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

[Amishtat]

No problem, I'll measure one up in the morning

[PhilA]

Or the tin "dually" style covers as are popular here.

 

Or something like 80's Crown Vic trims:

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

Or the tin "dually" style covers as are popular here.

Or something like 80's Crown Vic trims:

Phil

That style of cover is quite common on buses and trucks here - though finding a set in 14" flavour might be a challenge. Apparently the W123 style covers were actually an option for the T1 originally, so that's likely to be the long term plan. Though I'll likely be obtaining them one at a time as full sets usually seem to command a price that would require us to take out a second mortgage!

 

 

The Lada was the main subject of attention today.

 

First up: brake fluid loss. I've got nothing. There is no visible leak anywhere, and it passed the "apply every bit of pressure I can muster with both feet while braced against the seat back" test just fine. Having topped it up I took it out and gave the brakes a good amount of exercise...worked just fine and hasn't visibly used any. I'm going to keep an eye on it, as the possibility of it finding its way into the servo hasn't been discounted, though it's not actually getting pulled into the engine yet at least.

 

In other news, I've finally sorted the lumpy and high idle issue which has persisted for quite a while. One very slightly loose nut on the inlet manifold was to blame. Nipped up about 1/16 of a turn and the idle immediately dropped to a sensible speed and smoothed out. Given how dependant the system is on the MAP sensor it only takes a tiny leak to throw this system off. I've gone around and nipped up all fasteners around both manifolds that were disturbed when I swapped the injection kit over.

 

Feels like it's running so, so much better now. Transition from on to off throttle and vice-versa is far smoother mainly...and it's got rid of the very occasional idle speed control error codes that were popping up.

 

Just need to get the vehicle speed sensor to play nice and we should have got rid of sporadically triggered check engine light issues...

 

Also got a couple of new for sale signs made up as my original one looked like it had taken me less than the 30 seconds that it did.

 

 

Five minutes and laminated, looks a bit more professional at least.

 

 

Took the van out for a proper test drive and can report that it is *definitely* happier with the higher tyre pressures. Throttle requirement to maintain it's favourite cruising speed (62-65mph) is noticeably less now, and she went straight up a hill I normally drop to fourth for without any real effort in top. Generally the overall feel of the van is tighter as well, and I thought the road manners were pretty good to start with!

 

Don't suppose anyone has a smallish sub and appropriate amp floating around do they? I'd like to get that last bit of the audio puzzle fitted...but am also acutely aware of how much I've spent this month. I'd rather hand someone here some beer tokens than dealing with Gumtree/eBay or giving Halfords yet more money for new stuff.

 

I do *have* a sub and all that would do...but it's an integral part of my in house hifi so don't want to mess with that as it's set up exactly how I want it...

[Zelandeth]

Having tripped over the fresh water tank from the van for about the five hundreth time this afternoon I decided it was time to get it refitted.

 

It's now back on the van and both wired and plumbed in. Fixings at this point are only temporary as I'm going to want to pull it off again to paint above it, and the bolts will be majorly awkward to get to. So for now it's bungee corded and ratchet strapped to the rear cross member.

 

 

Realistically, it won't be getting driven with water in the tank, and it's not going anywhere.

 

It currently has system cleaner/treatment in which is going to be left to do its thing overnight.

 

I've also adjusted the pressure switch on the water pump. It previously was set too high, meaning it was a bit of a 50/50 gamble as to whether it would switch itself off properly (there's no lack of pressure!) and a half turn on the adjustment has sorted it.

 

There's a slight weep from the water fill connection on the tank itself, which looks to be from the actual barb on the tank rather than the hose - I'll look at that in more detail when the tank is next out. Likewise there's a pinhole in one drain pipe between the kitchen sink and the grey water tank that will need repairing. Will try self amalgamating tape first as it's 28 year old convoluted tubing and I have a horrible feeling that it will shatter if I try to cut it and I'll wind up having to replace the whole run.

