How much shite is too much shite? Electrical Storm

[dave j]

2 hours ago, chadders said:

If you do break the VW you might be pleasantly surprised by how much you can get for the sliding door, assuming it's as good as it looks in the pics. RHD sliders are pretty difficult to get hold of. That one looks like it's a replacement as it's the wrong style for that year of bus.

It has the same slider as mine, and mine is an L reg too. I think they changed in 74. I thought it looked OK until I saw the chassis pics! Roof gutters look OK though so just the standard bottom 6 inches to replace. Has it got an engine and interior? 

[chadders]

Sorry, I thought that the lock in the handle was early only.

[Tickman]

Surely that bay window van is still worth a lot just because of what it is.

It has the perfect patina so do not paint

 

[brownnova]

Steel pressed Serck number plate FTW though!  

[bunglebus]

The bus is crispy but if it has a VIN and logbook it's savable. Odd that the DVLA show it as a 1500cc, should have a 1600 in it.

[DSdriver]

That Saab 900 is lovely, I just have to convince MrsDS that we NEED one

[big_al_granvia]

52 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

The bus is crispy but if it has a VIN and logbook it's savable. Odd that the DVLA show it as a 1500cc, should have a 1600 in it.

as i said pay a artisan enough money and anything is restorable, suspect there wouldnt be much left if you acid dipped it... but when you see what has been restored before it isnt that bad... fit a impreza engine and custom transaxle and you have a bus that keeps up with modern traffic, and uprate the brakes, suspension, steering, hubs...do the inside... 60k will do it all

[Saabnut]

I have had the new (to me) 1997 Disco 1 TDi Auto for about 6 months now, although been away for 4 of those. During that time it has been proved to be reliable, frugal and comfortable (none of those words usually go in a sentence with Discovery) but sloooooooooooooooooow. It had a flat spot and was gutless when I got it, but new pipes on the turbo etc sorted the flat spot. Since then I have been trying to get it to go like it should. It is a one owner car, plus Land Rover and has 108k miles. It starts first touch and does close to 40mpg and never smokes, but acceleration is glacial, hills kill it and the Fiat 500 is spritely by comparison. It all pointed to either turbo or fuel problems. A boost gauge directly to the turbo ruled that out as it is blowing nicely.

Since then I have changed the AMM, the boost sensor switch, blanked off the EGR, I have de-catted it and even changed the ECU having had a replacement cloned. None of which has made any difference. Being the auto, it does not have the diaphragm/boost pin set up as it is fly by wire. Yesterday I visited the local diesel specialist who thinks the problem lies in the pump set up. It can be altered (not by me, it has an anti tamper plug which requires a special tool) but I was informed it runs the risk of, and I use his words, fucking it mate! So it is at my risk...... As it is almost unuseable as a tow car, we are going to have a go, if it all goes wrong I will take the non electronic pump, cable throttle pedal etc out of my breaker (which is what I bought it for) so nothing really lost. He did suggest changing the fuel filter first, as despite it being recent and the full service history, it is cheap and easy and problem filters are not unknown. Bought the filter today but storm Francis is in mid strop so will fit it tomorrow. If that does not work, it goes to the specialist on Thursday.......

[Mrcento]

I'm not so familiar with the autos and the electronic gubbins, but my Disco tdi with the all mechanical setup used to go sluggish over time and always used to be totally cured with a gulp of redex. Was like modern diesel used to gum up the injectors or something.

Does the auto still have the lift pump?, along with the filter and sedimentor, that'd be my first go to.

[sutty2006]

These autos are glacially slow anyway. I wanted one not too long ago but got told not to bother as they are slooooooooooooow. 

[stripped fred]

Just out of interest, how many ponies do these diesel engines have?

[Saabnut]

The 300TDI is supposed to have 130, I think mine is producing about 60

[Tayne]

Wasn’t it 111bhp?

[stripped fred]

I know it's all about the torque but those figures don't sound too great for a lump of a vehicle like that, especially when mated to an old style autobox. Sounds like you'd need all of them to be in fine fettle to make any decent progress.

[Tayne]

200ish lbft of torque, peaking at 1800rpm.

[Royale80]

Friend had a 300tdi auto years ago. It was the slowest thing I ever drove. Foot to the floor and wait to pull out of a junction. I wouldn’t fancy pulling anything in one if this was typical of the auto. He now has a Td5 auto, much, much quicker.

[Andyrew]

Have you checked the timing? On both my discos the fuel pump timing was off. 

One one of them it was night and day difference as it was a few degrees out

 The other was only marginally out but again noticeable change. 

My lower spec disco went like stink and was bog stock pump and cat. My es model feels very slow in comparison that was with a decat and tweaked pump! 

 

[Saabnut]

A busy week so far! Firstly one of the fleet departed further north to a new owner. Sadly it was collected at the height of storm francis so there are no pictures of it going, so I will have to reuse the original picture

Once that had gone and the weather improved, I fitted a new fuel filter to the Disco. Of course it made no difference. My brother arrived with a new addition but this one is not staying as it will go to a new owner next week

Yesterday the Disco went in to the local Bosch diesel specialists to see if hey can find the reason for the lack of power. Sadly, not. They have tuned the injection pump and it is very slightly better but suggested the lift pump may be at fault as the priming lever does not work, so that is next on the list, but not until I return from the round Britain trip this weekend. I can live with the lack of performance but can't risk putting it off the road until I am back.

