How much shite is too much shite? Not Over for the Rover - Yet!

[stuboy]

3k to ruin and risk your life..............bloody ell fella

[Zelandeth]

Sadly this seems to echo my experiences with a supposed specialist in another marque recently.

Hope you're forwarding them an invoice for the engine rebuild their work has necessitated!

[DaveDorson]

34 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Sadly this seems to echo my experiences with a supposed specialist in another marque recently.

Hope you're forwarding them an invoice for the engine rebuild their work has necessitated!

There's a reason I learned to do as much as I can by myself.

[Saabnut]

There is now a waiting list for MOTs up my way, and despite my mate being a tester, the first slot I could get is for next Friday, so have booked the Enema in for then. Today I thought I had better check it over. The rear fog light was not working but a scientific thump sorted that. The nearside dipped headlight was also out and a thump did nowt, so opened the bonnet to change the bulb. As soon as I touched the connector the headlamp came back on and has remained working since. Clever things these Toyotas, self repairing.

Sitting in the car, it appeared to be misty, as the windows were filthy both inside and out. I think the inside of the windows were the dirtiest of any car I have ever owned. Once cleaned a break was taken as @Supernaut and @17-Coffees arrived for some Saab fettling. This afternoon it was time to tackle the headlights which were yellowed and milky

Out with the machine polisher and the cutting compound, and 10 minutes later, I reckon they will pass an MOT

Midges came out so time to head indoors....

[Saabnut]

Oh it is so nice to be back playing with the fleet. In the last few days, several things have happened and mostly good has been the result.

First off, the last couple of times I have used the Smart car, the brakes have felt terrible and grindy noises came from the front. Obviously pads out, so ordered a set just before going off to work. So moved the Royce out of the shed to give access to the ramp and after a bit of fiddling managed to get it up (ooh missus)

Removed the callipers to find one slider pin a bit sticky but otherwise all in good condition, including the pads which were less than a third worn. Bugger. Decided to fit the replacements anyway as I had them, buttoned it all up and took it for a test run. Completely cured the noises and the brakes feel much better. Put it down to the old pads being made of finest chinesium so in the scrap bin they went.

Next job was to fix* the Disco 1. Getting the remote fob to operate has been getting more and more difficult, which mostly was not a bother as I don't lock it when at home, but its needed to turn off the immobiliser. When it took 5 minutes of pressing I decided to sort it before it left me stranded, so opened up the key fob to replace the battery. This made a big difference, now it will not work at all! Checked the battery I had just fitted and it said 2.7v instead of 3v so replace that with another new one, this one showing 3.1v which promptly made no difference whatsoever. Not being worried, I dug out the spare fob which continued the theme. Opening up that one, there was no battery at all. Fitting a (tested) new one made the full set when that one also failed to work. The PO said the spare was unreliable so I have come to the conclusion it was not the battery failing, but the buttons on the fob. My friend Simon is going to look at them for me, until then I have a new garden ornament. I hate moderns (it is a 1997 model, so modern!)

Today this happened

Yes, the Enema went in for an MOT to see how bad it was and if it was worth fixing. Having bought it unseen for 150 pictures of her maj, and since collecting it by trailor all I had done was thump a couple of lights to fix* them and clean the windows and driven it to the end of my track to see if the brakes worked, I was not expecting much. When towards the end of the test the tester called over the other tester to point out something underneath, I feared the worst. Turned out he was showing him how good it was underneath and the original brake pipes were still near perfect. Advisories for new wiper blades and a slightly rough wheel bearing and a new certificate was acquired. I will take that.

Tomorrow my carpenter arrives, so I had better have a tidy up before he gets here!

[somewhatfoolish]

On 9/1/2020 at 7:42 PM, Saabnut said:

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.

Are you going to call it Tracy and is the inside a shit tip?

[Saabnut]

Update overdue. My carpenter arrived to take a look at the Royce (thanks @puddlethumper) and the good news is the man from Del Dudley, he say yes! Hopefully in the near future he will return and sort that one out.

Next a visit to my friend Simon resulted in one working fob for the Disco, so at least it is no longer a garden ornament, and it buys me a bit of time to sort out a spare. The PO of the Disco also phoned me to ask if the locking wheel nut key was in the centre glove box as he had found what he thought was a spare in his garage. Went out to check, no locking key, but before I could call him back he called again to say he had found the original as well! One is in the post to me, but lucky I did not get a puncture a few weeks ago on my round Britain trip!

Today, it was nice and warm and sunny so cut the grass. After which I settled down for a coffee and a catch up on AS to find it was Downtime Weekend. Bugger. Did not fancy a day in the shed so went for a run to meet up with @kinkersaab to drink his coffee. A lovely run over the Cairn O'Mount spoilt only by the number of Lycra clad morons racing each other 4 abreast up a steep hill on a narrow section of road and the fuel light coming on. Refueled (the Enema seems to be doing about 25mpg which is what I expected from a turbo 2.2 auto with permanent 4 wheel drive) and over to drink coffee. As usual, I enquired what was in compost corner, and as usual I bought it. I am blaming the staff on AS for this purchase, as if the forum had been working I definitely* would not have gone over. As a result, I will be billing them, so expect 2 fundraisers at the end of the month. No idea what I will do with it....