 

Speaking of pipes, I've noticed that the front exhaust section is totally free to rotate and slide in/out of the joint to the rear section...Methinks I should sort that as it can't be helping with the horrendous rattling from the exhaust.

[Zelandeth]

While it doesn't look like much, this represents pretty much the whole afternoon's worth of work.

 

 

The ceiling and the coving between the roof and back wall took the biggest chunk of the time.

 

Likewise I spent a bit of time tidying up and securing the pipework that runs along the side of the shower tray before boxing in the one side of that (reusing the original bit of wood for that). While in the area I shuffled the water supply pipe to the toilet around as well - I discovered that the hose clip was precisely in the wrong place and managed to get in the way when removing the cassette. Rotating it by 90 degrees sorted the problem.

 

Have pondered what to do about the state of the wall as a fair chunk of the ply surface has been pulled off. As the remainder isn't interested in being removed, I've decided it can stay put and just be boarded over. I'm not going to lose sleep over a couple of sheets of plywood.

 

It's a pain of a room to work in because it's so small!

 

Just a few more bits of panelling to put back in place, then just needs decorating.

[Zelandeth]

We've been having the week from Hell here, so cars haven't been touched save for occasionally being driven.

 

Really do need to get a thermostat for the van though...heater gets hot, but this is as far as the gauge moves unless you're on a long uphill gradient.

 

 

About halfway between there and 1/4 on the gauge is the highest I've seen it so far. Meant to ask last time I was past the dealer but totally forgot.

 

I've no reason to believe it's been removed to mask any issue, the system doesn't pressurise or lose water, the coolant is in good condition. Just jammed open I suspect...or it failed and someone didn't want to pay £30 odd for a new one so removed it.

[Zelandeth]

New thermostat picked up for the van today. Was going to grab from the dealer but was driving past Motorserv and they had a Gates one on the shelf, so decided to save myself a trip.

 

Also got the Invacar up and running for a while as it's been a while, and I wanted something to do that I didn't need brains for, like letting it charge the battery for a bit.

 

Had the exhaust gas analyser to hand, so stuck it on there for a laugh...given the engine hasn't had a good run in decades, this didn't really surprised me.

 

 

I'll be interested to see how this looks once it's actually had a run under load.

 

The dodgy exhaust on the van managed to confuse me today. Pulling up to a roundabout, the exhaust note dropped a couple of octaves and an obvious "detached bit of exhaust" rattle appeared when turning right.

 

...two roundabouts later said rattle disappeared and the exhaust muted itself again.

 

The only theory I currently have is that the culprit is the slip joint between the "front" expansion box and the main silencer. This is somewhat loose, and the clamp is seized...I have to assume that this actually managed to slide most of the way apart at one point but against all odds settled back into place. If that's the case, the noise level tends to suggest that I can indeed get away with a far, far less substantial silencer than the fuel tanker sized can that's on there at the moment.

 

Really do need to find a specialist and look at getting a new system made up for it.

[Zelandeth]

Was out running a couple of errands and stumbled across a nice odometer palindrome. Always pleases my sense of order and symmetry when things like this happen.

 

 

The van definitely has a fuel leak from the return line - this did stop when I fiddled with it last time. I'll get the connector cut out and just get a flexible hose in there. Can't be leaving a trail of diesel behind me, no matter how small a leak it may be.

 

Let's see if I can do that without getting a face full of diesel, as that's always fun.

[SierraMikeHotel]

That's a beautifully shaped speedometer needle. I like noticing these little touches of design flair.

[PhilA]

Do the arrows on the speedometer work? They seem a little superfluous being as you have the indicator light in the dash.

 

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

Do the arrows on the speedometer work? They seem a little superfluous being as you have the indicator light in the dash.

Phil

That little pair of arrows is the dash light for the indicators. Pure 60s Fiat I believe!

 

 

Not touched the car's today, got too preoccupied with an electronic project.

