lot more in there than I was expecting.  Was just expecting some sort of band pass filter, wasn't expecting active circuitry.  Guessing this is necessary because it's using an antenna that's not designed for the purpose so additional amplification is needed...pure guess.

Pulled the head unit a bit further out this time while fitting it and had the joy that is finding prior audio wiring work that makes you scratch your head.

There's a lot of this going on.

Why they didn't just put that wiring into the white screw connector directly I have no idea...why connect another 2" long wire to it first by twisting the ends together?  This loom reaches about two feet out from the dash too so it's not like they were absolutely desperate for the extra length.

Also found the main 12V feed twisted together when they had an open position on their terminal block.

It's not pretty now, but all the taped and twisted together wires are now dispensed with.  I would have done this last time but didn't spot it as I never pulled the loom far enough out.

Unfortunately my satisfaction was short lived.

Apparently many DAB sets now use a tiny push fit antenna connection...so I need another adaptor to plug my adaptor in.  *Sigh*

So off to wait longer for something else to arrive.  Just put it back together for now.  Not really likely to really use DAB anyway.

Hard to tell in the photo but I've fine tuned the display colour a bit so it matches better.

Edit: Forgot to say, it looks like the mission to de-sag the rear headlining trim is working.

Will probably get it refitted shortly as it will be a while before I get around to wiring in rear speakers as it'll be quite a time consuming job.

[Zelandeth]

Before:

After:

Haven't bothered tucking it in at the edges as it will come out again to do the boot struts (if they ever arrive) and the speakers.  Not sure why folks claim getting the locating pegs back in is a massive pain...took me all of about 15 seconds.

It's not perfect if you look too closely, but is massively improved.  If it sags again I'll probably just stick a bit of metal across the back to add some strength to it.

Had TPA out for a run for the first time in a couple of weeks as it had been too long.

She demonstrated her displeasure at being unused for a while by abjectly refusing to idle...gunk in the carb then.  Though this resolved itself after about half an hour.

*Adds "clean carb again" to the to do list.*

Have an odometer palindrome as I always enjoy catching those.

 

[Zelandeth]

This afternoon the Merc was being used as a proper estate car.

It will come as precisely zero surprise that the mechanism to lower the rear seats is clever and one of the easiest to deal with I've ever used.  The rear seat base can be removed in seconds without any tools as well if you need an extra few inches.

This old desktop for scale is longer than I am tall.

All loaded up for a tip run.

Gave me a good opportunity to confirm the self leveling works - appears to do just fine.

The amount of stuff you could cram in here if you tried is crazy.

Bit later in the day this happened.

Now we're talking.

Then with the wheel trim back on.

Could have done without the 25 minutes of soaking wet walking this caused on the way home though!

Apparently one wheel trim didn't get refitted properly.  Thankfully I found it and it hadn't decapitated anyone.  A set of safety cable ties will be implemented tomorrow.

[Zelandeth]

Out and about today to collect a replacement for my broken pressure washer, thanks to Beko for passing it my way.  Hopefully should last me until I finally make a proper decision on upgrading to something more substantial. 

On the run over there a few things were confirmed.  

1. I really need to fit a tethered box or something in the boot or things slide around all over the place and make a racket. 

2. The new tyres have definitely reduced road noise and vibration. 

3. Ride seems exactly as before. 

4. Wish I could say they have transformed the handling...but they really haven't.  She still corners like a drunken elephant on a space hopper.  Just isn't a car for pushing on in, she's a lazy cruiser.  If I can reduce the freeplay in the steering a bit that would help I think, though she's never going to be a B-Road weapon.

5. I need to replace the felt seal around the sunroof.  First time I've been out on a windy day with it closed and it makes a bloody racket.

The adaptor I'd been waiting for to allow me to hook up the DAB antenna to the head unit turned up this morning.  This thing.

Like so.

Easy.  Right?

Well it should be!  If the stupid adaptor worked anyway!

The antenna works, the analogue/DAB splitter works, and this can be demonstrated by stuffing the connector straight into the back of the head unit.

Note the "DGTL" icon at the bottom of the display showing we're working from DAB rather than analogue.