Whilst it was away, we tackled the trailer lights, we got them working but was disappointed in the cheap chinesium lights fitted by Ifor Williams, I expected better of such an expensive bit of kit. Replacement lights will be sourced. Next job was to replace the trailer winch as the old one had got water inside after 10 years of faithfull service. The new alledgedly waterproof one has the bonus of a fibre winch line instead of steel cable so that is nice. A job  that surprisingly went well, but no pictures yet.

Finally, the PO of the VW T2 and the Saab Ruby came down, and I have bought the 900 from him and the T2 will be going on ebay as soon as he finds the paperwork. Today, is a shuffle around day and get the cobra loaded ready for an early start tomorrow.

[Talbot]

On 8/25/2020 at 4:03 PM, Saabnut said:

As it is almost unuseable as a tow car,

D1 autos are.  They were slated at the time for being absolutely awful and it's still true today.  If you want a D1 and the ability to tow, get a manual.

[Saabnut]

Despite the brisk* performance of the Disco, needs must as I am committed (or should be committed ) and the Cobra is heading to Oxford area tomorrow for engine fettling. Be rude to come back with an empty trailer so will bring the recently purchased chod back home at the beginning of next week.

Ready to go:

[Saabnut]

It has been all go this weekend with the Almera going to its new home and the Cobra has been delivered to the Oxford area for fettling where it will for about 6 months. My friend has already identified several problems some of which are significant. 
Today I am starting out for home and I am not sure how long I will take as there are many variables but first step is from Crawley to Sheffield where chod awaits. 
Performance of the Disco is leisurely so when loaded from Sheffield it will be slow, but at least I will be at the front of the queue!

[Saabnut]

Leicester Forest East and all good so far

[Six-cylinder]

3 hours ago, Saabnut said:

Leicester Forest East and all good so far

That picture of an empty car trailer so close to me is so tantalising when I need a car from Newport Pagnell moved 18 miles to the FoD!

[Saabnut]

Sorry Chris could have done something for you there if I had known 

Day two, loaded up and now at the Sedbury Lay-by at Jock’s Bend

[Saabnut]

The Disco did not like the hills on the A66 but now over the border at Gretna

[Saabnut]

And now safely back home

The biggest surprise on seeing the Toyota for the first time was it was not an Estima as I thought but one of these

Yes a Toyota Emina (or Enema as it will be forever known) - a model I have never heard of before! The biggest (pleasant) surprise is that it is All Wheel Drive, and powered by a 2.2 Turbo diesel. Tomorrow I will unload it and see what I have bought and give it a look over to see if it will MOT without too much work.

[DSdriver]

On 8/31/2020 at 1:04 PM, Saabnut said:

Leicester Forest East and all good so far

Well that's unusual, a friendfinder that has the same plate as the towcar

[wuvvum]

On 8/28/2020 at 8:55 AM, Saabnut said:

A busy week so far! Firstly one of the fleet departed further north to a new owner. Sadly it was collected at the height of storm francis so there are no pictures of it going, so I will have to reuse the original picture

 

Heh, I spotted that on Carandclassic - hadn't realised it was yours.

I had one of those 4x4 Enemas as well - I found it a surprisingly pleasant steer, I didn't have any mechanical issues and it wasn't as slow as I'd expected - I even had (an indicated) 100mph out of it once on a private stretch of the A11.

[Saabnut]

As mentioned earlier, on Saturday I dropped off my Cobra with a friend in Oxfordshire for some fettling. By lunchtime he had cleaned it so it looked like this

My friend Jason had visited a few weeks ago for a look see and I pointed out the things I knew needed fettling, mainly the oil consumption, the over fueling and the loss of "crispness" to the performance. I said that I was not certain the performance had dropped off or I had just got used to it. In addition there was a smell of fuel in the boot and the starter did not always engage first time, so I thought a strip and clean of the starter was on the cards.

When I purchased the car 9+ years ago, I took it to the world renowned specialist in RAM Cobras as mine has a Ram chassis for a general once over, a fuel tank leak to be fixed (welding), a reset of the rear suspension as I am a fat barsteward unlike the PO and a new fuel tank sender and gauge. When I collected it from the specialist (no names but initials are TRC and a full name by PM if required) who is over 500 miles from me, I was unimpressed with the bill (over £3k) and once home with the standard of work. The fuel tank still leaked (though now just a smell rather than puddles), the fuel gauge was still erratic etc but put it down to experience and just decided to not go back there.

When Jason tested the car, he said he thought the timing was out and agreed it was putting out a lot of unburnt fuel. So after the clean he started with the starter and decided it was due to a lack of volts within the battery so charged it up. He was right, it has never failed to start first try since. Next was look in the boot and soon found the source of the fuel smell

Yes, a leak from the sender, obviously been like that since the new sender was fitted. Next was a look at the timing, and the first thing he found was the distributor was free to rotate as the clamp was damaged, and without work could not possibly secure the distributor. Again, this was last looked at by the specialist*

Then he found the big one! The specialist* had set up the timing as normal for a Ford V8 as fitted to original Cobras. Like this:

Trouble is, mine is a continuation Cobra so has a Chevrolet, and so should be like this:

Jason has re-timed it and he says it is much smoother and quicker, and has lost the clouds of fuel smoke. The engine still has to come apart as he suspects the oil consumption is due to bore wash from the excess fuel, so will keep this thread updated as I get reports. As you can imagine I am less than happy with the specialist* but amazed how well it went and sounded with the wrong firing order!

[DaveDorson]

You're now my hero for having a "proper" Cobra and land full of rusty cars.