 

I have a downright tenacious streak when it comes to finding faults...and will generally refuse to give in. One item which fell into this category was a Microvetec made multisync monitor picked up for my Amiga, about 15 years ago. It was reported as "faulty, stuffed tube."

 

The symptom was a complete lack of red. However it was quickly proven that the CRT was innocent as shorting the control grid for the red gun to ground produced a perfect red raster. So the problem had to be with the drive circuitry.

 

Now I've since got an Acorn branded version of essentially the same monitor. Just a far lower end version, so lacking the more complex degauss circuit, audio amplifier, speakers etc, and with a more bargain basement CRT. Oh, and a different lead to match the normal PC like VGA socket the A5/7000 Acorn machines use rather than the Amiga's video connector.

 

Being an ex educational institution bit of kit, it's got many, many, many hours on the clock and has a pretty well shot CRT. It works, but it's fuzzy, dim and has irrevocable colour purity issues. Oh, and it hasn't just turned yellow, it's turned BROWN, However being essentially the same monitor, it gave me the opportunity to make one good one out of the two.

 

All the fancy signal processing is done on a large PCB hanging off the CRT base, connected to the chassis by a 12 way ribbon cable. Annoyingly they're not socketed so had to do a bit of cut and shut work.

 

However after a bit of faffing around and having transplanted the guts into the Amiga one (which has next to no hours on it thanks to the red issue being I reckon a stock fault), and we have this picture.

 

(Workbench colour palette preferences window).

 

(File browser and system preferences window)

 

(Close up of above).

 

Geometry needs some fine tuning, but for the first time I can actually see what I'm doing... having a bright, sharp display makes so much difference...

 

Need to do a lot of tidying up tomorrow as we've got folks arriving at the weekend, but hopefully will get some car stuff done once the house is sorted out.

[Zelandeth]

Wound up with a couple of hours of dead time this afternoon and found there was a classic car show going on virtually on my doorstep at the Milton Keynes Museum...so decided to pop round to see what was going on.

 

Initially was planning on taking the Lada (given the whole for sale sign in the window situation), however having stuffed my left leg up a few days ago have been really struggling to press the clutch the last couple of days...so took the van instead.  Glad I did as it meant I was able to get this photo.

 

 

And this one.

 

 

Slightly envious of the condition of the green one, though it was apparently restored at some significant expense a few years ago.

 

Also saw these there...

 

 

Seriously miss my one, though there's nearly zero chance I would have been able to do the work it needed at the time (at the very least entire replacement of the floorpans and inner sills).

 

Obligatory shot of the coach that was in attendance.

 

 

Just a shame I wasn't in a position to take the Invacar too...

[mk2_craig]

People A-frame Smart cars and the like behind motorhomes these days. Rig something similar up to haul Invacar behind Merc?

[Zelandeth]

Problem is twofold.

 

You can't tow the Invacar with the rear wheels on the ground because of the CVT, so you'd need a full trailer.

 

Weight. Van is plated at 2.8T laden...max you can tow on a car licence is 3.5T...Invacar is 400-and-something (420?). Doesn't leave much space for a trailer, does it?

 

It would also be bloody unnerving to drive like that as it would be completely invisible from the cab!

 

Methinks the best solution is to just take two people and go in convoy.

[Zelandeth]

Sorry...brief addendum with the rest of my photos from the day. Not many or anything stellar, just random snaps, figured you'd maybe be interested. Mainly just because I'm still learning around the camera on my new phone.

 

 

 

How big a percentage of the UK Cappuccino population was there?!? Apparently they're being exported to the USA by the boatload now and prices are going stratospheric. Sad as I'd really, really love another one. Really regret selling mine...

 

 

Seriously badly framed Merc...

 

 

 

 

I'm not a huge Ferrari fan boy, but the Daytona, Testarossa and this are flipping gorgeous. Oh...and the F-40 which is possibly one of the most purposefully beautiful cars ever built. Oh, and I've driven one. Yes, if I could afford one I would buy one. You know what I *wouldn't* do with it? Stick it in a garage, museum or behind a plate glass fronted display stand. I would *drive* it. I'd take it to the shops, I'd take it to shows, I'd let folks sit in it and take selfies of themselves in the driver's seat... I'd take it to track days and use it for what it was intended. I really liked that about a mate of mine up north as that was his approach to exotic cars: they're pointless if you don't share them.