Testing it with a meter shows that there is indeed no continuity through the centre pin.  It was a set of five assorted adaptors...of course the other four are fine.  Just the one I actually need that is stuffed.

*Sigh*

Getting really sick of getting DOA parts these days.  This wasn't even a particularly cheap one - was picked because the seller offered next day shipping rather than because it's cheap.  So I'll need to wait for another one to turn up.

Looking forward to having this buttoned up for the last time.*

* Until I install rear speakers.

I know a lot of people say terminal strip has no place in a car, and for anything under the bonnet or mission critical I absolutely agree.  For stuff like this though so long as the strip is good quality, the wires are prepared properly, everything is tightened down and nothing is strained it's absolutely fine.  In 26 years of messing with in car audio I've had I think two speaker connections come adrift where these were used - and in both of those cases it was my own fault for making the wires too short.

I'll tidy things up a bit before declaring it to be finished.

The replica sticker pack also arrived this morning.  This is the main one I wanted it for as it's got a lot of useful data on.

I didn't quite realise how many others were included...

I'm going to need to figure out where they all go... though obviously some aren't going to be relevant, being for other markets, diesel versions etc.

I'll try to get some better photos tomorrow, but I'm really blown away by the quality of these, if they had a Mercedes logo on the backing sheet rather than an Avery one I'd have believed they'd just been posted by the dealer.  So long as they last they're well worth the asking price I feel.

I got them from this seller on eBay.

It's a small detail, but things like that really can improve the feel of a car I think.

The main thing I need to get done before the engine bay ones can go in is of course cleaning it... especially as currently I've no hope in hell of being able to tell if we're still leaking oil because it clearly has been for many years.  The main thing holding that up was the lack of a pressure washer, which we've now resolved.  I'm really looking forward to getting this car properly cleaned, reckon it will make quite the difference.  Mean I can give her a bit of a shine up then too.

[MorrisItalSLX]

3 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

If I can reduce the freeplay in the steering a bit that would help I think,

I vaguely remember from the first series of Wheeler Dealers when they did the 230E that the steering box does have an adjustment which reduces the free play in the steering, so possibly something that can be easily fixed.

(I also remember Edd adjusting it fully up and it was still quite poor so he replaced the steering box.)

[beko1987]

Re the DAB adapters, snap! 

The bits I need to fix the dab in my head unit arrived in the week. I managed to rip apart the socket at the back of my unit though a few months ago, which is the little wire. Couldn't find the one with the same connection as my antenna though so bought the same adapter you seem to have... 

Might have a go today and see if I have any more luck... It's a frivolous fix really as I don't really use the dab and haven't fully kissed it since it's been broken but equally if it does work its a £6 fix (could only buy the leads in a pack of 5 so I've got spares at least if it does work!) 

[Zelandeth]

Zip to show for today as 75% of the day was spent gardening, then a trip to Costco - showing once again how silly big the boot on this car is.  Just under £300 worth in here.  I know in the Jag this would have filled the boot and most of the rear seat, and the boot on the Jag isn't exactly small.

The eagle eyed may see that the trim by the tailgate has sagged again, as I honestly expected it might.  I've got a plan to deal with that on a more permanent basis, just wanted to try the simple one first off.

Really hoping that tomorrow I'll be able to get some decent time set aside to do some work on the cars. 

A good cleaning session for the Merc is first on the agenda, then I should be able to get most of the new stickers in place (still need to have a dig around to see if I can find a cheat sheet showing where most of them should go).

 

[Zelandeth]

This bit of trim was really bothering me.  Not just because it looks a mess but because it stuck out about an inch from the car and was just asking to stab a passer by.

Eventually I managed to "repair"  this channel (read: Squished with pliers) to the point I could reattach it to the trim clip so it sits flat again.

The "cap" which would have closed that off would originally have been part of the rubber part of the strip so is long gone.  My solution to that is probably going to be a bit of chemical metal...discovered the tube I had in my toolbox had turned solid so I couldn't do that today.

As I mentioned in my last post the headlining trim had done this again.

Next shot at providing this with some form of structural rigidity was going to be resin based along with a little batten.

I scored the surface to help it sink actually into the board.

Then mixed up a batch of quick setting resin and "liberally" painted it and left it for a few hours in the garage to set up.

