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

[dollywobbler]

Is yours a different engine to Dollywobbler's then, as I seem to remember his has a replaceable element filter?

 

 

Sod that, does the distributor turn?

 

Mine is a really early one. The spare engine has a conventional filter, which I'm hoping is the same as the 2CV, as I have a stash.

[Zelandeth]

Wouldn't sticking an ally floor panel in give all manner of potential for issues with galvanic corrosion?

 

The switch to the disposable filters happened during the production run. DW's one is from 1972, so is the earliest setup. This uses the MANN W712 filter - same as the A+ engined Metros among other things...

 

I've not checked the timing yet - though I will. So long as it's vaguely sane I won't be trying to mess with it.

[dollywobbler]

YES! Thanks for confirming that. 2CV filter should fit. Had no idea it was the same as Metros.

[mat_the_cat]

Wouldn't sticking an ally floor panel in give all manner of potential for issues with galvanic corrosion?

 

Potentially (see what I did there?)

 

The aluminium will (if in contact) corrode preferentially to the steel, but this can be minimised with some kind of barrier between them. Rate of corrosion will depend on how wet it is, and also the relative surface areas - so a large aluminium area such as a floorpan (assuming uniformly wet) with a small area of steel chassis should last reasonably well. An aluminium distributor in an iron block, maybe not quite so well...

[dollywobbler]

An aluminium distributor in an iron block, maybe not quite so well...

 

It's an ally block. But the distributor housing is made out of some really nasty, crumbly stuff.

[Zelandeth]

YES! Thanks for confirming that. 2CV filter should fit. Had no idea it was the same as Metros.

If you go to the MANN filter website and stick W712 in there's an application list there which allows you to do some cross referencing.

 

Latest thing I remember spotting that uses it was a 1998 Frontera 2.4 petrol...

[mat_the_cat]

It's an ally block. But the distributor housing is made out of some really nasty, crumbly stuff.

 

Yeah, I wasn't sure, but worth a guess for the potential irony!

[Zelandeth]

My floorpan is probably going to temporarily become chipboard or MDF. Simply so I can get in/out without it making horrible crunching noises in the interim!

[Zelandeth]

So I managed to get a couple of hours today before it started raining and hailing.

Very first thing I wanted to do was hit the thing with the pressure washer simply so it was less unpleasant to work on.

Here was the starting point...

Out came the rotary attachment which I usually keep well clear of cars because of its tendency to remove paintwork in addition to dirt.

Here's what happened...

The floor interestingly doesn't actually appear to be attached to anything other than a couple of rivets at the sides...Entirely non-structural.

Oh...and the obligatory photo of the AC logo.

It's a long way from being actually clean - but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

At the very least this should make it a LOT less disgusting to work on tomorrow when I have a stab at tracing the wiring out enough to see if I can get the engine to turn over.  At least it looks as though the wiring between the Dynastart and both the solenoid and regulator seems to be intact - so it shouldn't be too difficult to sort that side of things out.  Hopefully!

Good clean has to be a good starting point on a project like this at least.

[dollywobbler]

Excellent. How hard is yours to push? Mine is an absolute sod, which is worrying me slightly. The belt drive goes around with the wheels, but it was so hard to push earlier that I had to disconnect one of the driveshafts in order to push it back into the garage.

[Zelandeth]

It's really quite easy to push.  Had no problem pushing it out or into the garage single handedly.  Well...once I realised I was trying to run over one of the spare wheels anyway.  Our driveway is on a slight slope as well, so I'd expect it to be easier to get it into the garage than out.

 

I can see the one pulley turning through the engine bay when it's moving and hear something rotating, I'm guessing the centrifugal clutch.

 

Even a slighty dragging brake could make the thing an absolute swine to push though I imagine!  Likewise I imagine the clutch adjustment could cause the same if it was dragging a bit.

[dollywobbler]

It's definitely the transmission on mine. Both pulleys rotate when it's pushed. Oh well. I'll see how it behaves when actually asked to drive... (once I actually get the engine back in).

[Zelandeth]

They certainly should given they've got a bloody great belt between them - if it's hard to push though I imagine it would be because the clutch is dragging a bit so you're trying to rotate the engine as well.

 

...Worth bearing in mind though that I've no idea if mine is actually how it's meant to be!  Hopefully I'll find out if I have drive when I get the engine started!

[dollywobbler]

Mine doesn't have the engine fitted currently, hence my concern!

[Zelandeth]

That is interesting...Hard to see what could be dragging then.

[dollywobbler]

That is interesting...Hard to see what could be dragging then.

 

Watching the forces at work today, it can only be drag in the transmission. Whether that's because the belt pulleys have set themselves at some unlikely setting, or something's amiss internally, I've no idea. 

[Zelandeth]

Just had a look over the diagrams, and have to agree.  Have heard a couple of people mention that the governor in the drive system can stick with disuse which could potentially result in it being "stuck in the wrong gear" for want of a better analogy.

 

Couldn't hurt to check and/or change the oil in the diff and gearbox though if you've not already done it.

[dollywobbler]

Gearbox has no drain plug apparently. Maybe it drains via the diff?

[Zelandeth]

Good question!  Don't have the manuals in front of me now so can't check...

