How much shite is too much shite? Specials and Space

[Saabnut]

As the weather outside has stopped outdoor fun, I have a bit of time to update this thread. It never fails to amaze me how some people will go to a huge amount of effort to bodge something when very little extra would have done a good job. Their efforts worked though, I have been around classic cars for 25+ years and I did not spot the bodges. When I bought it I spent a lot of time checking the usual rot points on a P5b but A posts are not renowned for serious rot. In the previous owners defence,  it lasted for at least the 12 years I have owned it. Against that, because it was bodged, what would have been a simple repair has festered away unseen and made a much bigger job.

I will let the photos courtesy of @GingerNuttz tell the story so far

[SiC]

Oof. Glad I'm not having to sort that one. 

This is why I have an intrinsic inability to buy any nice shiny classic. Especially when so many of these cars were cheap for so long. Even small amounts of bodywork is more than what they and many still are worth. Problem is that filler is cheap and low setup costs. Anyone can go down to a car parts store, pay a tenner for a tub and get going with it. Welding needs a machine, consumables, materials, PPE and some practice. 

Also makes me love working on common classics. My Midget isn't that bad but I've got a complete new A-Pillar and hinge panel for like £50 all in. So much more enjoyable (for me) to just cut that mess out and put in something without having to heavily fabricate a repair panel.

[GingerNuttz]

Lucky if there was 30 tack welds on that whole pillar,I mean it just goes to show how strong a shit tack weld really is 😂 

That isn't all the rot cut out either btw, I've had to leave structure to copy before I chop the lot out so it's gonna get 10x worse than it is atm.

I've already got two of the panels made before I ran out of 1.2mm steel but I've got a sheet incoming tomorrow if Parcelforce aren't part of the strikes.

 

[Saabnut]

Ice, snow and Parcelforce have combined to slow progress on the P5b but as I am in no rush I am sure it bothers @GingerNuttz more than me  

About 10 days ago, temperatures dropped below zero, and until yesterday the maximum temperature here was -2c with a lowest of -12c. This slowed progress a bit on projects, and then we had a good foot of snow with some drifting. My excellent neighbour ploughed my drive but was unlucky enough to snag my phone cable on Thursday meaning I had no phone or internet. As I have no mobile signal here, I rely on wifi for my mobile, so basically the world was cut off from me! The usual, excellent, Openreach engineer visited yesterday, a day early as he knew I had nothing, and fixed it for me. He also said I was likely to get fibre installed in the next couple of years, something I never thought would happen, as mine is the only house about a mile from the nearest junction box!

These pictures were taken after the initial snowfall, about the same fell overnight but I didn't take pictures.

On this one, note the ice on both sides of the shed windows. This is a 20ft x 12ft shed with many gaps and no insulation and was flooded a few weeks ago after THE rain we had. My new chinese diesel heater arrived so I put a shelf up and put the heater together, running off an old car battery.

Put a couple of gallons of Jet-A1 in the tank and switched it on. The temperature inside the shed was -6c and after 2 hours running on a mid setting

Almost all ice on the windows melted and temp of +7c in the shed, having used well under a litre of fuel. As I type this, it is running in the shed (3c when switched on, 7c after an hour) where it is drying the shed out. Overall I am very pleased with the heater, although it is a bit noisier than I had hoped, but the compressor will drown it out. For less than a hundred quid it makes the shed much nicer to be in and it will save me a fortune as it has already dried out my tyre changing machine which seems to have survived the experience.

TLDR: Chinese diesel heaters 9/10 would recommend.

[SiC]

Small tip, it's worth putting the burner air intake outside too. Otherwise it'll be sucking your nice, recently generated hot air through the burner and back outside. While not a enormous difference, I found it made a bit for mine.

How is the ol' Moggie nowadays?

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

Small tip, it's worth putting the burner air intake outside too. Otherwise it'll be sucking your nice, recently generated hot air through the burner and back outside. While not a enormous difference, I found it made a bit for mine.

How is the ol' Moggie nowadays?

Yep, this is well worth doing.  For a building that's full of gaps it can make a surprising amount of difference.

