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

[PhilA]

11 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

How low can you go?  Could you get it to idle below 100rpm?

No, lowest I'll go before stalling out is about 180-200. It's got a very light flywheel.

Phil

[PhilA]

2 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

id join in on this, but unlike your fancy pancy posh cars

mine doesn't have a rev counter... (ironic given the number plate)

on a more serious note, Id actually be quite interested in seeing someone hook up a Rev counter to a Model 70 and observe how the revs behave from idling to driving through the CVT range etc  

I sent Dollywobbler a tach that's set for 2 cylinder, which will work on the Dolly or on the Invacar, so if the stars align you might see that.

[Daviemck2006]

Yeah, think I need to tweak the idle speed upwards a little.

That might be a job for tomorrow.
Today's task was to see if we could restore sanity to the reversing lights.  A quick search on Google revealed that the switch is on the gear selector assembly inside the car rather than outside... surprisingly sensible!
It lives on the left hand side of the selector towards the front. 

It just screws into the side of the selector mechanism and there's no need to strip that down to remove it.

It was very obviously gummed up, requiring the plunger to be manually pulled back out rather than snapping back out under spring pressure.
Turns out all it needed was a good clean and a dose of fresh lubricant.  Ten minutes later everything was back together and the lights behaving as they should.


Tiny little task in the grand scheme of things but nice to have it ticked off anyway.
Fuelled up again this morning...9.8MPG and £92!

That makes my bmw look like an economy special! 301 miles, £74, 23mpg! That's about the same as my old activa returned, so I'm really happy with that for a 4.4 v8 auto which seems to have quite a bit of torque converter slip

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

[Zelandeth]

Yeah...economy really isn't her forte!

Had a look at the temporary expansion bottle today after a decent run.  About 3/4 full (and I put a bit of coolant in the bottom of it to help prevent air being drawn in as things cool anyway), so doesn't look like I need to worry about it overflowing.

The hoses also feel firm but not absolutely rock solid like they were, so it looks like the pressure is being managed correctly now.  If the weather permits I'll try to get the inner wing metalwork off and strip out the proper expansion tank and its pipework to be cleaned at the weekend.

As fixing the reversing lights was deceptively easy, I'm sure this will be an utter pig of a job to make up for it...

[PhilA]

23 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

As fixing the reversing lights was deceptively easy, I'm sure this will be an utter pig of a job to make up for it...
 

Where there is good, there is evil to balance. Where there is light there is dark. &c.

[Zelandeth]

Well I've got a bloody big clean up job to do tomorrow now courtesy of an idiot in an Audi RS6. 

Pitch dark, pouring rain, black car, zero lights.  Also decided that he's too important to give way to traffic from the right on a roundabout.  Made eye contact with me, then gunned it out in front of me.  I must have missed him by inches.

The result of this is that the entirety of the dinner I'd just picked up for us ended up all over the passenger's footwell and half a litre of milkshake ended up in and under the seat.

Well I guess I am taking all the carpets out to clean them then!  On the plus side aside from the bit on the sill itself they just pull out of the XJ-S.

This lot was all strapped in too...just wasn't quite sufficiently secured to handle full on evasive maneuveres apparently.  Not surprised really, I whacked my head on the window myself.

Mostly hacked off that I lost my shake due to someone else's stupidity though.

[Zelandeth]

Got the main carpets out today for a proper clean.

The thing about mid brown carpets is that they can be filthy without it being obvious.  The water which came off the driver's one was utterly disgusting for about five minutes.  The rest weren't too bad aside from the substantial amount of milkshake to be removed from both of the passenger side ones.

Sadly the carpets on the actual sills appear to be glued in place... firmly.  Think this may be the point I finally get a wet and dry vacuum cleaner so I can deep clean those in place.  Really could do with one for the van anyway and a basic one up to being used a few times a year isn't expensive.

[Zelandeth]

Still need to do something about the one sill (it's been sponged clean as far as I can manage so far) but the rest of the carpets were finally dry today and are now back in.

Really need to get some leather dye on the steering wheel I think.  As the rest of the interior is getting more tidy it's letting things down more!