So, what have the AS staff bought me?

[big_al_granvia]

its a fozzie, assuming turbo... great motors, like an impreza but on stilts... brakes are generally shit but a 4 pot upgrade helps that.... happy hooning

[Flat4]

6 minutes ago, big_al_granvia said:

its a fozzie, assuming turbo... great motors, like an impreza but on stilts... brakes are generally shit but a 4 pot upgrade helps that.... happy hooning

Not turbo, no bonnet scoop.

[big_al_granvia]

Just now, Flat4 said:

Not turbo, no bonnet scoop.

doh, missed the big gob to sook in air lol

[sutty2006]

I think I binned the key fob central locking on my disco 1 years ago. Glad you’ve got yours fixed, it’s easy to let things slide on a disco..... especially things like central locking etc etc. 

[Saabnut]

Busy couple of days, but not a huge amount achieved, but meh. Firstly the Subaru was collected. Runs nice, exhaust is blowing but worst is the clutch is very much on its last legs. The car was bought with the intention of running until the MOT expired where it would become a donor for a future sensible* project. My mate says it is not a hard job to do a clutch on one of these, but I don't think I can be bothered at this stage. I might lash out a months tax at the start of next month and see if the clutch lasts a month, or it may go straight into the storeage section. We shall see.

Next was to convert the Toyota Enema into a van so out with the middle row of seats (the rear row were just loose in the back). Simple job (4 screws and 4 bolts each) but my they are heavy! On removal I found out why they are so heavy, both the single seat and the dual seat are both "captain seat" type things, ie they swivel. This is a bonus as I am sure that some hipster building a Kamper van will want to buy them, so next evil bay selling deal day they will get listed. In the mean time the Subaru is making a good shed.....

Next was to track down the reason the Modus has started to wander around on the road. I knew I had installed the ramp for something:

Bottom ball joint on the drivers side is well beyond its sell by date so new suspension arm complete ordered for 35 quid. First expenditure on this car in nearly a year so not going to complain. Having found the fault, in for tea, where a friend phoned to see if I had scrapped the Yaris yet as he was repairing a friends Yaris and the front calliper mount had seized and the pin sheared. Nobody lists these nowadays, nothing on Ebay and none of the local scrappies could help. Fortunately he was in luck (sometimes being CBA does help) so he called over to remove the one from the Yaris before it heads to the bridge. Once again, the ramp came in useful:

Fortunately the correct part in good condition. As the Yaris is out of its hidey hole, tomorrow I will definitely* get around to draining the fuel tank, removing the CD player, battery and wheels and load it for its final journey to the bridge.

Maybe,

[beko1987]

One day you should tow all your scrap cars at once to the tip, like one of those big land trains you see in Australia... 

Sure it'll be perfectly legal! *

[Saabnut]

The Yaris is almost complete, just the tank to salvage fuel from and the window switches to remove then it can go.

Dodged showers yesterday to get this far, and today was start of the MOT season for the fleet, so started with one of the more recent arrivals:

Pleased with a pass but an advisary for play in a wheel bearing, so will have to get that sorted

 

[Saabnut]

One left the fleet today, so a little bit more space. Many more to go before I consider filling the space though....

[Lankytim]

Don't forget the CAT!

[Saabnut]

1 hour ago, Lankytim said:

Don't forget the CAT!

Long gone I am afraid

[Supernaut]

On 19/09/2020 at 19:04, Saabnut said:

@kinkersaabRefueled (the Enema seems to be doing about 25mpg which is what I expected from a turbo 2.2 auto with permanent 4 wheel drive) and over to drink coffee.

I quite liked the look of that when I saw it last month, but with that fuel consumption you can keep it! Although if it was veg friendly maybe that wouldn't be so painful.

As if I have the space or resources for anything else anyway, or a need for something so big. I just thought it looked really cool.

[Saabnut]

Today I started out full of good intentions and planned on finally starting on the 240 GLT estate.  First thing was to get the wheels off so I can change the utterly shot winter tyres on it for the 4 nearly new ones bought off gumtree. Lined the Volvo up and lifted it where I discovered, as I had feared, the motor on my 2 poster is past its youth. In fairness, the ramp is a collectors item being made in 1975, and whilst it works fine on small cars, the Volvo was more of a test and whilst it lifted it, as soon as it got to this height the roundy motion changed to a buzzy noise. Will have to investigate a new motor.....

Still far enough up to get the wheels off, and put to one side until I fire up the tyre machine in the other shed. Next job, and the biggest thing on this car, was to investigate the rot at the rear of both sills. Both sides are about as bad as each other

It can be seen that generally there is a LOT of underseal on this car. The previous owner used to underseal it every winter, which is probably the reason it survived being parked up for 7 years. The underseal is more than 1/8" (3mm for the moderns) thick, and where it is still attached is still doing its job. It is where it has lifted that the problems are. Out with the grinder...

and it is not as bad as feared. A 5" x 2" strip on the inner sill, then the end of the sill and the closing plate will see it done. I need to buy some more steel for weld repairs and get my welder back from my friend, but hopefully later this week. Another friend then arrived and the rest of the day was spent on house repairs and maintenance.