 

 

 

 

Why have I suddenly started to find these things strangely attractive? Is this something that comes with being a van owner? This one doesn't have the blue surround on the instruments that one of the others we've seen recently on here has.

 

 

Lovely, lovely early Micra. Fantastic colour too.

 

 

 

 

 

There we go... that's what I got, straight off the phone, no editing or anything.

[dollywobbler]

Regarding towing an Invacar, it's what they all used to do in the day apparently, belt or not. Mind you, maybe that's why 'the transmissions were hopelessly unreliable...'

[Zelandeth]

Regarding towing an Invacar, it's what they all used to do in the day apparently, belt or not. Mind you, maybe that's why 'the transmissions were hopelessly unreliable...'

Speaking of transmissions, dug this out earlier this evening...

 

 

 

Thought I had one of both pulleys but apparently not unless I'm going blind. Happy to send this one over your way to see if it helps TWC's ailment.

[dollywobbler]

Thanks. If it has movement, I'm certainly interested. Can send pounds.

[Zelandeth]

The sliding part seems to move freely at least.

 

More interested in helping out than pound signs to be honest. Just cover the postage cost and I'll be happy. Will get it packed up and find out what it will cost to get sent over. Shouldn't be too bad I'd think.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

You managed to get a picture of me , in that lot!

As usual I noticed the cars but not the shiters, although I did se DW driving out.

 

That brown SL belongs to a mate's Dad , the white Fiesta with the dodgy plates to my Godson , it's running a 2.0 Zetec on 40's and is apparentlly horrible to drive but faster than his Dad's 3 door Cossie. The White RS2000 also belongs to his Dad and it makes me feel old because I went with him to pick I up as a write off 32 years ago -2 days before my oldest was born.

Anyway , you missed the best* things;

[Zelandeth]

Yeah, I didn't get around as much as I usually would. Have done something to my left leg so have been hobbling around like a 90 year old...had to go collapse in the van after a very brief nose around.

 

That was the main reason I didn't bring the Lada - had it out yesterday and was seriously struggling with the clutch.

[quicksilver]

Good to see you Zel. NorfolkNWeigh, we seem to attend a lot of the same events but we've never managed to meet.

 

That Viva was 'interesting' to say the least, I was expecting a big engine but it's a bog-standard 1-litre. Anyway, neither of you have uploaded the real star of the show so here it is. Cortina bASe with a genuine 10k on the clock!

 

[Zelandeth]

Never even spotted that one!

[SierraMikeHotel]

I saw a bloke with a modern Ferrari at Dunsfold one year letting kids sit in it and blip the throttle to make the engine roar.

 

If it had been behind a little picket fence with the rest of the exotica I'd have thought he was a wanker but as he was willing to share his toy I thought he was probably an ace bloke!

[Six-cylinder]

 Cortina bASe with a genuine 10k on the clock!

 

PME576X.jpg

 

9/10 you lose a mark for not finding a 1.3 base!

[Zelandeth]

So ...far too long ago... you may recall that having transplanted my only slightly dodgy brake master cylinder from my spares Invacar, I'd attempted to bleed the brakes only to have one of the metal brake lines immediately pop. I'd also had to swap over one wheel cylinder following a bleed nipple snapping off.

 

Today I finally decided it was time to stop faffing around and sort the brakes. I knew from prior investigation that the unions on the central distributor T joint were already rounded before I got to them. All attempts to coerce the retaining bolt out failed. I'd hoped to get it off the car and see if I could extract the unions off the car. Not going to be a five minute task at least.