[SiC]

They also make excellent glove preheaters

[Saabnut]

20 hours ago, SiC said:

How is the ol' Moggie nowadays?

Moggie is nearing the front of the queue at number two for the 2 post. As soon as the Enima is finished (just a couple of small weld repairs left I hope) it will be next. Engine has to come out for a crank regrind and new shells, so whilst it is on the ramp I have 4 new tyres to go on and have sourced a Riley 1.5 differential to help the gearing. I still need to source a brake servo kit for it which will go on at the same time,

[Saabnut]

Back in April of '22 I decided I needed* a small tractor for moving road materials along my drive to repair potholes since the LDV tipper is very dead and it is a long way with a bucket load on the Kubota. This decision might* have been influenced when I was offered a non running grey fergie for a fair price. When collected it looked like this:

Apart from being a non runner, one rear wing and the grill were missing, the rear lift arms seized and the original petrol/TVO tank rotted beyond repair. On the plus side, it supposedly had a rebuilt engine ("the timing slipped and stopped it starting"), 4 new tyres and a homemade petrol tank that would not look out of place on the Titanic!

The petrol tank is staying as it will never work hard enough to build up enough heat to run well on TVO, but it is not possible for the timing to "slip" on a fergie as the distributor is driven by a dog onto the camshaft, so if the distributor itself is tight the timing once set is either right or 180 degrees out. An intial look showed the timing well out, so I set it using a pin into the flywheel for 6 degrees btdc or whatever it is. The engine refused to start! In desperation I tried a sniff of brake cleaner, and it remained dead. Time for a cup of tea.

The next day, I went back to it and started again. A check of the timing again showed it to be miles out! A lot of investigation (OK I pulled the distributor) showed the distributor had not been seated into the dog so was operating only on friction.  Once reset, I was confident and of course it remained dead! A sniff of brake cleaner however saw it burst into life and promptly filled my shed with smoke! I began to doubt the rebuilt engine story, but it had come with a box that contained a set of used pistons, so the jury was out! I was encouraged enough to order a few bits, including service items, a new grill and a pick up hitch for the rear.

A strip and clean of the carb was called for, and never having worked on this type of Zenith I was carefull and took loads of pictures. Several hours later, it was all back together, and joy of joys, it ran on petrol, if dog rough and smokey. Convinced I had missed something, off came the carb again and everything cleaned again, apart from one jet which somebody had tried removing and chewed it up. I checked it was actually clear so could see no reason for it to affect running. The next day it was refitted to the tractor and whilst improved it was still not running well.

Being a follower of Mustie1 on youtube, I decided an ultrasonic cleaner was required  so one was ordered. A week or so later it arrived, so the carb was again removed, stripped and put in the cleaner. A remarkable amount of dirt from what I thought was a clean item came off the carb, and once done it was re-assembled and refitted to the tractor. This certainly improved things, and it became possible to take my first drive up the track, but constant fiddling with the throttle and choke was required and it was still very rough.

Enthusiasm for the job was beginning to evaporate, I was convinced the carb was still at fault but could not for the life of me figure out exactly what. New ones were listed at around 300 quid but were out of stock. I could not find a secondhand one for sale anywhere, so I did what I usually do in these situations and put it back in the barn until a suitable carb became available.

To be continued.........

[Dyslexic Viking]

Don't know if this is the right carburettor but he has a lot about these tractors and the newer ones.

And you may need to do this to get the 3 point to work.

 

 

[Saabnut]

I was planning on going to France for Christmas and returning to Worksop for New Year but work got in the way and France was cancelled. Whilst talking to my friend in Worksop to arrange New Year, he asked if I had sourced a carb for the fergie, as he had found one in his stash. Dave is an agricultural engineer and has had his own business for about 40 years, having served his apprenticeship with a Massey Ferguson dealership, and is my go to expert on anything tractor or mower. As a result, when I went down for New Year, I hooked on the trailer and took the fergie with me! After sitting since May, it started remarkably easily but was still rough and smokey, but at least it drove onto the trailer.