[PhilA]

Looks better- I recall the Caramac interior in my Impala being similarly grimy. We had a little Bissell thing, handheld. It was sold as a pet stain remover for furniture and worked in most orientations. That got the glued in sections well (transmission tunnel) and was also small enough to store and was also handy for the house.

The other incredibly useful thing I used to have was a little high pressure steam cleaner, made by Polti- called Vaporetto. I think it was the 1020 or 1030, the basic hotel model. What the Bissell wouldn't shift that would. Was also very good at removing wallpaper (intentionally). With a terylene cloth around the cleaning head it made a fantastic steam mop and was good for things like red wine and coffee and strong smells like week old room temperature milk. Dried better than the wet vac because of the temperatures involved too. Fantastic on tile and grout also.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

I do have a steam cleaner, may have to dig it out and try it on the sill/transmission tunnel.

One of those tools which gets rarely used as every other time I use it I seem to wind up having to dismantle it to fix it...

[Zelandeth]

Is the windscreen still leaking?

Yep!

[Zelandeth]

Well today I got to have a shot of something just a little bit special.

I love how while it is so pure Italian luxury sports car inside that the outside is so understated...

Though the little details like the door handles are nice and do bely how special it really is.  As does the noise she makes.

It's been a hell of a long time since I was last in a Biturbo...and I had forgotten how bloody gorgeous cars they are.  Very Italian in that feeling like a living, breathing being more than a machine and in the delightful blend of supremely classy and comically shonky.  The wing mirrors which immediately point skywards when you hit a bump and the comprehensive selection of warning lights provided...which are totally pointless in reality as they are entirely hidden by the steering wheel when you're driving.

One is very definitely back on my list...near the top in fact.  A few years ago I sort of glossed over high performance luxury cars, but as I'm getting older the "high velocity squidgy leather sofa" category is appealing more and more.

Then we switched over to this, which to me is no less interesting in its own way.

Aside from a slightly high clutch pedal and a bit of a wheel imbalance she drives like a new one - and gets a shift on as well being a 1.4 if you prod the loud pedal.

Now working on hoovering the van out as the dogs have been out in it a bunch lately.

The question of "is it worth me getting a carpet cleaner/wet vac" is neatly answered here I think.

Yep...the cab carpet is filthy.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Zelandeth
sodding autocorrect...

[richardmorris]

I’d look forward to being allowed / honoured to drive that one day. I very nearly bought a Ghibli a few years ago but couldn’t quite convince myself that it was a sensible daily driver. This was after two Citroen CXs! But at £6500 with a new engine rebuild it was a bargain. Bill McGrath bought it.

[Zelandeth]

Aye, it was an honour to be given the opportunity to drive such a car.  When (if) I decide it's time on to move on from the Jag it's definitely something I'd need to very carefully consider as a contender for that fleet slot.

Never thought I'd find a car which made the XJ-S seats feel positively under padded...the seats in the Maserati are in fact even more comfortable than they look.

This evening I finished up attacking the van with the vacuum cleaner.  Looks at least slightly more presentable now.

I'll actually be using it as intended for a couple of nights shortly so wanted to slightly reduce the amount of fluff in there!

[Zelandeth]

Something I've been scratching my head about a little in the van has been audio.  The speakers in the cab are just about passable now (not great, but the speaker enclosures are only 10cm so options are a bit limited), but the ones in the back are rubbish. 

Again they're only 10cm drivers...but the issue here isn't the diameter it's the depth.  The roof panel is only about an inch and a bit behind there so any serious upgrade is likely to involve a bigger enclosure that will stand proud of the ceiling.

Had a bit of an epiphany this afternoon though and realised that there's absolutely nothing to say that the speakers need to stay in the ceiling.  There's plenty of other places they can go where depth isn't a problem.

Grabbed a 5x7" speaker I had laying around and went to have a look.

Nearside one can go here, helpfully it can actually hide below the floor in the wardrobe I believe.

Offside is a little more awkward, but here looks to be the best spot.

It backs onto the side of the oven, but the outer skin of it barely gets warm so I'm not too worried about that.  If depth is an issue there I can probably get away with using a little spacer without it being too obvious.

A 6x9" should work just as well as this in these locations and give us a bit more punch. 