Immediate impression is that it's far stronger... let's hope it stays that way!

Was interested to find a major junction box for the wiring to the rear of the car above that panel.  I'm more used to seeing things like this on older commercial vehicles than on cars.

Nice to see all the wires are numbered.

I decided this was a good point to investigate what happened to my old pressure washer before setting up the new one.  It looks like the main failure of my old one might actually have been in the gearbox...the fact that there's oil peeing out of it suggests something isn't happy.

Couldn't actually see any cracks though...I might pull the cover off the base in the week if I get more time.  I didn't have a set of hex keys to hand while I was doing this today though.

Having transferred the hose from my pressure washer over to the "new" one it became immediately apparent that there has been something wrong with my old one since day one, this has a significant amount more punch.

Next up... starting the cleaning.

Before:

After the first pass:

Definitely has improved things a bit, hoping I'll be able to actually see if I've sorted the oil leaks now.

I definitely need to get some rust treatment and paint in the general vicinity of the brake master cylinder and servo as there has obviously been a fluid leak here at some point and it's dissolved the paint.

I really need to paint that bloody air cleaner housing as it's bugging the hell out of me...Once that's tidied up the engine bay should pass for presentable.  

Then went out for a half hour drive to dry everything off.

Oh, and got the first of the new stickers fitted.

I need to try to pull that dent out of the bumper then see if I can get the rubbing strip to pop back onto its channel.  The amount of gunk I blasted out of there was unreal...

Hoping to get the bodywork cleaned up and get the polish and wax out soon...oh, and the metal polish on the brightwork.

 

[Zelandeth]

The most obvious thing in the engine bay which was making my teeth itch (aside from the horrendous racket from the knackered camshaft anyway) was the state of the air cleaner.  It was a rusty, scabby mess which immediately drew your eye the moment you opened the bonnet.

So that got pulled off today for a really quick and dirty respray.  The high voltage warning sticker had seen better days too.

As had the foam in the intake silencer, so I pulled as much of that out as I could just to save it getting sucked into the filter.  After a really quick rub down with a sanding block it was given a couple of quick coats of satin black.  I think it was a really dark grey originally, and I will probably try to get it closer to the right colour further down the road - for now "tidy" is the main thing I'm after.

The results speak for themselves I think...it won't stick out quite so much once it's got a bit of general dust and such on it.

It no longer immediately draws your attention when you open the bonnet at least, which was the main object of this whole exercise.  All 30 minutes of it.  Happy with the result.

 

The replacement for the dodgy DAB+ antenna adaptor for the stereo arrived this morning (I did look to see if I could get one locally, but the only place I could find one was Halfords - and they wanted £35 for a whole antenna kit, so eBay it was in the end), so I finally have a fully functioning stereo now with both analogue and digital modes working.

Even though I know I'll probably never really use it, knowing it didn't work was going to bug me!

 

While I was out a bit later in the day I grabbed another couple of photos just because I could.  These will be good for a before/after comparison after I've done some polishing and a few bits of paint touchup work.

 

A pretty major milestone was achieved for me today in that for the first time ever I have actually 3D printed a replacement part for one of my cars.

This (while it obviously still needs some finishing off and painting an appropriate colour) will be a replacement for the broken bonnet catch pull.

Yes I know proper replacements are about a fiver...but that's not the point.  I needed to replace it and I randomly stumbled across the model for this, and it's a pretty flat part so took less than an hour to print...so this was a far more interesting solution than just buying a new one.  Will clean that up, paint it and hopefully get it fitted tomorrow.

Really need to try to get a replacement for the broken bit of exhaust ordered in because that blow is really quite annoying - not a huge amount of places seem to have them in stock though (especially not at silly prices), and most of those seem to be the same brand as the systems I fitted to the van and Xantia.  I'd really rather not buy another one of those as the fit on both of those was diabolically poor and involves massive amounts of swearing to fit.  Oh, and the silencer on the van arrived devoid of any baffles.  So it's quite likely that I'll just wind up getting a replacement section made up in stainless, especially as it's a pretty short bit that's affected and the rest of the system is pretty healthy.