Eight hours and 400 miles later it was wheeled into Daves shed

Here it was in good company with a 135 that Dave has been restoring and is now nearing completion

Along with a 1953 David Brown 30C that was purchased new by his father in law and was laid up in the early 1970s when the block cracked due to a lack of draining or anti-freeze

After years of searching Dave tracked down a crack free block (rare for these, they crack easily) and the engine has been rebuilt with new liners, pistons etc. Most of the holiday weekend we spent rebuilding it and on NYE we fired it up for the first time in over 50 years. When I left, the raadiator governor etc was on, and soon it will be ready for its first proper run.

First we had a look at my fergie. The carb was removed, Dave took the top off and burst out laughing. One jet was completely missing! A lot of the rest of the carb was badly worn, so with mine and the one from Daves' stash, a good one was assembled. It instantly fired up and ran smoothly. Once warm, the smoke stopped and it ran like a sewing machine. We now think the engine was rebuilt but never run due to the previously mentioned distributor problems, and the excess smoke was just whilst the rings bedded in. With that done, the pick up hitch was fitted, the lift arms freed off and adjusted, the new grill fitted, new fan belt, footboards fitted as it only had the ankle breaker studs, a wing off a red 35 was painted grey and fitted and the bonnet properly secured.

Brakes were stripped, cleaned and adjusted and the job declared a good one. I will take some better pictures in the morning.

Now to source a decent tipping trailer......

[hairnet]

even as a pile of bits fergies are flumph

[loserone]

That looks very clean.  I am glad I have had a TED20, but won't miss it.

[Ghosty]

What a winner! 

[Saabnut]

I went out this morning to unload the fergie off the trailer, let it warm up properly and take it for a run up and back down my drive. It rained a bit* last night after raining heavily for 95% of the journey home. A quick check showed the wind this morning had dried everything off, so full of confidence went to start it. Dead. Turned over fine but not a sign of life. After all the carb problems, I tried some brake cleaner but it remained dead. Removed the dizzy cap and could see no spark, a quick clean of the points and a spark returned, refitted the cap and it started first go. Unloaded it, let it warm up and took it for a run. Happy to report it ran fine, so it was returned to the barn. The first picture shows the pick up hitch arrangement and the others show it in its natural environment.

[Saabnut]

A good start to the new year, an actual reduction on the fleet! After advertising the two Disco 2s on facebook, I had the usual flurry of idiots asking questions to which the answer was then ignored. Another made an offer for both, which was accepted, arrangements made fo collection followed by radio silemce. Two people came to look but they wanted new ones for less than a grand. Eventually, yesterday a sensible bloke made contact, turned up when he said he would, looked the blue one over and gave me some cash. i lost a fortune on it but at least it has gone!

[Saabnut]

Today two more left the fleet for the car park in the sky. The Saab 9-5 had a lot of good parts but being an early one a limited market. Despite offering anything free to collect, there were no takers. In addition the Disco of Doom left, don't think I have ever been happy to scrap a car before, but today was a first!

Not 2 weeks into the new year and 3 down. Going well so far.....

[Saabnut]

I was planning on doing this update whilst wrapping myself around a bottle of red in France, but the weather has decided otherwise so while I am trapped at home I might as well do it now. A few days ago we had a light snow fall of about 4" which caused no problems, but since then the temperatures have remained well below zero, so it has packed down into ice. Temperatures have risen to zero plus or minus a bit so of course it is now wet ice, renowned for its excellent* grip. Yesterday I went to the shops and took the Range Rover, which went up the hill fine but really struggled for grip coming back down.

Today I had planned on heading to West Sussex as it is my brothers birthday on Monday, then head on to France on Tuesday. The transport of choice this time is the Vauxhall Disastra, as I have two Range Rover wheels and tyres to return to France which will not fit in the Saab 'vert with all the other stuff I need to take.

Left the house and a temperature of 2c boded ill, as it meant the top of the ice would be moist, but decided to have a go. Those who have been to my place will know I live in a valley, which of course means going up a hill to get out. Made it to the bottom of the hill, and the sun had cleared the corner so full of confidence, I went for it. All was good for about 30 yards before I lost traction and slowly came to a halt. I applied the brakes and slowly set off backwards, despite all 4 wheels being locked, and the car pirouetted nicely before dropping the front into the drainage dich facing back down hill. Bugger.