Have a plan to get things a bit beefier in the cab too.  What I reckon I'm going to try is getting a decent set of drivers installed down here forward facing behind the seats in the end of the lockers...

The important thing though is that I'd keep a pair of tweeters in the place of the current cab speakers to help keep a decent soundstage in the cab.  Bass is relatively non-directional, it's the treble you need to place carefully as that's what will give you the stereo separation.

It's either this or in the front of the box under the seats, but those boxes are full of battery and it involves cutting metalwork with I'd rather avoid.

I'll keep the original speakers in the back of the van, but what I'll do is hook those into the TV as they're absolutely perfectly serviceable for that sort of duty...just not providing music above an OM.601 with a straight through exhaust being worked hard!

That's been a bit of a fly in the ointment ever since I got it as I do like my music, but I really didn't know quite what to do about it as the original speaker placements left little room for improvement.  Quite why moving them didn't occur to me until now I've no idea.  Well the obvious answer is that I'm an idiot I think!

It's a low priority thing really in the grand scheme of things but will impact a lot on my enjoyment of it, especially on longer runs.

A sub is something that might join the party one day...I know what a difference it can make, and unlike in a car it's not like I'm struggling for anywhere to fit one without eating half the boot or anything.

[Zelandeth]

Not content with averaging 13MPG the Jag apparently decided this morning that merely using its fuel wasn't bankrupting me quick enough.

I had fuelled up in the last hour, our drive slopes slightly downhill towards the camera and it's been quite nice and sunny here so far today.

As such I reckon things have expanded in the tank and it's forced fuel bank out the filler, probably due to a compromised tank vent line (which I've suspected for a while on account of a distinct pong of fuel in the boot).  Though I've never noted and excessive pressure/vacuum in there really.  It was weeping out around the cap seal itself then draining down the spill line in the filler surround today.  Turning the car through 180 degrees so the filler was at the high rather than the low side sorted things.

Obviously only an issue when the tank is really full (so about 3 miles worth of driving then probably!) and on a warm day, but something I'll need to be aware of until I can investigate the venting system properly, and possibly renew the seal in the filler cap as it's a little perished in a couple of spots.

[SiC]

My MGB did that the first time I filled it up and then jacked the back end up! Tank had rotten on top - known thing on MGB. 

[LightBulbFun]

I know its a bit late all things considered, but I realise the parts list lists studs as 12 per vehicle, so both rear and front hubs use the same wheel studs

and I know of a front hub for sale on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133022516385

and there's also a front hub in the spares stash I think

so potentially if the need for studs comes up again, we could salvage them from the front hubs kicking around  

[Zelandeth]

Assuming you can get them out in one piece without buggering up the threads in the hub.  That's the bit which I fell over on and why I now need to remove the hub to be machined...

[Zelandeth]

Pretty sure we've got a developing issue with either the alternator or the regulator on the Jag.  While the light goes out as normal when the engine starts, it doesn't seem to properly start charging until the engine is brought up to around 3000rpm and held there for a couple of seconds.  Then the system seems to wake up and start charging properly.  It will then stay there until the engine is next stopped.  Before that point the system voltage will hover around 13V - so it is still generating power, just at a reduced level.  Once the system "wakes up" it jumps up to a normal charging voltage.

Need to do some research on the likely cause and get the necessary things ordered in.  At least alternators don't look to be massively expensive if a new one is needed.  This one has been rebuilt - but that was back in 1998 so it's not really undue some attention.

[PhilA]

Sounds like the Zener that controls the flipflop in the regulator is goosed. That or the diode set that picks up off the main rectifier.

Does this have an internal regulator pack?

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

I believe the alternator on this is an integral unit, so no external regulators or anything.

Here's a crappy video recorded while I was sitting waiting for someone in an Asda car park earlier.  Note that the dash voltmeter does read slightly low.

So it lifts up from the resting voltage when the engine is started to around 13V, so still charging just not very much, until the revs are brought up to around 3000rpm for a second or two, at which point it jumps up to 14.4V...and will then behave normally until the engine is stopped.  Does still drop a bit at idle (especially if the idle speed is a bit low) as you'd expect...but never dropping anywhere near as far as it starts out.