[DSdriver]

Why are you taking cars to the bridge and then buying steel to patch up other cars? Surely they will accept them at the bridge with a big square cut out of a panel? and bonus, they are already painted.

[Talbot]

2 hours ago, Saabnut said:

the ramp is a collectors item being made in 1975,

Having also been made in 1975, I know how it feels.

[Saabnut]

Nothing significant achieved this week here, except horizontal rain has delayed my latest collection.

Darn sarf, however steady progress on sorting the Cobra. Some of the bodges discovered have been concerning, especially as it has always gone to "specialists" with a money no object approach for all work before I got it.

Latest job is to lift the engine off the mounts so the sump can be dropped and bearings examined.

That is ongoing, but it has become obvious a better cooling system is required. After all, there are minimal possibilities of leaks on the old system that has just been removed.....

[Zelandeth]

Is it worth taking a closer look at the motor on your lift before condemning it?  If it's from that sort of era it's entirely possible that a good clean and re-grease and/or a replacement of the run capacitor might be all that's needed to get it back fighting fit.  Probably less hassle in the long run than fitting  what will likely turn out to be some random Chinesium motor with a fancy name slapped on a label on it so they can charge twice the price for it that will pack in two days out of warranty when you've got a car you need up on the lift.

[Saabnut]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Is it worth taking a closer look at the motor on your lift before condemning it?  If it's from that sort of era it's entirely possible that a good clean and re-grease and/or a replacement of the run capacitor might be all that's needed to get it back fighting fit.  Probably less hassle in the long run than fitting  what will likely turn out to be some random Chinesium motor with a fancy name slapped on a label on it so they can charge twice the price for it that will pack in two days out of warranty when you've got a car you need up on the lift.

Sadly I know nothing about electrics (apart from the fact they are powered by smoke, let the smoke out and they no longer work) and being Aberdeenshire there are no reliable specialists about but plenty that will sell you a new explosion proof motor for many £££££££

[Zelandeth]

Hmm...shame that.  Swapping out the run cap isn't a specialist job really and anyone who's familiar with electrical work should be able to do it.  Changing the run capacitor isn't likely to be any more complicated than wiring a plug to be honest.  Just undoing a couple of screw or push terminals and moving those on to the new part.  Do things one wire at a time (there likely only will be two involved) and you can't go wrong.

Looking at the photo it may even be visible externally, that cylinder which is attached to the side of the motor.  Have a look at it and see if there are any markings you can see, if so write them down or take a photo and let me know what they are.  Should be able to point you at the right part.

Just seems worth at least looking at for the sake of a few quid before shelling out a couple of hundred on a new motor.

Being honest, I found finding specialists to actually do jobs ten times easier up there than it is down here!  The "that's not worth my getting out the van for" factor in this area is massive.

 

[Saabnut]

Thank you, will get some photos tomorrow

[camryv6]

Also try lubricating the lift screws

[Saabnut]

I have a tub of turntable grease so will try that as well.

As hinted earlier, a new project joined the fleet today.  A bright start to the day, with importantly no rain, so a quick call and Saturdays delayed collection was on.  No separate collection thread as it was only 20 miles away. Arrived to find the PO had charged the battery so it started and drove out, if slightly noisily as the exhaust is blown. First opinion is that sorted and a bit of TLC and it may well return to the road.

Half an hour later and it is back at Chez Saabnut. I am now heading to my shed for photos of my lift motor and tonight I will hopefully find time to update this thread with the latest Cobra revelations.

[big_al_granvia]

they dont call you saabnut for nothing

[Saabnut]

Late as ever, but I eventually get around to it!

First the engine needed lifting off the mounts by a couple of inches to allow the sump to be dropped, which entailed making a couple of brackets. All went smoothly and soon the sump was off

Despite regular oil changes, due to a bodged breather system, the sump was full of tar.  So, what do we have?

Apart from the quality* gasket all appeared good from a first glance. The eagle eyed may have spotted the machining to the piston skirts and the bearing caps to ensure clearance, which was nice to have confirmed that it is a 400 smallblock Chevrolet that has been taken to maximum bore and a stroker crank fitted to take it to 427 Cu In as I was told when I bought it but was on trust as there was no documentation for the engine work done.

First was to check one of the mains (randomly chosen - number 3)

All good, no wear, no delamination so on to a random big end (number 7)

Again, all good, and evidence of good quality workmanship, as can be seen that all the oilways have been tuliped to ensure higher oil flow. All bearings are at standard size indicating new components were used, as I was told.

So new gaskets bought

and sump cleaned ready for fitting

Before the sump can go back on, the front timing cover has to come off for a new gasket to be fitted. This needs the front crank pulley/harmonic balancer to be removed, but a special tool is required to refit it which has been ordered.