My brilliant neighbour said he would help, but the ice was so slippy he had to drive on the verge which is narrow and drops off a cliff. His 120hp 4 wheel drive tractor managed to pull it out of the ditch facing back towards home, but as soon as the verge ran out, so did his forward progress. Gave up on that, Dave went back to feeding his animals (without the Disastra he only just managed to get out) and I headed home.

I then walked about a mile across the other neighbours field to see if it was possible to take the secondary route out, and as the field was frozen, decided to chance it. Got across the field but the final section of the hill had the same frozen surface and again defeated me. Came back home having given up for the day and put the kettle on.

The last few days I have been rehoming the old Iveco van, which I am sure will please @Cavcraft as this is the new home:

First the doors came off

Then the roof

This resulted in a lightweight racing Iveco

The aforementioned ice has resulted in a lack of traction so progress has halted, but it is getting there at last. I have learnt that Iveco vans are heavily reinforced and this is the first and last time I decapitate one!

[hairnet]

madness 

many shortbread many laphroaig till the snow melts?

[High Jetter]

Hope you have enough supplies to last until you can break out.

[Zelandeth]

There can't be many more unnerving feelings than sliding backwards down a hill on ice.

Especially when the hill in question is Institution Street in Macduff.

[Cavcraft]

Bit of a bummer about the Astra, but outweighed (in) by the fantastic news about the Iv*co. 

[HarmonicCheeseburger]

7 hours ago, Saabnut said:

The last few days I have been rehoming the old Iveco van, which I am sure will please @Cavcraft as this is the new home:

 

First the doors came off

Then the roof

This resulted in a lightweight racing Iveco

The aforementioned ice has resulted in a lack of traction so progress has halted, but it is getting there at last. I have learnt that Iveco vans are heavily reinforced and this is the first and last time I decapitate one!

You could have dropped it off for a MOT and filmed the reaction.

[camryv6]

What was wrong with the Iveco ? 😂

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, camryv6 said:

What was wrong with the Iveco ? 😂

Even slower than most of them

[Saabnut]

Back in La Belle France where typically it is considerably colder than Aberdeenshire, so the shorts and T-shirts are not required! I had some bulky items to bring down with me this time, including a recon burner for the central heating boiler that packed up last time I was down, and two 18 inch alloy wheels and tyres for the French Range Rover. After several attempts to fit them in the Saab 'vert I gave up and folded the rear seats of the Vauxhall Disastra and everything fitted in fine. The Disastra came for the princely sum of 300 quid as an insurance write off, after being driven with little of no maintenance by an elderly lady from new, and it was replaced by a newer auto porridgemobile.

I drove the Disastra home, fitted a new timing belt and leant it to a friend whose own car had been written off by a hit and run. Turned out her insurance provided a loan car so it was not needed, so it sat around for a month before I got around to getting it back, so it was basically untested by me. It is a 1.6 SXi and the onboard computer had not been reset for 15k miles and the average fuel consumption over that period was 38.2 mpg, ans as she lived in the Gatwick area suggested it had been driven carefully* for the 92k miles she had done in it.

I did an oil and filter change before leaving home, and the driving style changed a little*. It is a competent if boring car to drive, the main impressions being it is very undergeared (I kept trying to find a 6th gear), it is noisy, and twitchy! But it still averaged 35.8mpg on the trip down.

Overall I would say it is boring, but OK. Everything gives the impression of being OK but with a little more effort/cash could have been good. My brother summed it up well, it is the automotive equivalent of a washing up bowl. Does the job well, but hard to get excited about it.

TL/DR Not quite shite but ask me again if it fails to get me home!

[hairnet]

mais oui

bien sur

how much to bring back flan patissier tarte tatin ou pommes tart  or real madelaines SVP

salut!

[High Jetter]

Ow many euros haz you?

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

Ow many euros haz you?

How many you want - was gonna do euro last week but couldnt

[High Jetter]

Many.