[Zelandeth]

Made a start on something this evening that I've been putting off for months.  Trying to tidy the garage a bit.  Aside from anything else I wanted to have a proper look at it and come up with a plan to do something with it.

Nearly four hours later we got to this point.

Which doesn't look like much until you realise that prior to this evening getting into the garage (we have a chest freezer at the far end) involved bodily vaulting over the nearside rear wing of the Invacar.

Far end is still a complete disaster though.

Basically the problem I have in here (aside from too much utter junk) is a chronic lack of storage.

My intention is to have some shelves along both sides of the parking area put in just high enough that I don't smack my head on them and they don't intrude into the working area, but it will give me somewhere to put random stuff I use regularly.

At the far end I think we'll look to dedicate the whole back wall to shelving floor to ceiling, and then also have one or two ranks of free standing shelving running across the garage left to right (with plastic storage boxes bought in to suit)...that should give me a decent amount of space to actually put everything and allow me to get rid of all the fluffing piles on the ground and disintegrating cardboard boxes.

Will mean spending probably a few hundred quid on shelving and boxes though...but if it means I can ever find anything in there it will be worth every penny.  Especially with several totally separate sets of tools now being necessary given I've got metric, Imperial and hybrid vehicles on fleet nowadays.

As it is at the moment I just kind of stare at the mess for a while and sigh as I know there's nothing I can really do with it aside from move the piles of crap from one place to another at the moment!

The Sun diagnostic machine will live basically facing the front of the Invacar with the shelving being ranked behind it, that being the border essentially between the working area and storage area.  At least that's the plan.

Once there's some order in there I can look to get shot of some of the stuff that is honestly rubbish...but at the moment it's just such a hopeless mess that I can't even really go through a lot of the boxes from my folk's house to assess what's worth keeping and what is destined for the recycling centre.

 

[LightBulbFun]

honestly its just nice to see TPA again!   (and the bundle of tubes at the back  ) 

 

[Zelandeth]

Getting TPA sorted is one of the big incentives to sorting the damned garage out.  Two of the reasons I've not just knuckled down, pulled the hub etc are that to get to a lot of stuff in there just now as you can see, TPA needs to move.  Secondly is that due to the clutter it is just such a soul destroyingly horrible place to try to work in.  It's never going to be a spacious workshop, but if I can get rid of the piles of stuff next to the car I should then at least be able to shuffle it a couple of feet to whichever side favours the work I'm doing.

The space in there looks wider than it is - if I'm sitting with my back against the wall facing TPA's nearside with my legs crossed my knees would still be under the car.  There's really not enough room to work comfortably there...much less be able to see what you're doing.

Meant to also mention that I'm hoping to also set up a small workbench between the Sun diagnostic machine and the wall.  Won't be anything huge but will at least give me somewhere to finally fit a goddamn vice!  I've lost count of how many times in the last couple of years I've sliced, burned, frozen, ground, wire-wheeled, drilled or set fire to my fingers because I was holding onto the thing I was working on either by hand or in a set of mole grips because I don't have a vice!  It's a simple and inexpensive bit of equipment but one that makes a plethora of tasks so much easier.

Would be nice to have that in place before I start doing some of the more technical jobs like overhauling the Jag distributor.  Doing that at a workbench sounds far preferable to the ground on the driveway.

Actually coming up with a better long term storage solution for some of the lighting stuff is also up there.  The boxes those tube bundles are in are slowly disintegrating and I've already had a few fall over.  Miraculously without breakage, but they were only intended for transporting them down from Aberdeen...in December 2013.  Given they are in the same bundles and boxes as in 2013 you can probably guess how much clue I have as to what's in there!  The workbench should also hopefully be able to serve for the odd lighting or electrical experiment too as well as car work.

I've got a few things I'd really like to look at in the next few years, but there's absolutely no doubt that the first item on the to do list there has to be "get my stuff sorted out" as without a proper storage and work area they're never going to even begin to get off the ground.