[Zelandeth]

Wasn't 100% convinced I'd done a proper job of setting the valve clearances on the first pass (not least because I got interrupted halfway through the job) so went back today and did it again.  Definitely was well off the mark in a couple of cases.  No 4 intake in particular was way loose.

Has it made any difference to the noise?  Maybe a little bit, but she still rattles, and will continue to do so until I replace the camshaft I suspect.  Definitely hasn't made a night and day difference, but I feel better knowing the job has been done right for definite now.

The most annoying noise just now though is coming from this bloody thing.

One of the main jobs for today is definitely to see if I can track down a replacement for this section of pipe.

[Zelandeth]

Sorry for the multiple posts today, should have just held off doing an update till the evening like usual.

Last job for today (save for a leak check as I'd had the rocker cover off again) was to clean up and test fit the new bonnet release.

Rather less conspicuous than a cable tie sticking out of the grill.

Pops out when the bonnet is released from inside the car, and is far easier to get hold of than the aforementioned cable tie.

Now I know it fits properly and seems tough enough I'll paint it black so it is a bit less conspicuous.

Mission success.

Another success is the valve clearance adjustment.  While it hasn't made a huge difference to the noise it's definitely helped the performance, so she definitely wasn't breathing as well as she could before.

Does anyone know these engines well enough to know if I can simply swap the camshaft and rocker assemblies straight over from my spare head?  It *looks* a simple enough job...

[beko1987]

3d printed parts like this will be the saviour of alot of old and middle aged cars I imagine! 

Just open it with oily hands a few times, won't need to paint it black then... 

[Zelandeth]

Very glad I had these fitted last week now.

Despite the forecast being dry today I got caught up in some of the heaviest rain I've driven through in a good couple of years.  As I've come to expect from Uniroyal tyres, they shrugged it off as if were nothing.  I've used these tyres as my default now since at *least* 2006, and continue to be very impressed.

I definitely need to out super blades onto my list as I'm pretty convinced the driver's side at least isn't the right size.  There isn't so much a triangle of doom where they meet as a crescent you could hold classic car shows in.

Sounds like 19"/20" passenger/driver is the correct size.

Something I really want to do is to set up a manual override for the cooling fan as it doesn't cut in until later than I'd like.  Given it's an electromagnetic clutch setup rather than a full electric fan this will definitely require an ignition switched supply and an indicator light.  The light I will probably hide away in the dash - there are two unused green lights in the warning light strip under the instrument panel, so one of those will probably be used as an indicator.  You can just about make out the green mask as a dark area in the photo below.

The original thermostatic control will be left alone, but I just don't like how warm it gets before the fan cuts in, so I'd like to have a manual override available to me.

Precisely where I'll hide the switch I'm not sure yet...on the Saab the "Extra" button was ideal, but I don't have one of those here.

Well over 1000 miles done in my ownership now...

 

[dave j]

It's great to see all the small Improvements being made to this old Merc! 

[Zelandeth]

Have figured out the cooling fan circuit now and have confirmed that the clutch itself works absolutely fine.  I'll need to do a bit of observation to confirm if the thermoswitch is behaving.  There is a value stamped on the side of it, 100C.   Should be easy enough to wire up an override at least, I just need to provide a path to ground for one wire.  

The very manky fan belt was also replaced.

The old one was pretty well wrecked from oil contamination.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be missing a bolt on the power steering pump though.

I haven't changed that belt yet because the new one is the wrong size.  I'm not 100% certain there should be a bolt there...the pump is absolutely solidly mounted so it may just be a case of it having a few mounting options for different applications.

Really need to get back in to the front of the engine with the degreaser as I've obviously missed a fair amount there.

[Zelandeth]

Nothing actually car related done today - though the garage got some attention.

The catalyst for this was knocking this pile of things over for the 39,349,291st time - as it happened basically every time I walked into the garage.

A wider angle "before" photo from a few months ago.

Cue making a godawful mess.

Then this is where we ended up when I ran out of time.

Much better.  This is the corner right by the door.

Shelving makes such a big difference.  There is still more to go up, but I ran out of time today.

Digging around I've ascertained that I *really* don't need to buy any more oil for a while.

The pile of junk at the back of the garage is going to need to wait for a bit as I need somewhere else to stack the cushions from the garden furniture before I can really start deconstructing that mess.