 

Got a vacuum draining kit?  Would be slow pulling treacle out of there - but in the same breath there's not a huge amount of oil in there...

 

Or just pop the level plugs and top up if needed.

[Zelandeth]

Updates!

So after reconnecting what felt like about 29840453458 wires (it was actually about a dozen), and applying a battery, we had first light...

This was officially the first sign of life we had out of the car.

This is the mess currently under the instrument panel...

The screw terminal connectors are not permanent - they're purely a "let's see if it works first" test lashup.  Everything will eventually be properly done with crimp terminals and heatshrink - assuming I don't just decide to remake half the loom.  There are a lot of wires just dangling at the moment on the car and these are a handy was of safely terminating them for now.

At this point we proved that the engine would turn over on the Dynastart too, and that we had good oil pressure.

I was at that point however holding the leads onto the battery with a set of vice-grips for the one terminal and by hand for the other.  This was less than ideal, so I paused work while I went to get a set of battery terminals.

I didn't have any idea at that point however whether there was any life in the ignition system...Was there?

You bet there was!

Okay, this wasn't actually the first "start" - that consisted of a very anticlimatic couple of coughs.

The only problem I've run into so far is that the fuel pump isn't pumping.  Guessing it's full of gunk - as the filter gauze in it was totally plugged up with varnish when I took it out.  I'll get it off tomorrow to get a better look.

She was hard to start here because I managed to spill a bunch of fuel down the carb throat when I was filling the float bowl, so she was a bit flooded - and I didn't have a spare hand to crack the throttle to help clear it because I was holding the camera.

Sounds like she wants to live to me!

Things to investigate tomorrow:

[] See if I can coerce the fuel pump to do what the name suggests.

[] Investigate total lack of life from the charging system - most likely candidates I reckon are a duff/dirty voltage reg or dodgy contacts in the dash lamp.  I don't want to run it too long without investigating that as I don't want to damage the Dynastart.

[] If I can get a working fuel supply worked out, see if it will move under its own power.  I managed to un-seize the gear selector today so that's now moving nice and smoothly again.

Engine to me sounds like a really angry version of the soundtrack from a 2CV...

[binhoker668]

Loving watching the progress of these. 

[dollywobbler]

Excellent! Sounds nice and smooth. I think I got lucky with the fuel pump on TWC, as it worked straight away. The spares car's pump was knackered. When I took it off, it was seized up, and the fuel line to the carb started dribbling nasty gunk everywhere when removed. Wonder if soaking the pump in something overnight might free it up a bit?

[Zelandeth]

Will need to get it off and take a look at it I think.  Will depend really on whether it's actually seized up or just needs a clean.

 

The fuel lines were clear at least, and given how it seems to be behaving when the float bowl is filled with fuel, that bit at least seems to be doing vaguely what it's meant to.

 

...Just can't get any of the spanners I have onto the pump to get it off, need to get a skinnier one.

[mat_the_cat]

Loving watching the progress of these. 

Who will be first to get theirs MOT'd?

[Zelandeth]

I'd put good money on DW for that!

 

I've got many, many, many hours work ahead of me sorting the body and floor on mine.  Plus the obviously needed brake rebuild, probably rewiring the whole car more or less - and probably a thousand other jobs I've not even thought of yet.

[dollywobbler]

Will need to get it off and take a look at it I think.  Will depend really on whether it's actually seized up or just needs a clean.

 

The fuel lines were clear at least, and given how it seems to be behaving when the float bowl is filled with fuel, that bit at least seems to be doing vaguely what it's meant to.

 

...Just can't get any of the spanners I have onto the pump to get it off, need to get a skinnier one.

 

Can't say I struggled with a bog-standard 11mm spanner. Not much room to swing it, but compared to getting at the bolts for the gearbox mounts, an absolute doddle.

[Fabergé Greggs]

Great stuff- we love a start up vid we do.

 

Question though- what did you say at the end?

[Zelandeth]

Can't say I struggled with a bog-standard 11mm spanner. Not much room to swing it, but compared to getting at the bolts for the gearbox mounts, an absolute doddle.

Problem I had is that the only 11mm I had to hand has a standard open end on one end and a straight ratcheted one at the other. The jaws and ratchet edges are too fat to get cleanly into it. A normal ring spanner should work just fine. However I don't have a standard 11mm ring spanner it seems.

 

Think on the video I mumbled something about the float bowl being empty yet again.

 

Edit: Using the wiring diagram and my photo I just figured out what's going on with the missing wire to the fuse box. Billy the Bodger has taken the wires that should be either side of the fuse and stuck them on the same terminal... presumably to resolve issues with a blown or missing fuse. I'll put that back where it should be tomorrow.

 

Edit 2: Just had another look at the wiring diagram, and think I may have cracked the non-functional charging system. I reckon the ground point is the one that should normally under one of the fuel tank brackets...which is currently flapping around in the breeze. I'd forgotten about that one. Let's ground that then see if we have any more stuff working.

[dollywobbler]

Do you have a 7/16ths? I seem to have lost my 11mm deep socket, but the 7/16 one has certainly come in handy on this project.

[Zelandeth]

Scratch that theory about grounding - I was following the line for the indicator tell tale.

 

Well, going to sort that anyway as it surely can't hurt.

 

I've hardly any imperial spanners/sockets here yet. Working on that.