[LightBulbFun]

46 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Meant to also mention that I'm hoping to also set up a small workbench between the Sun diagnostic machine and the wall.  Won't be anything huge but will at least give me somewhere to finally fit a goddamn vice!  I've lost count of how many times in the last couple of years I've sliced, burned, frozen, ground, wire-wheeled, drilled or set fire to my fingers because I was holding onto the thing I was working on either by hand or in a set of mole grips because I don't have a vice!  It's a simple and inexpensive bit of equipment but one that makes a plethora of tasks so much easier.

yeah a vice is something I very much need as well! not just for REV's arrival but I also have some other computer related jobs that require one, and also just for the reasons you mention!

46 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Would be nice to have that in place before I start doing some of the more technical jobs like overhauling the Jag distributor.  Doing that at a workbench sounds far preferable to the ground on the driveway.

funnily enough, reminds me of how I do a lot of stuff, in the past it really was on the floor, in the corridor to the entrance of the house, it was joked that if anyone tried to break in they would immediately fall over and entangle themselves in whatever I had left setup on the floor  

I do thankfully have a work space desk but its pretty full of stuff and are not usable as a "workspace" as id like sadly, so that duty falls/overflows to my bed, which is fun come going sideways time since I have to clear everything off the bed if I forgot about it, and also means I cant leave anything overnight sadly

like if Im testing a computer, the test setup monitor etc live on the desk but the motherboard etc will sit on top of my laptop on my bed

or if im testing any fluorescent or lower power lighting it will be setup like so

 (and before anyone comments on the blanket cover, literally its just something left over from childhood and have just never bothered or had a need to replace it, it still functions perfectly fine as a blanket cover! iv got more important things like vintage lightbulbs and a car to worry about spending money on!  )

the big HID stuff etc of course get tested on the desk itself (after I have cleared space for it)

 

so I too long for a proper workbench/one big enough that I can have all of my major things setup on it  or 2 or 3 smaller one each dedicated to a specific task/interest of mine

(ie, Computers, soldering, and still have a big enough clear space to setup lighting and what have you)

like id like to do more BGA soldering projects, but that takes up a lot of desk space so means I have to clear large swarths of stuff off it etc (does not help that my "bed" means I cant acsses the last 3rd of either of my desks)

so iv not done much recently sadly

I also really need to setup some decent lighting above said workspace desk, iv got a 6ft 70W T8 over the main computer workstation desk but nothing over the the workspace desk

iv been hoping I can find a twin 8ft fluorescent fixture to go there tho, iv always wanted to have one on the go somewhere  

 

[PhilA]

Re alternator, I would think the behavior of it (guessing a Lucas unit) is very similar to the Delco I have.

Half sine 3 phase from the output of the stator is fed into the feedback of the regulator pack. There's a bleed resistor that ensures there's a small amount of current flows into the rotor (via the warning bulb) so that part of the circuit is working because you get a small rise in voltage with revs. That needs to rise a little to trigger a transistor from the sense line into conducting, which causes the rotor to get a higher voltage and boost the output; at this point the other side of the transistor it bypasses is at the same voltage at the bulb and it extinguishes.

There's a Zener on the input to the bleed transistor which regulates the rotor current and provides a stable 14.4V when it can.

So, if you're not triggering I would say:

1: check the armature for dirt

2: check the diode pack that feeds the regulator from the stator, you may have one diode gone bad and as such, less current until the thing has spun up fast and triggered the regulator

3: if not replace the regulator pack

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

The one thing which has been suggested elsewhere by a fellow XJ-S owner that it may well be is actually as simple as a stuffed belt.  I know the belts are well stuffed.  Apparently there will quite often just silently slip a bit rather than squealing...and it's made worse if the belt is a bit loose as it will tend to ride up the pulley, further reducing the speed.

Given they need changing anyway it seems worth seeing if it changes anything.  Getting at the alternator to do any work on it looks like great fun...not that that should come as a surprise to anyone!

[PhilA]

Operation of the alternator would definitely be affected by a shiny slipping belt. That's an easier check.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

Tracked down the original floor plan from the property listing when we moved in here this afternoon which allowed me to confirm the garage dimensions without going out into the rain for a fifth time.

Oddly long but narrow space (though admittedly the whole layout of this place is a bit odd).  I'll have a play around with a few possible layouts in CAD tomorrow afternoon if I have time.  I'd like to know roughly how much shelving I can actually fit in before I start buying things.  Should allow me to figure out roughly how much square footage of storage I'll gain through the project too.