My plan is basically for two or three ranks of free standing shelves to go in widthways across the back of the garage...eventually. 

Not sure if the result really reflects how many hours of work this took...but I'm glad I've made a start on it as this is something I've been trying to find the activation energy to make a start on for years.

At least I can walk past the car now!

The compressed air tank there is going to be wall mounted up above the garage door frame to keep it out of the way.  Having started this will give me a bit of a kick into getting that piped in... especially as I'm sick of not having air on tap any more.

It's a bit of a squeeze but the other side is also accessible.

Which is about the same as before...but the shelving now means squeezing through there no longer involves knocking over a couple of dozen bottles, cans and tools.

Edit: Just remembering something from last time there was a photo of my garage on another forum.  There was a suggestion that I'd nicked the bus stop flag and public transport information sign.  No on either.  The bus stop flag was a sample we had made to see how the new design (which I'd been heavily involved in the creation of) and was never actually installed.  I was quite proud of how clean the graphical design looked and had put a lot of work into it, so kept the sample.  The sign was originally in the reception of our old office building before the timetable rack in there was removed, it then spent several years above my desk until we moved buildings...we couldn't take it to the new office and it would have been skipped when the building was demolished, so I rescued it (with permission).

[Zelandeth]

Not much time today, but mission: "Clear as much crap off the floor as possible" has continued.

Compressed air receiver is now off the floor.

That shelf is screwed straight into the wall stud so should be plenty strong enough.  Tank isn't actually that heavy anyway (note the compressor that was once attached to it is dead and has been removed, it'll be attached to a remote one shortly which will be on another shelf).

I'd originally planned for this to be nearer the door up above the door framework, however it turns out there's not quite enough height available. 

The compressor will be going basically directly behind it from where the photo was taken and I'll run a line down to next to the door where I'll mount a regulator and water trap.  I'll be drilling a hole in that shelf to access the tank drain plug too once I'm done.  Need to figure out some vibration isolation though or everyone in the house will be able to tell when it's running I suspect!  Despite the compressor I'm using being ancient and belt drive so quite quiet.

Got an estimate from a local stainless exhaust specialist regarding sorting the exhaust on the Merc.  They weren't interested in replacing part of it, but a full system from the manifold back could be done for £700.  I was braced for a lot more than that to be honest...so unless I find a proper good quality (rather than the poorly fitting, rattly thing that's already on there which is was about 90% of them appear to be) replacement that's the road we'll probably be going down.  Long term it's the sort of thing which is a good point in the car's favour if/when I come to sell it somewhere down the road.

[LightBulbFun]

Looking very nice  

but I cant help but notice that theres a lot of stuff in front of the Atlas 3x40W T12 troffers and that I wonder how much light is being blocked because of all the stuff

so I was wondering perhaps its a good excuse to install some under shelf lighting  if you have any spare Gear sets, you could even use some Terry clips (or other means of fixing the tubes to the shelf underside) and floating lamp holders and keep using the Northlight Colour 55, Colour matching T12's not only to match with the troffers but for that old school installation look

from how they did compact lighting installs from before the Arrowslim was a thing  

(PS I love how "I can walk past the car now!" and the car that lives in the garage is an AC Model 70, only you/this forum )

[Zelandeth]

The diesel smoke tester will be moving once we're a bit further on which will get it out of the way of that light.  The one furthest back hasn't been unearthed yet as I've not got that far.  The trigger spray bottles currently hooked over the top of the lights will be moved to a proper location as well.

None of the lights on the right hand side have actually been wired up yet anyway.  Their location might get fine tuned a bit too - they largely got stuck on the walls there because it got them out of the way!

Edit: The compressor is staying on the ground or very near to it.  I'd forgotten how obscenely heavy it (or quite likely the attached motor) is.  No way I'm hanging that from a wall...or attempting to lift it anywhere higher than maybe waist height.

[Zelandeth]

Been feeling distinctly under the weather today but still managed to get some useful work done.

Same corner as we were working in before looks a bit different.