 

So my backup plan was to grab the same T piece off KP...it was equally disinterested in moving. Frustrated at this, I whipped the front out off KP. It's essentially the same thing but with an extra port with the brake light switch screwed into it. Will do to at least find out what bits of the brakes are working and what isn't, I'll introduce the one on the car to the angle grinder some time soon and sort it properly.

 

I decided to save some time at this point as I figured the main front to rear line was equally likely to need changing (it's quite hard to actually see as it's tucked up close to the floor and buried among a bundle containing the fuel line, wiring loom etc. KP has had a NOS pre-formed one fitted...however it's incredibly stiff and even with the floor pan and half the body missing was an utter pig to fit. So I decided to just use copper as it's so much easier to work with and I've a heap of it in stock.

 

It's currently just dangling under the car too...patience for carefully routing stuff was insufficient today, especially when it started raining.

 

I'm just going to clip it along one of the chassis rails I think. Yes it will be slightly less well protected, but in the same breath it will make the line far easier to give a visual inspection. The pipe on KP originally failed in a location that's totally impossible to see unless you have the car on a ramp or jacked up far enough to be fully underneath.

 

I was rather annoyed that the bleed nipple on the offside rear and front wheel are well stuck (I'm not reefing any harder on them for fear of shearing them off) despite them both having been open recently. Have soaked them in Plusgas again and will try again soon.

 

However the one wheel I've properly done hose easily, and I've done the front as far as the Flexi hose banjo bolt.

 

The result of this? I actually have brakes! Not very good...but it's a start and is enough to make getting it back into the garage far less terrifying.

 

I'll hopefully be able to get the remaining pair of wheels properly bled tomorrow and then see which cylinders need changing. Oh, and it's nearly out of fuel again. Seriously considering adapting a 20l Jerry can as a temporary fuel tank (get a new one and braze on stubs for a fuel outlet and vent) as so far nobody has responded to my requests for a quote to make a new one.

[Zelandeth]

Having been out a couple of times when it was drizzling lately I had ascertained that the wiper blades on the van were fit only for the bin.

 

New pair fitted today.

 

 

Sadly nowhere had any 20" blades locally that were of the old school design, so these will have to do.

 

Definitely need to adjust the rest position of the wipers though, it's bugging me.  They're both wrong - driver's one is too high and passenger's one is too low.

 

Next up I replaced the battery in the clock in the back as it stopped about a week ago.  While doing that I spotted that the top of the bracket the fire extinguisher clips into had never been screwed to the wall - that will be where one of the 1837617 rattles was coming from, now sorted.

 

 

Final task for the lunchtime tinkering session was to investigate the horrendous rattle from behind the nearside dash in the cab.

 

Doesn't look like much has been done here...

 

 

However quite a bit has.  The speaker that was originally screwed to the front of the panel above the footwell had got in the way of the bracket which all the relays are fixed to - however rather than relocate it, the thing had just been left dangling by the wires.  This has now been correctly attached to the back of the panel again right by the fusebox.  There should be four screws holding the panel itself in place, two of which are shared with the kick plate under the carpet, and two further nuts screwing onto studs in the floorpans to also secure the kick plate.  A grand total of zero of the fasteners for the kick plate were in evidence, and one screw for the panel was there.  No wonder the whole lot was rattling.  A quick raid on the "random fasteners" box replaced all of the missing ones and has reduced in cab rattles by about 80%.

[Zelandeth]

Quick addendum.

 

Have reset the wiper parking positions as it turned out they weren't rusted onto the spindles.

 

Looks better I think.  Hopefully Mr. Dollywobbler will approve.

 

 

Positions were based on the illustration on the front of the handbook.

 

 

Also replaced the battery in the little clock in the wide angle mirror add on as it  had taken to resetting every time you touched any buttons.

 

Gave it a clean while it was out.

 

[Broadsword]

Really enjoying the attention to detail here.

[dollywobbler]

I was all set to approve, but aero blades? Mods - create me a Dislike button immediately!

 

(that position does look better. I was amending arm position on the Matiz today for much the same reason).