Yes I've got that top shelf on out of line.  It's actually quite hard to tell when you're fitting them as the shelving is old and quite a few of the shelves aren't actually flat.  There are several more shelves to go in that rack.  The bottom one was the important one though as the height was going to be determined by the compressor sitting underneath it.

The sharp eyed among you may note that there's a pipe running up the wall next to the shelving too.  The compressor is now piped up to the tank.  Oh, and I added another couple of brackets for the sake of safety.

The tiny little compressor I'm using wasn't ever really meant for use like this I believe so I was curious to see how long it would take to fill the tank.  Answer was about five minutes from stone flat to the pressure switch cutting out.

About a minute seems to be needed to top it off during normal use.  That yellow hose will be getting routed along near the ceiling to next to the door.  I'll probably mount a regulator and water trap on a quick connect fitting there.  The regulator actually on the tank is awful and I'm basically just leaving it there because I'm too lazy to remove it!  I really do want a hose reel (so I can reach all the cars without having to coil/unwrap 25 metres of hose every time), but we'll see how long it takes me to justify the cost.  Or I could try to build one...I do have a couple of dead wheels floating around.

I'm quite surprised at the apparent performance... honestly doesn't seem any slower than the original one, which may point more at the efficacy of the original unit more than anything!  This is a far smaller compressor and a ~1.5kW motor (old one was 2.8kW I think - enough it made the plug noticeably warm) so should be slower you'd think.

This is the compressor, some may remember me rescuing this little beastie from a skip a couple of years ago.

Since then it's been cleaned up, had an oil change, had more substantial air fittings installed, a new belt fitted and been re-wired.  Not something you'd want to try to paint with, but for checking tyres and blowing out the odd carb jet or swarf out of blind tapped holes it'll do absolutely fine.

The power supply to the compressor is wired through the original pressure switch so it cycles just the same as the original one from that tank. 

Once I've finished messing with the shelving I'll probably put some mesh around the bottom to make sure nothing can get tangled up in the belt.  Given there's no integrated cooling fan on the compressor I will probably arrange a electrically operated one to help keep it from overheating issues.  It didn't seem to be doing bad though after filling the tank from empty twice in a row though.  Once I have a fan in there I might enclose one side to help cut down on noise a little bit.  Though it's really not bad...plus volume level aside having something chugging away like this is far less grating than the old direct drive one was, which sounded like a cross between a jackhammer and a chainsaw and really did require ear protection if you were in the garage with it running for more than a few minutes.

I *do* need to find some rubber feet for it though...I can feel it going *dug dug dug dug* through my feet despite the floor being concrete - so I'm sure everyone else in the house can as well.  I think some broken Invacar engine mounts I still have in a box for some reason will be perfect for that job.

Will be really nice to have air on tap again.  Especially with both of the nearest garages are charging £2 a shot for the air machines now.  My little 12V compressor struggles with the tyres on the van a bit given they run at 58/65psi!  I do need to get a better tyre inflator though...still just have the cheapy dial one which seems to come free with all compressor kits.

I'll get a few better photos when I've actually finished and tidied things up a little.  It still looks really shonky just now.

 

[Zelandeth]

I needed to get TPA out of the garage today to fit the ladder in to finish routing the air line from one end of the garage to the other so used it as a good excuse to take her out when I needed to run a couple of errands.

Which also meant this happened.

That's us ticked over the 2,000 mile mark.  Second one rolled around a lot quicker than the first.

Having air on tap in the garage meant it was time to replace the horrible cheap tyre inflator/pressure gauge with something a bit more fit for purpose.

The 220psi scale on the old one meant that you really couldn't aim for anything better than "roughly to about +/- 5psi" on a good day - not great when I'm aiming for 17psi for the front tyre on the Invacar.  New one actually has a proper scale...and has shown how awful the old one was!  It was overreading by about 5psi.  In a hobbyist garage setting that should last basically forever.

Speaking of the air supply, I've got the line routed to where I think I'll have the outlet situated - obviously the hose needs trimming or replacing with a shorter one.

The compressor now has "feet" made from a few old engine mounts.  This has reduced the noose level in the garage when it's running by a good 50% I reckon. 

Last couple of jobs there will be running a power feed to it, adding a few more pipe clips. There will be a quick connect getting fitted about where the hose currently turns towards the door.